Fulfillment

Lachie Dickson

While all the others have the freedom to explore a city of contrast, beauty and interact with the amazing people this city has to offer this afternoon, I sit here alone. Close to a bathroom. The only seat I can trust my backside on. However, I try to not dwell on these circumstances. It has left me with some precious time to reflect on what a journey it has been. The questions I have asked myself, the processes with which I struggle to comprehend and the happiness that is evident amongst society. What does India have that we are missing? I have asked this to myself throughout this trip. Very little emerged to the surface from this question. But it has left me often comparing and contrasting India to NZ in ways I didn't imagine before undertaking this Immersion.

Travelling through India, conversations with locals amongst the boys occurred regularly. Little English made things difficult, but with the people's great enthusiasm and interest in us, within 2 minutes you would know the basics of someone's life. I started to discover a pattern amongst the people. Pride in Religion. It became evident to me that in a country filled with 70% of people below the poverty line, religion was their lifeline. It gave them hope and fulfillment in a life of what most would consider inhumane. Brooklyn slums highlighted how awful living conditions really could be in the world. It left me depleted of my emotions. The only question that unfolded in my mind was how are these people happy? These people are surviving, whereas for most of the world, we are living. It wasn't until Varanasi that I concluded that Religion was giving them hope in their life. It helped them live each day, knowing life was worth living. Not surviving. Although religion is not a part of my life, India has given me a more appreciable understanding of the benefits religion can have on people and the way India has evolved as a country because of it.

As Christmas dawned not long ago on the train to Mumbai, I lay on a rock-like bed, receiving a mediocre sleep and spending the day with not much of an appetite. How similar it was to this exact time last year, stuck in hospital wishing I was anywhere but there. This year round, one thing was different. Very different. The absence of my family, especially on a day where we celebrate Christmas and my Dad's birthday. That day alone was one of the hardest to comprehend amongst the many we have lived through on this trip. I felt empty in a time when I thought I should feel contentment. I struggled as I searched for festiveness in a city that doesn't celebrate this day. For myself, as much as I had everyone around me, I felt alone. Abandoned by my family as they celebrated the day. As tough as it was, I came to realise India had taught me something amazing from this journey. Although life is not always fair, having people around you to talk to, empathize and talk about your feelings with may be the greatest medicine in life when you're feeling down. It makes you feel wanted when you feel abandoned. It makes you feel apart of a family, away from your real family.

If I concluded this trip and was told I can only remember one thing from it, it would be that human connection is whole heartedly the most important aspect of living a fulfilling life. Fortune, pride and accolades make up very little of what I would deem a 'successful' life. Having people around you, having healthy relationships and having people who will stand by you and support you in the endeavours you wish to achieve in life is my view of 'success'. The people of India who have little to live off, more importantly, have each other. Although I live a very different life to these people, this trip has highlighted how much family really means to me.