Dilemmas of an ussie guy in Chennai

India i s really a country th at you fee l. As a feeling person, as a spiritual person, 1 can h o n est!)' say tha t I felt at home here and would stay l o n ger, possib ly foreve r, if I h ad t h e option. Perhaps I am actuaUy sui ted co Indian life?

After eighteen monchs in India, my time as 'An Aussie Guy in Chennai' is n ow drawing to an end. Over the last year and a half I've had mad e lots of friends, seen so m e amazing sights, learn ed a lifetime's worth of lesson s, suffered frorn 'Cbennai drnnder' twice, and significantly improved m y knowledge o f H indi.

(Unfor runa[ely, t he latter came at the expense of tongue- twisting Tamil, which l have failed t o pick up despite some attempts).

I have battled tl1e bureaucracy, the heat and humidity an d the traffic, and been hie at low speed b y a motorbike (me drive r was most apol ogetic, and I walked away with barely a scratch). I've visited north, soum, ease and west ar ou nd the nation w h ic h I now fee l is somewhat an adopted home for me

Throughout m y time in India, o n e qu estion 1 have grappl ed with is w hy I lik e ir here Som e say i t's tl1e preferential treatment I receive as a foreig n eralthough tl1at actu ally makes me ramer uncomfo rtab le. Some have p ointed to th e exotici s m and g lamou r of li ving ab r oad, although 1 p romise mere were just as many unpl eas ant experien ces as [here were enjoyable. A Hindu approach might suggest tl1a t I live d in India in a previous life, and felt chat I had come home. A M L1slin1 o r a Sikh might suggest that the sense of communi ty is responsible, being dose co the m11111ah or the shcma11 di kau111, tho ugh I might not know it. A Marxist might tell me th at I have turned my back o n tl1e ma terialist West, b ut anyo ne w h o s hops in India kn ows that's not tr u e !

Two yea rs ago I wrote an article enti tled 'Indophil e' in which 1 decl ared my love for India, and spoke of the eve ryday spir ituality which enchanted m e with every visit. Having now lived here, I can rea.ffum these sentiments.

Yes it's dirty, polluted, crowded, fi:ustrati.ng, difficult and all the rest of it. However tl1ese un p leasant facts of life might only serve to heighten one's awareness of o t her aspect s. Unlike me subd ued rises and falls of Ji fe in Australia, the highs and lows of life in lndia are extreme, terrible and beautiful.

INDIAN LINK

Perhaps i t was S[eppi.ng out of m y own soc iety and inro o ne where I was a nonymous, whe re I could be whoeve r I wan ted to be, where I would be judged differen cl y - isn't that wh at so many of us love about b ei n g in a fo reign cou ntry? Being a novelty soon wears off, but tl1e feeling of breaking free from tl1e s h ackles of our n ative society is a powerful drug. How many Indian A u stralians love their lives in Australia for tl1at reason? W h e n we leave o u r native country to live abro ad , \Ve offer a contract to our own selves; that we w ill relish the positive aspects of life in a new nacion, wi tl1 [h e n egatives as a sma ll cost. With out such a contract, living abroad wouldn't seem wo r m it: "Oh yes, Australia has its proble m s, but look at the ben efits!" is a phrase wbid1 can be app lied both ways. Not to mention th e fact that we often judge our own culture much more harshly than we do others - how m any people pass off (o r don't notice) negatives in fo reign countries w h e n the same ming in thei.r own would make them cringe? Maybe mis i s ch e secret co w h y I love it here.

Pei:baps t hese question s will never be answered Ar me end of a year and a h alf in India, there are still many q uestion s to be answe red, asid e from mese.

\Vhy is ' India the superpower' an ideal fasc-becom.ing reality, yet develo pm ent fo r the average Indian i s largely an elusive dream? Why, a fter 65 years, h as so li ttle changed in me nation's relationship with Pakistan? Why is I ndi an politics so domi n ated by stuffy, bureaucratic, c orrupt old men when the country's youth have so m uch exciting porential?

Why i s Sal man Khan n o t in jail? Maybe like tbe reasoning behind m y affectio n for India , we'll neve r solve t hese Bm India is a riddle w hich might n ot need solvin g

As D ev Patel's character iu ThP Best Exotic Marigold Hotel said time and time again, "Eve r ything will be alright in the e nd. If it's not alrig ht, it's not the end " Say wbar you like about me film, truer wo rd s were n ever sp oken ab out life in India - t here is hope, no matter h ow futile, that things will be better. It's a lesso n we could all use from time t o time.

/\tthe end of a year and a half in India, there are many questions to b e an swered. Why is 'India the superpower' an ideal fastbecoming reality, yet d evelopment fo r th e average Indian is large ly an elusive dream? Why, after 65 years, has so little changed in the nation's relationship with Pakistan? Why is Indian politics so dominated by stuffy, bureaucrat ic, corrupt old men when the country's youth have so much exc iting potential'! Why i s Salman Khan not in jail?