India

One day Alexander the Great gathered the army of 35 thousand soldiers and launched a ten-year campaign for the single purpose – to see India. Columbus got to America, aiming to reach India. Today the flights are much more accurate, and the “campaigns” are easier and nicer, but what is really weird - you’re still at home!

If you still read about traveling to India, it means you want to get there, but look for some reason that will make you go. I won’t give you the reason, but I’ll tell you what a Hindu once told. Someone asked him: “What places should I visit in India and who should I meet?” He answered: “Meet yourself; visit your heart”. Indeed, these are the best words that show you the atmosphere in India.

There is an advice that I’ll venture to give the reader. Going to India, take some high spirits and healthy indifference with you! And then, walking along dirty Indian street, you’ll see a beautiful park nearby. You’ll see that a builder who lies on the ground near the building smiles in his sleep. You’ll be naughty enough to bargain with rickshaws, to banish monkeys from your hotel room after you forgot to close the window, to wait for a late train for two hours… You’ll smile when you see a cow near the subway; and India will repay you for the smile. It will repay you with simple and sociable people who are naive like children; it will show you the ashrams and pieces of architecture that will take your breath away!