Junapeno Goes to India.

Three years ago, I was at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, bearing a heavy heart trying to calm my frantic and terrified mind, and mentally prepare myself to embark on a life changing journey to a new foreign land. It felt like the night before the first day of primary school, I didn’t know what to expect, and was battling with not butterflies but bats, evil bats, blindly and frantically banging and slapping the inner walls of my stomach. 

“what if it’s too difficult? what if I don’t fit in? what if I don’t like it there?” 

But at the same time I was psyched and excited over a new adventure, a new chapter in life.

Only this time, the new adventure was going to be of a larger magnitude and intensity, as I was going to spend 5 years living in a crazy place called India.

Level of Magnitude --> Bungee Jump

Level of Intensity --> Ju-On

Level of Mental Chaos --> MINION.  

Fast forward to 2013,  
It’s been 3 years of bungee jumping and Ju-On and annoying high-pitched minion voices and chaos, and here I am still standing strong! PAPOY! Except that the mental status is different now :

Level of Mental Chaos now --> MAHATMA GANDHI. 

i am zen.

Yea. We learn, we grow, we change. We all do.

India, is very interesting.

It can either break you, or make you.

We all know India. 

Traffic, auto-rickshaws, loud honkings, dust, pollution, cows, cow dungs, moustaches, sarees, coconut, chapatti, curries, more cows, more cow dungs.

moo.

But if you’ve lived here for a few years, you would know India at a whole new different level.

I’ve been here for 3 years, pursuing a 5 year-long Medicine course, and I’ve had many first-hand experiences of India enough to last me a lifetime.

The cultural differences, language differences, mentality differences are so big they can drown you in confusion, frustration, and an immense feeling of detachment. 

The lack of hygiene in food & water, intense spices and masala flavours are so mind-blasting (and gut-blasting) they can give you diarrhea after diarrhea non-stop, until you wrinkle up like a raisin. 

The restrictions of society,  inefficiency of various systems, and the lack of first world facilities are so outrageous they can drive you up the wall, through the ceiling through the attic, up the roof and kick you all the way into the deep Indian ocean, and drown you. Even if you are not drown, you’d be driven to devastation and begging the sharks to eat you.

TOO MUCH DRAMA.

Now look, India would be exactly this dramatic, if and only if you allow it to. It’s all in a state of mind.

I’ve been restricted, but these restrictions have driven me to open my eyes, open my heart, open my mind, to see bigger pictures in life.

I’ve been punished heavily for the tiniest mistakes, but these punishments have taught me how to be more tactful, careful, and smart.

I’ve been pushed to the wall, slapped on my face, kicked in the stomach by various people ranging from uneducated bastards on the streets to brainless arrogant corrupted authorities, but these have increased my mental strength and endurance tremendously, and trained me to be able to control my mind, my thoughts, my emotions, my actions more maturely.

The experiences one gets in India will never be gained elsewhere in the world. It’s a whole new world which exposes you to a whole new you, hence guiding you into amazing self-discovery.

And only you yourself will decide whether India will break you, or make you.

In my case, I’ve been broken and made, broken and made, again and again. Sounds like a mess but I’m pretty optimistic that i will be molded and transformed into something quite exquisite.

There are actually many hidden gems and treasures in this apparently poverty-stricken place. You just need to dig deeply into your soul, open your heart, and see the gems with not your open eyes, but an open heart. 

At the end of the day, you will realize that India can bring out the best in you, and you have nothing to lose but a hell lot to gain. 

And that's what makes India a beautiful country.


Now I shall go get myself a cup of hot chai.

Stay tuned for more posts!

Miss Junapeno signing off!