This was not spontaneous travel. We had ten months to plan a 3 week trip to India. Itinerary dreaming came first. Like that treehouse cabin we stumbled across in a guide book, with running water and hot meals on a wildlife preserve in the ghats where wild elephant sightings are possible from the porch. Or hoping tea plantations in Darjeling. Too many sweet dreams imagining adventures and itineraries. It finally occurred to us that having an uncle and aunt as hosts in the South of India, we would see an India that is not possible for tourists passing through quickly to know. So we planned our own faster paced tour of the Northern triangle before spending the bulk of our time touring the south on day trips with relatives. Once the itinerary was set, we created the packing list. We wanted to travel light and smart. You can get what you need there, but we didn't have half a day to waste driving from one end of the city to another to look for something we needed. To get ideas, we checked in with travel blogs such as indiamike.com and the Lonely Planet was great. Aside from invaluable practicle advice, philisophical advice was also given. Gleaned from my research, the advice goes something like this: You will have a reaction to India. No one can predict your reaction, you'll love it or hate it, but what seems certain is that it will change you, change your life in some way forever.
Favorite Inspirational quote from MBEddy: "Pilgrim on Earth, thy home is heaven, stranger, thou art the guest of God". (Science & Health)
How does that work? Can even a 15 day trip can cause such impact? I’ll poll the family after we have sifted through our experiences more to see what they think about this statement. After all, it was just Christmas and New Years with the relatives! Contrary to that, there are many many reasons why it wasn't "just" that! If I were to craft my own polished statement, I might say something like this: Even a short trip will change you if you let it, if you allow it in. It will challenge you, charm you, influence you, and feed you, if you immerse yourself in "the swirl of India".
You can also feel the effect If you arn't open minded, or willing to adapt to other viewpoints, and unable to manage the suprises. Then, even a short trip will be impactful and difficult. The best preparation is to learn to relish discovery. You will be rewarded if you endeavor to listen deeply to the heartbeat of your experiences. I had been exposed to photographs and 
descriptions, but what I wasn’t prepared for were the smells, the sounds, and the animation of so many intermingling parts of the Indian experience. It seems like it all comes into play in the roadway and intersections. If you took stock of the lives in a cross section of a large intersection in Jaipur, you would find so many different stories leading to so ma
ny different levels of experience. It’s a juxtaposition of tradition and simple existence against the modern and worldly. It’s the basic and poor next to the upwardly mobile with jobs and possessions. It’s antiquity with people living without electricity in makeshift dwellings next door to 
cinderblock multi-level dwellings or even modern highrise apartment buildings. It's feral dogs in packs, cows on the loose, and monkeys wreaking havoc. India, with it's sounds, smells, sights, humanity, chaos, contradictions, it captured us and captivated us.
descriptions, but what I wasn’t prepared for were the smells, the sounds, and the animation of so many intermingling parts of the Indian experience. It seems like it all comes into play in the roadway and intersections. If you took stock of the lives in a cross section of a large intersection in Jaipur, you would find so many different stories leading to so many different levels of experience. It’s a juxtaposition of tradition and simple existence against the modern and worldly. It’s the basic and poor next to the upwardly mobile with jobs and possessions. It’s antiquity with people living without electricity in makeshift dwellings next door to 
cinderblock multi-level dwellings or even modern highrise apartment buildings. It's feral dogs in packs, cows on the loose, and monkeys wreaking havoc. India, with it's sounds, smells, sights, humanity, chaos, contradictions, it captured us and captivated us.
Information was coming at us constantly in our travels, yet it was the interaction with people that brought more dimension to our impressions of India. (You'll hear about Sohan, our driver, Jayaraj, the director of RIDE and our wonderful Aunt and Uncle, in future postings). All the warmth and generosity, humor, intelligence and pragmatism that we saw in the people we met daily, was endearing. Dignity and pride were evident, even in the poor. The exuberant faces of the children will remain in my memory for a long time. It was here that the cover came off of India and we felt connected. I believe that I could go to India 30 times and each time have a different experience. But unless I get to connect with the people, I'm skimming the surface.
Good advice from an experienced traveler and humanitarian, speaking of India: When you see a pile of garbage with a peacock standing on top, you can choose to be repulsed by the garbage or you can be enthralled by the peacock. (Marjie Hamlin)
Favorite Inspirational quote from MBEddy: "Pilgrim on Earth, thy home is heaven, stranger, thou art the guest of God". (Science & Health)
Please post: What is your philosophy on preparation for international travel?
Next Up - Our First day - first impressions
photographs by O-Krishnaswami
