Trip to India - Entry 26 - Back home!

I know I told everyone that I wouldn't have any group withdrawal, but that's not true. The first day, I kept looking around, waiting for someone I knew to appear, but it was just back to the same old daily grind.

I also got sick on the flight back. I am quite thankful I avoided any sort of colds, flu, serious stomach ailment, or fractured bones while in India (unlike some folks...), but now I get to pay for it.

I find myself feeling as though I understand India much more, and yet it's almost as opaque as it ever was. While I think I was one of the few people on the tour who know what the Gupta period was when our guide told us about it in the Elephanta Caves, Indian culture is still far more difficult for me to comprehend than European culture, for example, which I spent years studying, along with European languages. I feel almost at home in Europe, based on my knowledge of the culture, the history, the language, the wars, the customs. I honestly do not understand how someone could do business or live for any length of time in India without making the effort to learn at least some of that, but I'm sure many do.

I once read that a culture without history is an amnesiac culture. Thus, history and culture shape the way that a people describe and feel about themselves and their place in the world. If one doesn't know, understand or appreciate that history and culture, how could they possibly hope to interact with or do business from someone of that culture? I feel like this trip has helped me fill in the gaps to some extent, and has made me more respectful and appreciative of Indian culture and where Indians are coming from as people.