Coming Home

Original artwork from 1987

I have long harboured the suspicion that it is those who arrive in India in search of spiritual awakening or personal development are most likely to be disappointed. In contrast, those who arrive without such aspirations, nor a fixed itinerary, as was my case, are more likely to be pleasantly surprised, if not find the experience genuinely transformative, if not entirely transcendental. I wasn’t in a particularly good place when I landed, my faith in all things at something of an end ride, but I don’t recall desperately looking for anything. I arrived at relatively short notice and any plans I’ve made for constrained by those of my friends we were already established by that time.