hitting refresh

Today as I walked into town a boy approached on his bike. I could tell from his direction and demeanor that he was coming my way with something to say and began to brace myself for the requests "one country coin...baksheesh...can I come home with you...do you want to fuck?" none of which are unusual questions to receive on a daily basis. The fact that they aren't unusual doesn't make them any more welcome and I was dreading whatever was to come until he drew up beside me, said "Hello Aunty" and carried on his way. I melted with gratitude, it made my day.

Yesterday I was to pick up something from the pharmacists. After days of promises, they guaranteed that it would be there by 12. I gave them until late afternoon and stopped by on my way home from the city weighed down with bags, hot and sweaty and needing the washroom that very second. Although I've been there for three days running for the same reason, talking to the same people, they had no idea what I was talking about. None. They made big fanfare about how I should stop by in an hour, guaranteed all would be ready, but I live nowhere near them and wasn't coming back into town. So frustrating. I turned and started stomping down the steps thoroughly irritated when two things happened: the paper bag I was carrying started to tear and I heard someone calling my name. Raju, the most wonderful man in the world, was driving by in his rickshaw when he saw me and stopped to give me a ride home. For free. Perfect timing.

This is why I love India. It hits my 'reset' button and reminds me that at the same moment that something goes wrong, something also goes right. I know it also happens at home but maybe it gets lost in the rush, or the familiar, or the safe routines that put me on autopilot. Things seem to be sped up here, no lag time between cause and effect or irritant and awesomeness.

In India with the unfamiliar and the extremes plus the added bonus of time to actually pay attention, it's easy to experience the benevolence surrounding me and notice the way that every single little thing works out, even when it doesn't look like it's going to. I'm a bit ashamed at just how much this isn't the worldview I carry at home and I'm unspeakably grateful for the chance to step back and refresh. I quite literally feel like the luckiest person in the world.