Dragonflies and Chutney

This story begins as most adventures do, with a long voyage to a distant land. I arrived in India in the evening on October 3rd and the moist air of Hyderabad surrounded me like a shroud. My driver Kareem was waiting for me and shuffled the enormous suitcase into the front passenger seat of his tiny Maruti. I collapsed into the back seat and we headed out into the flow of traffic. After a few hundred yards he pulled over and tied the suitcase down with a handkerchief so we'd survive the trip to the guest house. I think the suitcase weighed more than his car did. The drive into Kondapur took us past roadside shops, shanty towns, motorcycles and modern buildings. Indian music flowed out of Kareem's radio and the chaotic energy of Hyderabad surged around us. It felt like coming home. Finally we pulled into the Hominex parking lot after midnight and were greeted by the staff who sensibly handed me a key and sent me to bed. That was a little over month ago but it seems like yesterday. Life passes quickly, if you aren't watching you'll miss it.

My company arranged this trip to support our Gachibowli development center but they know I also had personal reasons for requesting a longer term assignment here. After my first two trips I formed a desire to experience India more fully. The planning for this adventure took months and I wasn't sure until a few days before leaving that it was all going to come together. My visa was held up in corporate limbo for weeks, I had to move due to an expired lease and other events threatened to derail my plans. I collected as much information as I could and stuffed it into my bag along with a Lonely Planet travel guide and a huge map of India. And I brought my meditation bench. In the end everything worked out with a lot of help from my friends. Living here has taught me a few things about flexibility, hopefully I will remember the lessons long enough to write them down.

People have been asking why the blog has fallen silent during these weeks. It isn't because there is nothing left to say. There is still time in my life for one more stupid decision... so I'm writing a book. Not that there aren't already enough books about India on the shelves of bookstores around the world. India is like a massive onion you can never fully peel so the potential for topics is bottomless. Just in Hyderabad you can write about the Qutb Shahi, Mughal and Nizam dynasties as well as the British Raj and the Great Game between European powers who used India as a chessboard. There is the story of Independence and all the changes that ushered India into the modern world. In recent years the forces of development have turned Hyderabad into a technical powerhouse. The engines of business have been working overtime and along with prosperity has come convulsive cultural and economic change. That's only part of the backdrop behind Hyderabad that gives it texture.

It is presumptuous for a middle aged western techie to try and explain all this. There is more honesty in writing my own experience of India, how it has affected my spiritual practice and what I've learned from my travels here. The book is still finding its voice, evolving with my experience and growing in ways that were never foreseen. Like my life it is a work in process. And it will take a long time.

Thanks for listening