From Jason: Impressions

My impressions of India and walking around Bangalore
Thank you Dana for letting me contribute a post on your blog of our trip to India.  You have been a great travel companion on this adventure. 
They say that India is a feast for the senses.  And it is more than true.  For every deliciously exotic scent or sight I experienced, there was often an alternating equally nauseating smell or scene to feel only a moment later.  When walking around the giant city of Bangalore you can’t help but see the juxtaposition between old and new…of filth and beauty…of poverty and wealth.  It is so vivid it feels like the images smack you in the face.  The repetition of these polar extremes happens over and over, block after block in the hot and dirty, densely crowded, and highly polluted…beautiful…streets.
I had talked to many people about India before my journey and all of these stark contrasts I had heard about before coming here.  And while hearing and reading about them was no comparison to the first-hand experience, in some way I had been expecting them.
What struck me most poignantly was how my feelings seem to change after being here a few days.  The waste and refuse overflowing in many places somehow became less obtrusive.  Even the human hardship of the wretchedly poor less jarring.  The beauty of the city with its bright flowers and stunning architecture was starting to outshine the ugliness somehow.        
At first, I thought this may be a sign that I was starting to become use to the unpleasant side.  That seeing the disagreeable features over and over was numbing my mind to them in some way.  And as a result, I was starting to accept them as OK.   I started to get angry with myself.  How could I ignore those that were suffering while only seeing the city’s splendor?
After some time and reflection I have come to a new understanding for my feelings.   It isn’t that I was becoming desensitized or unsympathetic to the problems that exist in Bangalore and in other parts of India.  I was recognizing the magnificence of the many amazing things the culture has to offer.  What I was seeing that was outshining the darker side was the positive changes that are taking place all over the city.  Images of hope and optimism for the future, for all residents of Bangalore.
I greatly enjoyed my time India and feel fortunate to have been able to experience all it has to offer, the bad and the good.  I hope to visit again in the future and continue my exploration of this wondrous country.