Educating your family for their future, not our past.
In today's flat world, multicultural competencies are an absolute. With that in mind, the Kemper Valentines headed to the Indian subcontinent in December 2007 for a month.
Incredible India! India, India, everywhere, as they say at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It was an opportunity for our daughters, Kelsey ( 17 )and Christina ( 15 ) to experience a land that is becoming increasingly important in their lives. India's emerging economy, especially in the field of information technology makes them a global player. This is education for their future, not our past.
We flew from Dulles and, after one flight change, took the overnight to New Delhi.Mohan, our remarkable travel agent and head of Travel Scope ( India) Pvt Ltd, met us at the airport with his assistants. I already felt he was almost a part of our family, since we'd been exchanging mails daily for nearly six months, planning and mapping this adventure. My goal was to alternate exotic adventures and periences with interludes of luxury and glamour. Mohan orchestrated the perfect combination.
Exotic adventures bewitched us, there were so many - a tiger safari where we rode on elephants (better than the other way around!); lived with the resident Holy Man respectfully addressed as Swamiji at Anant Van, an eco-lodge in the jungles of Central India.
Wandering through villages; camel rides in the desert watching the riotous sun sets ; horseback adventures to 12 century temples with picnic lunch, Indian style; bazaar visits and shopping; seemingly endless conversations about dependence,learning about Rajputs of Rajasthan, about their Maharanis and Maharajas, the spread and lasting influences of Mughals and their decline, the poignant love story of the Taj Mahal, and the JEWELS of India…..... all so exotic and fabulous and rich.
Our senses were so often overwhelmed. Vibrant colors, ever-present noise of laughter, music and traffic jouncing over roads that resembled cratered paths. Panoply of smells everywhere, including food being cooked outdoors over wooden or charcoal fires, whose aromas presaged their flavors. In places, though, we could've done with better toilets....
Personal aspects of the Indian culture shone forth individually and collectively - their spirituality involving a pantheon of gods, beliefs and rituals; their warm hospitality; their friendly open faces, their love of Americans, their family connections; their respect for elephants, cows and other animals, for the planet, indeed for the whole connected cosmos. Their habit of standing so close when they talked for in their world they don't share our concept of personal space.
A vivid image best evokes the juxtaposition of tradition and innovation that is India today, people along the roadside smiling and waving, in saris and turbans that blazed with colors rarely seen in fabric, laying fiber optic cables in ditches that they shoveled with their hands. We're so glad our children saw it, so glad they understand or will in time all that it implies for their future.
It’s the contrasts about the country that is so remarkable and the fact that every experience is contained in this one country. Each one of the experiences engaged our senses and effected our emotions.
The horse back adventure through the rugged Aravalli hills, riding through dried river beds, semi arid plains on thorough-bred Marwari horses was a unanimous adventure highlight. Riding into the sunset on camel back gently swaying, the sky crimson overhead was our idea of exotic romance.
Riding an elephant and sighting the Royal Bengal Tiger in flesh and blood in its natural habitat was the ultimate wildlife highlight. Staying at the Taj Lake Palace, a floating palace on a lake in the incredibly beautiful city of Udaipur was a luxury highlight. A vegetarian meal at Mohan’s home, that provided us an insight into the life and daily living of an Indian family, an inclusive existence which is increasingly becoming alien was a ________ highlight.
We could go on and on, there were so many “wow” moments. In the end we agreed that another trip was essential for factual evaluation.
