The land of memories is a place I often draft off to. I recall situations from my past and relive periods of my life in a few seconds. The other day we took an early boat ride on the Ganga. The moon was still the master of the skies and its light was reflected in the water. We slowly floated with the stream, in silence and watching people taking their morning baths in praise. When sitting there, in a boat, in the moonlight far away from home memories came floating on the river of my mind. Memories of my family, my friends and most of all – my country. Being in a place where the whole system of society is different and where people act and somewhat think in a different way than myself made me think of Sweden. I truly miss my country with the beautiful landscape, the familiar system and my beloved ones. I am saying this without the smallest bit of sadness. I want to be here in India and I like it here. I like that everything is different and I like to learn from people who see life from a different perspective. I believe people always can learn things from each other, no matter how different they are. Nevertheless, it is nice to just relax and think about home. This post is not about which culture is the “best”, I am of the opinion that for the most part there is no right or wrong, only different ways. This post is simply about a moment when cruising on a river thinking about the familiar far away.

As we continued our journey north and the sun joined us I started thinking more about how different we humans can think. This river considered holy by many Indians is to me literally disgusting because of all the sewage dumped in it. We had a lecture about the Ganga some weeks ago and we learned that there are people trying to clean the river and telling the society that they are destroying their mother. The response is often, “how could you say that about our mother Ganga, the river is holy, it cannot be dirty.”

Another thing I came across in my wonderings of thoughts was the notion of how much I like how I have been brought up. I like the “Swedish” way of organizing things. Don’t get me wrong, I am well aware of how multifaceted Sweden is and that there is no single Swedish way. My point is that when seeing people different from myself I became aware of how I have been taught to think and I like it. Being in India among people everywhere and a dirty holy river I can’t help but miss the beautiful landscape at home, the clear air and the widespread Swedish phenomenon “cozy Friday”.

My ride on the Ganges enriched my visit to India, not because of my memories of home but of the realization that even though I can’t understand some things I still can widen my perspective of life. I can appreciate being in a different place without having to leave myself and my perceptions of life behind. The important is to show love and respect, if you do it is alright to miss the street light, the word clean or your apartment even if you are cruising on a holy river.