namaste india

India2012 from Zachary Reinert on Vimeo.

Ahhh blessed India. India she is such a wonderful mother. A country that taught me so much about life, love, surrender and truth. A country that filled my cup to the brim.  I feel a large part of me grew up in India and while, like many countries around the world she still has her downfalls; extremities of poverty and the influences that the Western consumerism movement impresses; she still has a devotional quality that permeates the soul beyond reason.

What is truly humbling about traveling in India is the incredibly conscious travel community that exudes a mutual respect between strangers no matter where they are from, how old they are, their background, their status nor their clothes and chosen path or way of being. The love between brothers and sisters who can hold hands in prayer and say 'namaste' to one another is so beautiful: "I honor the place in you where Spirit lives, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Truth, of Light, of Peace, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, then we are One."

This is so precious and can be lost in the world of the fast paced urbanised environments that western capitalist society seemingly encourages. I truly felt at home in the northern regions of India, the Himalayas, where the people are so beautifully shanti and kind. Words can't explain the experience of joy, peace and serenity that living amongst such magnificent giants can create. The Godliness of natural phenomena and the sound of waters charging down giant boulders in a place of constant change. One might feel the Earth between the toes while something magical is allowed when 'letting things be' even while the external world might challenge.

Floods of emotions hit me in India like tidal waves of karmic knots coming to be undone. A big wall I had built around my heart crumbled and even now I know, while in essence I am still the same old 'Brookesy' I always was (complete with flaws and funky dance moves); my sensititivities to the world around me, how I connect to people, to what I do for a living and what I see; is truly a new reality. I'm thankful for it despite struggling to fit back in the box at times.

This beautiful video created by Zachary Reinert captures some of the most magical moments to be had in that wonderfully divine place. I met Zachery's sister at a relaxing yoga retreat and farm in Buenos Aires and reconnected with her recently whilst in New York. I was buzzing in love as she shared this video with me. It features Mountain Cleaners NGO (now Waste Warriors) who I'd managed to persuade to come to Parvati Valley when the team launched recycling clean ups. It also features people I have connected with deeply on the road incidentally. Sometimes things just can't be explained but I hope the video illuminates a little of a world beyond form and brings some Indian magic to those yet to go.

Here are some photos taken from the recycling campaign we ran there. I've had some amazing jobs in my little lifetime although I must admit; I was never so genuinely in love with my work as I was picking up plastic bottles, making decorations and teaching children about recycling in the Northern regions of India. I don't know if I did it to cleanse my soul, to be the change I wanted to see in the world or to let go of someone I had been deeply in love with, but I do know that it was the most amazingly cathartic 'puja' (sanskrit for prayer) that I've ever performed in my life and I'm pretty happy to share that and hope anyone reading might take inspiration from it too.