it seems improbable that before a week is up i will be in india. unlikely and improbable.
here i am wrapping up warm everytime i venture outside the house. i have become accustomed to the yellow peeling leaves and the cool scottish air in autumn. the cool autumn air in scotland. here i am accustomed to cutting up root ginger into little pieces and letting them boil in water and infuse the water with fiery ginger warmth which makes the body glow from the inside. somebody told me that they use a lot of ginger in their cooking in india. sure enough, every time one scans the ingredients of a collection of spices called curry powder, ginger will be there. how do i even know that india exists? i have so far had no empirical proof, just documentaries seen on tv, and everytime i open an atlas i see the representation of a pointed mass of spicy land thrust southwards from the himalayan chain, protruding into the indian ocean, full stopped by a signature sri lankan teardrop.
it seems improbable that saudia arabian airlines have agreed to take me with them to india. however, all i need to do is go to my emails and there is the invoice corroborating that i will indeed fly with them. improbable and unnecessary. why do i need to be whisked through the air at such a speed? i wanted to travel gently, sensitively, i wanted to observe, i wanted to inch my way across the land, i wanted to feel the entire length of turkey, i wanted to traverse iran, to meet the iranians and meet the pakistanis and feel myself getting closer and closer to india. i wanted.... i wanted...... it can't be lamented now. i can't believe how much arbitrary authority those visa authorities have, at the mere flick of a pen they can decide the travel itinerary of a poor visa applicant. first of all i applied and they objected to my passport being tatty. "damaged" was the word they used (admittedly i had not looked after it over the years.) then i reapplied with a shiny new passport and they informed me that i could not enter india in may, as i had requested, that if they were to give me a visa it had to become valid immediately. how do some people manage to achieve adventurous long-distance bicycle itineraries in the face of such adamantine visa limitations? perhaps if i had gone to the visa application centre in person and voiced my objection in a resonable tone of voice and with a look of sincerity in my eyes... perhaps, in a less principled society, i could have slipped somebody a note somewhere and thus have been granted my desired visa and granted permission to follow my desired path.
in any case, i am cognisant of the great freedom of choice in my movements across the planet which puts me in a far more privileged position than the majority of world citizens who are cornered and clustered by the authorities in the same way that a crochety shepherd herds his troop of sheep.
i couldn't really give a comprehensive account of why exactly i have chosen to fly to india. i could call it a calling but i could likewise say that i simply want to be there. it actually feels like there is an invisible cord which links me to the indian landmass, and which has been tugging at me with undisguised insistence for the last couple of years. it is like an attraction between two people, or between two magnets, undeniable, irrepressible, implacable, unflagging. i think maybe i will meet somebody there who will change my life, or maybe someone else will meet me, and i will change their life. in any case, i feel that this tugging has gone on for long enough now, and the most opportune thing for me to do at this juncture is to forget about cycling (toilsome activity that it is) and to just fly there and get shot of the thing and then be able to get on with my life.
here i am wrapping up warm everytime i venture outside the house. i have become accustomed to the yellow peeling leaves and the cool scottish air in autumn. the cool autumn air in scotland. here i am accustomed to cutting up root ginger into little pieces and letting them boil in water and infuse the water with fiery ginger warmth which makes the body glow from the inside. somebody told me that they use a lot of ginger in their cooking in india. sure enough, every time one scans the ingredients of a collection of spices called curry powder, ginger will be there. how do i even know that india exists? i have so far had no empirical proof, just documentaries seen on tv, and everytime i open an atlas i see the representation of a pointed mass of spicy land thrust southwards from the himalayan chain, protruding into the indian ocean, full stopped by a signature sri lankan teardrop.
it seems improbable that saudia arabian airlines have agreed to take me with them to india. however, all i need to do is go to my emails and there is the invoice corroborating that i will indeed fly with them. improbable and unnecessary. why do i need to be whisked through the air at such a speed? i wanted to travel gently, sensitively, i wanted to observe, i wanted to inch my way across the land, i wanted to feel the entire length of turkey, i wanted to traverse iran, to meet the iranians and meet the pakistanis and feel myself getting closer and closer to india. i wanted.... i wanted...... it can't be lamented now. i can't believe how much arbitrary authority those visa authorities have, at the mere flick of a pen they can decide the travel itinerary of a poor visa applicant. first of all i applied and they objected to my passport being tatty. "damaged" was the word they used (admittedly i had not looked after it over the years.) then i reapplied with a shiny new passport and they informed me that i could not enter india in may, as i had requested, that if they were to give me a visa it had to become valid immediately. how do some people manage to achieve adventurous long-distance bicycle itineraries in the face of such adamantine visa limitations? perhaps if i had gone to the visa application centre in person and voiced my objection in a resonable tone of voice and with a look of sincerity in my eyes... perhaps, in a less principled society, i could have slipped somebody a note somewhere and thus have been granted my desired visa and granted permission to follow my desired path.
in any case, i am cognisant of the great freedom of choice in my movements across the planet which puts me in a far more privileged position than the majority of world citizens who are cornered and clustered by the authorities in the same way that a crochety shepherd herds his troop of sheep.
i couldn't really give a comprehensive account of why exactly i have chosen to fly to india. i could call it a calling but i could likewise say that i simply want to be there. it actually feels like there is an invisible cord which links me to the indian landmass, and which has been tugging at me with undisguised insistence for the last couple of years. it is like an attraction between two people, or between two magnets, undeniable, irrepressible, implacable, unflagging. i think maybe i will meet somebody there who will change my life, or maybe someone else will meet me, and i will change their life. in any case, i feel that this tugging has gone on for long enough now, and the most opportune thing for me to do at this juncture is to forget about cycling (toilsome activity that it is) and to just fly there and get shot of the thing and then be able to get on with my life.
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