The guide books preach about spirituality and waves of colour. All I saw was a colourful ocean of trash, poverty and an upper class society that reeked of ignorance. I have zero time for the wealthy native in this dark place.
I didn't meet a single person who wasn't embroiled in some sort of exploitation. Understandably, the lower castes, steal, manipulate and scam their way through life, but it is no fault of their own, you would, I would. It is the fault of those born into money and they use reincarnation like a used condom to justify what they allegedly earnt in life.
"I was a good person in a former life and I am being rewarded."
Go fuck yourself I say! Horrible cunts.
The nicest folk I engaged with in India were Muslims. A group of people who are blamed for everything and anything that goes wrong. At the time Modi's right-wing nationalist government would send death squads into peaceful Islamic neighbourhoods, basically a modern attempt at fascist cleansing.
Propaganda is a powerful tool. Even the poorest Hindu was corrupted by the scraps of newspaper articles they would find blowing in the streets.
Do I think India is fixable?
First off, I'm just a photographer with an opinion. I feel the same way about the USA. Which to mean is basically a collection of unequal states which should be ultimately independent like Europe. The state of Odisa is as equally neglected as parts of Mississippi.
It's an impossible task for a single Government to manage such vast amounts of populated land. It acts as a cancer on local economies, it allows corruption to slip through the cracks and because it's sooooo bloody darn big, the bigger picture is masked by distance.
I'll wrap this up with a positive note haha, sorry for being a proper negative influence on your day. People are generally nice and like I said in my last post, we are all born equal without prejudice, it's just a shame the world as we know it corrupts that innocence.
I will end with this. I love all you hivers more than anything. You've changed my life, gave me hope and I wish you all the best in life.
Have a nice day,
Cotton & D.