And I think that the ability to do the things we wish with nobody in our environment trying to stop it, is one of the greatest privileges that someone can have.
I would change the quote "the happiest person is the one who needs the least, not the one who has the most" by "the happiest person is the one who can do what he needs, not the one who has the most".
This is something quite obvious, but it is not always easy to notice what is the thing that stops you from doing what you want. Assuming that the economic causes use to be critical, it is surprising to notice that the cultural, religious causes, or because of the what-they-are-saying cause, can deny the normal and natural desires of the people and guide their destiny from the cradle to the grave. It is particularly astonishing how the family relations or love relations between two people, or even the life of a son born out of wedlock, now, in the XXI century, are subject to some "honor" code based on some thousand and some years old scriptures, which place women in a subhuman role, and with a more than questionable morality. I think that the culture is positive as long as it does not go against the pure and natural human behaviour, and we must be subtle but rigorous when we have to define what is culture and what is just savagery.
It is also quite surprising the dirty, chaos, pollution and noise conditions in which many people live. And it is surprising to see how people still adapt to it. The first question that came into my mind during this cultural shock was: How can they withstand that?
The answer came instantaneously: just because there is no other choice. To withstand or to die.
As the orbital travels will be, hopefully in a hundred years, a routine scholar trips in order to stimulate the Overview Effect in the mind of the children, it would be very positive if every first world person does this kind of educational travel at lest once in life. Firstly, to be aware of the true problems we are facing as a species (hunger, pollution, scarcity of natural resources, overpopulation), and secondly to notice that we the people are actually more tough and adaptable to changes than we use to think.
At least, from my point of view, we travel to learn and to change our perspective about life. But sometimes it seems that when we travel we are more worry about taking zillions of pictures instead of feeling the experience, and India is some of those places where there are more to learn rather than good places that deserve pictures. Few exceptions apart, any typical picture you may take of something (the cow/goat grazing at the street, the neverending slums suburbs full of garbage and dirt, the typical colonial era building) is difficult to be a great picture. This is those kind of places where it is better just to stare at what is going around you and to try to understand it in some sense, and the best way to do it is through the people.
In general, the indian people are friendly and open, and it is easy to start a conversation with the locals or with the other travellers. The conversations with the locals are (excluding the annoying touts and scammers) from my point of view, the best way to experience and learn from India. Whether you speak with a muslim or a hindu you will learn quite different worlds. They will be open in many times to explain to you whatever you want to ask or to help you if you get lost. They also use to have a big couriosity about the place you come from or what do you for a living, and if they look at you more than 10 seconds, it is likely that they just want to talk with you and ask you something or just have a picture together. In these moments smiling is the best way to break the ice.
Dubai (EAU) - Mumbai (30/Oct) plane
Bombay - Agra (1-2/Nov) train
Agra - Delhi (2) train
Delhi - Agra (4) train
Agra - Delhi (5) bus
Delhi - Varanasi (7-8) train
Varanasi - Gorakhpur (8) train
Gorakhpur - Sunauli (8) bus
Sunauli - Pokhara (Nepal) (8-9) bus
