Saturday 6 September 2014

street scenes: kalpetta


Humans are very good at adapting. This is what makes us such strong survivalists; this is why we are at the top of the food chain. It has to be so- imagine what it would be like if we weren't. A planet full of people who freak out when their situation changes equals a planet full of lunatics flapping about like headless chickens...we'd crash into each other, there would be blood everywhere, we'd all have our shirts on backwards. A funny sight to see perhaps, but not a very productive species. 

The downside to all this kick-ass adaptation is that we also have the tendency to take things for granted. You know it, we all do it. The scenery, the lifestyle, the whatever it is that is so amazing becomes deadened by over-exposure, becomes the norm. Seriously, Will and I have been traveling for eighteen months and we have begun to think that hopping from country to country whenever we get a whim is normal; we have stopped seeing the incredible in what we are doing (only sometimes though...other times we will be doing something and I will just stop and think wow, we are doing this). 

And so with India. Everything about this place is insane. Really, everything. But after four months of living here we have kind of stopped seeing it. So it was a happy email I received from my young cousin the other day, asking for photographs of India for her school project. Now I had something to force me to look around, to be a tourist in our local town again. I not only had to keep my eyes open for the unusual, I had to seek it out. Turns out, it was the easiest thing ever. Because once I started to look around with my 'Australia' eyes, everything was unusual, everything was a photo opportunity.

So thank you Riley Mae, for making me open my eyes and remember where I am.
















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