A Month in India
Nestled at 4000m above sea level amongst Himalayan peaks live small communities of nomadic Tibetan refugees. In one such village, a handful of families dressed in their finest attire, anticipating the arrival of a very special person.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Lamas are respected spiritual guides, a bit like the famous Dalai Lama. One of the village’s nearby Lamas had tragically died in a car accident a few years earlier at just thirty years old. Within the Buddhist faith, this isn’t the end, however. They believe that Lamas reincarnate into new bodies to continue their work. In this case, the reincarnated Lama had recently been discovered in the form of a 2-year-old boy.
Sadhus are Hindu monks, relinquishing worldly possessions in pursuit of a life centered on spirituality.
I hopped into the back of a truck with some locals to greet this young boy as he entered the village along with his convoy of 4 cars, escorted around like a rock star. Upon entering the village, everyone lined up to receive a blessing.
While this day seems absolutely surreal looking back on it now, my month in India was filled with many moments just like this one where community and spirituality were front and centre. At the Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest human gathering, I watched millions of Hindus take a sacred plunge to wash away sins and, hopefully, their cycle of rebirth. In Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India and the longest continuously inhabited city, I saw pilgrims arrive to spend their final days by the Ganges, their bodies cremated in the open as smoke rose against the ancient skyline. Along the riverbanks, Sadhus in tents had renounced worldly possessions, trading careers and comforts for a life entirely devoted to spirituality.
My month zig-zagging across India can’t be wrapped up in a neat little package. But one thing that sets it apart from home in Vancouver is how relentlessly alive it feels. Life doesn’t hide here—it spills into the streets in an untrammeled flood of noise, color, and humanity. From the nonstop chorus of honks and chatter in crowded cities, to families bundled together in stone houses high in the mountains for warmth, you’re never more than a stone’s throw away from another story waiting to unfold.
What felt like a never ending grind to the summit for me was the daily commute for these mountainous shepherds.
Ladakh
Varanasi
Urban Centres & Kumbh Mela
BTS
Thanks for sticking through my India photo dump! To wrap it up, here are a few behind-the-scenes shots—ranging from struggling to walk up a mountain due to improper acclimatization to a small sample of the never-ending stream of selfies I got asked to join as a foreigner in India.
