Indian Hospitality and the kindness of many...

Anyone who has visited India knows this, and for anyone who has ever considered visiting, this should motivate you to visit... the way Indian people (& especially in India) treat visitors/their guests is the most amazing thing ever.  They also don't like being thanked for anything they do (I am forever being told I am "too formal!"), so if the people that I am so thankful for are reading this, they're going to scold me for it later, but I can't help myself!

When I first decided that I was going to come to Mumbai, in addition to all the excitement, I had massive anxiety because in all my previous trips, I had stayed with family whereas in Mumbai, other than my new couple friends from my last trip in March and the younger brother of one of my closest friends, I really knew no one.  Thankfully, the universe was on my side in connecting me to people who would help me have the courage to not just think about going but to actually go as well as the most wonderful people in the motherland.

For example, the very day I decided to go to Mumbai, I got a Facebook friend request from someone I personally wasn't familiar with, but was connected to tons of my friends, so I accepted the request.  As with any new FB friend addition, I scoped out his profile and saw the kind of work he was involved in.  Right then, I decided to adopt a "no shame, no gain" attitude, reached out to him, overshared my random plans and asked if he wouldn't mind connecting with me.  The next day, we ended up speaking for an hour and a half; the call was originally scheduled for for 30 minutes (he rescheduled a meeting mid-call).  Learning about his work and his life was incredibly inspirational, and I was blown away that someone who I'd normally put in a whole other realm than me (you know, because othey were big and important) was so supportive and willing to help me with my efforts.  On a side note, during the call, he also revealed that he'd accidentally requested me as a friend because he thought I was another Smile Moon!  As we continued to connect almost every week thereafter, I thanked my stars for his lil' blooper and hoped that he eventually found his real SM-friend.

From that moment on, I basically reached out to everyone and anyone I could think of who might have some connection to Mumbai or know someone who might.  It was no shock to me that my close friends did everything they could to help me, but I was completely blown away by the willingness of people - most of whom I hadn't seen in years (many who were friends from my undergrad days & hadn't seen or even spoken to in close to a decade - my god, I graduated from college almost a decade ago...) and even completely random people who I would never have though would have even responded to me.

What blew me away even more was some of the people - again, the really big and important type - who these friends were willing to connect me to.  Very quickly my attitude transformed from one of not only "no shame, no gain" but if you don't ask, you shall never receive and more than anything, people are kind. 

& after my first few days in Mumbai, I can say that people are not only kind, but that they are amazingly generous.  From my now-very good friend (who almost 2 weeks ago was essentially a stranger) who picked me up from the airport and since then has talked to my frantic mom several times on the phone (if she doesn't hear from every day and within a certain amount of time, she calls him!), driven absurd lengths to get me from one place to another and gone out of his way to introduce me to people and make sure I have the true Mumbai experience to the family friends (who I had just met briefly a few months ago at my best friend's wedding) and have gone above and beyond to have me stay at their guest house, make every arrangement to ensure that I am comfortable, make every one of their personal resources available to me, I am completely taken aback by all of it.  & of course, in true SM-style, I'm feeling terribly guilty about all this kindness I'll never be able to repay.

Since all I can do is be grateful, from the bottom of my heart, I really want to thank everyone - family, friends, acquaintances & complete strangers - who have helped me with everything from giving me advice, networking for in-Mumbai opportunities/friends, helping with arrangements, playing devil's advocate and moral support.  & to my new in-Mumbai friends thank you for so warmly welcoming me to your city; I have no idea how this experience is going to play out, but I do know that I have made some friends for life in all of you. It's only been 2 weeks, but I have already had some of the best conversations, eaten the most amazing food, and had some of my most fun times (one of my fave fun times was our Anthaakshari car ride!) ever in this short amount of time.

K, well that's it on that.  Going forward, I will definitely blog about my in-India experiences, but I also want to start the discussion on South Asian dating again.  I figured I'd start with taking a poll, and please know that although I am seeking the opinion of many, I'm the go-with-my-gut and do-what-I-want-type, so please don't be surprised if I choose to do exactly the opposite of what the majority says.

POLL QUESTION (Answer to the right - above "Blog Archive"):


While in India, should my family place a matrimonial ad for me? (not with the intention of me meeting a guy settled here, but an Indian guy settled in the US - US citizen or not)  

** If you personally have placed an ad or know someone who has & have any stories - good or bad - to share about the experience, I'd appreciate it, and please check out the comments to see a previous comment from a reader about their experience with the newspaper route **


Thanks & write soon ~ SmileMoon :)