INDIA: Obliteration V Contemplation

A moment of chaos so often allows, in hindsight, great perspective. India; a land home to the deep art of contemplation, yet obliterated by the wild existence of life. Before me sits a picture; a train. Said image is the first result from my Google search for "India Madness". The mind is instantly a witness to its own culture shock. Each body stacked like a match stick. Many souls, each with his own potential to ignite in brilliance. Each exists within his own flurry of futile freedom and fight. An image so removed from the western comfort of my air conditioned commute. An incredible perspective that is so void of luxury, yet so full of life. STRIKE! My eyes are drawn to many who are smiling. Of them, who will be my first potential candidate? An arm peaks out the pile, stretched above the rest. Two fingers extend a sign of peace amidst the chaos. Peace; a reference that divides and unites so many. A throw back. A cultural reference. A thought shared by many, but experienced by few. He reaches out to be seen in the photo; an opportunistic moment to travel across continents, although he may never get to himself. He is on the way home from work, like the thousands that hang beside and below him. An Indian boy named Babala, meaning 'above,' looks idly to the stars, constantly searching for hope. But looking back down this road he travels, he waves, like the millions who have before him. And then he thinks, “How did I end up here?”

[image available here; http://goo.gl/rr7wgC]