So I went to India to visit one of my gays who's nickname only makes sense in American sign language. It would literally translate to bright moon light. But I guess we'll call him moon. I was very worried about this trip. I had no idea what I was going to name my travel album, I didn't even have a hash tag when I got on the plane. I also wanted this to be an ethical trip. I wanted to go and learn without placing the burden of teaching me on the people kind enough to keep me. I didn't want to promote western ideas, I want to sit back, shut up, and listen to other people. More importantly I didn't want to be the American who comes over eats some food, learns some words, buys a sari and thinks they know India. I have to belive there is an ethical way to travel even for the ethically impaired, such as myself. (Wanted to name my album bollywood, didn't for obvious reasons). I was in places that just breathed life into your lungs. It's busy, hot, everybody trying to get by the best way they know how. Moon lives in a huge tower almost like a prince, or mafia. They have 2 servants, 2 cooks, two drivers, and anything else their little heart desires. I thought I would go to India and it would look like home. But despite years of occupation the part of Mumbai I was in looked as a child would think it ought to and then some. Temples were beautiful huge white buildings with gold adornment. There were coconut trees everywhere, along with lots of other fruit trees. Cows! Lots of cows and stay dogs. My first night I was surprised to see the city so alive in the middle of the night. I ended up naming the album paradise after the Coldplay album because of my first night there. I saw these two broths laying out in divider for the highway on some slabs of concrete looking up at the stars before they went to sleep. My first reaction was wow how beautiful that must be to sleep under the stars like that. Only when I was safely in my friend's apartment laying on his deck, with a fan and ice water, (cuz its freaking hot) did I realize there is no nuance in it for them because that is these two boys everyday (they are homeless and don't have a choice in the matter) I expected India to be very heavily influenced but it's resilient and refuses to give up. I got a paradise, lush, hot, and on the water. But for those who live there under the same stars I find so memorizing what do they dream about when they close their eyes? What does paradise look like to them and am I living it? Could this be paradise?
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