It is here, it is here, it is here

I knew at some point, when I would return from my trip, my friends would ask me, as if in passing, "How was India?". The fact that I am asked a question that requires me to summarize two months worth of roller-coasting emotions, physical distresses and spiritual realizations in under twelve minutes (the average attention span of a human being), I realized that it would be much easier thinking of a easy catch-phrase that summarizes India in seven words or less. I toyed with ideas like "insanity in an oven" and "where shit really does happen", but I realized that I wasn't cutting India any slack by just summarizing it's country in solely negative phrases. Absolutely, there were moments when good things, very good things, happened as well. Tasting refrigerated bottled water after one week of incessant sweating and drinking luke warm pre-boiled water would be one of these things. Or lying in a air-conditioned room on a bed with clean sheets after having to sleep on a sarong thrown over a hard mattress for 8 nights straight would be another. Or, my favorite, finding a toilet three seconds before you realize you're going to unload your mess all over your underpants and then successfully using it, all to realize that there is no water to flush the stinking rot because the entire water system is shut off in the flat and you're this is in your uncle's house because he gave you his house keys and asked you to check the place out to make sure it's OK while in Delhi. But remember the goal -I didn't go in my underpants.
Point being, these are some of the simplest pleasures in life that I would not have learned to appreciate had it not been for India. So when I finally decided to pick one catch phrase that could summarize all of India in seven words or less, I decided that it would be "heaven and hell all in one place." Because it is. I saw some of the most horrifying sights I have ever seen in my life (seeing a cute mutt get run over by a truck and then watching it die as we drove past it) but also some of the most beautiful acts of God that I have ever witnessed as well (when we took a helicopter ride along the road to Amarnath cave). Nothing comes close to this spectrum experienced in one single country.
But I feel that if there is a place in India that takes this theme of heaven and hell being in one place and goes on crack, it would have to be Kashmir. Jehangir, a 17th century Mughal emperor, once wrote about Kashmir and said, "If there is paradise anywhere on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here." Looking at the violence and stark terrorism that is and has been present in Kashmir since the late 80's, it would be no surprise that some would outright disagree with Jehangir. But I agree with him, only because of how I define paradise on Earth. If you look at the world in this last century, with the boom in population, you can see that almost anything that comes close to paradise (i.e. anything natural that is extremely beautiful or inspiring on this earth) tends to be discovered and subsequently exploited or fought over within the next 5-10 years. Whether it's appreciating one of the ancient wonders of the world in Ephesus, Turkey and then having that view be interrupted by a bus full of German tourists unloading themselves right in front of your moment or just watching a place like Cancun, Mexico go from pristine, virgin beauty to commercialization-central in under 20 years, you can quickly see that once something has been discovered, it is then on a time-bomb to inevitable world ravaging. Although Kashmir is a little more complicated than this idea, in my opinion, it is no surprise that a place as beautiful and as incredible as Kashmir is being shrouded by war and terrorism. Paradise on earth is a awe-inspiring place that comes with a very heavy price.