A Change Is Going to Come

The question is, to whom? India or myself? Let’s look at the odds. India is 63 years old in name, centuries old in reality, and has over a billion people behind her. I am young and alone. Oh yeah, I’m also a foreigner and let’s not forget that I’m a woman in a hugely patriarchal society.

It doesn’t take a genius to guess whose going to win this war but let me just be clear about something, it is I who am choosing to let India win. Actually it’s come down to an ultimatum of sorts, change or suffer the consequences. Over the past week, I have been suffering at the hands of India. But what’s worse is that I’ve been making others suffer too. Suffer the consequences of my diminishing patience, my increasing frustration, and a feeling of helplessness that seeps out like a poison in the form of bitterness to nearly everyone and everything around me.

It’s not good. Not good for me or for India. And with four months left, things can’t continue as they are. So, I’m going to do us both a favour, stop trying to change India, and start changing myself instead. I will be patient. I will smile through my frustration and laugh through my anger. I will not expect anything to happen on time. I will handle miscommunications with ease. I will forgive what I view to be incompetence in others. I will bear in mind that I neither know nor understand everything and will withhold judgment. I will breathe deeply, contain the poison, and eventually banish it altogether.

I hereby congratulate India on her victory and vow to graciously accept defeat. However, India be warned, just because you’ve won the war doesn’t mean I won’t triumph in a few carefully chosen battles!