1. Four years ago, on this day, four of us completed a road trip from London to Bangalore. 20 countries, 78 days, 25k kms and innumerable memories. Biggest learning - we are all ONE HUMAN RACE across the world. We are built to love and support each other.
2. 20 countries, 6 immigration checkposts, 78 days, many government employees to deal with, lots of paperwork. Guess how much bribe we had to pay during the entire trip? ZERO. Yes, you read that right. ZERO. People are amazing - by default.
3. The amount of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND SUPPORT we got from people from all walks of life across so many regions of the world - simply unbelievable. Man to man, woman to woman, person to person - all we witnessed was the intent to help, support and love.
4. Skin color didn't matter. Race didn't matter. Religion didn't matter. Nation didn't matter. We connected with them. They connected with us. We were all curious about each other. And really open.
5. Race, Religion, Nation - these are all intangible concepts that helped the human race aggregate in numbers higher than 150(Harari Yuval in "Brief history of mankind"). And this ability to identify with an intangible common cause allowed us to become superior to other species
6. Yet, unfortunately it is these intangible concepts that divide us today. National beliefs, racist beliefs, religious beliefs. How ironic! What helped us eons ago is killing us today. I have no doubt that our innate instinct is to love and support. Some examples from our trip
7. We met one russian family of three (mom, dad and son) at a parking lot in slovenia. They helped us on so many fronts - free russia maps for our GPS device and many other tips. They told us to reach out to them when we hit moscow.
8. So we did. They took us to their parents place on the outskirts. His mom (~65 years) cooked a vegetarian meal for us in Russia! We spent the night there. They let us go only when we accepted gifts from their garden (vegetables, berries). They also gave us road trip supplies..
9. In a random countryside gas station in Kazakhstan, they gave us free petrol, chocolates and biscuits. All smiles, genuine warmth and love. You couldn't miss it if you tried hard.
10. At the russian border, a russian policewoman spent 30 minutes with us explaining in sign language what we needed to do and what forms to fill. She was smiling throughout. When we finished, she celebrated with a jump and huge huge cheer. And wished us luck
11. We were in a police station in China to complete some registration formalities. Things got delayed for hours. The policeman profusely apologised. He treated us like guests, not like criminals. Got us things to eat and coffee. Who would have guessed that this was possible?
12. We had a flat tyre in the Chinese countryside. Our tools broke and we needed help. An SUV stopped. A Chinese family helped us. The man insisted that he fix the tyre for us. After he finished, his hands were doing a namaste and he said "Welcome to China" !
13. A chinese family that ran a village store (monthly revenue not more than 200 USD) insisted on giving us free icecream and water bottles. When you see someone who has very little and they are still so giving, it hits a reset button in your head.
14. The trip taught us that all of us in this planet are genuine, caring, loving, supportive by default. That is how we enter this earth. A lot of things change us from our default state. Education, religion, caste, race, etc. Its time we question these influences and change them
15. Trust each other, support each other. You won't believe how full your heart will be and how beautiful the world can be! 🌍❤️
🍁 Depicted from - Bharath Devanathan's Twitter
🌟 Follow me - Hrishikesh Kashyap
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