Through the ages, India has been the land of profound journeys, sandalwood and saffron. A spiritual quest for those looking beyond fame and fortune, for a higher purpose. Those looking to move past their sense of disconnection, loss, pain or confusion. And those open to exploring new definitions of happiness. A land where answers to complex questions can be found in the simplicity of its life. India has always welcomed the seekers and offered them a chance to experience something bigger than themselves, something that grounds them and reboots them.

It's not the 330 million deities or the 200,000 gurus, that impresses the seekers. It’s the existence of all these in tandem that blows them away. It’s the multitude of faiths, languages, clothing and cuisines that co-exist peacefully albeit noisily, in the same confined space, that ends up making an indelible impression on western minds. India has written the playbook on diversity and inclusivity, the urgent need for which is just being felt in the West. Not just cultural diversity, India has always offered diversity in belief systems. While striding forward on the highway to technology, India has kept its deep connection with nature and the earth not just alive, but active. It has never veiled or aggrandized either life or death and retains a detached approach to the timeless circle of life. India stands for possibilities, not absolutism. It embodies hope and celebrates the potential good in everyone. Roughly translated, this means that any person no matter regardless of his actions in life has the opportunity to self-correct and redeem themself, thereby reaching their highest potential. India believes that it is never too late to awaken to one’s latent wisdom. Every day presents an opportunity for us to grow and be more sentient than we were the day before.

Through ancient practices like yoga and ayurveda, India offers a journey into the self, a familiarization of one’s own mind and body, and a chance to learn how to gain control over both. One who can control his own breath and thereby his own emotions, can take the reins of his life in his hands, and not be pushed around by circumstance. Simple wisdom, that is even more relevant today in the post-pandemic landscape, which has left so many physically ravaged and mentally disturbed.

It’s the acceptance of duality or the existence of alternate realities side by side, that often leads to the most profound perspective shift. Nature is not just revered, it is prayed to, by the country’s most successful, Oxbridge-educated coders and geneticists. The Indian billionaire is as comfortable as his forefathers eating with his bare hands, as he is with using chopsticks or fish knives. Palatial duplexes and penthouses rub noses with shanties and slums, keeping it real for the residents of both. There is daily interaction between people from different classes of society, in homes and offices. Everyone celebrates every festival with vigour and noise, regardless of their faith. So confident is India of its innate wisdom and sense of self, that it has withstood multiple foreign invasions and occupations over the centuries. And emerged stronger and wiser, more tolerant, and infinitely stronger.

What India offers to the quintessential seeker is and has always been, one simple word of advice: mindfulness. Observation, reflection and awareness. In everything, one does and every moment one lives. A half-lived present, is a future nearly lost. Watching and experiencing every breath, observing every sensation - pleasure or pain, savouring every bite, auditing every thought, word and deed. In other words, shifting one’s focus from external to internal, to the self. Because that’s where the answer to every significant question lies. We are preprogrammed in a sense, with all the answers. Life and its challenges throw us off track. As we shift focus to the external, we begin to feel disconnected, seeking validation from people and things, which never seems enough. The result is a feeling of discontent with everything and everyone. Because we have lost ourselves. India has been the metaphorical nudge for seekers all over the world. It has steered lost souls back to themselves. Often with answers that are far bigger and more profound than the very questions they were pursuing.

So ask yourself the big question, and stand by for the most profound journey you have ever taken. Within yourself.