Most people are good, kind and friendly.
I know it's a bold and radical statement. But it is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the eight days I spent along the Narmada River.
The pilgrimage unfolds in rural India, where life is simple and in tune with nature. It is an area that had experienced a massive and destructive flood only a few days before our passage.
Yet, almost everyone we met was willing to help with joy.
I have countless examples.
A couple with their small boat helped us get to the other side of a tributary too deep to ford. A whole village made a tractor appear to get us to our destination for the day because it was too late to walk. A group of men gathered on the village's main square and gave us chai while they found a vehicle so we could take a safer shortcut. A man followed us for twenty minutes in silence, only to tell us which road was right and then walked back.
I can go on and on.
What makes those people so good and kind? Are they special?
I wonder if that is who we all are if we lead a simple life, one in which there isn't so much pressure to compete and win, in which life is slower and more in tune with the environment, in which rules are replaced with trust.
I still have hope.