7 Life Lessons You Only Learn Living In India

Considering its population size and diversity, as well as its rich millennia-deep history, India is undoubtedly a strong candidate to impart several valuable life lessons. We’ve rounded up a list of the seven most important and relevant life lessons you can learn only when you live in the country.

Be patient

When you’re sharing a country with a billion other folks, you will find yourself with no option but to cultivate endless patience. Whether you are waiting for an overworked bureaucrat to finish your visa paperwork or pulling yourself through the eighth dance sequence in the four-hour Bollywood movie you are watching, patience is what you need to hold on to.

There’s always a way

Where there’s a will, there’s a way – regardless of the origins of this phrase, there’s nowhere more equipped to teach you this than India. Jugaad culture – which involves finding low-cost, inventive, constructive ways to make things happen – makes this country the incomparably resourceful centre of innovation that it is. Whether it’s an Indian company inventing an upside down umbrella to collect and purify water, Dharavi school girls building apps to solve problems faced by fellow slum dwellers, or Mumbaikars finding ways to squeeze in 5,000 folks in a train meant to carry 1,700 – Indians are constantly finding new ways.

There’s more that unites us than divides us

India runs on what it calls ‘unity in diversity’ and that translates to how we’re all human, the same as any of the 1,600 language speakers, 29 state dwellers or 10 different religious followers. India teaches and practices co-existence like arguably no other place on earth can, and there’s no better philosophy to ground yourself with when faced with the country’s incredible diversity.

Never be quick to judge

India is a land of constant surprises – not just for visitors but for those who’ve lived here as well. At blame for its unpredictability are its billion-plus strong population, hundreds of languages and local subcultures, and thousands of years of complex history. You’re always better off making less assumptions, about a particular street foods’ ability to burn a hole through your gut, about a seemingly innocent granny’s ability to scam you out of your life savings, and so on.

You don’t need much to have a good time

Throwing aside religious, class and social differences, and pressing issues of all sorts, Indians still come together to celebrate hundreds of festivals every year. The country wouldn’t exist so peacefully if its people didn’t constantly find ways to unwind, celebrate and party-it-up in whatever form. India does Diwali, Holi, Christmas, Eid-al-Fitr, and way too many more festivals to even keep track of, with unmatched grandeur – all you need is the spirit to celebrate.

It’s okay to ask for help

There’s no way to get by in India without some cooperation from your fellow humans. India can be an unnecessarily overwhelming experience when you don’t enlist the help of those around you. And so if you find yourself lost, confused or in need of a second opinion, ask someone around you.

It’s always better to be courteous

Of course, this is a globally applicable lesson, but one that particularly needs reminding when you’re living in India. It’s easy to get frustrated when you’re not particularly in the mood to co-exist, share or be patient with your billion-plus fellow residents, but there’s no point being rude or acting out your frustration.