India wasn’t loud in the way I expected. Beyond the movement, the colour, the chaos… there was something else. A quiet that sat underneath it all. Something steady. Up in the foothills of the Himalyays, time stretched. Days slowed down. Conversations became fewer, but somehow more meaningful. There was less need to explain yourself, less need to fill space.
It was here I had a moment I didn’t fully understand at the time. A simple exchange. A necklace placed in my hand with three words… pay it forward. No long conversation. No explanation. Just presence. Silence has a way of doing that. It doesn’t ask for meaning. It lets you feel it.
