- A 21-year-old African traveller shared five profound lessons from his India journey on Instagram
- He highlighted India’s past 25% share of global GDP and colonial impact on its civilisation
- The traveller described sensory overload in India as a moment of intense presence and surrender
A 21-year-old African solo traveller has gone viral on Instagram after sharing five profound lessons from his journey across India. In a now-viral Instagram post, the user named @hunchsquare reflected on the country's resilient civilisation, drawing parallels between the shared colonial history of India and Africa. His raw insights highlighted India's historical global GDP share, sensory intensity, deep spirituality, and unique architecture.
In the viral clip, the man can be seen attending the spiritually-enriching evening aarti on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, the oldest city in the world. The man pointed out that India was once the richest civilisation on the planet, but colonisation took a toll on the once glorious empire.
"Before colonisation, India held 25 per cent of global GDP. Walking through it now, the crumbling grandeur, the gold inside temples surrounded by poverty, you feel that wound everywhere. It hits different when you're African," the traveller wrote.
The man claimed that despite the sensory overload upon landing in India, it was the most 'present' he had felt in a moment.
"The horns, the smells, the colours, the bodies, the noise, all at once, all the time. Your brain gives up trying to filter and you just surrender. Strangely, it's the most present I've ever felt."
As for spirituality, the foreigner said he cried unprovoked as emotions that had been bubbling on the surface came to the fore, without any warning.
"The spirituality here cracked something open in me. Not in a tourist way. The rituals, the devotion, the sheer sincerity of it — it bypassed my defences. Emotions I didn't know I was carrying just surfaced. I cried and didn't fully know why."
Describing India as a fantasy world, the man said he was in awe of the architecture, chaos and the colours, which did not feel at times.
"Like someone rendered a civilisation from pure imagination. I kept thinking: nothing I grew up watching prepared me for this," he said.
"Looted but never fully broken. The British took everything they could. And yet the soul of this place is unmistakable and intact. There's a lesson in that I'm still processing."
Check The Viral Post Here:
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'Brilliantly Put Together'
As of the last update, the viral video had amassed over 3.49 lakh views and earned widespread praise from social media users who lauded his honest and positive perspective on the nation's surviving soul.
"Glad you tapped into the positives that India has to offer! Cheers," said one user while another added: "You're more Indian than many. Good to have people like you in our country."
A third commented: "Words like these have never been so brilliantly put together for India on the internet before. It's the calm in the chaos that's what makes it home."
A fourth said: "Ups and downs are part of the story, brother. The most important point is our civilisation survived and is now recovering and will thrive again. Happy to see you in India and having learned all this already! Keep visiting, brother! Lots of love to you."
