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African man shares 5 lessons he learned after travelling solo across India: 'Feels like a fantasy world'
The foreign traveller spoke about India’s colonial past and the emotional impact it had on him as an African visitor.
A 21-year-old African solo traveller has shared 5 profound lessons from his time in India, saying the country’s spirituality, chaos and history deeply changed the way he sees the world.
In an Instagram post, user @hunchsquare reflected on his experiences travelling across India alone. The video showed him attending the evening Ganga aarti in Varanasi. “I lived in India solo as a 21-year-old African. Here’s what I learned,” the text overlay on the clip read.
In the caption, the traveller spoke about India’s colonial past and the emotional impact it had on him as an African visitor. “This place was once the richest civilization on earth. Before colonization, India held 25% of global GDP,” he wrote.
“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,” he added.
The man also described India as an overwhelming but strangely grounding experience. “Nothing prepares you for the sensory overload. The horns, the smells, the colours, the bodies, the noise — all at once, all the time,” he wrote.
“Your brain gives up trying to filter and you just surrender. Strangely, it’s the most present I’ve ever felt,” the traveller said.
He also said that India’s spirituality had an unexpectedly emotional effect on him. “The rituals, the devotion, the sheer sincerity of it — it bypassed my defenses,” he wrote. “Emotions I didn’t know I was carrying just surfaced. I cried and didn’t fully know why,” he said.
The traveller went on to describe India as feeling like “a fantasy world”, saying the architecture, colours and chaos felt unlike anything he had previously experienced. “It doesn’t feel real. Like someone rendered a civilization from pure imagination,” he wrote.
In his final reflection, the traveller said he was struck by India’s resilience despite its colonial history. “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,” he wrote.
(Also Read: Australian traveller praises hospitality of Northeast India after 3 weeks in Meghalaya: ‘Wouldn't take any money’)
Social media reactions
In the comments sections, social media users appreciated his perspective on India’s spirituality, colonial past and cultural depth.
“You're more Indian than many. Good to have people like you in our country,” one user wrote.
“Glad you tapped into the positives that India has to offer! Cheers,” commented another. “Looted but still not fully broken... bro loved this quote. Thts exactly how I feel abt my country,” wrote a third user.
“Thank you for being this honest and still appreciative. There are days as Indian things come up to throat and I wonder would life be simpler if I was born in a different country. Then it reminds me it’s chaotic, painful, disappointing , vast, kind, cruel, loud, warm, cold and yet beautiful. Stunningly so,” said one user.
