"Holy Cow" Reflection

Macdonald’s book “Holy Cow” makes us experience a journey along India and its spiritual way. Its a very interesting story that tells us how Sarah deals with her stay in India for two years. At first she doesn’t wanted to come back to India (after hating it in her early twenties) but then she found herself in love with a reporter stationed in New Delhi, and does indeed come back to India. During her two years as a Western journalist (on sabbatical) in India, she explores a wide variety of Indian religions: from silent meditation retreats to bathing in the Ganges to miracle healers to wild Christian celebrations. 

I saw Macdonald as a tourist in the beginning of the book because she hated it; the heat, the garbage and especially the third world conditions that disturb her; she also got sick. In some of her narratives her expressions sound more like a tourist at the beginning. But in all the history she presents us her experiences and the beliefs of the people she got to know. While she knew people, she wrote about their perspectives so we can notice her transition from tourist to traveler.

The story does become better in terms of content once she starts actually living in India and she transforms from a tourist to a traveler. That happened when she decided to learn to let go and just be. She does this by being more open-minded and trying to understand the culture instead of judging it.  I mean when she decided to explore India and of course try out the different kinds of religions and its practices: Buddhists, Christians, Jainists, Jews, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, and Sufis. Certainly Macdonald is a traveler. Despite that her narratives were a bit negative, she knew what she was talking about and criticized it. Her spiritual journey was an adventurous one. She describes what she sees, and while she may be judgmental about certain issues she encounters, she acknowledges that she is making judgments based on her own cultural understandings. MacDonald delves into the Indian psyche, but with her writing style, manages not to sound pretentious, or all-knowing, or assuming at all.  I believe that despite her cynicism while reading the book, she present us a life changing transformative experience. In fact she thanks India for making her. While reading the story we can notice that the changing narrative of the book is a reflection of how she's actually growing as a person over the course of the book.