Sarah MacDonald as a Traveler

Through the book Holy Cow we can note that at the beginning the author had a negative perspective of India but at the end she had made a start along the path to personal transformation and inner peace. At first, when she arrived to India, she was an atheist, but as the time passes she finds herself and embarks on the journey to unravel the mysteries of India. Therefore in my opinion, Sarah MacDonald ended to be a traveler because at the end she observes, experiences and tries to understand the faith, beliefs and religion of different people and what these mean to an Indian. An example of this seen in the book is when she got sick with pneuomonia. In the hospital she realized that “No matter how many spunky lovers you’ve had, how much you earn, what you do for a living and how groovy you look, all that matters is how you live. I’ve always said such things, but now for the first time I truly believe them, deep in my bones and my diseased flesh”. In my opinion she was very sick and almost die, and that was the time when she first realized that the most important things in the world are not the material ones, are the spiritual ones. Finally it can be say that the author through the book observes the people very closely, meaning that she ends to be a traveler that learn more about the culture and the historical aspects of others. 

Sarah MacDonald as a Tourist

The book Holy Cow, by Sarah MacDonald,  is about an Indian adventure that she had. When she was twenty one years old her mother bought her a plane ticket for her birthday. In her trip, she visited many continents and countries as Europe, Egypt, Turkey, and India. Through these aspects I personally imagine a young women leaving her house to travel the world and learn more from it. What the author specifically mentioned in the book is that did not like her experience in India, to the point that she said that she would never go back again. But the destiny bring her back after eleven years. Therefore in the book are several examples that makes the reader know why she did not at first like India, but at the end transformed her as a human being.

            In my opinion, she at the beginning did not like the country because it was not what she expected. An example about it is when she say: “ I’ve left a sunny apartment by the sea in Sydney for a dark, dingy first-floor flat on the intersection of two of New Delhi’s busiest roads”. Through these comment we can note that the author arrived at the country as a tourist and not as a traveler. A tourist for me is a person who is traveling or visiting a place; and a traveler is a person that wants to learn more about the place is visiting, not just is about the pleasure. Therefore, in my opinion, a traveler would not criticize a country, otherwise, learn about the culture and its historical aspects. That is one of the reasons why I say that she was a tourist. Another example seen in the book is when she criticized the climate of India. She was always saying that the outside was cover of dirty diesel fumes, like if she were wrap in a noxious cloud. One of the examples mentioned in the book is: when she say “ New Delhi’s winter streets seems like hell frozen over or perhaps purgatory”. Once again we can note the attitude of ignorance that Sarah MacDonald had. Through these examples we can note that all the things that the author said were negative.

Despite the perspectives that Sarah MacDonald had, we have to say that she also had several incovenients in the country. The first one is when she arrived to India she spend hours in an impossibly slow passport line at the airport. In my opinion, the tourist get mad at this. Personally I had passed through this situation when I went to Argentina. I spend with my family like an hour o a little bit more to pass through “Aduana”. When this happend to me I desperate because I just want it to arrive to the hotel and have a good time with my family. In the case of Sarah MacDonald, she was desperate to see her boyfriend. The second incovenient that she had was when she passed through a circle of men who grape and giggle histerically at her back. Once again, in my opinion, this are things that desinterest the tourist to visit the country.

In conclusion, as mentioned before, she at first had a different perspective about India, it was not what she expected. Therefore, this is the reason why the author was so close minded about the Indians and did not want to approach them because for her they were “different” people who had a different culture of her.