Television vs Experience

Have you ever thought about how inadequate television is?

We visited my brother’s family yesterday afternoon. We sat around and chatted for a while before we had a look at a DVD of my cycling trip to India earlier this year.

I couldn’t help thinking that I was experiencing something quite different to everyone else in the room. While seeing some of the trip on TV gives a peek into the world we experienced, I know that for me it was just another way of triggering memories and emotions that went way beyond what was on the screen.

The captured vision is brilliant. It’s been shot and edited so very well but it still doesn’t take you there.

Television is a wonderful medium but it can’t convey the wondrous smells of Indian cooking or some of the less than pleasant smells that you experience in different areas. It can’t convey the incredible friendships that we made. It can’t cook a decent curry or a chicken biryani either.

As I’ve said before, India is a complete sensory overload. Every where you look your senses are assaulted with something new. It’s a wondrous place that lets you know that you’re truly alive.

I only wish I had the money to take everyone I know to India to experience all that and more first hand.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Television vs Experience? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.