As I depart India, nearly three months after arriving, it seems like a due time to reflect on how the experience of living and working abroad has affected me.

My first observation is that you quickly learn to argue in India. Indeed, back home, I was usually the sort to quietly accept things in the hope of progressing matters along smoothly. Instead, in India, if you back off, people will walk all over you. Especially so if there is money involved. Since I landed in September, I will much more readily argue with anyone who I deem is either not acting in my best interest or is not acting correctly. Case in point, every time someone attempts to push into a queue, I'll shout them down (not too loudly) and tell them to get to the back. Some of these people are, for lack of a better word, ignorant of the commons.

I suppose being this newfound spunky attitude is a useful addition to my life skills armoury. There is a danger though that one day I will argue and be wrong. As one of my favourite quotations says 'Every man has a right to say what he wants, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.' This brings me to my next point.

When travelling solo, you are responsible for looking after yourself. This means that when you are lost, it is up to you to ask. If you want to find out how much something is, you have to ask. When you are confused, you need to ask for clarification. Basically, no one will do anything on your behalf. A pretty obvious observation but one that becomes painfully clear when travelling. As I mentioned previously, I am normally the quiet, accepting type but having had to fend for myself, I will now ask questions much more easily. Some of these questions might be considered unintelligent, or the answers may be obvious but the beauty of being by yourself is that you never have to worry about being wrong.

Aside from these personality adjustments, I took in a fair dose of modern Indian life. Returning to the civilised roads and orderly shops of England, I think I will appreciate a little more the mutual respect that members of the public have.