‘Wanted a spot the place progress was unavoidable…’: Why this Canadian selected India over the West
At a time when many Indians are chasing desires abroad, Caleb Friesen took the alternative route. In his early twenties, the Canadian content material creator and father packed his luggage and made Bengaluru his house. His causes weren’t rooted in ambition or technique — however in a quiet, radical pursuit of internal progress. Now, after eight years in India, a video of Friesen reflecting on his unconventional transfer goes viral.
The video begins with a query Friesen is used to listening to: why go away Canada for India when so many Indians are heading within the different course? His reply is sudden. “To turn out to be harder,” he says — not by means of exterior battle, however inside change.
He shares a pivotal second from his youth: a 40-day quick throughout which he consumed solely water and air. He dropped 18 kilogrammes, however what he gained was a deeper lesson. “Once you commit, progress can occur — even with out motion,” he says.
Friesen calls this “passive progress” — the type of transformation that takes place not by means of planning, however by shifting your environment. “It’s the type of progress that doesn’t require a plan. It simply occurs whenever you change your setting,” he explains.
That’s what led him to India. He wished to problem himself, to be mentally and emotionally stretched in methods he couldn’t orchestrate. “I wished to be in a spot the place progress was unavoidable,” he says. And India — with its complexities and contradictions — grew to become that crucible.
His perception in passive progress additionally shapes how he views parenthood. Turning into a father, he says, is one other expertise that forces progress, just by being. “My son continues to exist, and so does my progress,” he displays.
By means of local weather shocks, cultural shifts, and the every day unpredictabilities of Indian life, Friesen discovered what he was on the lookout for: not consolation, however transformation.
