A Passage Through India...
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2005
1
20
137
Trip End
Sep 20, 2006
Mumbai,
India
Friday, November 11, 2005
ONLY in India!
The traffic pecking order...
"Pedestrians are on the bottom and run out of the way of everything, bicycles make way for cycle-rickshaws, which give way to auto-rickshaws which stop for cars, which are subservient to trucks. Buses stop for one thing and one thing only. Not customers - they jump on while the buses are still moving. The only thing that can stop a bus is the king of the road, the lord of the jungle and the top dog.
Only in India...
The Holy Cow."taken from Holy Cow, Sarah MacDonald - a VERY good observastion of life in India through a Westerner's eyes!
Men holding hands...
This is something that continues to make us smile! Men, young and old, walk around holding hands or with their arms draped over their companions' shoulders, it looks pretty bizarre when you know that they are not gay, this is an accepted demonstration of friendship here. You rarely see it between men and women though...!
Horn please!
Sounds dodgy but it's plastered all over the backs of trucks and lorries in beautiful swirly hand-rendered type decorated with flowers etc, and it keeps the traffic moving! People in India drive with one hand on the horn anyway so we don't really know why they need any more prompting!
Which country?
The single most often asked question, it comes before even a 'hello' most of the time! Sometimes you know it's going to try to open a conversation that will lead you into a carpet shop, but mostly Indian people are just interested to know where you come from.
Photo please
We've lost count of the number of family photo albums we're going to be featuring in! It's stange to be taking pictures of India's sights, and then be approached by an Indian family who want to group themselves around you and have their photo taken with you. Or a group of young guys who want to drape themselves over you like your their best mate or something! We oblige willingly, beaming at the cameras (unlike the Indians who don't seem to smile for photos) and it makes us feel a little like celebrities!
Power cuts
OK, so it's not only in India, but it is very much a part of Indian life - every hotel supplies a candle in the room and even the cinema has a policy about how long the power has to be out for before refunds will be given! We have expeienced at least one a day!
Chaichaichai....
The constant drone of the chai-wallah is very much part of train travel. These guys walk up and down the carriages with their huge vats of chai & will pour you a cup for only 4 rupees. And if you don't want one right now, don't worry he'll be back in 5 minutes, and 5 minutes after that.... and 5 minutes after that!
Hinglish
Most middle-class Indians speak Hinglish - a funny hybrid of Hindi and English. You hear them chattering away in what you think is Hindi and then realise that whole chunks of it are in English... it's rather strange!
Ashrams, TV gurus, the spiritual melting-pot...
This is a huge part of life in India, and one that attracts many Westerners. There are just so many religions, gurus, philosophies, cults etc. We've not really explored this side of India, although we have visited Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples, seen the holy lake at Pushkar, and watched a bit of the afro-haired guru Sai Baba (he's a purna avatar - a manifestation of god in human form, a modern Christ, Krishna and Buddha in one). He has to be seen to be believed.
A Back Passage Through India...
There is a lot about India that is hard to deal with. We found one of the most difficult things was the way India makes you treat some people - you walk by the people in the gutters who have literally nothing, you blank the hawkers who shove their wares in your face, you start out distrusting people who offer help because they usually have a motive like getting you into their shop... As Westerners there are a heck of a lot of people who are out to get as much money as they can out of you, honestly or sometimes dishonestly and this makes you very suspicious. We understand that life is a daily struggle for survival for some of these people, and it's a shame that it ends up being one of the more prominant impressions of India that visitors take away with them.
There isn't much personal space. With so many people, particularly in the cities, you have to find your peace where you can! People crash into you, just come up and start talking to you, come and sit down very close to you... It can get a bit claustrophobic!
Delhi belly - enough said!
Spitting - lots and lots of it, and it's sounds horrible, especially at 6am sounding like the Frog Chorus!
The beaurocracy can be very daunting and extremely frustrating. Buying train tickets is so unnecessarily complicated! Cashing a travellers cheque involved 2 queues, 2 cashiers, lots of bits of paper...! And as for posting a parcel....!
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As we leave after six weeks in India, with think we understand a bit better the culture of this complex and diverse country. We've seen the highest peaks in the world, and the depths of human deprivation here, and we've only seen a tiny slice of what it has to offer. India can be a difficult place to be at times, but we're glad we stuck around for long enough to grow to like it...
