Here's a random collection of experiences, tips and facts about India. Even though i was familiar with Indian
spirituality and religion by means of me occasionally practising yoga, i was surprised, shocked and intrigued by what I found there. I landed in Pune - the Indian "capital of IT" after which i made my way to nearby Mumbai - the largest city in India (their version of the Hollywood aka Bollywood).
India is a true to its meaning third world country. Unlike China for example, where besides poverty they also have ultra modern new cities, here everything is very very old, even in major cities like New Delhi and Mumbai. I think New Delhi is named ironically. The most surprising thing is is the incoherence of this country. Everything and everywhere is approaching almost chaotic levels. You have slums on one block and five star hotels with Rolls-Royce's parked in front of them on the next. There's extreme poverty, garbage all around and no sign of any landscaping, maintenance or building standards, and the super rich don't seem to mind it, even when it's few feet from their mansions or luxurious high-rise apartments.
For a country that has English a its second official language, surprisingly few people speak it and outside of the business/tech crowd and younger generation, everybody only speaks Hindi.
People are much more serious about their religion, traditions and beliefs than i expected and theirs society is very conservative as a result of that. Ganesha is the most popular Hindu god, with the largest number of temples of all shapes and sizes. Cricket is the second and the national past time. On weekends parks are filled with people playing it. When entering a temple you have to do so barefoot, which is an exercise in will power because of my next point.
The country has much different (read worse) standards for hygiene. There's garbage everywhere, some in piles, some just on the street, and people don't seem to have a problem with it. After finishing a picnic, for example, all the trash is collected and thrown under the nearest tree or in the closest ditch. There are no trash-cans anywhere, you just drop it where it falls. In the newspaper i read that a lot of cities still dump raw sewage directly into rivers. The only way to prevent people from peeing on the walls around the city is to draw or post a picture of one of the Hindu gods. Toilets on the trains are just a hole in the floor and there's a sign asking people not to use them when the train is in station. Needless to say, there is no green or recycling culture present.
Walking around is usually done on or by the side of the roads. Traffic is chaotic and going in all directions with a mix of pedestrians, cars, motorcycles, scooters, three wheeled taxis and two wheeled carriages dragged by either cattle or men. Red lights are usually optional as long as there's no one coming. Motorized vehicles use their horns to let other participants in the traffic know where they are so there's an almost constant stream of honking. Crossing is done anywhere you have the courage for it, even on highways. Goats and cows on the streets are a common sight.
Some people carry things on their heads, from smaller bags to huge travel-cases.
Most people will also go the entire day without washing their hands, which is interesting because they eat everything with their hands (except pizza, which they eat with a knife and fork), even though most dishes are some sort of curry sauces and somewhat liquid. Usually there's a roti or nan or other wrap-like bread that you break a piece of and use it to grab the dishes with, but I've seen people eating the curries with just their fingers as well. Napkins are not used. Some restaurants will bring a small bowl of water for you to wash your fingers in after the meal but that's not very common. All foods are medium-spicy (even the deserts) by western standards and are delicious if you like Indian food (which i do). Masala is used in most dishes to give them the spiciness which is a combinations of about 50 different individual spices. After a meal everybody chews on some sort of minty and refreshing mix of seeds - it's mouth and stomach freshener and also helps with digestion, they tell me. Probably the ancestor of chewing gum.
While inside India, almost all Indians are vegetarian. That is strongly enforced through family education and strong social and peer pressure. When alone or outside of India however the majority will admit to eating at least some some sort of meet (chicken is a gateway meat). There then, all foods are divided into two categories - veg and non-veg and are labelled as such. Green circle next to the name of the dish in a restaurant menu or on the packaging of a food in the supermarket means vegetarian, a red circle means otherwise. All airlines have a choice of both for their in-flight meals. One might wonder why there's even such a thing as non-vegetarian food over there, but apparently it's for the Muslim population, which is not insignificant i guess. I've also seen many "veg only" restaurants. Alcohol is just as taboo as eating meat so it's not sold at most stores, not even beer (Kingfisher is the biggest local beer brand). Going to bars therefore is not something people do. Also Indians there have a specific distinct smell to them, probably because of all the spices they eat. I'm sure they thought the same about me and a certain wet dog smell :) Nodding is done by moving your head like your tracing a horizontal figure 8. It's very confusing at times.
Almost all Indian restaurants in the US are of northern Indian specialty. The tandoori oven is from Punjab and Pakistan. The rest on India has much different cuisines, especially in the south. Actually each state has their own kind of foods (not to mention language and religious variations).
There's two types of taxis, with air conditioning and without. Drivers of both have no shame will try to rip you off in horrible horrible ways.
Sexuality is naturally inhibited in their conservative society and the relationship between men and women is quite tense. About half the people get arranged married and have their first sexual partner on their wedding night. Because of that many marriages, i'm told, suffer crappy sex which leads people eventually and inevitably, to adultery. That is especially true for the richer folk. Divorce is a social stigma and most couples avoid it. The interaction between unmarried guys and girls seems especially weird where one cannot simply approach another and strike up a conversation. Asking someone for drinks or dinner or even expressing interest automatically implies desire for sexual intercourse and girls perceive it as an insult. The guys tend drool over any females they see, which makes them uncomfortable to be around and further aggravates the approachability situation. Women dress quite conservative, usually in unflattering non-revealing clothing, jeans and a t-shirt being considered liberal and skirts - almost perverse. A lot of people, especially women wear traditional clothing - pants and a long dress. Only the older women wear the two piece costume we see depicted in movies withe the belly exposed. There are many reports of women being raped or otherwise sexually abused, even in big cities. In just a week i heard of at least 5 different reports on TV and in the paper. On the other hand women can accuse anyone of inappropriate conduct and have them arrested just because. Clubs and discos are usually for couples only. The ones that are not have only guys in them, since no girl will dare go to a place like that.
Schools look like prisons, with bars in the windows and barb wire on the walls. Apparently education is really expensive and parents sell everything to send their children to school. God forbid somebody sneaks in and learns something for free.
Russia is considered a great friend of India and Indians have automatic respect and gratefulness for Russians.
In Mumbai there's only two types of sights, British built Gothic style buildings and monuments and various religious temples (both Hindu and Muslim). The latter are far better maintained than the former, which i think is how the Indians express their frustration at their former British rulers. Also here, you can find the Dharavi slums with a population more than 1 million people. It used to be the largest slum in Mumbai at one time, but as of 2011, there are four slums in Mumbai larger than Dharavi. The crazy part is that even here you have to pay rent and the economy of it all is estimated at more that 500 million USD a year.
My first introduction to Hinduism came many years ago, when i was about 12, from a small brochure that my mom brought home called "Easy journeys to other planets". It gave a brief introduction to meditation and yoga. I read it and was quite fascinated by the content but after a while forgot anything about it. In Mumbai i went to the ISKCON temple. It's a Krishna temple by the guys that chant "Hare Krishna". While waiting for the ceremony to begin a woman approaches and hands me a bunch of pamphlets, amongst which there's the same little book that i read all those years ago - "Easy journey to other planets". Even the cover art was the same. How intriguingly full circle it has come.
India is a true to its meaning third world country. Unlike China for example, where besides poverty they also have ultra modern new cities, here everything is very very old, even in major cities like New Delhi and Mumbai. I think New Delhi is named ironically. The most surprising thing is is the incoherence of this country. Everything and everywhere is approaching almost chaotic levels. You have slums on one block and five star hotels with Rolls-Royce's parked in front of them on the next. There's extreme poverty, garbage all around and no sign of any landscaping, maintenance or building standards, and the super rich don't seem to mind it, even when it's few feet from their mansions or luxurious high-rise apartments.
For a country that has English a its second official language, surprisingly few people speak it and outside of the business/tech crowd and younger generation, everybody only speaks Hindi.
People are much more serious about their religion, traditions and beliefs than i expected and theirs society is very conservative as a result of that. Ganesha is the most popular Hindu god, with the largest number of temples of all shapes and sizes. Cricket is the second and the national past time. On weekends parks are filled with people playing it. When entering a temple you have to do so barefoot, which is an exercise in will power because of my next point.
The country has much different (read worse) standards for hygiene. There's garbage everywhere, some in piles, some just on the street, and people don't seem to have a problem with it. After finishing a picnic, for example, all the trash is collected and thrown under the nearest tree or in the closest ditch. There are no trash-cans anywhere, you just drop it where it falls. In the newspaper i read that a lot of cities still dump raw sewage directly into rivers. The only way to prevent people from peeing on the walls around the city is to draw or post a picture of one of the Hindu gods. Toilets on the trains are just a hole in the floor and there's a sign asking people not to use them when the train is in station. Needless to say, there is no green or recycling culture present.
Walking around is usually done on or by the side of the roads. Traffic is chaotic and going in all directions with a mix of pedestrians, cars, motorcycles, scooters, three wheeled taxis and two wheeled carriages dragged by either cattle or men. Red lights are usually optional as long as there's no one coming. Motorized vehicles use their horns to let other participants in the traffic know where they are so there's an almost constant stream of honking. Crossing is done anywhere you have the courage for it, even on highways. Goats and cows on the streets are a common sight.
Some people carry things on their heads, from smaller bags to huge travel-cases.
Most people will also go the entire day without washing their hands, which is interesting because they eat everything with their hands (except pizza, which they eat with a knife and fork), even though most dishes are some sort of curry sauces and somewhat liquid. Usually there's a roti or nan or other wrap-like bread that you break a piece of and use it to grab the dishes with, but I've seen people eating the curries with just their fingers as well. Napkins are not used. Some restaurants will bring a small bowl of water for you to wash your fingers in after the meal but that's not very common. All foods are medium-spicy (even the deserts) by western standards and are delicious if you like Indian food (which i do). Masala is used in most dishes to give them the spiciness which is a combinations of about 50 different individual spices. After a meal everybody chews on some sort of minty and refreshing mix of seeds - it's mouth and stomach freshener and also helps with digestion, they tell me. Probably the ancestor of chewing gum.
While inside India, almost all Indians are vegetarian. That is strongly enforced through family education and strong social and peer pressure. When alone or outside of India however the majority will admit to eating at least some some sort of meet (chicken is a gateway meat). There then, all foods are divided into two categories - veg and non-veg and are labelled as such. Green circle next to the name of the dish in a restaurant menu or on the packaging of a food in the supermarket means vegetarian, a red circle means otherwise. All airlines have a choice of both for their in-flight meals. One might wonder why there's even such a thing as non-vegetarian food over there, but apparently it's for the Muslim population, which is not insignificant i guess. I've also seen many "veg only" restaurants. Alcohol is just as taboo as eating meat so it's not sold at most stores, not even beer (Kingfisher is the biggest local beer brand). Going to bars therefore is not something people do. Also Indians there have a specific distinct smell to them, probably because of all the spices they eat. I'm sure they thought the same about me and a certain wet dog smell :) Nodding is done by moving your head like your tracing a horizontal figure 8. It's very confusing at times.
Almost all Indian restaurants in the US are of northern Indian specialty. The tandoori oven is from Punjab and Pakistan. The rest on India has much different cuisines, especially in the south. Actually each state has their own kind of foods (not to mention language and religious variations).
There's two types of taxis, with air conditioning and without. Drivers of both have no shame will try to rip you off in horrible horrible ways.
Sexuality is naturally inhibited in their conservative society and the relationship between men and women is quite tense. About half the people get arranged married and have their first sexual partner on their wedding night. Because of that many marriages, i'm told, suffer crappy sex which leads people eventually and inevitably, to adultery. That is especially true for the richer folk. Divorce is a social stigma and most couples avoid it. The interaction between unmarried guys and girls seems especially weird where one cannot simply approach another and strike up a conversation. Asking someone for drinks or dinner or even expressing interest automatically implies desire for sexual intercourse and girls perceive it as an insult. The guys tend drool over any females they see, which makes them uncomfortable to be around and further aggravates the approachability situation. Women dress quite conservative, usually in unflattering non-revealing clothing, jeans and a t-shirt being considered liberal and skirts - almost perverse. A lot of people, especially women wear traditional clothing - pants and a long dress. Only the older women wear the two piece costume we see depicted in movies withe the belly exposed. There are many reports of women being raped or otherwise sexually abused, even in big cities. In just a week i heard of at least 5 different reports on TV and in the paper. On the other hand women can accuse anyone of inappropriate conduct and have them arrested just because. Clubs and discos are usually for couples only. The ones that are not have only guys in them, since no girl will dare go to a place like that.
Schools look like prisons, with bars in the windows and barb wire on the walls. Apparently education is really expensive and parents sell everything to send their children to school. God forbid somebody sneaks in and learns something for free.
Russia is considered a great friend of India and Indians have automatic respect and gratefulness for Russians.
In Mumbai there's only two types of sights, British built Gothic style buildings and monuments and various religious temples (both Hindu and Muslim). The latter are far better maintained than the former, which i think is how the Indians express their frustration at their former British rulers. Also here, you can find the Dharavi slums with a population more than 1 million people. It used to be the largest slum in Mumbai at one time, but as of 2011, there are four slums in Mumbai larger than Dharavi. The crazy part is that even here you have to pay rent and the economy of it all is estimated at more that 500 million USD a year.
My first introduction to Hinduism came many years ago, when i was about 12, from a small brochure that my mom brought home called "Easy journeys to other planets". It gave a brief introduction to meditation and yoga. I read it and was quite fascinated by the content but after a while forgot anything about it. In Mumbai i went to the ISKCON temple. It's a Krishna temple by the guys that chant "Hare Krishna". While waiting for the ceremony to begin a woman approaches and hands me a bunch of pamphlets, amongst which there's the same little book that i read all those years ago - "Easy journey to other planets". Even the cover art was the same. How intriguingly full circle it has come.
