Plan for India

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So this is the plan for India.

For starters, I chose India for several reasons. I think it is going to be the Asian superpower of the 21st century. Over the next thirty years India is going to add up to 300 million workers to the international workforce, that combined with dropping birth rates should mean what economists refer to as a “population dividend,” a situation where there is a huge influx of workers who have a decreased amount of dependents which leads to increased standards of living and disposable income (think baby-boomers in the US). Compare this to China which has the 4-2-1 effect of 4 grandparents, 2 parents, 1 child. By 2050 China will have as many pensioners as workers---in other words China has already peaked, and they are still poor. India is on the rise, and trying to understand the enigma that is this subcontinent is going to be the aim of my next five months. I find it fascinating that India could be the largest English speaking country on earth and yet still have 300 million illiterates, that it can have the fastest growing information technology industry in the world and yet a quarter of villages don't have an accessible road leading to it, that obesity related diabetes can be nearing a total number similar to the United States and yet a third of children are malnourished, that they have nuclear weapons but not effective sewage treatment, that they produce enough food to feed their entire population but lack the infrastructure to get it to markets before it spoils.

DEC 6-fly to Mumbai. From Mumbai I would like to head east and visit the Ajanta Caves. From there I have been in contact with someone who lives in Hyderabad that I may be able to stay with for a few days. I need to make my way to Visakhapatnam to meet up with my sister and her school group for volunteering at an orphanage until around the middle of January.

Once that ends I would like to head south and explore Puduchery and Chidambaram and make my way to Trichy. A friend of my dad’s lives in Trichy and I will hopefully get a chance to meet and stay with him while exploring Tamil Nadu. I see that lasting until the end of January into the beginning of February.

With my remaining time there are a few things I have researched that I have found interesting. Everyone recommends spending a lot of time in Kerala, it has been universally touted as the best of India by all the people I have talked to. It is a tropical coastal region that is known for not being super crowded, having great food, and being beautiful So I may simply wander Kerala for most of February.

From there I would like to take a train north to Rajahstan, it would seem there is a ton to do there. Especially I would like to see Udaipur and Jaipur, as well as a handful of the forts spread throughout the region. This is actually where I foresee myself hitting the proverbial wall. By this time I will have been travelling for 4 months and have been staying with acquaintances or in the beautiful Kerala. Rajahstan is hot, sandy, and if it were an independent country among the most destitute of earth. So there will be a transition at that point.

I would also like to explore Uttar Pradesh, in particular Varanasi, where I may spend a week or two. Varanasi is the holy city of Hinduism, and is one of the iconic images of India. Brahims who die in Varanasi and have their bodies cremated in the Ganges are supposed to be released from the cycle of death and rebirth. This is another place that has been universally recommended, and I may just hang out here for a while.

Once it starts getting really hot I am going to move north into the Himalayas. Uttarakhand seems to be a region that has an enormous amount of stuff that I could do, and it is accessible from Varanasi. If possible during this time I would like to move west to the Punjab and visit the golden dome of Amritsar, which is the holy pilgrimage site for Sikhs. I am a mountain person, and am extremely excited about getting to see the Himalayas.

I don’t have a ticket home yet, though my travel insurance ends May 6 and my malaria medication may dictate I be home by the end of April sometime. Financially I should be fine as I’ve been very conscious of staying within my budget.

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Comments

[Sandy Roberts]

From New York City
Dear Chris, First - allow me to CONGRATULATE you on your acceptances to Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Penn, and Vanderbilt Law Schools. This is absolutely wonderful news! You are in the drivers seat. I'm not sure I know anyone who has been accepted to so many quality schools. I'm sure you will be offered some $ and will have wonderful choices to make. Everyone is so proud of you and Nana and Papa are looking down at you with all of the happiness in the world. I look forward to hearing from the other schools to which you have applied. We all missed you and talked about you constantly during Christmas. Going to the Bavarian Inn was sad and fun on many levels. The first time we went there you were 18 months old and so very cute but sick at Christmas. Nana and Papa were healthy and of course Papa was still working. We all met at your house with Rick's family (I'm sure you know this.) We get such a big laugh out of Rhys. Everything he does is funny. We all had fun together but we missed you. We saw pictures of Rick's new house. It is really going to be nice and we can't wait to see it. As you know, Tom has been working in Chicago since June, but he was home for 10 days which was great. I have not seen him for more than 3 days since June. It has been a bummer. Mary is still loving school but she studies all of the time. A lot of her friends did study abroad during the fall and she is happy that they will be back for fall semester. I have basically had a 2 week vacation which I really needed. I've been on a treadmill since last March when I got a promotion. I was really sleep deprived and I think I have caught up on my sleep. It has been great to relax a little. Your travel blog is extremely interesting as are your pictures. Few people have an understanding of India that you now have. Maybe you should consider working for the State Department when you finish Law School. I found your analysis of India vs China to be fascinating. I am really bothered by China. It bothers me so much that the US is in debt to a communist country. They have us by the throat. What were we thinking and how did this happen? What a mess. I look forward to reading more entries from your blog. I apologize for not writing more often. Love, Sandy