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Much time in Bangalore was spent sitting in traffic. The city is growing so quickly but there is no infrastructure planning so nothing works....Bonjour, folks!
I hope you are well. Looks like the Brits among you are having a jolly lovely summer, I am glad: everyone needs a bit of sunshine. Does wonders for the mood.
A quick update on my adventures ....
My last post described my time in Bangalore with Bryn, looking at the use of wildlife in Black Magic. It was a crazy journey of the mind and gave me a fascinating insight into certain elements of India.
Since then I flew back up to Rajasthan to spend my last few weeks in India with the camel folks that I fell in love with back in April. I’d always had a hankering to return, so this time I decided to make the hankering a reality. It was a good decision and I enjoyed it. I think they really appreciated my second visit and it cemented the friendship. I simply can’t imagine not returning again … soon.
My visa expired on the 24th of July, so I had to leave. I loved India but, after seven months, it was taking a toll on a chap’s sanity,
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This image summed up Bangalore perfectly. The "work in progress" sign. The three legged chair that was still being used by the Airport security guard. so I did what I always do when I need sanity .... bailed to Thailand.
Thailand is just easy: the Thais have nailed the whole tourist thing so well. Thailand makes the perfect place for a break from the madness.
So … my final thoughts in India. This is going to be a unusually long post, so stick with it. To begin with, I must make a few disclaimers.
Firstly, to call India a country would be a mistake: it is a vast continent with many, many different cultures. What I am about to write is really just an opinion on what I observed in the limited places I visited, and I’m sure that many, many people would disagree with some of my views.
Secondly, when I arrived in India, a lady told me that the longer you stay, the less you’ll understand. I have found this to be true. Just when you think you understand something you start to realise that you really don’t. The following is just a snapshot of my understanding at the time of writing.
The guidebooks often talk about tourists’
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I rarely post pictures of Hotel rooms, but this one was a bit special. And all for 12 quid a night. India really is still good value. developing a love-hate relationship with India. This, again, is certainly true for me. I both love it and I hate it. I mean, clearly I love it, else I would not have stayed for seven months, but to say there were not aspects of the place that I disliked would be incorrect.
I think this is the great thing about spending any significant time in any country: you get to see the reality. I am sure many foreigners visit the UK for a holiday and go home raving about how friendly and safe it is, and while it IS both friendly and safe, when you live there you see a very different side.You get tuned in...
But does my time in India make an expert in the place? Absolutely not. You could spend a lifetime here and only scratch the surface. It’s that sort of place.
As I have been travelling around this continent, I have been putting little notes in my phone concerning the good and the bad things I have encountered, so it seems fitting to use these as the way forward with this blog post. If you
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What a lush old building. read to the end of the “bad” section, please do me, and India, the honour of reading the “good” section as well, just so you actually understand my views.
India does not evoke neutral opinions ….so here goes.
The Bad: The Noise. God, the noise. Why? It is as if many of the folks there feel the need to fill any potential silence with noise. Noise. Constant noise. You may think this a minor thing but I promise you it isn’t. To a chap raised in the West, where peace and quiet is a thing to be relished, it is so hard to deal with the relentless noise. It erodes the quality of life for everyone, and it never ends.
Staring. At first, the staring is a bit of a novelty but, as time goes on, it becomes a serious issue. You cannot walk anywhere without hundreds of people stopping, staring, eyes piercing into your very soul, taking that last bit of humanity you’ve managed to maintain. In the West, parents chastise children for staring – ‘Don’t stare; it’s rude,’ they say – but this doesn’t happen
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On route back to Jaisalmer. A typical Rajathani town. Hot and dusty. in India. So this is simply cultural, and I accept it … but it doesn’t stop it from being a serious pain.
Money. I know India is a poor country, and that people here will fight for every rupee they can, but why does every single financial transaction have to be such a traumatic ordeal? The problem is that this attitude to money will ensure continuing poverty for reasons I will explain. A stable economy is based on trust. If there is no trust there is no development. Overcharging and underchanging is not specific to transactions with tourists; Indians will happily rip each other off too. How can long-term business, and therefore long-term development, ever be possible in this environment? Which leads me on beautifully to the next subject ….
Corruption. Most Indians you meet will complain about corruption. And yet most Indians indulge in corruption at some point. I got quite friendly with a chap who ran a small shop selling cigarettes and beer. I made my daily pilgrimage to him. He constantly complained about the corruption in politics. One day I stopped in as he was arguing with some chap. Turned out
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On the bus journey up to Jaisalmer the seat in front of me collapsed almost crushing a mother and baby who were sat in the aisle. he was arguing over the price of the answer sheet for an exam he was struggling to pass … with his teacher. Corruption undermines everything. It means that you cannot trust anything. If this chap applies for a job in my company, presenting his exam certificate, how can I trust that he has not simply bought it?
Another example of the “common man” corruption would be the doctors, in private hospitals, who keep the life support machine on even though the patient has died, just so they can continue to charge the deceased family for the treatment. This, I am told, is common practice.
Mess and filth. Why? Why so much bloody mess? I was told by a chap that having diarrhoea every couple of weeks is a good thing. It cleans you out. I think this summarises the Indian attitude to waste disposal. As long as it’s not in my house or my body then it doesn’t matter. This attitude means that shit and crap (sorry for the swearing) builds up until it ruins everything. I swear this place is going to be the starting place for the next plague, and once it
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And almost removing my toes. In the UK a inquiry would be conducted, licenses would be suspended, heads would roll. Here people just laughed. The fatalistic approach to death is hard to swallow at times. develops it will spread like wildfire.
Women’s rights. Don’t even get me started. In many places these are in the dark ages. I am not sure they even exist. There is a movement to change these things, but it seems to get swallowed up in other stuff. Naturally you cannot generalise, but compared to the UK, India is a lifetime away in this regard.
Religion. Oh, the big one. I have always traditionally been a supporter of religion. And I still am. But at the same time I can see the problems that religion brings. The priorities get all mixed up. Even Modi, the new Prime Minister, ran on the campaign slogan ‘toilets before temples’ in an attempt to convince folk to concentrate on the priorities.
The Good: So … on to the good things and, trust me, they outweigh the negatives, even if they don’t in numbers.
People. Possibly the best thing about India is the people. I have never been shown such lovely friendship and hospitality. It is almost unnerving. My phrase throughout the trip was ‘embrace Indians and Indians will embrace you’.
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After laughing, people just got on with sitting on the collapsed seat. A seat is a seat after all. It is true. I have fallen in love with Indians in a massive way. I don’t think my life will be complete without travelling in India in some way.
Religion. Yes, this is part of what makes India so truly magical to travel in. And, whilst many would disagree, it is my impression that religion actually holds India together. If you magically removed religion from India overnight it would fall into anarchy: it holds the whole place together.
Does it solve all problems? Certainly not … there are many issues between different religions here, but, considering there are 120,000,000 Indians, the vast majority rub along fairly peacefully.
Diversity. I think it is a miracle that India exists as one sovereign nation. I previously stated that looking at India as one country is a mistake and this true, but it IS still a sovereign nation.
Freedom. Oh, a tricky one this, and one that I have debated in my head over and over again. Are Indians free? Well, in some respects, no. To the outsider Indians seem free to behave how they wish, but the reality is many Indians
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I was so happy to return to the bosom of the Camel folks. This is part of a traditional Rajasthani massage, which always involves much pain. are controlled by strict social and religious rules. India is a hugely stratified place. People have their roles and you do not question these roles.
However, the fact that they are not forced into a homogenised culture suggests that there is not centrally enforced concept of “being Indian”. Which I think is admirable.
It may be a chaotic mess to the western mind but it is actually a demonstration of the ultimate form of inclusiveness.
Right, I have rambled too long. I loved India, and I want to return. I will never understand that place ... I accept that ... but that is part of the fun.
OK, I am going to sign off.
All my love, and thanks for reading.
JohnJo.
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