Sir, no problem whatsoever. Sab Kuch Milega.

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Before leaving for my trip, I had a catch-up with two fellow grads from work. Both female, from small town NZ, similarly outgoing and travel focused, and both quite white. As I talked about my upcoming trip, one of them expressed their interest is also visiting India as one of their upcoming tourist destinations. The other expressed their extreme disinterest in the same matter. Now one of the reasons that I mention their whiteness is that I never really figured out how to describe India to non-Asian travelers. Not that it’s hard to traverse, but more like it’s hard to understand what to expect when you get there.



Now without going into too much detail about their reasoning, I think their two views represents a global view of India, a land attracting polarising views regarding almost every facet. One of the most accurate things I've heard about India is that for everything that is true about the country, the opposite is also true. It's a place of extreme poverty, but also has the richest people in the world. It has dirty, littered public areas, and pristine green parks. The people are pushy and rude, but also some of the most hospitable that you could meet. There are slums and beggars, overlooked by tall gleaming modern buildings. And to me, strangest of all, people seem to have simultaneously a strong sense of national pride, with an equal sense of disregard as to the general state of the country.



The result of the turbidity is a fascinating eco-system of social accommodation. I know a fair bit about Indian history, but not enough to explain it here.. I would recommend that you, dear reader (4th wall break oooo), look it up a bit to understand the journey of the country. The key point though, is that to be 'Indian' is a bit of a misnomer. Not dissimilar to living in New Zealand, one of the key aspect of the national identity is the harmony of so many different cultures in one place. Unlike New Zealand, the history of India stretches back much further, of course. Even within our group, the ones from India are not only form different parts of India, but we were brought up with different religions, which is probably the key influence of your general upbringing. I touched on the language availability earlier, which means that you can encounter people who speak no English, a large number who can speak it well, and a fair few who can speak better than you and me (especially when I went back and re-read the hodgepodge that was my last post).



In the first couple of days in our trip, amongst the architecture that we saw, we encountered one of the largest Muslim mosques, Sikh temples, and other buildings, with a mixture of Muslim and Hindu influences. The Muslim structures were a result of the Moghul rule of India, who were responsible for some of the most amazing architecture that I've seen. A large proportion of the most well known landmarks in Northern India are actually Muslim. This includes the Taj Mahal, which was carved from a single piece of ivory. Okay that's not true, but I don't want to go into too much detail about the sights in case anyone does decide to visit, because I find that some information is best obtained on location. But what I thought was particularly interesting was that these impressive structures exist in a major city that most of the world associates with Hinduism. To me, this is just another instance of how in India one thing might be true, but it also exists alongside a number of very different other 'truths'.



Tangentially related.. One vague way that I see this impact my time here is through the variation in food availability here. Our meals have varied in cost from literally 40 rupees each, to over 1000 Rupees. For some reference, 40 Rupees is roughly 1500 Tugriks. To some degree, the more expensive meals, the higher chance that it's good, but that's not to say that the cheaper meals have been equally sub-par. If anything, the more expensive meals are just interludes that hopefully lower the chance of Delhi Belly. (btw, this refers to food poisoning, not, as I thought for years, the inevitable pot belly that Indian males develop during their middle aged years). The locals obviously avoid the fancier restaurants, where you're mostly just paying for frivolous amenities like fancy napkins, expensive cutlery or sanitary food conditions. The 40 rupee meal was when we asked the guide to take us to his local, and it was surprisingly delicious. 24 hours later, we were mostly still standing, and so that was a success in our books.



One other odd juxtaposition is the way that people can treat others. Just like most Asian countries, cities are filled with countless people who are in a great rush to lead their own lives, with seemingly little care for others. Our experience catching the local train was proof of this, where the initial queue was quite deceptive, descending quickly into chaos as soon as the boarding opportunity presented itself. Even years of studying engineering hadn't prepared me for sheer volume of males packed into a finite space. But funnily enough, there were key moments during embarkment and disembarkment where the kindness of a number of strangers helped push and pull me to where I needed to go. I noticed that in a few other places too. On the streets, amidst the pandemonium of bikes, cars, cows and trucks, I saw men help push carts over ruts and bumps, as they got stuck. I saw a team of 'uncles' earnestly guide some poor soul trying to parallel park in quite an ambitious spot. The same street that had us plagued with kids and hawkers had a group of people come chase them away on our behalf, and provide us with some useful tips on how to stay safe.



There's probably countless more examples of this, and even more to the people who spend their lives here. As a tourist, I probably wouldn't notice these nuances, but as someone who grew up here, piecing together this complex puzzle that is India can be quite challenging. That weird Indian head bobble makes a lot more sense after spending some time here. A little yes, a little no, a little sure, it can be more or less what you want it to be. It's the same response that I'd give to someone who asks if I would recommend India as a destination. Anything can be found here.

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