Farewell India

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February 15th 2008

Published: February 15th 2008

After nearly six months in the country, we are leaving India tonight. Before we leave, we thought we would write down some of our thoughts about the country we have lived in for the past few months.

India is not an easy country to visit. There is of course a market in luxury tourism which provides a five star experience comparable to anywhere else in the world. However, such an experience is unlikely to give the visitor the opportunity to engage much with everyday life in India, because they will be closeted behind an expensive hotel facade and driven around the country in a private car or coach.

The great advantage of visiting India on the cheap is that it does give plenty of opportunities to engage with the country. This was important to us because the main reason we want to travel is to meet people from other cultures and to try to better understand them. However, many visitors, us included, find engaging with India to be an intense experience. From the moment you arrive, the country launches an assault on your senses. This is particularly so in the larger towns and cities. The noise, heat, smells and the crush of people, many clamouring for your attention, either out of curiosity to know about you, or to sell you something, can be overwhelming. Nothing in India happens quietly, or half heartedly, or without a large gathering of people and for the western visitor used to personal space and quiet this can be difficult to get used to. So what happens is that western visitors mix with India for a period and then, when they need to pause for breath and collect themselves, they run either to the sanctuary of their room, or to one of the western enclaves that spring up to service tourists, the sort of place that sells cappucinos and apple pie and where all the customers are westerners. But what you find after a while is that the occasions when you feel the need to escape become fewer, because what you are really enjoying about being in India, is feeling as though you are part of the clamour of everyday life.

The Indian people are the main reason why visitors become enchanted with the country. In each place we have visited, the people seem to have a natural warmth and we have been made to feel very welcome. Hopefully this has come across in our earlier blog messages. Of course, it is dangerous to generalise too much. Also, we dont want to fall into the trap of over-eulogising because like everywhere else there is both good and bad. However, we have found the Indian people in general to be delightful.

While there are many wealthy people in India, life for most of the population is very hard. We didnt see much of life in the countryside, where conditions can be very rustic, but even in the towns and cities many of the comforts that we take for granted are not available for most people and of course large sections of the population live in very poor conditions. Even so, we have found a great generosity of spirit and general cheerfulness among Indian people. At an individual level, people seem to have a tremendous ability to accept life's trials and tribulations and just get on with things (This is probably due in large part to Hindu ideas about fate, but this is not really the time or place to start discussing religion!)

Indian people love a crowd. The country is densly populated (we guess about twice as much as the UK) so really there is not much chance to be alone here. We Europeans of course love our personal space, but when Indian people see us on our own they probably feel a bit sorry for us and feel that we need someone to talk to. Also, there is a natural curiosity about foreign visitors. Consequently, and this is one of the delights of travelling in India, you are constantly approached by complete strangers wanting to engage in conversation. Of course, this can get a little tiring when you have explained for the umpteenth time that day that your name is David, you come from England and you are 52 (pleased to say that the last fact often surprises people), but the ease and frankness with which people approach you is very charming.

One of the best ways we have found to get to know people is to travel on public transport. We have been very impressed with the train service as a way of getting around the country but equally importantly it has allowed us to meet some interesting people. The buses are something else. On local bus journeys, you really do have a chance to get to know your fellow passengers because you are often crammed in and squashed against them, but again its a great way to get around cheaply and its great fun.

Apart from the Indian people, there has been so much else we have enjoyed. The monuments and sights of course, although we both find that there is only so much of this type of sightseeing tourism we can take. We have also enjoyed the food. Until we came here we didnt appreciate the regional differences in Indian cuisine. Most of the food available in UK restuarants is Punjabi. While this is of course very good, Rajasthan, Southern India and Goa, among others, have some interesting regional specialities that unfortunatley you dont find much of in the UK (could there be a business opportunity here?).

We have had lots of great food, but the best place we have eaten has to be the Bamboo Cafe in Munnar, the Keralan hill station. The average waiting time between placing an order and receiving food in the Bamboo Cafe is about one and a half to two hours. We knew we were in for a long wait because shortly after placing an order, we saw someone walk out of the restaurant with a carrier bag to buy the ingredients from the market. However, the food was well worth the wait. The chef puts all sorts of spices, fruits and nuts into traditional Indian dishes and the wonderful flavours seem to explode in your mouth.

The other stars for us have been the cows, which are of course sacred animals for Hindus and as such have the right to roam unmolested anywhere. While cows wandering the streets are not a common sight in the Christian areas of Kerala and Goa, elsewhere in India they are seen just about everywhere drifting around in the traffic and crowds, like little vessels of peace and serenity among the chaos going on around them.

We could go on for much longer about our impressions of India. Six months has only been long enough to give us a taste of the country and there is still much we would like to see and do. We havent visited Varanasi or anywhere on the Eastern side of India, so we will definately be coming back at some stage, although probably not for six months at a time. For now however, we would like to close our Indian blogs with a lighter look at some observatons we have made about life in India.

1) Holding Hands

India is a conservative country and so any public contact between men and women is frowned upon. However, it is common to see friends of the same sex walking along holding hands. Two men holding hands of course looks a bit odd at first to the western visitor since this would only usually occur back home between gay men. In India, it is definately not a sign of homosexuality, because this is still a criminal offence carrying potentially a very long prison sentence. After a while we became used to seeing young men holding hands. However, it still looked odd to us when we saw two uniformed policemen walking along hand in hand. The sight of this would be enough to frighten the hardest criminal back home. We saw this a few times, particularly at railway statons, but the best incident was on Alleppey beach watching the sun go down. From our vantage point on the beach we saw two policemen holding hands who looked as if they were walking off into the sunset together.

2) The Wobble

This is the head wobble that is used throughout India as a sign of acknowledgement. The central character in Shantaram, the novel we mentioned in a previous blog, described how he decided to try a head wobble to greet someone when he was travelling on a train and when he did the Indian guy just beamed back at him. In an attempt to fit in we have tried to perfect this ourselves. We have spent time in front of a mirror trying to get it right, but unfortunately it just looks like we are trying to shake our head off our shoulders. To do it properly, you probably need to start at birth.

3) Hair Dye

We noticed lots of men with a strange orange tinge to their hair and sometimes their beard and moustache. At first we thouht that this might have been for religious reasons, because saffron is an important colour for Hindus. However, if this was the case they would probably have made a better fist of completely dyeing their hair the right colour, rather than just a few orange streaks. Then we realised it was mainly middle aged guys, so someone has obviously been flogging dodgy hair dye to the gentlemen of India - but why do they keep buying it?

4) Spitting

The country excels at many sports, cricket, hockey and chess to name but three. Spitting should be added to this list - If India is not the world champion it is definately up there near the top of the premiership. This unfortunately is one of the less pleasant things about visiting India and something that Dee in particular has found it impossible to get used to. Indian women also often complain about it, but that doesnt seem to stop it happening. Spitting is mainly a male pastime but we have seen several women have a good gob in the street. To be fair we didnt notice it much in Goa, but everywhere else there seems to be a constant stream of spittle emitted from male mouths. Of course, we should recognise that while we may find public spitting to be unpleasant, there are many things we do that Indian people find distasteful (e.g. we are told that blowing your nose with a hankie in public is regarded as unacceptable behaviour). However, to help us deal with the public spitting, we have started a scoring system, with marks out of ten awarded in the following categories;-

Preparaton - to achieve top marks this has to involve a long growl as the phlem and saliva are mixed in the back of the mouth.

Projection - female participants score less well in this category because they lack the upper body strength needed to get a good distance on the spit. A good projection should cover three to four feet.

Consistency - probably dont want to discuss this any further!

5) Driving

Special 'rules' apply when driving on Indian roads, so to help the new arrival who is foolish enough to try hiring a car, we have compiled a list of frequently asked questions about Indian driving etiquette.

i) What side of the road should I drive on in India?

A) The middle

ii) When approaching a road junction, who has priority?

A) Under Indian traffic regulations, it is an offence to give way to other traffic under any circumstances. If you are approaching a junction and you see one or more other vehicles also approaching, the correct procedure is as follows;-

- Depress accelerator to the floor
- Frantically sound horn

Remember, in this situation, it is the responsibility of the other driver to give way.

iii) When is over-taking permitted?

A) Over-taking is compulsory in the following circumstances;-

- Approaching the brow of a hill
- Approaching a blind corner
- When faced with oncoming traffic
- In busy pedestrian areas

At all other times over-taking, while not compulsory, is permitted, although under-taking on the blind side is the recommended manouvre.

iv) What are the most important controls in the car?

A) Apart from the steering wheel, the only controls you need to worry about are the accelerator and the horn. While cars are fitted with a brake, please remember that under Indian driving rules it is illegal to use the brake while the car is in motion.

v) You mention that the horn is important, when should I use this?

A) It is easier to provide a list of occasions when you should not sound the horn on your vehicle. This list is shown below;-
_

There are special rules for using the horn when driving in areas frequented by pedestrian tourists. These people dont seem to hear the normal car horn and many vehicles are now fitted with a special klaxon that emits an extremely sharp, loud noise designed to startle tourists walking at the road side. If your car is fitted with such a device it is compulsory to use it when you see them walking near you. The correct procedure is as follows;-

- Sound the klaxon repeatedly until you see a startled look on the faces of the tourists

- When you know they have seen you and you are satisfied that they are sufficiently startled, steer your car towards them, veering away only at the last second so as to push them off the side of the road. This is for their own safety.

- Tourists will particularly appreciate it if, when performing this manouvre, you give them a friendly laugh and wave.

Actually, while the driving on Indian roads seems pretty anarchic, somehow it all seems to work out ok and we havnt seen many accidents.

So thats about it. We have had a wonderful time in India. The country has made a deep impression on us; we shall be back to see and experience more of this fascinating place. We are both quite sad to be leaving, but our visa expires soon so we have to go. However, we have lots of new adventures to look forward to. Our plan now is to spend six months exploring South East Asia, starting in Bangkok.

Until our next blog, toodlepip!!

Dee and David

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