Spirit of India Day 15 Last Thoughts of India

Saturday April 25th

I have thoroughly enjoyed my three weeks in India, and like I did in Egypt, I have some thoughts and lasting impressions of this country that I'd like to record both for your interest and so I don't forget.

First:

Hindu – is the religion

Hindi – is the language, not the plural or Hindu! It is the official language of India.

They have different titles for their rulers of old. Kings are called either Maharaja (great king) or Maharana (great warrior), and the female version is Maharani.

Religion – Jain and Sikhism are both offshoots of Hindu. Hari Krishna and Swaminarayanism (from the large new temple I visited) are cults that are based on Hindu. There are also Buddhists, Muslims and some Christians here. I think religion is the one thing that holds this country together. Everyone seems devote and they greet each other with a religious gesture. There are temples and shrines large and small, everywhere, which pay tribute to anyone of their many gods. I learned about a few, primarily Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesh.

Politically, according to Sameer and a few other people we had a chance to talk to, the government is very corrupt. People are disillusioned and fed up by the lack of support to improve things locally for the people. Whereas lots of money is spent for international issues (for example the Commonwealth Games), or to build nuclear weapons and such. None seems to be spent to address the local problems of hunger, poverty and the general filth of the country. All the bodies of water I saw, from rivers to ponds, to lakes, were horribly polluted. I couldn't believe people were bathing and swimming in any of them, especially the holy River Ganges. As we watched people swimming, not far away a dead cow floated by. I saw fish jumping in the Ganges, I can only assume they were trying to get out! The streets and waterways are filthy, with garbage left everywhere. I don't remember seeing any garbage cans or a garbage truck. Garbage is just dumped in the street. The wandering cows eat anything edible including the paper and cardboard, and the leftover plastic is everywhere.

The poverty of the country is immediately evident. There are people everywhere and lots of them have little or nothing. There are lots of beggars begging for food, despite the fact that Sameer told us that the temples all have food programs for the poor. So apparently they make more money this way. They often use their children for begging. Others will sell anything, even things that are worthless or obviously recycled. We saw numerous people with deformities, or amputations, or illnesses wandering around and begging as well. We were encouraged not to give the beggars anything, especially the kids, as it just perpetuates the cycle of begging. If kids learn they can survive by begging, then they frequently don't go to school. This is a problem I have seen over and over in the 3rd world.

Holy Cows are a nightmare. The females are generally taken care of by people and apparently provide some milk, but the males are just abandoned and left to fend for themselves. They wander around thorough the cities, towns and countryside, apparently fearless, because no one every harms them. They wander on or across the roads in traffic and the drivers just go around them. It appears that they would rather crash into an oncoming car than a cow. The cows often congregate on the narrow medians between traffic, apparently because there are less flies there to bother them. Flies are everywhere. The level of hygiene and filth perpetuates that. When a cow dies, it's skin is sent to tanners to make leather and the carcass is left for scavengers to eat. Indians are mostly vegetarian and won't eat this wasted source of protein. Their religion forbids it.

Which reminds me of something that all of a sudden became obvious to me – there are no chickens here. All through South America, Africa and the Middle East, I have seen chickens running around everywhere. Here there are none. Apparently there are poultry farms, mostly for the tourist trade, but there are no chickens in the towns or yards of India.

However, there are dogs! Thousands of them. They wander everywhere, sleep anywhere, and eat anything. There is no discernible breed, but they all look similar in a houndy, kind of way and are tan coloured. They don't seem aggressive, but they are mangy and generally ignored by people, and just missed by traffic.

Another issue is pollution. The air is very polluted. When we flew into Delhi last night, there was a very thick layer of smog over the city, and was very noticeable as we left the airport. The lack of regulation of emissions for vehicles is obviously part of the problem. People seem to have red eyes, and lots of us developed coughs and filthy noses from what we were breathing in.

There is also the issue of public urination. Men in particular will go whenever they need to. It is not uncommon to see them peeing by the side of the road, on the side of buildings, waste land, anywhere they can be relatively discreet. There are few public toilets, but the ones they do have are basically open to the street.

Traffic is also a nightmare. Cars, rickshaws, tuk tuks, motorcycles, trucks, bicycles, animal drawn carts, all vie for a place on the road. They drive on the left most times, but we frequently saw motorcycles fearlessly driving towards us on dual carriageways. Trucks have 'HORN PLEASE' stencilled on their tailgates and every driver obliges. They are constantly sounding their horns. They are not used in an angry way, as we do in Canada, it is more a form of communication between drivers. “Look out here I come.” I think they use them here even more than Egypt, if that is possible. I can't decide if they are the worst drivers in the world or the best! They don't follow the same regimented rules that we follow, there are no stop signs and precious few stop lights, but somehow everyone gets around. Didn't see any major collisions and no road rage. They just do what they have to do to get some place. I know I couldn't drive here, I wonder what would happen if we put one of them in Toronto!

Originally the society was based on a class system, like much of the rest of the world. This was a more fluid organization and a person could choose a profession from any class, and if successful financially, could rise to the next class. However, over time and with the influence of invaders, notably the Moguls, the system became more rigid and became known as the caste system. This is highlighted in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Professions were assigned to castes and a person would be born into a caste and a profession and could not change to any other profession. Your career and life were set. You were what your family was. Ambition and self improvement were eliminated.

There were four basic castes:

Brahmins – priestly class, this included teachers
Kshatriyas – administrators
Vaishyas – merchants
Shudras – working class including the untouchables the lowest of the caste

The untouchables are the lowest level and include sweepers, tanners, and people who deal with the excrement of the society.

Despite all of this the people we met seemed happy and were very nice and polite to us. They have a gentle disposition, don't seem to get angry, seem endlessly patient and smile easily. They are fascinated by tourists and like to ask where you come from or just stare at us. Even the merchants, who can be a bit annoying at times, will finally and politely leave you alone if you say 'no' enough times.

Our guide Sameer was amazing. When you ask him how he is, he replies “Never better.” That sums up his attitude towards life. He loves his job and is a real gentleman and a consummate guide. He was patient with everyone and repeated things for those who weren't listening. He was thoroughly organized and handled all issues with aplomb, even a guy travelling without a passport! He seemed to know everyone, and everyone at all the hotels and restaurants, and all the drivers seemed to really like and respect him. He apparently had a hand in the itinerary for this trip for Discovery. GAP outsourced us to Discovery.

The trip was also interesting because it was a 'Comfort' trip. It was more expensive than the 'Standard' trip, but given the conditions in India I thought it might be a good option. I am very glad I did. We ate at a much better class of restaurants, and as a result I think there were a lot less sickness issues. Several people did get Delhi belly, but I think it was more from the spices and oils rather than unhygienic prepared foods. And the hotels were amazing. We stayed in really nice places. Many of them were heritage buildings converted to hotels. Some people pooh pooh taking a trip like this, but it is a great way to go for a number of reasons: there is no way I could have planned and seen as much as was already organized for me, especially in this period of time; they know the best places to see in each city or area; all admissions and camera fees were paid for (yes they charge you camera fees to photograph inside the temples and palaces); Sameer knows his country inside and out and could provide us endless historical details and insights; he collected a kitty of money from us and handled the tips for all of the hotels, cabs, drivers, waiters, musicians, and whoever else for us; we didn't have to worry about where we were going to stay, how we were going to get there or anything, Sam took care of all the details; and it is great to travel with a group of people from all over the world and share the experience with them. Couldn't be better.

When I first arrived in Delhi, I was fascinated by the poverty next to the wealth, the traffic and noise and the smells, good and bad, of the city. It was very different. But, many of us commented upon our return to Delhi, how normal it seemed after all the other places in India that we visited! It's all relative.

I know this country is becoming a world power but from what I have seen, I'm not sure how?!? It is so far removed from what I visualize a world power should look like.

Having said all of that, India is amazing and perhaps like nowhere else. Despite all of its problems and maybe because of them, this is an incredible place to visit. There is lots to see and do, and I have only scratched the surface. I am really glad I came here and would love to return again at some point.

I think Gail said it best, when she said “India is endlessly fascinating”.