India was very different than we expected. Although it is a poor country, we found happiness, beauty and very kind people. It is a colorful country with an interesting history, cultures and religions. We could only visit one of the 28 regions, Rajasthan (which I guess it is one of the richest regions), plus New Delhi and Agra (Uttar Predesh). The main itinerary was:
New Delhi - Mandawa - Bikaner - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Ranakpur - Judaipur - Pushkar - Ajmer - Jaipur - Agra - New Delhi (and some other little stops in other cities)
We visited a lot of forts and temples and we learned a little bit about their languages, cultures and religions. I wish I could post one day all my new knowledge about India:
- The peculiarities of their religions are quite interesting. Very different religions (hinduism, islam, jainism, buddhism, etc.) coexisting together in a same society. Many different gods; Allāh, Ganesh, Hanuman, Krishna, or even no gods. Many different doctrines, points, philosophies, symbolisms, etc. Beliefs that don't leave you indifferent. I was impressed by Jainism religion, I liked it :P.
- Culture: It is incredible how there are still concerted marriages among people of the same caste, so you don't know your wife/husband until the day of your wedding (bad luck if you don't like her/him), or to be obliged to work in a certain area because of the caste you belong to.
- And it is always fun to learn a new language and to try to speak it to local people, just to see if they are able to understand you. It is an universal truth that if you try to speak in their language, they will look at you with different eyes, they will probably smile and be more kind to you :D.
In short, too many things I wish I never forget ... We are lucky we have some pictures to remember them all :P:
However it was a fantastic trip, we also found some other things not so nice to see:
- Traffic is one of the most shocking things in India. It is totally uncontrolled, nobody respects anything, there are a lot of accidents and the drivers blow the horn all the time (just to try to avoid them). Paradoxically they respect the 80km/h speed limit in motorways (Thanks GOD!!! :D).
- Cleaning: All the cities are completely dirty, there are no bins and sewers are normally air-opened. It would be "easy" to put some bins in the street and to offer a dumpster service just to clean the streets a little bit. I think the cost would not be very high. The real problem is to try to get people to use them.
As I have said before, I think we have been in one of the richest regions of the India, so I guess the country has some other bigger problems than traffic and cleaning.
"I had no shoes and complained, until I met a man who had no feet".
Indian Proverb
Indian Proverb
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