Looking back on our whirlwind adventure through India I
think of the vibrant colours, constant haggling, abundance of diversity, confronting
poverty, the all famous Indian head wobble and never ending chai!! India is a country that overwhelms all your
senses. The overpowering smells, some
disgusting and others appetising that invade your nostrils on every corner. The
constant blaring of thousands of motorists trying in vain to move as quickly as
they can through the snail paced traffic and around random goats and cows that
amble slowly through the streets. Indulging your tastebuds in garlic naans,
crispy dosas, jeera rice, tandoori chicken and even the refreshing lime sodas
and lassis. The impressive sights of snow capped mountains near Dharamsala, the
Golden Temple at sunrise, the Kama Sutra temples in Khajuraho or the magical
landscape of Hampi. Or simply being surrounded by an outstanding amount of
vibrant saris, colourful turbans of different shapes and sizes, and of course
the ubiquitous moustaches.
In our short six weeks we travelled from Delhi down to
Chennai and experienced genuine hospitality and kindness, which contrasted
highly with the preposterous statements, persistent and often annoying ploys to
get our money. The haggling and attempts to pull at your heart strings are
rivalled by nowhere else I’ve travelled to, and while we saw many people who
genuinely needed help, it comes to a point that you realise you can’t help
everyone. Even sadder is the difficulty in many situations in determining if
people are actually in need or just trying to take advantage of our foreign
appearance. In saying that, the poverty in India is abundant and confronting.
Cripples, lepers, homeless people and a plethora of ragged children constantly
have their hands outstretched and tins rattling for donations. The abundance of amputees is also something
quite common and unfortunately something you get used to. Men with mangled
limbs or even no limbs at all, crawling or rolling on planks to move around. One
of the saddest and most abhorrent facts is that many of these people have been
purposely disfigured or deformed in order to be more successful at begging. As
hard as it is to say no to someone, it’s even harder when you are swarmed by a
group all expecting the same help.
Just as confronting is the lack of hygiene. Walking through
the streets you’re endlessly dodging piles of rubbish, open sewers and ragged
animals. It’s also not uncommon to see men of all ages using the pavement and
sidewalks as toilets. We found the lack of hygiene awareness shocking and it
was probably one of the hardest things I had to deal with, especially in
Varanasi. The local people are completely ignorant or just don’t care that they
are bathing, washing clothes and drinking from the Ganges which is so blatantly
polluted.
India is one of the most spiritual places I’ve travelled to.
Most Indians are deeply religious, whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh,
Buddhist or Christian. You don’t need to go far to find amazing temples or
ancient ruins which are almost as abundant as 7 Eleven’s in Melbourne
(surprisingly there are no 7 Eleven’s in India much to our amazement). Matt
found the Muslim call to prayer extremely frustrating when it woke us at 5am, blaring
from a speaker right outside our window. I appreciate different religions but
this was too ridiculous for me as well.
This trip was tough and challenging sometimes, easy going
and relaxing at others but overall it was spectacular and far too quick. We
travelled hundreds of kilometres on buses and trains – some disgracefully
uncomfortable; one to Dharamsala that made us sick, one that smelt like sour
milk and another that was home to scurrying mice. There were other rides that
were fun and reasonably comfortable, and the constant calls of ‘chai chai chai’
and ‘coffee coffee coffee’ will always stay in my memory.
There are a lot of everyday sights that can only belong in
India that we got very used to and may the paint the picture for you more
vividly. No matter where we travelled in India the following were consistent
throughout : children asking for school pens and chocolate (somehow they all
ask for the same thing), men chewing and loudly spitting out bright red beetle
(plant similar to tobacco), Matt constantly being accosted by groups of men for
‘one snaps’ and wanting to know all about him, me constantly being asked if I
was Indian, the thinnest mattresses in the world at only about 20mm thick
(might be a good idea to start up a mattress business), monkeys everywhere
clambering over buildings, pushy salesmen and of course all of the men (who
Matt thinks have homosexual tendencies) affectionately holding hands.
India overall was an amazing country to travel through and I
only wish that we had more time there. We will definitely need to return to see
all the sights that we couldn’t fit in. India is somewhere that everyone needs
to visit once in their life even though it’s not a typical holiday destination
for many Aussies. It’s made us appreciate everything we have at home and how
lucky we are, while also opening my eyes to a whole new culture and different
way of life.
