To balance the ledger from my last post, I began thinking about what is amazing about India. Why do we keep going back despite the shocks?
1.
The food - there are more than enough pics already! Indian food in India has a variety and a subtlety that you just do not get in Australia - or Singapore. We ate in not-elaborate restaurants, which were not pricey by our standards. A big lunch often meant all we wanted for dinner was a clear soup. Breakfasts had a wonderful array of breads - naan, poori, dosa, roti. It was hard to choose. The accompanying sambar was inevitably lovely.
2.
The roads. Yes they can be chaotic, and there is often traffic gridlock in the towns. But they are not unsafe! Traffic is so slow, there are no big prangs. If a horn beeps, it is a warning that someone is behind you, and the good news is that he has seen you! If they have seen you, they are unlikely to hit you. The beeps mean that both you and the car/trishaw/tuktuk will have to move. No chance of dozing off on these roads! And you would be unlikely to lose a car-full of speeding teenagers here.
It isn't (quite) as bad as it looks for pedestrians.
Some of the highways are becoming quite modern and traffic moves faster, so the above rules don't always apply.
4.
History. India has a long history, some of which overlapped with our trip to Iran last year. You can see the influences in the architecture and the language of food for example. And the British history is also fascinating. There does not seem to be any great bitterness in India about it, unless people were holding their fire in front of us. It is worthwhile reflecting on how one country can begin to wield power over another, as the British did in India, moving to full governance and displays of imperial grandeur. And likewise, to see how quickly it all fell apart. India gives you a window into the huge extent of British influence and power in the nineteenth century. Singapore and Australia were bit players in it all.
British designed and no doubt built with local labour - the High Court in Calcutta.
5.
Optimistic people. Despite the poverty, people just keep on keeping on. For example, there are chai sellers in the most grubby looking stalls, with no reticulated water I am sure. Thank goodness for boiling water!
A different stall. Coffee making.
.
6.
Politics - they have a leader who is admired! That is a long distant dream in Australia. Everyone we asked (except one who was lukewarm) admired Modi and said he was good for the country. We did not ask Muslims (none knowingly crossed our path), but Modi's previous anti-Muslim stance did not seem to be their reason. They admired his crackdown on corruption, or on rubbish, or his building toilets.
One person commented that people were too impatient for his changes to work. Time will tell on this one. Let's hope their optimism is rewarded.
And where else would you get not just one Communist party but several!
