In that lost three months after Christmas I had the opportunity to see a part of India for two weeks. Mumbai mostly, but a quick side trip to Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal).
Everyone asks: "How was it?"
To answer that requires quite an unraveling of emotion and imagery. Especially for someone from New Zealand, the population of which is a quarter of Mumbai (forgetting the other 1 billion people).
India. It is extreme.
- The largest democracy in the world. Everyone has an opinion, and someone is bound to disagree.
- Food has Flavour. Spice is inherent in everything, unless it's super-sweet.
- Infrastructure is overloaded - water stops, power goes out.
- A few people are extremely wealthy, and a lot of people are very poor. Beggars are prevalent almost everywhere, only slightly outnumbered by the taxi drivers, or balloon salesmen.
- It is Hot. 30+ degrees C during the day in Mumbai. In winter.
- The Bollywood industry makes hundreds of movies a year, almost stripping Hollywood; most of the films never leave the country.
India. It is a paradox.
- Officially a secular state, religion is part of everything. A large proportion is Hindi, but it's not hard to find Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain...the list goes on.
- The Taj Mahal is truely a wonder of the world (it is amazing), yet rubbish lines the nearby city streets.
- Women dress in colourful, beautiful saris; while the men are plain in their shirts, pants and shoes.
- Modern ideals and freedoms (particularly for women) are in conflict with a traditional India lifestyle. Valentines Day this year was particularly heated.
- A movie about India, directed by an Englishman, and courtesy of America won the Oscar Best Picture award (Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire).
It has taken me a while to get my head around it, and if I went back I imagine it would hit me again.
And why did I go at all? If you've seen any photos of the trip then that should be clear; the best reason there is.
What's next? Who knows.
The future is unwritten.
Khudahafis
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