David and I took a trip to India, March 9 - 26, 2011. We had such an incredible trip that I decided I would share some of my notes, chronicles, tidbits, feelings, thoughts, and observations with you immediately after we returned so that I would not procrastinate like I did about our last year trip to Alaska (I still plan to send what information I can remember about Alaska).

I use the word “incredible” because many travel agents use that word and we found our trip to be as much. David and I are listing India as one of our top 10 trips. Special thanks to our dear friends, (GK) and his wife, Santha for their support in making this trip happen. David was invited to make several presentations to the faculty and students at the Amrita School of Business in Coimbatore and Bangalore, where GK is now dean. He also made presentations to the faculty and students at Jindal Global University Business School in Sonipat, Haryana founded by billionaire, Naveen Jindal, an alumnus of UT Dallas.

Cities in India that we traveled to in are: Delhi, Agra, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Cochin, and Sonipat. We saw lots of small towns, cities, and villages as we traveled by auto between the large cities.

Disclaimer: The information I am writing about is as I heard it, read it, or observed it. Others, including David, may not have heard, read, or observed the same. Before the trip, I was rather apprehensive and anxious about going to India because of the movie, Slumdog Millionaire and what others told me. I feared getting sick; I feared being safe; and I feared been devastated by the poverty. I must say that while I was overwhelmed, my fears were unfounded - partly because of all the precautions we took and partly because I realized that India has everything we have in America, more or less.

I am starting with my lists of Lots of Things Seen in India and No or Few Things Seen in India.

LOTS OF THINGS SEEN IN INDIA

• Lots of People: India has a population of 1.9 billion, second to China. New Delhi has 17 million people. I saw more men than women and was told that there are about 1000 men to every 900 women. Perhaps, American women who are "looking" can move to India.

• Also, Lots of Beautiful People: They are brown or dark brown skinned people. People in South India tend to be darker than those in North India. I think most of the men that I saw (even the obviously poor ones) are handsome with fine facial features, clean shaven, jet black and neatly cut hair, thin bodies, and conservatively dressed with long-sleeved shirts tucked and belted into long pants, with the exception of those who wore tugas (diaper-like cloths that were lengthened into sarong skirts). Many do not wear hats or caps, though some wore turbans. The men tend bald as they age. The women are beautiful with long black hair braided into one braid down their backs. Primarily, they wore saris or two piece Indian pajama type suits and scarves. They also wear bindis (circular dots on their foreheads.) The children are cute and typically wear uniforms to school.

• Lots of Smart, Educated people: India has a high literacy rate because they value getting an education. Yet, we were told that Indians have a lot of rote learning and are not very creative. We saw many educational institutions. It seems like America has higher quality universities. In one city, we were told that the literacy rate is 97%.

• Lots of praying and displays of spiritual and religious practice: India is filled with highly decorative, large and small temples, temple chariots, mosques, ashrams (Hindu spiritual centers), holy rivers, and Christian places of worship. People can be seen praying everyday and all times of the day. Their bodies, homes, and cars are adorned with prayer and religious items, including various gods or deities. The people are mostly Hindu, with Muslim and Christian a close second and third. Some examples of religious leaders are priests, pastors, imams and gurus.

• Lots of Languages: Many Indians speak English as their second language, although I had to listen closely to understand them. Remember, India was colonized by the British. Many Americans think Hindi is the only spoken language in India, but India has 18 major regional languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Malayalam.

• Lots of Colors: India is very colorful. Not only are the people colorful, but their clothes, cars, bikes, animals, buildings, galleries, palaces, signs, foods, etc. are as well.

• Lots of poverty and lots of wealth: India has luxury and high-end hotels, homes, palaces, malls, autos, etc. Reportedly, there are 55 billionaires in India. During our visit to India, Americans Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates were also there meeting with Indian billionaires to encourage them to become philanthropists. The poor are very visible in India, too. I saw people sleeping on the street, people living in tents, straw and tin shacks, and favela types of neighborhoods.

• Lots of Corruption: Several people mentioned to us that government officials have negatively affected the lives and income of the public because of corruption.

• Lots of Traffic: India’s traffic is the heaviest that I have ever seen anywhere, including China, New York, Dallas, or Houston. We saw different forms of transportation, including cars, bikes, motorbikes, scooters, rickshaws, cows, horses, dogs, camels, trucks, buses, people walking, and toot-toots (golf cart size cars) all on the roads at the same time. They do not honor lane divisions - believe me - I saw as many as five lines of traffic on a two lane road.

• Lots of Horn Honking and skilled drivers: I would not dare drive in India. They drive British style in cars with the steering wheels on the right side of the car and with stick shifts. Accidents are avoided because horn honking is constant. Their drivers do not talk on cell phones or text while driving.

• Lots of people on modes of transportation. We saw a family of four (mother, father, and two children) riding on one motor scooter. One man told us that he saw six. We saw so many people riding on a bus that the door could not close.

• Lots of Alleys and Poorly Paved Walkways and Streets: The disabled, elderly, and blind people have difficulty getting around in India.

• Lots of Security: Police and security personnel are everywhere. You cannot get into airports without going through armed guards, police, or soldiers. Every hotel, restaurant, museum, school, etc. that we visited had security.

• Lots of flip-flops and bare feet: Of course, people wear shoes - even stilettos - but flip-flops are the norm. It is difficult to walk around in India because of the high numbers of poorly paved sidewalks. There are many places where you have to take your shoes off because of their religions or customs.

• Lots of Commerce and stuff: Indians are busy and hustling people. Their neighborhoods are crowded with all kinds of businesses. There are many workers, servers, and peddlers. They are not mere beggars because we saw people selling any and everything. We saw one girl selling entertainment by peddling her skill of performing gymnastics in between traffic.

• Lots of Good Food and vegetarian dishes: David and I like Indian food, though David likes it spicier than I do. We ate more rice, lentils, chickpeas, and sauces and drank more tea, (especially green and masala tea) than we ever had in our lives! We both eat meat and got bored with Indian vegetarian food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We did dine at some nice Indian and non-Indian restaurants. We enjoyed our meals, as guests in an Indian home, on our houseboat, and at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (of which I will tell you more about in my chronicles).

• Lots of... billboards, aluminum, plastic patio chairs, cows, mosquitos, and stray dogs.

NO OR FEW THINGS SEEN IN INDIA

• No Cats: I did not see one cat in India and wonder why. • Few white-skinned people.

• Few overweight people: I think this is so because of their diets; Indians walk a lot; and are very busy.

• Few PDAs (Public Displays of Affection) between men and women: I saw many men touching and holding hands with men but not with women. I was told that men show pda often, and this is considered the norm.

• No roller skates or skateboards: All other forms of transportation were seen on the street but no skates or skateboards.

• No graffiti or gang signs: This was a surprise to me because of the large population of young people in India.

• No men with baggy pants.

• No American Gas Stations: I did not see Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, etc. I saw Indian Oil and Bharat stations. I was told that most oil comes from Iraq and Dubai.

• No Starbucks, IHop, or Burger King: I did see McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Subway. David and I did not eat at any of these. We went to a couple of Hard Rock Cafes so that David could get shirts to add to his collection.

• Few outdoor or public smokers: Unlike in European and other Asian countries where we see lots of smoking, I saw little smoking in India.

• No outdoor basketball courts or nets: We saw cricket and soccer fields, tennis courts, and golf courses. People watched The World Cup of Cricket that was held in India during the time we were there.

• No leaf blowers: We saw people gathering up leaves only with their hands and whisk type brooms.

• Few public toilet facilities: I do not know what the women do but the men have no problems eliminating in public. I even saw “Do Not Urinate Here” signs in front of a hospital.

By Jacqueline Ford

Posted in: Culture, Points of Interest
Features: Day Trips, Local Perspective