Traveling Rockhopper

Indian cuisine can be describe as “lots of vegetables, lentils and spices”. 😉
In general, vegetarianism is very popular in India, but I also met many people from India who eat meat (so like always, generalization doesn’t work so well 😉 ).

On the other hand, what we call as “Indian food” outside India is usually quite differently made in India. And India is a large country, with different regions (e.g., cold Himalayas, hot coast) and each region has some specialities.

Do you like Indian cuisine?
I love mango lassi. 😀 Lassi is a traditional yogurt-based drink from India. Often, lassi is simply salted, but sometimes flavored with sugar or fruits.

Bollywood is probably the most popular Indian film industry.
Well, there is no place like Bollywood, and the name just sounds like “Hollywood from Bombay” (Bombay is a former name for Mumbai).

Have you ever watched a Bollywood movie?
I’m not a movie fan, but I went to a cinema and watched an Indian movie when I was in Mumbai. 🙂

The Indian film industry is huge and each year many movies (over thousand!) are made in India.
Indian films are the most popular in India, however, they have also many fans in other countries.

Do you know, that Indian movies originate from many places in India? A few years ago, I though that a term “Indian film” means the same as “Bollywood”. But they are different! Bollywood is a film industry based in Mumbai – just one of many in India.

In a few religions, e.g., in Hinduism, cattle are considered as sacred animals.
(Apparently, in ancient time, e.g., in Greece or Rome, people had similar beliefs. I guess, cattle were so important animals, useful in many works, thus killing it didn’t make any sense.)

Hinduism is the main religion in India, so cows are sacred there and people don’t eat beef. You can also find in India many cows walking everywhere around (like in today’s picture).

Hinduism is the most popular religion in India.
I guess everyone (somehow) heard about Hinduism, even without knowing it; yoga, karma, reincarnation etc., all come from Hinduism.

I have the (wrong!) impression, that Hinduism is the religion of everyone from India. Actually, less than 20% of the population are Islam followers. Taking into account the total population of India, this 20% is quite a large number!
There are also smaller numbers of other religions followers.

What’s interesting – the Constitution of India has declared freedom of religion as a fundamental right.

India is a very poor country and many people live under horrible conditions.
Sadly, you can easily see it while visiting India.
Before I went to India, I heard that “people die on the streets in India”. And it’s so true… I saw many poor people and sick animals on the streets. They’re there and nobody seems to care…

Tradition, culture and religion have very strong influence on everyday life in India.
E.g., the caste system (“social classes/hierarchy”) it still very vivid, even it originates from an ancient India.
Generalizing, everywhere in the world rich people have “easier life” than poor ones; however, in India, this discrimination is much stronger. Even my colleague (from India) told me that her parents don’t accept her marriage, because her family is richer than the family of her husband.

Today, another “hi-tech” picture from India (a payphone). 😉
I’m sure, tourists may have lots of fun hunting (with a camera) for similar “items”. At the end, India is a country with an impressive economic growth, and sooner or later a new technology will take a place over the old one. I’m curious how it’s going to look like in 10 or 20 years, maybe places like from today’s or yesterday’s picture will not exist any more…

India is a huge country of many faces, with extremely rich as well as extremely poor people.
And it’s not difficult to find places in India where you have the impression you’re back in time or the time stopped and you’re in “x” year (just everyone has a mobile phone 😉 ).

What do you think about today’s picture? – It presents not the most modern place (hairdresser)… Would you like to have your haircut done here?

Yesterday, I mentioned that English is widely spoken in India. It’s actually one of the official languages, together with Hindi. Well, Hindi is the main language, and English is like an additional language for government, business or education.

What’s interesting, each state in India can have its own official language, and there apparently over 100 major languages plus many many more “minor” ones.

p.s. Today’s picture was taken in Jaipur. You know, I’m an astrophysicist, so when I see words “astrology” and “research institute” written together, I’m speechless… 🙁

In years from 1858 to 1947, India was a British colony or a part of the British Empire, and used to be called the British Raj.
About 100 years of the British rule changed some aspects in India (in a negative as well as in a positive way). What’s mostly visible today, it’s an English language widely spoken by citizens (well… with a characteristic accent). Cricket is another “British remains” in India and nowadays it’s actually the most popular sport in India!

What “British” comes to your mind when you think about India?

India is officially called as the Republic of India.
It’s one of the largest countries and the second-most populous country in the world.

On today’s picture, you see a part of the long queue – people waiting to enter famous Taj Mahal. It’s one of the biggest touristic attractions of India, so no wonder it’s very crowded. But in general, it’s a bit difficult to be alone in India (or China).

Each month, I have a post on my blog that’s called “Final impression”. This time, I also want to add a post where I’m showing you my first photo-impression.

That’s the first picture I took in India, just after living subway (metro) station in Delhi.
Well, it’s like it is…

Welcome in May on my blog! 🙂
This month is going to be all about India.
Have you ever been to India or this country is on your list, or maybe you don’t want to go there?
Let me know your impressions or imaginations. I’m curious what you think, because people often have very strong feelings about India – love it or hate it; think it’s a colorful place or very dirty; etc.
I’ll try to show you in May (relatively) objective pictures taken in India. Stay tuned! 🙂

Today we’re saying “Goodbye Lithuania”.
How did you like this month on my blog? Would you like to visit Lithuania?

I have to say, I have very positive memories from this small country.
What I liked the most are two places – Vilnius and the Curonian Spit. 🙂

Tomorrow, a new series on my blog will start. This time, it’s going to be about slightly more exotic country. 😉

Palanga is a resort and a summer capital of Lithuania. From this short description, I’d expected a crowded city, but it was nice and calm; even the beach was completely empty. 🙂

Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania. Well, it doesn’t really feel big. At least its nice Old Town is perfect for sightseeing on foot. You’ll find there a few interesting sites, i.e., Kaunas Castle (today’s picture).

In the Curonian Spit you’ll also find several museums.
The most known is probably a museum in Nida about the German writer Thomas Mann. So no wonder, Nida is very popular among the German tourists.

Curonian Spit (the Baltic Sea area) is also famous from large sand dunes. It says, there are the largest drifting dunes in Europe. Visit one of the places and have some fun with sand. 😉

While being close to the coast, think of the Baltic treasures. 😀
Amber can be still found on the beach. So search for it, while walking along the coast.

When I was a little girl, searching for amber was a must during summer holidays. 🙂

p.s. If you want to learn more about Baltic amber – visit Amber Museum in Palanga.