Traveling Rockhopper

When I was planning my trip to India, I wanted to include different places. Taj Mahal (mausoleum in Agra) was on the top of my list.

– Was it worthy visiting? – Yes. Well, I think it’s good to visit all kinds of places, even if we don’t like some of them.
– Did I like it? – In general yes. I liked the total view of Taj Mahal. I wasn’t impressed by some details or inside parts. I liked colorful birds flying around. I didn’t like crowds; it was much too crowded (I was there in February).
– Would I like to go there again? – No. Too crowded.

What’s your impression about Taj Mahal?

Delhi has plenty interesting places.
I guess you can spend there a week visiting all sites, but 1 or 2 days can be also enough – depending on your preferences.

What I’d recommend the most are: Red Fort (today’s photo), Humayun’s Tomb and India Gate.
These 3 sites are probably the most famous. In the Fort and Tomb you’ll see mostly tourists, but India Gate is surrounded by locals so that makes it more real.

Of course, you’ll find in Delhi much much more. Visit different monuments, as well as streets and restaurants to taste a bit of everything. 😉

New Delhi is the capital of India.
It’s a big city, but much smaller and less populous than Mumbai.
Some areas of New Delhi are quite modern but the others are very poor (and they look like I that…).

India is a huge country with many interesting places for tourists.
In general, traveling in India is quite convenient as long as you fly or take a train of a better class. Using buses or the worst trains may be annoying and frustrating, or just dirty with many insects…

In India, I was mostly traveling by train, and I think, I checked all possible classes. So my advice – if you can, avoid the lowest class.

Female clothes from India are very diverse.
Traditional men clothing also varies a lot. However, these days, many boys and men often wear just a shirt and jeans. The easiest way to see different male clothes is to watch an Indian movie. 😉 Or plan your visit during one of the festivals – that’s a great chance to observe colorful life. 🙂

What I like the most from men clothing, are all turbans or caps. They can change even a “boring outfit”. 😉

I guess, I’m not the only person who has in mind colorful sari while hearing the word “India”. 😀
So for me, Indian clothes are perfectly represented by sari and salwar kameez. 😉
(Sari looks like a dress with a top, and salwar kameez like trousers and a tunic.)

Of course, it’s quite a naive description, because clothing (and its colors) in India varies depending on different factors, like culture, geography, climate, event, etc. And actually many female clothing exist in India, but I still think that sari and salwar kameez are the most popular.

Tomorrow, I’ll mention men clothing.

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! 🙂