Indian Hygiene

There's been quite in stir in India lately due to an Indian official's comments regarding standards of hygiene (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/world/asia/25india.html?scp=1&sq=&st=nyt). Yes, the buildup to the Commonwealth Games has been a disaster but apparently this guy went too far by implying that Indian hygienic standards are lower than those of people from other nations. To be fair, I didn't live in India or visit many people's homes so I can't comment on private hygiene. In public however, India is just plain filthy. There's rubbish, cow dung, and flies nearly everywhere. It was the first thing I noticed when I crossed the Nepal - India border. In my opinion, this is strongly associated with the typical Indian citizen's views on hygiene and cleanliness. Sure, you may keep your home clean, but why do you pee and throw your rubbish out onto the street? Doesn't the smell and the ever present piles of rubbish bother you? For me, the issue of hygiene and cleanliness became more than clear when I left India for Thailand. Thailand is an immaculately clean place mostly because it's a part of the culture to keep things clean. I'm staying in a jungle hut which is cleaner than many of the brick-and-mortar places I stayed in India. Call it post-India syndrome or whatever, but I'm still astonished at how clean things are in Thailand compared to the filth I routinely witnessed in India.

Dear India

The Taj Majal, Agra

Dear India,

I’m writing this letter to let you know that you’re beautiful. And mesmerizing. And enchanting and inviting and exotic and the stuff of dreams. But at the same time you can also be dirty, rude, crass, and infuriating. I’ve only known you for 6 weeks but I think I might be in love. You’ve shown me so many beautiful things and teased me with so many more. There’s been more than a few times when I was on a bus or train and saw something absolutely incredible but was already on my way to see something else you had in store for me.  Regarding your transit system, it’s really well run and gets people to where they need to go. In particular the rail system is outstanding when compared to many countries. It is light years better than Amtrak; Nepal doesn’t even have a rail system as far as I know.

Main Ghat, Varanasi

You’ve shown me the ultimate monument to love, religious festivals like nowhere else in the world, colonial forts, kama sutra stone carvings, modern cities, ancient settlements, and chilled out beach towns. You’ve drenched me with monsoon rains and dried me with subtropical rays of light. You’ve blocked my path so many times with cows that they became a part of my life. And no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, stepping into massive piles of cow dung also became a part of everyday life. Now that I think back to our time together, I think you’ve changed me in some subtle ways which I haven’t yet realized yet. You’ve opened my eyes (figuratively, not literally; my eyes are still tiny) to different cultures, customs, and religions. You’ve introduced me to loads of awesome people. Oh, and you can cook like a goddess. Yes, I was sad to say goodbye to Nepal and my first impression of you wasn’t positive, but in the end you won me over.

Sunrise over the River Ganges

But I’m easy to please. And I was still absolutely infuriated with you at times. The overt poverty, the filth, the flies, and the malodorous fumes that are present in so many places. The aggressive beggars, rickshaw drivers, jewelry sellers. The scammers and touts. People who pretend to be my friend and then ask me for “help”. It’s annoying and infuriating. You’ve really got to do something about it. No means no. Why can’t you take “no” for an answer? If you approach me in English, then you should know what “no” means. I can only imagine how many women here get date raped because their pleas of “no” are ignored. Yes, I’m going to see you again, but I’ve heard about lots of people who are fed up with you and never want to see you again. What will you do?

Riding the Indian Rail System

India, I don’t know if you’ve seen Forrest Gump but you’re the Jenny to my Forrest. Or maybe the Peggy to my Al Bundy. Or maybe the Azamat to my Borat. Anyhow, we’ve gotten along so far and I hope we’ll see each other again.

Thank you for an incredible time.

Cheers,
Steve

See the full gallery on posterous

Khajuraho

Orccha

Teej Festival, Jaipur

Sunset over Udaipur

Thar Desert, Jaisalmer

Pushkar

Amazing fish tikka, Goa

Anjuna Beach, Goa

Partying in Goa

Hampi

Indian Railway Tickets

By far the easiest way to book tickets on Indian trains is to use cleartrip.com. It has a similar layout to kayak.com and is a gift from heaven compared to the official government website. Another useful site is yatra.com, which allows you to book tickets per special quotas such as women-only and tourist. Once you've purchased your ticket online, you'll still need to bring a printout of it, but that can be done for a mere 10 rupees in most places.