I recently went to India with a few people, including my boyfriend, father and aunt. It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go but wasn’t too keen to go alone. In 2011, it was choice between India and Italy alone and I did Italy… and I’m glad!
India was always mysterious. You see Bollywood movies
and IPL cricket games and form an idea in your head about it being loud and
over the top. You watch movies like Slumdog Millionaire and hear stories of
poverty and filth and crimes against women. But nothing prepares you for what
it’s really like to experience India.
India is a crazy, hectic, interesting country. There
is always something happening and something to see. We started in Mumbai, which
is quite an introduction! It’s a noisy, crazy busy city with cars, motorbikes,
people and dogs everywhere. It’s organised chaos. It’s a city where people are
entrepreneurial and will make the effort to earn a living. A guy even offered
to sell us his cute cat, Mickey (that was sleeping upside down on a cart) for
2000 Euros.
After Mumbai, we went to a few smaller towns to see
the historical sites. One of them was Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India,
on the Ganges River. For me this was a highlight because it is so spiritual. It
has a certain feel to it. Not everyone in the group agreed. It’s a city where thousands
of cows roam the streets, there are some bad smells and lots of people all
there to worship and get blessed. Varanasi is one of seven holy Hindu cities
and therefore a pilgrimage site. It’s where Buddha gave his first sermon. It’s
also a pilgrimage site for Jains.
What really made India for me though was the people.
They’re humble and inherently good people. I know there is always the dodgy,
criminal element but we were lucky enough not to see it. Of the 1, 27 billion
people who live there, over 80% are Hindu. We were told by a few people that it
isn’t a religion, it’s a way of life. Hindu’s believe in reincarnation. Karma
is related to this… the more good deeds you do in this lifetime, the more
chance you’ll have of a higher birth (in the caste system) and with less
suffering and hardship in your next life. Because of this, they want to do good
for each other and it’s part of their daily lives. We were told that no one
goes hungry, those who have give to those who don’t. The Sikh’s donate a tenth
of their time every day to giving back and believe and practice that everyone
is the same.
There aren’t really any traffic lights or stop streets,
they’re big fans of the traffic circle) but yet the traffic flows easily and
there aren’t many accidents. The people aren’t aggressive at all and just go
with the traffic flow, using their hooters as friendly warnings to make sure it
happens smoothly. It would never work in SA – our high level of road rage
incidents proves that!
Where the poverty is concerned, it isn’t your face at all. It is far more noticeable in South Africa, with beggars at every traffic light. In India, they’ll sit on the side of the pavement and quietly ask for help. It’s not expected or demanded, it’s almost dignified.
I agree that it’s a dirty place. They have no problem littering
although there is a government initiative to clean up the country. Rubbish is
dumped anywhere and eaten by the animals that roam the streets – the dogs, cows,
birds and monkeys. And having all those animals also creates another problem because
well, they have to poop somewhere!
I also found the people very helpful and friendly.
That’s not how my boyfriend felt… he’s way more cynical than me in some
situations and thought that everyone wanted something. From my point of view,
they’re happy to chat to a foreigner and find out more about people and where
they come from.
For us, coming from a cricket playing country worked
in our favour. As soon as we said South Africa, they started talking about the
World Cup, how we didn’t make the finals (and us pointing out that they didn’t either),
how good AB de Villiers and David Miller are and how the home team is doing in
the IPL.
So what did I learn from spending time in India? We
are incredibly lucky to live the way we do in SA and to have the average standard
of living that we do. People need to be just a little bit calmer, less aggressive
and a lot less worried about themselves and their little worlds. If everyone followed
a similar way of life (not necessarily religion) to Hindu’s or Sikh’s and gave
back in one way or another without expecting anything in return, life would be
easier.
Perhaps the threat of coming back as a snail in your
next life is the way to go for SA?
