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The Wondering Wanderings of Bryony and Nick
Cultural Learnings of Glorious Nation of Indian Peoples - 'God's own Country'
The food is delicious! Whether from a tiny hole-in-the-wall or a 5 star hotel we have yet to consume an unpleasant meal. And boy have we consumed a lot of meals!
Wherever possible, taxi and 'auto rickshaw' drivers will charge at least double the metre'd fare using any excuse plausible for tourist consumption.
The complex process of hacking and spitting seems to have taken on almost ritualistic proportions by the general populous. To the untrained ear it seems as though those we have passed on the street, in a restaurant or in the next door hotel rooms, have a near identical melody and tone in their series of snort-phlegm rattle-cak cak cak-spit-phlegm rattle-snort etc.
Staring is not rude Gawking is not rude Pointing and giggling is not rude Even standing taking photos of the 'Gora's' ( foreigners) is not rude
Those who speak English and occasionally those who don't are keen to introduce themselves ( and possibly also their wife, kids and any other curious bystanders) in order to establish where we are from, what our names are, what we think of India and if we are married - in that order. This friendly interrogation has taken place on the street, during our meal at a restaurant, changing seats midway through a theatre performance to sit in empty seats next to us and even hanging out of a car window at a red traffic light.
In instances where we have approached a person to ask directions or seek advice, within about 30 seconds there could easily be a group of about 10 others ( almost always men) drawn to offer advice and/or stare while leaning and lolling companiably over one anothers shoulders to watch the action. This unique ability to instantly form a crowd has also been witnessed in the middle of a highway in bumper to bumper traffic during a standoff between a policeman and citizen.
Curry really is eaten all the time! In varying levels of heat this has included egg curry for breakfast, curried peanuts, curried crisps, curried rice crispies and onion, curried beetroot chutney, pineapple curry and curry pancakes - they even put it in their tea. 3 meals a day, without fail!
The road is filled with the noise of CONSTANT hooting. We hadn't realised initially but were told it is a legal requirement and 'rule of the road' that whenever overtaking another vehicle ( and regularly when being overtaken just for the fun of it) as well as when turning a corner, one must hoot in repeated short bursts or earsplittingly long honks in order to alert the other driver of your presence. The irony appears to us that as all horns sound identical and as the roads are almost permanently congested ( average city speeds seem to be about 20 miles per hour) that it would make as much difference if no one hooted at all!
There are lots of mosquitos, everywhere.
The majority of all the people we have encountered are very happy people - smiling, laughing and sharing no matter what their level of wealth. Their comparitive materialistic desires to what we have become accustomed in our lives is really an inspiration to us.
Nick is oh-so-much taller than anyone else. I have dubbed him the BFG ( Big Friendly Giant). Children are transfixed as they stare wide-eyed up at him from 5 feet below.
Everything smells. I am transported by the sweet, mysterious scent of Jasmine flowers, assaulted by the force of rotting garbage, enticed by the waftings of sandalwood, repulsed by the stench of exposed sewerage or lulled by the everyday melody of frying poppadums blended with the humid night air.
We have yet to find a fully functioning hot shower.
There are lots and lots of stray dogs. We have decided that if all the dog breeds in the world were mushed up, stirred together and sprinkled liberally over India, this is what they would look like. They all basically look identical save for some colour variations.
The traffic is, as a local described to us 'well co-ordinated chaos' . While people may constantly straddle the lanes, crowd 3 vehicles plus bikes into a 2 lane rd, pass slower traffic recklessly and return to the designated lane with only a second to spare before oncoming traffic - the truth is that it all works.
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