Stepping off the edge

We are now home in quiet Victoria, dealing with jet lag. India was 12 hours ahead of Victoria so we’re tired during the day and awake at night!

We’ve gone out for groceries and sundry and it feels like the place is deserted. Such a contrast to Delhi, a city of 34.5 million people. Traffic and people are on the streets, all hours of the day, as we found out going to the airport at 4:30 am.

I can’t sum India up in one word. It is vibrant, noisy, hot, beautiful, dusty, delicious and a country of contrasts.

Beautiful plants and bushes line the streets and decorate the centres of roundabouts. Frangipani, bougainvillea, rhododendrons, and my favorite, purple jacaranda, are just some of the bushes and trees providing pops of colour and lovely scent amidst the dusty and brown landscape. Lots of plants are in pots outside and inside, including all the hotels and sites we visited. Indians love their plants!

People are rushing and busy but food is slow. Vendors make fresh mixtures of chickpeas, fried crispy noodles, diced veggies and curd or yoghurt, or puri a delicious fried bread, samosas and pakoras and other healthy snacks to grab and eat in your hand. Some have carts but snacks or chat is sold by a person carrying all the ingredients in a couple of pots.

Predominantly women do the cooking in the home. They frequent the market for the freshest spices and fruits and vegetables. Food is not ready to eat but prepared from scratch and typical of the region where people live.

For liquid refreshment, small cups of masala chai are available, simmered for several minutes. There is no rushing tea! Wheel pumps crush out the juice of sugar cane, piles of young coconuts where vendors slice the top off and stick in a paper straw to drink the juice. These beverage stands are at tourist sites, on roads and highways. People stop their motorcycles, auto rickshaws or cars to get refreshed.

India is at the forefront of call centre business and becoming a high tech leader but still seems to be back at the turn of the century with so many horse, mule and camel drawn wagons, vendors selling clay pots to keep water cool, bicycle rickshaws mixed in with cars and trucks on the roads.

Religion rules. The vast majority of people are Hindu but all temples, including Sikh and Buddhist in the north, are on every street corner. Life is guided by religion so time for prayer is required. Everything stops as people congregate at the temples.

Sacred cows, in many cases whole families of them, are in the middle of roads or walking down the side. They hold up traffic and cause crashes. One never knows if they’ll move or where they’ll go. But it is accepted. No one complains about them.

Animals in general are well taken care of and respected. All the horses, mules, feral dogs and cats appeared well fed and happy! It was only the Macaque monkeys who would steal your glasses or hat for food.

As we learned from our host family, after marriage, women move in with their husband’s family and often stay home after children are born. If they have had a job prior to children. they find a business they can run out of the home. Children sleep in bed with their mother until 7 or 8 years old!

Women predominantly wear traditional sarees, lehengas or skirts with beads and sequins, and suits – tunics and pants. Their long hair usually neatly pulled up in a chignon. Despite varying living conditions they always look immaculate.

We never saw women working at the hotels we stayed at and only a couple working in the front of a restaurant. Men definitely dominate in the workplace. Keith was always served ahead of me even if I was paying. He was acknowledged with “Sir” each time while I was completely ignored!

There is still poor air quality due to industrial chimneys and coal plants. India is doing its bit for the climate. Tea and beverages are sold in reusable clay cups. Some of our hotels had refillable water stations. Bottles are collected to be recycled. Stores don’t offer plastic bags.

Through the founders of Child Haven I learned how happy children in India were without toys like western children. Our time in India opened my eyes to other aspects of the culture: the power of religion, community, tradition and the resilience of humanity.

Namaste! 🙏