Having thought about how to best share my experiences here with you, especially if you've never been here, I'm still at a loss. It's simply not possible. You simply need to visit this place in order to understand it. It's a hodgepodge of a little bit of everything, but together it all works very well. Much like an orchestra in which the individual pieces by the violinist or cellist may sound strange, the individual photos hardly scratch the surface in presenting the true India to you. So, while a picture may be worth a thousand words, the words in this case are all synonyms and don't really describe much.
I continue to marvel at the immense population density and the troubles that come along with it. For instance, driving is a seemingly treacherous activity here. The honking never stops; cars, bicycles, motorbikes, rickshaws, cows, monkeys, dogs, goats, camels, humans all criss-cross in and out of traffic at will yet everyone is very tolerant and I have never seen anyone get angry. The people's patience makes them all saints. The general tenacity is overwhelmingly conspicuous and admirable. I presume the whining-per-GDP ratio, if it can ever be measured, is lower here than in many developed countries.
Here's an interesting image for you: there are a lot of stray dogs, but their tails are almost always up and skyward (a sign that they are happy). I actually tried to approach a stray dog (with the back of my hand) and it freaked out and growled at me. I suppose they are not used to people being nice to them and they prefer to be left alone. But, the point of this happy dog image is that people here accept their circumstances and live with them happily. Happiness is all relative, you realize when you're here. We can't go around feeling sorry for people. Of course, there is a lot of work that needs to be done vis-a-vis improving economic and health outcomes.
Last week I told you that I had a tailor make me a fitted shirt. I got the shirt today and I was thoroughly impressed. I have a picture attached (it's not yet pressed so pardon the underwhelming quality of the photo). So, the total cost? Under fifteen bucks. Yep. Amazing.
This weekend we went to a place called Madhubhan Resorts and Spa in a town called Anand. It's about a 2-hour drive from here. I was thoroughly amazed and impressed. It's comparable to a five-star resort and I felt as though I had instantly been teleported back home. More telling, however, was the trip there on a four-lane toll road. This time, there were only authorized automobiles and, again, it felt as though we were on an interstate cruising at over 70 MPH.
Madhubhan Resorts and Spa
The fine highway on the way to Anand
My tailor-made shirt
5 comments:
Nice threads! If I give you my measurements, will you pick one up for me? :)
j/k
Glad pictures don't tell "a thousand words" per se. Much like spices coming together to blend into good food, apparently there is a "system" in India that seems to "just work." Well anyway, of course, it seems that the positive attitude and gratitude amongst the people helps the country prosper; of course, I'm sure nobody is happy about the problems the country faces (and every country has it's problems of course...).
Well, thanks for sharing your thoughts, travels and marvels! It's appreciated.
Ankur, this is really awesome. Your comment about the relative nature of happiness really struck me. I spent three weeks in El Salvador in 2000 and that was exactly the revelation that I took away from my experience. By our standards, they were utterly destitute, but they were happier than most well-to-do people that I knew back home. Really cool you were able to do this and I hope you have a great (and safe) journey.
That's a really nice shirt!!! I'm glad you are having a good time in India. And, I'm glad you're blogging again! Keep it up! Hope to see you and Melanie soon!
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