{"id":4433,"date":"2016-04-04T14:59:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T13:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/?p=4433"},"modified":"2016-04-04T15:13:23","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T14:13:23","slug":"india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/india\/","title":{"rendered":"India: A Personal View"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4436\" src=\"https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/22152436\/Japur-300x152.jpg\" alt=\"Japur\" width=\"436\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/22152436\/Japur-300x152.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/22152436\/Japur-650x328.jpg 650w, https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/22152436\/Japur-624x315.jpg 624w, https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/22152436\/Japur-560x283.jpg 560w, https:\/\/d2wipdjmobk1g8.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/22152436\/Japur.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 436px) 100vw, 436px\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">When you come from a small country with a population of just over 5 million it\u2019s hard to get your head round the complexities of a juggernaut like India with its 1.25 billion souls \u2013 and that was in 2013. The army was called out in Haryana last week where a north Indian martial and farming community not traditionally considered \u2018backward\u2019 have been offered a special backward class quota for much prized government jobs. After blocking highways and rail tracks and causing the cancellation of 40 train services in two days, the unrest led to 19 people dead. It\u2019s a complex business as caste groups, in an inversion of the ideal of social mobility, compete to be defined as &#8216;backward&#8217; in order to corner the benefits of reservation of government jobs that are increasingly scarce.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Meanwhile such events are somewhat overshadowed by the 4 Maoist guerrillas recently killed in a gun battle with police in the northeast of the country. Indeed several Maoist groups (Naxalites) are active in a large swathe of India from the northeast down the central belt and east coast \u2013 a third of India\u2019s landmass \u2013 and constitute, according to the government, the biggest security threat to the country. That\u2019s against stiff competition given the continuing struggle in Kashmir, the stirrings of Daesh in some areas and a nuclearated Pakistan living next door. <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Around three-quarters of the population still live in rural areas where there are over 250 million landless agricultural labourers, the traditionally downtrodden. No wonder the economy is booming when you can hire labour for less than $2 dollars a day (top rate). No wonder the Naxalites have a strong foothold in impoverished rural areas. (If I may nick a statistic from The Guardian: <em>India leads the world in open defecation. At least 636 million Indians lack toilets, according to the latest census data, a crisis that contributes to disease, childhood malnutrition, loss of economic output and violence against women[because they are vulnerable to attack when they have to use the toilet in isolated areas after dark<\/em>).<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">But the economy continues to grow at around 7% per annum with a considerable number of Indians entering the middle class every year with enough disposable income to spend on luxuries such as designer gear, holidays, SUVs and big spanking new motorcycles like Harley Davidsons and Honda Goldwings. This is IBW (Indian Bike Week) where thousands of bikers from India and beyond congregate in north Goa for motorcycle fun and games. One local paper reported that \u201c<em>the 36<sup>th<\/sup> Cavalry members all rode down from distant Chattisgarh<\/em>.\u201d Pity George Bush couldn\u2019t have witnessed this, he and his crew got excited about cavalry charges after seeing Afghanistan\u2019s Uzbek Warlord lead his men in a horse-backed charge against the retreating Taliban back in 2001.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Apart from attracting motorcycle enthusiasts, Goa also caters for those Indians from more conservative states where activities involving gambling, drugs, sex and rock n\u2019 roll are more frowned upon. It has certainly earned its title as India\u2019s Las Vegas but many of the locals are up in arms about the decimation of traditional Goan cultural values. \u00a0The big hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt are all moving in fast to cash in on the wealthier set of Indian tourists looking for a bit of luxury with their sun and sand. <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Building construction is everywhere, easier now that the Goan state government has reclassified the coconut palm tree as a \u2018grass\u2019 (!) enabling it to be cut down without permission from the Forestry Department so that concrete monstrosities can be erected to host the hordes of Indian tourists who now far outnumber \u2018foreigners\u2019. The fall of the rouble has slashed the number of arriving Russians and high costs of visas for Brits have also reduced their numbers. Goa still has its charms away from the coastal \u2018strip\u2019 but with its crumbling roads and garbage strewn everywhere it stands in marked contrast to Rajasthan.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Knowing the local roads in Goa and the infamous potholed Highway NH17, after a few days in Jaipur (known as the pink city) we decided to fly to Udaipur as driving the 400kms seemed a drive too far. How mistaken can you be. As the plane descended we could see the almost traffic-free modern 4-lane toll highway that separates the two cities. It would have made an interesting road trip. On driving the 30kms from the airport into Udaipur we noticed how clean everything was compared to Goa, much less garbage strewn everywhere. <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">The Rajasthanis we met were universally friendly and helpful and the State obviously caters for tourists more interested in culture and sightseeing, both Indians and foreigners, than Goa\u2019s razzmatazz. There were also quite a few tourists from China, mostly young and with a tendency to be abrasive in their dealings with the locals. Certainly Indians and Chinese constitute the future face of global tourism, no doubt.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Three nights was enough in the big city. We stayed in the Hotel Meghniwas somewhere deep in the bowels of Jaipur. It was an oasis with its helpful staff, pool and home cooking Indian-style. Our arranged car and driver arrived but not the driver we had expected, this was a smiling older man with ruby ear studs, the mark of a modern day Rajput (the old warrior caste) and a cotton bud sticking horizontally out of his right ear for most of the day, a day spent visiting a factory that made many varieties, colours, thicknesses and shapes of paper out of old cotton cloth (for Liz\u2019s paper sculpture back in Scotland). It was fascinating watching Walmart bags being made out of someone\u2019s old vests and pants. After visiting the remarkable Amber Fort on the city\u2019s outskirts and ambling through a few markets the next day it was time for the one hour flight to Udaipur.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Six days in Udaipur was not really enough, six weeks would have been better. The narrow-laned Old City and the City Palace, the only one left in India still occupied by a Maharajah, overlooking the picturesque Lake Pichola encourages a laidback ambience &#8211; hastily adopted! However, there are always more palaces, forts and castles to see and we dutifully hired another car with Om, a most careful and unusually considerate driver. The fort at Kumbalgarh and the Jain temple at Ranakpur, a 150kms round trip to visit both, were worth the effort notwithstanding being lost on more than one occasion due to \u2018road construction\u2019 ie block the road with rocks and divert vehicles up some unknown farm track for several miles. <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">The temple provides lunch for visitors who want it, at 50 rupees (52p) a bargain. Set in a huge canteen-styled building sitting in rows at lines of trestle tables all set with stainless steel plates and mugs, the food is served from big pots direct to your plate by men trudging up and down the lines of diners. They just keep coming with refills until you politely say, \u2018please stop, no more!\u2019 There is only one choice available on the menu \u2013 take it or leave it \u2013 and we took it. The food was vegetarian, simple and most delicious.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">We ambled through the souks of Udaipur for the next few days chatting to shopkeepers and fellow travellers and managed to spend half a day in an Artists&#8217; Cooperative that churned out Indian miniature paintings. I say \u2018churn\u2019 with all due respect, because these artists are copying old miniature paintings that never change but are handed down from generation to generation as a traditional art form. Some were simply stunning, taking months to finish using a single-haired brush from a squirrel\u2019s tail to complete the intricate detail using paint that is ground from the rocks of Rajasthan\u2019s Aravalli hills. <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Then we departed for Mount Abu about 180kms to the southwest along a mainly traffic-free highway with Om handling the last 30kms up a continuous hairpin bend with utmost care and attention to prevent any up-chucking on our part. Bands of monkeys watched from the roadside waiting for bananas to be thrown out of car windows and despite a road sign saying \u2018Beware of the Bears\u2019 we never saw one. Neither did we see any of the leopards that roam the mountain.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Mount Abu is a holy site for both Hindus and Jains but the pilgrims seemed outweighed by the number of Gujuratis up from their dry State to enjoy the pleasures of the many \u2018English Wine Shops\u2019 that seemed to prevail in the town. Meanwhile other family members enjoyed taking a giant-sized Swan pedalo out on Lake Naki while the kids munched their way through large sticks of yellow and pink candy floss. It was like Blackpool up a mountain, with few non-Indian tourists around.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Hiring a local guide, Mahindra, an enterprising and knowledgable young man who must be the only person to have a half page dedicated to him in a Lonely Planet Guide (ie the latest Lonely Planet Guide to Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra.) He certainly merited it and took us trekking up the mountain for a day although I nearly lost it on a particularly steep and smooth rock face. Sandals are not for going up mountains. The two young French yoga teachers that accompanied us on the trek took the attached pic for posterity and your early morning chuckle.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">Peace<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">PS A few days ago a 35-year-old man in Mumbai killed 14 members of his own family, including seven children and his parents, before killing himself. Reports suggest Hasnin Warekar laced his family&#8217;s food with sedatives before slitting their throats. So much for ahimsa, Ghandi\u2019s maxim of \u2018cause no injury, do no harm\u2019. Yesterday two Muslim men, a 35-year old and a 15-year old, were beaten up and hanged from a tree, hands tied behind their backs and mouths stuffed with cloth, in Ranchi in Jharkhand State as they were herding ten buffaloes to market. The police are looking for suspected cattle-protection vigilantes from up state. Peace indeed\u2026.. <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924font\"><span class=\"defanged1-yiv4392298924size\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you come from a small country with a population of just over 5 million it\u2019s hard to get your head round the complexities of a juggernaut like India with its 1.25 billion souls \u2013 and that was in 2013. The army was called out in Haryana last week where a north Indian martial and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[341,336,337,334,342,332,333,339,343,335,340,338],"class_list":["post-4433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-stories","tag-aravalli","tag-chattisgarh","tag-goa","tag-haryana","tag-hasnin-warekar","tag-india","tag-jaipur","tag-kumbalgarh","tag-lake-naki","tag-naxalites","tag-ranakpur","tag-udaipur"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>India: A Personal View - 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Currently \"recovering\" from culture shock from having re-entered the UK after travelling for the past year in various countries. Now spending most of my time raising funds for destitute children in the northern part of Nepal - Helambu region - and editing Many Roads for the Bodhicharya website.","sameAs":["http:\/\/blowthegaff.blogspot.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/author\/avrom108\/"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"shareaholic-thumbnail":false,"gform-image-choice-sm":false,"gform-image-choice-md":false,"gform-image-choice-lg":false,"mailchimp":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Albert","author_link":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/author\/avrom108\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"When you come from a small country with a population of just over 5 million it\u2019s hard to get your head round the complexities of a juggernaut like India with its 1.25 billion souls \u2013 and that was in 2013. The army was called out in Haryana last week where a north Indian martial and&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}