India - A Paperless Society!!

 

I mentioned before that you eat a lot of food with only your right hand - no utensils.  Now I will tell you why you only use your right hand.  The right hand is for eating and for clean things.  The left hand is for unsavory things, like putting on / taking off shoes, and, especially, wiping your bottom (no paper). 

 

None of the toilets have paper here; instead you get a little cup (looks like a measuring cup with a handle) that you fill with water and then vigorously rinse your hand when you are done.  In case anyone's curiosity has "really" been piqued, I will mention that I am carrying my own paper around!!  The hotels sell you a small roll for $0.10 if you want.

 

While I am on that topic, I will mention the toilets - you don't sit you squat.  Right to the floor.  And you hope you don't make a mess... invariably, somehow, you don't.  There are a few western toilets, mainly in the big cities at the more up market places.  I used to have hope with every toilet I approached "maybe this one will be like one from home" but that flame was quickly extinguished after I left Mumbai.

 

And, you don't need tissues here!  Procedure for blowing your nose:  (1) assess that nose needs to be blown   (2) extend index finger and close unaffected side   (3) let'er rip!!!! out of the affected nostril, preferably in the street, but if it hits the sidewalk, cool...

 

You think you got it bad!!!

 

Most people here work 6 or 7 day weeks - full days Monday to Friday and 1/2 day Saturday if six days, and full day Saturday with 1/2 day Sunday if 7 days.  

 

Most people have never left their Indian state.  More than one Indian has told me that I have seen more of India than them... these people have no money at all.  Travel??  Forget it.  They ask you where you are from; a couple of times I asked back, "have you been to the US?"  They look at me like I am really stupid, OF COURSE they haven't been to the US; a really good salary here is $125 USD a month, so a flight over the Atlantic (or anywhere for that matter) is out of the question.

 

When I used to read that we were in the top 5% of the wealth in the world, I thought, "yeah yeah" and despite the guilty pangs I did not call the Sally Struthers number... well, let me tell you, we are in the top 5% if not the top 1%.  I have never seen living conditions like this.

 

Most families live in one house their whole life - the parents, all the siblings, and their siblings.  So, at 2610 we would have Mom, Dad, all the boys, plus Julie, Zachary and Danny.  One of the guides we used lived in a house with 43 people!!  You share a room with basically your whole "immediate" family; if mom and dad are lucky, they might have their own room.

 

Many people live in subsistence conditions - you grow what you eat.  And in the crowded poor areas (which are everywhere and in every city), there is filth everywhere, stagnant water, trash, old food rotting, and plain old shit from every animal, including humans.  It can be daunting for a visitor, I can't imagine living like in those conditions!  People adapt, though, and there is still pride.  You will often see these ramshackle places with the thatched roof half caved in, but the kids come out in their school uniforms perfectly starched and pressed, with hair well groomed.  It is an odd sight.

 

Marriage

 

Arranged marriages appear to be the most common here.  A "love" marriage is often a family scandal, although many people will respect you for having a set of balls to do your own thing for love.  I have learned a lot about arranged marriages, they are not as dire as I originally thought.  The parents do take into consideration the wants and needs of the child; they try to make a workable arrangement.   So, chances are your spouse won't be butt ugly or have a terrible personality.  But it could happen...  The upside - marriages here are when you are very young, which can be a bad thing... you could be too young to be able to pick a good spouse (we all know people who got married to the wrong person??)  The parents can see through this.  In India, this is viewed as an advantage.

 

Nightlife

 

There is none here.  I have not had a night out in over a month.  I went to a wedding reception, I guess that could count as a night out...  but it is different.  There is no drinking or fraternizing in a bar setting, there are no bar areas to restaurants, etc.  You can get a beer with your dinner in a couple of places, but there are no bars except in the big, big cities (Delhi and Mumbai).  Even then, last call is at 11:30, and under 25 cannot drink.  There is no where at all to go after dark, except home.  Or, as I have done many times, for ice cream!  Wooo hooo let's get crazy and have a SUGAR CONE!!!  This is fine, it just makes it harder to meet people. 

 

Which, is where weddings come in...  Indian social structure is very strict about who you can talk to, etc (leftovers from caste system plus some other things), so weddings are viewed as a big party, a chance to let your hair down and be introduced to others!  Perhaps this is why I have been invited to two weddings so far...  I went to one Monday night.  It was really a fun time, and I learned a lot.  Plus, of course, the food was AMAZING.

 

Driving

 

It is really bad here.  India has the highest death rate on roads worldwide.  They went from 4 millions cars on the road to 45 million in the last 20 years, without expanding the roads.  Most of the main highways between cities are one lane (not one lane in each direction, but, one lane!!)  And there are all sorts of things sharing that one lane (going both directions).  Trucks, cars, motorcycles, cows, goats, sheep, women walking with huge piles of things on their heads, and the worst of all - these "auto rickshaws" which are three wheeled vehicles that putter around, sound, and go the speed of a model T ford.  So, what happens is a lot of frustration among all the drivers, and trucks will try to pass these model T rickshaws and then a cow walks across....  The drivers pass when they shouldn't, there is a lot of horn blowing, and, unfortunately, a lot of people die on these roads.  I will no longer take any form of road transportation at night (only trains), and I try to avoid it as much as possible during the day.  It is a very uncool situation - everyone here is upset about it, but no one seems to take personal responsibility for fixing it (i.e., driving in a somewhat sane manner). 

 

I will send more but I feel this email is getting way too long, so, adios until later this week...

 

I will send my North India itinerary right after this!

 

steve