Sunday, January 29, 2012

India- A League of It's Own

India is definitely a game changer, a place of such beauty it really can not be photographed, but has to be experienced.  As my cousin says, “It has the best of the best and the worst of the worst.” Three or four of the top 10 richest people come from India.  It has a world of luxury, but along with it comes millions of underpriviledged and thousands of NGOs. On a daily basis, I  see something that makes my head turn, my eyes widen, my heart beat, and my face smile. Walking around with your eyes wide open, you can see so much sitting on a local bus, walking down a crowded street, or sitting in a temple. Another country can not compare to the immensity of culture and the significant population.
I wonder how millions of people crowding the streets of Bangalore, Delhi, Calcutta, and Mumbai survive and what drives them to their work and passions. There is such beauty in all of this chaos and madness and culture is positively impacted by their religion.  The conservative way that women dress,the religious rituals, the melting pot of languages/tribes/beliefs, and variety of foods.  My Aunt said to treat each state as if it is a different country and I find this to be true as each state has it's own set of cultural values, customs, rituals, and beliefs-not to mention a different language. 
In Karnataka State-the main language is Kannada. In Tamil Nadu, the main language is Tamil. Hindu is a language that goes across cultures and states and therefore I find it important to start learning Hindi. Learning 5 words a day of Kannada stopped once I left Bangalore so now it is time to learn Hindi=)



1 comment:

  1. One more thing to be noted is the cultural diversity... The land of Kamasutra and super erotic Hindu temples like Kajhuraho also has a very conservative way of life prescribed again in the same religion.

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