Crazy
Everything about India is crazy. The business is crazy. The people are crazy. The smells are crazy. The beggars are crazy. The scams are crazy. The sights are crazy. The food is crazy. The transportation is crazy.
Delhi
We arrived in Delhi, to the `smelly inn`where we slept upright in chairs because the workers were too lazy to `clean`a room for us. We tried to buy train tickets to get to Agra the next day and see the Taj Mahal. Apparently, though, it is next to impossible to get on a train if you are a sad white Canadian. They would not even let us in the train station, leading us instead to the colossal scam that is the Delhi tourist industry. Empty your pockets here folks. You know that the candy is being stolen and that you are one big baby, but there is nothing you can do about it. No problem Mam. Enjoy!
- dirty
- busy
- smelly
- scary
- scamming
- lies
- oddly beautiful
- delicious
- colourful
- overwhelming
- exhausting
Taj Mahal
The beauty of the Taj Mahal cannot be described in words. I live 15 min from the Grand Mosque, and it has nothing on the Taj Mahal, which really does remind you that it was built out of love.
Before you die, you must see the Taj Mahal. It is worth the complete pain in the neck that it is to get there.
Jaipur
In Jaipur we stayed with a local family that Kelly introduced me to through her couch surfing experiment. Their names were Sunni, Neelam, and baby Nik. Jaipur is a pretty place and I got to see things like the amber fort, the water palace, and even a sweet monkey temple. However, nothing really compares to the experience of staying with a local family.
Neelam fascinated me right away. As soon as her husband left the room, she felt the need to reach out to us and to describe what her life is like. Neelam was married off to Sunni after he spent a year pursuing her. She finally married him, unhappily, and left her family only to find that he did not live up to his end of the deal.
Neelam is not allowed to leave the house. She is far from her family and is not allowed to have friends. Luckily, she has learned English through couch surfer guests and is able to make some connections there. She hates being married and misses the freedom that she had as a single girl.
Neelam taught us how to cook chapati and took care of us. In return for her hospitable awesomeness, we decided to try and help her enjoy life a little bit too, even if only for a day. I asked Sunni if he could take us shopping to a local market (we had been ripped off by the tourist scam dudes earlier). He agreed, and I slipped in the request for Neelam to join us. She does often get to go out and she said that Sunni rarely lets her buy anything when she does.
Sunni took us all to the market where we sat in a little fabric shop and looked through blankets and tunics and the like. We each picked out our favourite tunic but when it came time to purchase, Sunni had magically become distracted. We caught on to this quickly and Krista went back to buy the tunic for Neelam. It was an awesome way to stick it to the man and let him feel some shame for the way he treats his beautiful wife.
We got back to the house and Neelam was obviously grateful because she gave us each a scarf and a ring of hers. It was amazing to be able to make that connection with a woman from a completely different culture.
This is where all you Canadian women should stop and say a little prayer of thanks for being born in a western country where women are actually considered human beings, and not just breeding home makers. It is truly humbling to walk with women of other cultures and to see what they endure.
Overall, India was a great experience, especially considering we only had to endure it for 5 days. If you want to fill each sense with an extraordinary amount of stimulation, then India is your place. If you want to see camels, elephants, goats, cows, snakes, babies, peacocks, and rats cross the road, then you are also in luck. It is a completely AIDNI kind of place.
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