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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2013 17:09:20 GMT
(The thought of that upsets me all by itself. I can imagine the trash being dumped right on top of untouchables, who will immediately start sorting out things that may salvaged, used or sold.)
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Post by anshjain97 on Apr 30, 2013 17:20:32 GMT
I know there's a fine for littering in Mumbai- but it isn't enforced. Many areas in at least the larger cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore are clean- mostly touristy and some more affluent residential areas.
Trash collected goes to landfills. There is also some recycling done.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2013 18:17:34 GMT
I see, okay. Funnily enough I do recall some kind of recycling going on (this was in Agra I think). I was so curious about it that I took photos of the various people, trying to figure out how it all worked. There were rows of groups sorting out different kinds of materials in one street. I will post those up when we get to the Agra section of the trip. The other thing I noticed was that whenever I ordered a Pepsi or Coke in a classic glass bottle, they would not let me leave the restaurant (or cafe) with the bottle. And the bottles looked like they had been used before many times. They had obviously been recycled and I wondered then about how it was all done..
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2013 18:19:45 GMT
Kerouac, I did see some salvaging of the type you describe going on, no idea if the people were of the Dalit population or not, just knew they must have been very poor that's all...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2013 19:26:39 GMT
Well, whoever it was is not surprising. In Paris right now, it is extremely common for Rom or Chinese ragpickers to sort through the trash bins put out on the street before they are picked up in the evening. You never saw that 3 or 4 years ago.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2013 2:07:06 GMT
Could it be due to the recession? I do remember when I was living in an apartment in British Columbia some years back a woman there had a habit of jumping into those big communal bins they put outside. She always said that people threw out the most amazing stuff, things that could be reused. I also knew a guy in England who furnished most of his house with whatever he could find, things that other people threw out. I once lived in a very nice area of Montreal, here each week people would chuck out some truly nice stuff, sofa's, chairs, even washers and dryers. They'd leave it outside for the garbage people to collect. Well guess who furnished her apartment with all this great stuff? But I realize that there is rubbish and there is rubbish. I think I would stop at going through a whole pile of it left at the tip ;D Sorry, back to the thread again....
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2013 2:09:28 GMT
A few random photos of the village. The shopping area. Do you see the sign for Samsung phones: These kinds of signs advertising cell phones are all over India, Everyone seems to have a cell phone nowadays. s187.photobucket.com/user/Jenvie/media/IndiaTajETC/IndiaTajETC250_zps2e5459a9.jpg [/img] Inside of one of the shops. Doesn't it remind you of bygone days and how it used to be in the England and other places at one time? And another one. I have no idea what this sign is supposed to mean:
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Post by tod2 on May 1, 2013 10:53:11 GMT
My oh my Deyana - I've gone over this wonderfully written report several times and congratulate you on what you have shown us thus far! I kept an eye on your reports whilst still in India, but am enjoying this blow-by-blow account with relevant photos, far more.
My first impressions of what you have shown us, are how similar some things are to the Indian districts here in my own city. For instance we also have the incredible amount of trash that people don't seem to mind walking through, sitting in, and hopping over every day of their lives! When it grows too large someone just throws in a match and lets the whole lot burn right there. Then other things I observed were the shops you have just shown us. They look exactly the same here! A sort of organised chaos.
Your sister's house is really super and the style is similar to what you find in the areas where most Indians live, both here in my city and in the biggest number of Indians in South Africa, namely Durban. Here wealthier families either don't mind or cannot help the fact that poorer people with makeshift homes live right alongside them and this does not affect the value of their property. Is it the same over there?
What a journey into the past you took when finding your "original " house! I'm sure although the memories are bitter sweet you must be glad to have found it.
You probably know a lot of India's billionaire names. Does the name Gupta ring any bells? I only ask because they have arrived in South Africa with a vengeance! Even landing their big 747 jet at our military airbase with stanby helicopters to ferry them to the Sun City Resort where they are having a wedding ceremony for a member of the family.
Looking forward to some more reporting from you soon!
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2013 13:46:47 GMT
Thanks, tod. Really nice to get your feedback on this thread. From the pictures I've seen of parts of South Africa, I can indeed see the similarities. Garbage and the disposal of seems to be a problem in quite a few parts of the world, I guess when people are just struggling to survive day to day, it must be on the bottom of their lists to concern themselves over. Yes, organized chaos is a real good way of describing the shopping areas and how they are run over in India too! I have heard of the name Gupta. There are a few names that are always in the papers in India, Tata, Mittal, Ambani... I hope I'm not gibbering on too much in this report I tend to get carried away when something catches my attention.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2013 13:48:02 GMT
(note) when I uploaded the photos onto photobucket they did not appear in the right order, they somehow got scattered all over the place. So I'm having to search for them in different areas! Anyhow, if you see that I have edited a post, it's only to add another photo that I have somehow found later on and/or put a few words up about.
A bit about the shopping area. It had somehow sprung up within the last several years. At one time , all there was was the old village, farms and some semi-paved roads and lanes leading out of town. (And no rubbish scattered around), just a very peaceful place to be. It had changed so much I didn't even recognize it anymore. The stores were situated in two or so streets, but they were busy and crowded, and run almost entirely by men. Why was this? I still haven't figured it out exactly, I find it baffling, but there you have it. The only conclusion that I can come to is that the saying 'A woman's place is in the home' still hold true here. Women are mothers and housekeepers and they stay at home, and if they are out shopping should be accompanied by others, and never go alone. A woman walking around shopping by herself in these parts of India would be looked upon as unusual and strange.
The other thing that I really do have to mention is the lack of women in general. Where are the females of India? There are many many men everywhere, running all kinds of businesses and going about their lives, but hardly any women (in comparison). I know that the ratio of men/women, is uneven. I knew before I came to India there were more males than females, but I never knew that there was SUCH a big difference in the numbers. I don't get it. And it's like that all over India. Surely so many women cannot all be hidden away behind closed doors? So where are they? Could the unnatural selection process of males over females have made it this way? I know many Indians prefer to have sons over daughters, it's old traditions and views and mindsets that go back centuries. And now in this modern age where a sex of a unborn child can be determined through scans, it makes it easier to choose the sex of a child. Is this what has happened? If this is indeed the case (and I'm not sure it is), then it's another big problem the country will have to deal with. Already I hear that men are finding it hard to find marriage partners in some areas of India, simply due to the lack of females available.
I found the shopping area intriguing. Different kinds of stores selling all sorts of things. There was a jewelers, selling silver and gold, many stalls selling fruit and vegetables, and electronics, as well as farming/industrial goods. It was a bit of a shock to the system to know that we had to dodge so many kinds of traffic to get to one retailer or another. The 'traffic' consisted of cars, trucks, cattle and carts.(and groups of other animals), many motorbikes, bicycles and buses. They drove fast, and beeped constantly. No traffic lights, no pedestrian crossings, and no lanes in sight, the vehicles (and animals and people)all just zigzagged around each other. I was surprised that more accidents didn't occur. Somehow they have found a way to live in this kind of chaos and mayhem. It was stressful to say the least, but in hindsight it was a gentle introduction to what was coming. After all this was a much smaller version of the craziness that existed in the bigger towns and cities.
I found that I was constantly being looked at, it made me feel like I must look like some kind of alien, just landed from outta space or something. Everyone starred at us, but mostly at me. I felt uncomfortable and self-conscious. I wondered why I was the center of everyone's attention. Maybe it was my clothes? They would have to go, I needed to find some Indian gear fast! And why was I still wearing these runners? All the women and most of the men wore sandals or slippers here. So, I bought some slippers and slowly would start to discard my Western outfits and replace them with Indian clothes. To be honest, it felt so much better to dress in the Indian way, much more comfortable for the climate.
I did ask my family who all these people were that ran all the stores just outside of the village gates (there really are gates of sorts just before you enter a part of the village). I was told that they were the descendants of the original people who lived in the old village. And some where actually distant relatives of ours! There are basically people from two different neighboring villages that have started up their own enterprises. I asked why we were starred at so much while walking around, I was informed it was probably because everyone knows each other around these parts and we were strangers that no one recognized.
I found that unless I was in the very touristy areas, I was still starred at all through my journey. I did eventually get used to it and just accepted that's how it was going to be, even though I couldn't fully understand why.
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Post by bjd on May 1, 2013 14:35:53 GMT
Deyana, maybe one reason you were looked at so much is what you mention in an earlier paragraph -- the fact that you just don't see many women around, and there you were walking around being visible -- especially before you switched to Indian clothes.
It might also be cultural -- people stare at others in other cultures too, whereas it's considered rude in Western societies.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 1, 2013 15:06:17 GMT
"families either don't mind or cannot help the fact that poorer people with makeshift homes live right alongside them and this does not affect the value of their property. Is it the same over there?" Tod, I'm not Deyana- and I hope either of you don't mind if I answer your question. At least in urban areas, the value of the property isn't affected. Even neighbourhoods classified as "wealthy" will have small slums and shanties scattered about. Unlike, for example, some American cities, a neighbourhood with lots of residences will generally not be classified as unsafe- even if there are great income/wealth inequalities.
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Post by tod2 on May 1, 2013 15:46:18 GMT
Thanks for the answer ansh! Most areas of fairly good housing standards here do not have shacks or poorer buildings right next to them because the land is privately owned or owned by the province. This has not stopped shanty towns and slums appearing illegally overnight. Many areas have been bulldozed to get rid of the squatters. A very difficult situation when everybody wants to move to the city and is prepared to live dangerously - by that I mean, in a health risk because there is no proper sanitation and because it is a perfect hide-out for thieves and murderers. Many many shacks are raized by fire as there is no way to stop it spreading once it breaks out. A note about refuse. It's all due to lack of education about filth and disease, the useless municipal garbage collection, and most of all no pride in one's immediate surroundings. Everyone waits for someone else to make a move. Sorry Deyana...we straying a bit
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2013 16:41:31 GMT
I would say that most of the women are indoors most of the time -- at least that's how it is in the Gulf countries. The only women who go out are the ones in families with not enough men. One thing that I found surprising in the Gulf region is that there is one time of day when women are seen. At dusk, you will see women hurrying all over the place to do urgent shopping or to deliver children back to their families. They are out and about for perhaps one hour... and then they disappear. (Of course this is changing in places like Saudi Arabia where there are shopping malls reserved for women.)
In Chennai and Pondicherry, though, I saw plenty of women at all times, which led me to another interrogation. The men were relieving themselves in public absolutely everywhere -- peeing against any wall, shitting between parked cars, etc. Naturally, I did not ever see a woman doing such a thing. I was wondering if they had super powers of retention or if they know the locations of secret restrooms.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2013 17:39:20 GMT
bjd, yes, I think it may very well be a combination of those things. I guess the fact that I am so used to seeing women actively involved in just about all levels of life here had me stumped. I can well understand why women's groups in India are up in arms (so to speak), there still is a lot of discrimination against women and females in general unfortunately. The being starred at, I never quite got used to it, but I did learn to ignore it as much as I could. ansh, yes, of course please feel free to answer any questions about India on here. Tod, I apologize, but I must have overlooked your question earlier on... Tod, stray as much as you want, it's all fine Quote from Tod: Most areas of fairly good housing standards here do not have shacks or poorer buildings right next to them because the land is privately owned or owned by the province. This has not stopped shanty towns and slums appearing illegally overnight. Many areas have been bulldozed to get rid of the squatters. Same same in India. I do remember reading in the newspaper about how the officials of different towns had had enough of the illegal structures and shanty towns that kept on popping up. They actually bulldozed quite a few down. I have a feeling that this was only the beginning and more these kind of structures would soon be disappearing. I did wonder where the people who had lived in them went to though. Kerouac, I did see some men peeing in public, but that was all and not very often. I never saw anyone shitting in public at all. Were you in India quite a few years ago now? The reason I ask, is because the last time I was in India (which was many years ago) I did see that sort of thing, but not this time...
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2013 17:45:23 GMT
Ludhiana is the largest city in the State of Punjab. It's not the Capital however, the Capital is called Chandigarh, which is about 100 km away. Ludhiana has a population of around 35,00,000 people. We hired a driver to take us there.(The same one that brought us here from New Delhi Airport). So it was another crazy reckless drive, but I couldn't blame the driver, everyone there drove the same. You have to be good on those dangerous roads just in order not to crash and our driver was very good on that score. Ludhiana is Asia's largest hub for bicycle manufacturing and produces 50% of the bikes used in India. It also manufactors many other types of vehicles, both industrial and for personal use, as well as various tools and other machines. Ludhiana is home to the largest agricultural university in Asia, Punjab Agricultural University. It has a metro and an airport. Here is a map of the City, just to give you an idea of whereabouts it's located: www.tourismtheworld.com/arts-and-cultural-attractions-that-marvelous-punjab/punjab-map11_2/ The divers name was Raj and he was a Sikh man complete with a colorful turban and an equally colorful and lively personality. He was a character that's for sure He suggested that we should visit the temple in Ludhiana, we agreed. Anyhow we had no idea what there was of interest to see there, so just let him guide the way. Here is a picture I took of the GURUDWARA SHRI TAHLIANA SAHIB: Raj knew much about this Sikh temple and explained the story to us. If anyone is interested it's all on here: www.worldgurudwaras.com/historical-gurudwaras/india/punjab/ludhiana/gurudwara-sri-tahliana-sahib-raikotAs in many places of interest there is security of one form or another. This was the guard that stood at the front gate of the temple: It was a pleasant, warm sunny day and I must admit a feeling of peacefulness filled the air while we were on the temple grounds: We take our shoes off and cover out heads (a requirement of the Sikh religion when in a holy building) and walk down this way to enter the temple: And inside is the alter (I guess you'd call it). Here Raj knelt down and said a prayer. And here is the man himself, with the red turban on: We step out just to have a quick look outside of the temple gates. Just another street with dogs wondering around. There are many many stray dogs in India, in fact most of the dog population are strays, but surprisingly enough most of them look quite well fed. I never saw a dog being abused. Yelled at to get out of the way, yes, but not purposely being abused. I was very relived to to know and see this. The poor animals do however get injured, especially if they live around high traffic areas, many can be observed limping along on three legs. Worth mentioning that, (apart from one incident), I never came across an unfriendly or an aggressive dog, they are quite docile and are happy to just be alive and be fed or find food once in a while. And even the pack of rowdy dogs we encountered (in Rajasthan) were only barking and running around after other dogs and not people. Dogs in India are 'domesticated' in a strange sort of way and used to living around people, as are many other types of animals, including bulls! So we carry on with our day. This is a large town and here are a few shots of one of the main commercial streets: Raj parks his car in a paid parking lot on the above street. We wonder around a bit and then he asks us what else we want to see. I tell me I have no idea. Just take us to any place that may be interesting. Ludhiana was not on my 'touristy things to do list'. I hadn't looked into it at all, so I didn't have a clue. I realize now that we did miss seeing quite a few places in this City, but at the time I had no idea where to go. "Do you want to go and see the big shopping mall" he asked us. "Sure, take us there". I had to do some shopping anyway. By that I meant I needed toilet paper, razors, some pens and a note book. Not expensive gadgets and designer clothes! Anyhow to the mall we went. There was of course security to go through first. A tall scanner that we had to walk through and then after we are were searched by hand to make sure we were not carrying... what? What were they looking for? Concealed weapons? bombs? Who knows? Each time I would have to go through a scanner machine, I wondered how good it was for our health? The men always went on one side and the women on the other. Reason being that men guards are only allowed to search the males and woman guards search the females. The inside of the mall: I'm not sure what to add about the mall. Obviously it's an expensive looking place that only the well to do would be able to shop in. Lots of designer merchandise and most were Western prices or nearly so. So very different and so in contrast to what can be seen outside of those walls. Outside in the street again: Before we leave this City we made a visit to the train station. I needed to get some information about trains to Delhi. It turned out to be a more complicated process then it should have been. Anyway, after finally talking to the personal at the train station we decided maybe taking a bus to Delhi (in some days time) might be better idea. Anyhow we needed to think on that one. This was my first experience in a train station in India and it was stressful. A lot of shoving and pushing in line was going on. My sons got fed up enough of it that they decided to stand around me and shove and elbow off anyone who dared try it again! It worked, I finally did manage to get to the front of the line and talk to someone. Many people use motorbikes for travel and to go to work. People who need to for further afield to get to work will drive their motorbikes to the train station and leave it parked there for the day and board the train. They have to pay a fee to leave park the bike and as you can see there are many that use this service: Time to get some gas? Gas (or petrol) is expensive in India, well it is on par with what we pay here in Canada, so that means expensive for most people in India. But we found out that cars are much more gas efficent over there, with much smaller engines. The thing is - cars don't need to go fast over there because traffic just moves so slow in India that it would make no sense to have great big cars that guzzle tons of gas.
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Post by fumobici on May 1, 2013 22:41:26 GMT
The other thing that I really do have to mention is the lack of women in general. Where are the females of India? There are many many men everywhere, running all kinds of businesses and going about their lives, but hardly any women (in comparison). I know that the ratio of men/women, is uneven. I knew before I came to India there were more males than females, but I never knew that there was SUCH a big difference in the numbers. I don't get it. And it's like that all over India. Surely so many women cannot all be hidden away behind closed doors? So where are they? Could the unnatural selection process of males over females have made it this way? I know many Indians prefer to have sons over daughters, it's old traditions and views and mindsets that go back centuries. And now in this modern age where a sex of a unborn child can be determined through scans, it makes it easier to choose the sex of a child. Is this what has happened? If this is indeed the case (and I'm not sure it is), then it's another big problem the country will have to deal with. Already I hear that men are finding it hard to find marriage partners in some areas of India, simply due to the lack of females available. Have you seen this? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_states_and_territories_ranking_by_sex_ratioThere are only states, Kerala and Puducherry, where there are more women than men and in some such as Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu there are far, far more men than women. Looking at the data it does appear that the discrepancies are diminishing more often than not.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 2, 2013 2:48:23 GMT
Another interesting statisctic: Ludhiana has amongst the highest proportions of Indian households with one member overseas (from there UK is a very popular destination).
The mall looks empty- do you know why? Or was it just too early?
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Post by lola on May 2, 2013 2:59:58 GMT
A whole other world. Thank you, deyana, for your report.
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Post by nycgirl on May 2, 2013 4:46:50 GMT
Love the photo of the little parakeet. He's so cute. This is a very interesting and informative report. I have to admit, I think I would find India a very frustrating place to visit, but I appreciate the intimate portrait you provide here. Could it be due to the recession? I do remember when I was living in an apartment in British Columbia some years back a woman there had a habit of jumping into those big communal bins they put outside. She always said that people threw out the most amazing stuff, things that could be reused. I also knew a guy in England who furnished most of his house with whatever he could find, things that other people threw out. I once lived in a very nice area of Montreal, here each week people would chuck out some truly nice stuff, sofa's, chairs, even washers and dryers. They'd leave it outside for the garbage people to collect. Well guess who furnished her apartment with all this great stuff? There is a whole community of people who subsist on things people throw out. They call themselves "freegans." Sounds extreme, but they have some pretty good strategies, like hitting up college dorms on moving day. As you say, people throw out perfectly good stuff. www.treehugger.com/culture/freegans-hit-new-york-dumpster.html
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 6:14:29 GMT
One of the main things about countries like India now are the incredible contrasts between rich and poor. In the old days, it was all just bustling anarchy but now that shopping malls and luxury hotels are becoming more common, it makes the difference all the more visible. I don't know if there have been such societal upheavals in the past as are now happening in India and China, but it will certainly be interesting to see how everything turns out. Obviously, everybody cannot become rich, but let's just hope that everybody can at least move up a few notches on the social scale.
(Then again, when I see the conflicts in Europe between the haves and the have-nots, clearly it is a problem that never goes away.)
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2013 20:51:18 GMT
That really is very interesting data, fumboici. I'm always a bit suspect of statistics, and who collects them and how accurate they are, but that certainly is food for thought. Here is a map (on wiki) that tells that there are clearly more males in some parts of the world and more females in other parts. The blue represents the countries that have more males and the pink more females and the green where they are just about the same in numbers: Other facts that could be of interest. Men tend to die younger, either due to being involved in warfare or participating in more dangerous activities when younger or simply because diseases such as heartattacks and strokes tend to be happen more often to males then females. Females still live longer. Going by that there should be more females on the planet than men. So we have to ask ourselves why in some countries are there more men than women? Quote from the Times of India: In 20 years, 20% more men than women Kounteya Sinha, TNN Mar 16, 2011, 03.05am IST
NEW DELHI: India will have 20% more men than women in the next two decades, thanks to sex-selective abortion and craze for male child in some states, according to a new study.
Conducted by Dr Therese Hesketh and co-authors from the UCL Centre for International Health and Development, London, and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Tuesday, the study says easy access to sex-selective abortions, has led to significant imbalances in the male/female population in China, India and South Korea.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2013 20:57:51 GMT
Wait until they find out that women are more useful than men!
More seriously, any country that wants things to change can just change some of the inheritance laws and things about "head of family" and there will suddenly be more girls than boys.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2013 21:10:19 GMT
ansh, there are many things about Ludhiana I did not know when I went to see it, I wish that I had done a bit of research about the city before heading off. But I think I was still suffering from jet-lag at the time and not really concentrating at all. I wasn't planning on being there, but it was a suggestion and I thought why not? lola, you're welcome. nycgirl - I have heard of the Freegans, sounds like a good idea to me. Thanks for the link. I don't know if I could live entirely on what I find, but certainly partly. Kerouac, we live in interesting times. I wonder how it will all pan out in the end? I don't think the very rich and the very poor have had to live so closely in area before. Will it rub off on the poor and a trickle down affect happen? I hope so. Or will the rich just keep on getting richer at the expense and cheap labor of the poor? Governments can do a lot in that regard, but first they have to fight their own battles of corruption within.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2013 4:12:37 GMT
On yet another misty morning, very early, we set off to see the Golden Temple and the Wagah Border Ceremony. Both are in the City of Amritsar. Not very far from my village, maybe about 200 miles or so. Again we hired Raj to drive us there. It seemed to me that he liked to take some odd roads and the long way to get anywhere, but at least he did get us there eventually. I found out that there are no direct buses to Amritsar from the village and of course no trains at all. I also noticed that Raj was taking the older, odd and more bumpy than usual roads to places because he was trying to avoid roads that asked for a toll to be paid. Just as we got to the next town he stopped at a gas station and asked us to pay for the gas in advance. We did this, and I was assured that it was not extra on top of what he was charging us, just an advance. About half way through we stopped at a road side place to get something to eat. This was not a good idea. I had heard that if buying from a road side eatery than watch and make sure it's been freshly cooked. This I did. I asked for the fried bread which was stuffed with potatoes and cooked in hot oil. I bought enough for the boys and our driver too. For the next two days one of my sons and I were quite sick, nauseous and felt like vomiting. That put me off buying road-side food for a very long time. In fact after that I hardly ever did. A few things we saw on the way: (Later on in the journey I could witness by accident a chicken being beheaded out in the open, right in front of me - not nice but that is how they are killed/prepared for food). Then Raj's car stops working. We all get out and start pushing! To try and start up the battery again. Great, it started, we can get on our way again. I ask Raj how often he has to get the car checked out, and he tells us he just informs his boss if anything needs doing to it. Oh, so he had a boss, I thought it was his own car. He tells me the car the and business actually belong to someone who is related to me. I have no idea who that was, some distant relative I guess. Finally we get there, park the car and venture out, or try to. While still in the parking lot a man comes up to us and puts an orange scarf around our heads. "You cannot get into the Golden Temple without covering your hair, you will need this" he informs us in Punjabi. *Oh thank you" "That will be 10 rupees" he says. "Each" We pay up, so he wasn't helping us just to be nice? (How naive was I?). It was a profit making enterprise. Later on our driver informs us that there is no need to buy head coverings from people as the temple provides them free anyhow. I know 30 rupees is not much, but I really didn't like the fact that he kind of tricked us into buying the scarfs. ha. I won't fall for that again I tell myself. But of course I did and quite a few times over yet. I needed to pee. But just as I was about to enter the 'washrooms', a woman stops me and asks for 2 rupees for the use of. I pay her, although I had no idea if she was a real attendant or just someone pretending to be one. This was my first time using a public toilet, (apart from the one in Ludhiana which was in that posh mall and so, quite nice.) This one was a shock. It was the type which has no bowl and very dirty! I ran in and then ran out as fast as I could. "Where can I wash my hands?" I asked the woman who had just taken the 2 rupees. She muttered something and pointed to the back of the room. There I found a tap and the water from it just ran on to the floor. So out in the street we go. Tourist information is usually no help at all. They never seem to have any maps left and one employee (in another city) even told me to go elsewhere as the town we were in had nothing of interest in it anyway!) We follow Raj, I'm glad he is there because once on the street I am lost. We are just hit with a wave of people. A very noisy, crazy mass of activity. Right in front of me a leg-less and arm-less beggar rolls from one part of the street to another. How on earth does he do it I ask myself?. I don't know where to look, with every step forward, someone is approaching me or trying to touch me, trying to get my attention in any way they can. They want me to buy this or that (more scarfs and trinkets). Many beggars asking for money, it was a relief when we finally got to the bottom of the street and near the temple. The street - full of vendors, beggars, touts, dogs, rickshaws, you name it. It was there: Of course, with time, I did get more used to this kind of activity and learned how better to deal with people who always seemed to be there as soon as you step out of your hotel. But honestly, the area surrounding the Golden Temple is probably as bad as it gets. The reason it may have been worse than other places might be because it attracts the real poor. The Sikh religion is different in a way, in that it offers food to every person who comes into the temple, no matter who they are. Not only food, but accommodation too, (although I think the accommodation is limited to certain people - mostly tourists, both from India and abroad.) The people on these streets know they will be fed and not shooed away by temple staff. So they stay around. As we approach the temple, we have to deposit our shoes. A building is reserved just for this purpose. We line up, give in our shoes, and are given a token with a number on. Great, at least I know I'll get my own sippers back and not someone else's runners. Just as we approach are about to enter the temple, Raj stops us in our tracks. What now I wonder? "You cannot go in carrying cigarettes, it's very dis-respectable" he tells my sons. He takes their smokes and walks away, informing us he'll be back, he needs to go back to the car and leave them in there. We wait outside of this store for the longest time and wonder if he will actually come back or if he's leaving us there stranded. As we sit there, shoe-less, we start making plans as to what we can do if he doesn't return. After the longest time he comes back and we finally enter the temple.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 4, 2013 7:23:00 GMT
Nice photos! Is that fog in the first?
Punjab and around are actually known for dhabas- roadside eateries (incl on highways) serving cheap but good North Indian food.
Did you go to Chandigarh?
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Post by bjd on May 4, 2013 9:21:09 GMT
Is it customary for Sikh women to cover their heads, like in the last picture of #54? Otherwise they seem to be wearing Western-style jackets.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2013 15:07:54 GMT
ansh, yes that is fog (or maybe low-laying clouds?) in the mist. Arh.. so that is what those eateries are called, it's good to the the actual name. I didn't see Chandigarh, I think that will have to be on my next trip to India. Can't go to the Punjab and not see the Capital. Some of the more congested areas around the temple I could not capture, as I was so busy with trying to walk without tripping over someone or bumping into people. bjd, good question. In the book I wrote - the memoir about my childhood called: 'Three more pennies', I go more into detail about he Sikh religion and what and how it is followed and the rules that guide it. If a woman is very religious, deeply religious even, she 'gives' herself to the Sikh faith and for all of her life she must cover her head in all public places, just like a Sikh man would. But the fact is most women do not follow it that strictly. But when it comes to entering a Sikh temple (any Sikh temple) women as well as men must cover their head. In the photo above just on the side and behind the women is the entrance to the temple. Here everyone visiting the temple must do the same, as well as wash hands and feet before setting foot on the temple grounds themselves. There are sinks to one side to do this and running water on the floor especially made for this purpose.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2013 15:58:48 GMT
ansh, regarding the emptiness of that mall in Ludhiana. I did notice and wonder about that too, I remember muttering to myself "How on earth can they afford to keep this place open when there are hardly any customers?". It might have been that we arrived too early, and the evenings would be busier, as more people are home from work? Could be that. I don't actually have an answer for that question.
I have a feeling though that the kind of clientele this mall would have are not the kind to be walking around in the streets like we were. They come in nice cars, park their cars in the secure and guarded parking lots outside and once finished shopping probably get back in them and drive home to their pleasant and well maintained housing developments.
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Post by nycgirl on May 4, 2013 16:34:50 GMT
Is it customary for Sikh women to cover their heads, like in the last picture of #54? Otherwise they seem to be wearing Western-style jackets. It is interesting to see traditional head coverings with Western-style hoodies. I suppose Western clothes in some form or another are seen in almost every corner of the world. In the book I wrote - the memoir about my childhood called: 'Three more pennies', I go more into detail about he Sikh religion and what and how it is followed and the rules that guide it. Wow, you wrote a memoir?! You must have some great stories in it. You seem to have quite an adventurous life.
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