Hello to all! My name is Chris Rendall, and in December of 2010 I went to India for 2 weeks with my friend Anup and his family.
The purpose of my visit was to see as much of India as possible, and to learn as much about its culture and people. It had been a dream of mine to visit India for quite some time before the opportunity to go actually came up. I had become quite obsessed with Indian music, and once my wife began cooking Indian food, I was hooked! When Anup, a friend of mine since childhood, told me in mid 2010 he was going to India in December (he is Indian so he and his family make regular visits to India), I jumped at the chance when asked to tag along.
Of course I had some initial reservations (despite the fact that not even a year before I had practically begged Anup to bring me along if the opportunity ever arose), such as the financial cost, medical and hygienic concerns, concern for person safety and wellbeing, and also the hardship of being away from my wife for 2 weeks. But in the end my desire to see India overwhelmed all my concerns.
This blog is a collection of my daily writing while in India, from the time of my arrival to departure. Knowing how bad I am at remembering details of things that I have experienced, I decided to keep a journal of my thoughts and experiences. I kept a paper journal, and then typed up my writings when I returned home (I didn’t want to carry my laptop to India). Because of this, this blog is not being updated real time, but was rather posted all at once after I had finished editing my writings. The purpose of these writings are threefold. First, for my own recollection. Second, to share with my family, friends, and others the things that I experienced and felt while in India. Third, to give information, advice, and inspiration to any who would consider venturing to India.
While the trip to India was an amazing experience, no trip is ever without its hardships or difficulties. I did a bit of editing, but I also tried not to censor times that I was feeling particularly upset or down. I think it will help those who have unrealistic expectations about India, and also those who want an authentic experience from the point of view of an American who has grown up in a somewhat sheltered life in comparison with the rest of the world.
I hope you enjoy this blog, and feel free to leave comments!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
I woke up around 8 AM and went to breakfast. It was the best breakfast so far in India for me, maybe my favorite breakfast all year. The hotel buffet had everything you could want, even American food. I stuffed myself, and so did Anup and his family. Like I mentioned before, you really have to stuff yourself at breakfast when you travel in India because you will rarely find a safe meal when you are out during the day. I had pastries, fruit, yogurt, an omlette, a dosa, chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns, coffee, and fresh watermelon juice.
One of the Jaipur city gates
After breakfast we went to the Amer Fort, also known as the Amber Fort. It was so breathtaking from the outside. We took an elephant ride up to the fort. It sounds exciting, but it actually wasn’t. When we were about to get on the elephant I was having second thoughts because the price was high and I wanted to walk, but also because I hate the exploitation of animals. After we took the elephant up to the top of the fort, we explored it for about an hour.
Driving up to Amber Fort
The elephant waiting area
Texting on an elephant, just to say I did!
Looking down on the water garden
This is the lady I was making fun of while fake texting, she actually is using her phone...on an elephant
The picture they take when they make the elephant pose.
Everyone wants a handout in the tourist heavy areas. Many of the local people in these areas have the notion that, because they exist, I’m required to support them. I have compassion for them and their need, but I cannot support that idea nor their laziness. There is always something else they could be doing, even if it made less money than begging. I hate to say that because I know I’m an American and our culture is to be self sufficient, but it’s just true. When Anup and I had finished our elephant ride at the Amer Fort, the elephant driver put out his hand and said “tip please.” There was literally a sign 5 feet away from us that said ““DO NOT ENCOURAGE TIPPING.”We very kindly said no, but he said “Please, my kids have to eat.”
First of all, he is breaking the rules of his own employment. In many of these tourist areas you will see signs that say “DO NOT ENCOURAGE TIPPING.” These signs were put in place by the Indian government due to complaints from tourists of being constantly harassed by beggars. If you work for the government, which the elephant drivers at the Amer Fort do, you make a fixed salary and it is illegal to ask for tips. If truthfully his kids were suffering hunger, since his salary is fixed, and he was aware of the amount of money he would be making, why did he start a family? I know that they do not think this way, in fact it is as if the thought never crosses some people's mind here, but perhaps some self control would have been prudent until he was financially prepared for children. I do realize that it is possible he fell on hard times, or perhaps it is the social norm to marry early and have children regardless of circumstance, but I say that to illustrate a mentality that exists in some places in India (and the US for that matter). It is very much “God will take care of my children, so it doesn’t matter how many I have.” Listen, children are a blessing, whether you have 1 or 20, and it is the right of all to procreate. But for the sake of the children, please be prepared to care for them properly so they don’t end up hungry or on the streets begging. What seems to be happening here is that when the family can no longer afford the children they are having, they are sent out to peddle and steal to bring in more income, and then as adults peddling and stealing is all they know how to do.
On our way out of the Amer Fort, we saw the Jal Mahal (Water Palace). It seemed like something out of a medieval romance novel. I wish we could have taken a boat out to it, but unfortunately it was being renovated by the local Jaipur government.
Our next stop was Amir Carpets, a popular traditional handmade carpet mill. Jaipur is famous for its handmade carpets. We were allowed to watch as the laborers made the carpets from start to finish. It was pretty incredible to watch the process, and to witness the incredible skill and focus of the workers. Anup was allowed to videotape one of the workers building a carpet from scratch. The quickness and accuracy with which he worked was mesmerizing. I would have loved to buy a carpet for myself, but they were in the hundreds of dollars for even the smallest doormat sizes, which is perfectly reasonable considering they take months from start to finish.
After we left Amir Carpets, we went to the Jantar Mantar observatory. This was probably my favorite place in Jaipur, and it the full realization of the depth of the observatory didn’t hit me until a few days later. The observatory was built from 1727 to 1734 by Maharaja Jai Singh II. It is a large, open collection of enormous astronomical instruments, , that were used for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking the location of stars, and ascertaining the location and distance of planets. All of the instruments were made from local stone, and were built very large in order to increase their accuracy. The Giant Sundial, known as the Samrat Yantra (The Supreme Instrument), is the world's largest sundial, standing 27 meters tall. It is so large you can literally watch the shadow of the sundial move while you check it with your watch, which I definitely did. It’s pretty astounding.
A guy with a henna dipped beard and hair (common among Indian muslims)
Jantar Mantar
The world's largest sun dial
After we had finished and were standing outside the observatory, we saw a man playing a snake charmer’s instrument in front of a snake basket that wasn’t really doing anything. He was literally the most suspicious looking man I’ve ever seen, the moustache made him look like some evil genius who ties women to railroad tracks. Because Anup had regretted not buying one of these instruments back at the Amer Fort, I told him he should just ask that guy for his instrument and I bet he would sell it to him. Sure enough, when Anup offered to buy it the man was more than happy to not only make a profit off of his self-made instrument, but to not work the rest of the day. Unfortunately, since Anup and I look like giant dollar signs in India, he threw out a ridiculous price of 3000 rupees. We laughed and walked away to our car. About 5 minutes later he comes running after our car as we were pulling away, and says he’ll do 2500. We talked him down to 1000 rupees, which was still pretty high, and Anup paid him the money and took the instrument. After we had driven about 4 feet, Anup realized that the piece that allows you to change pitch was missing. Anup yelled out to the guy and he came up to the window. He said he would give back the piece for 100 rupees. I wanted to get out of the car and wring his neck, but Anup paid him and we drove off.
Anup about to get shafted
We went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours. When we had gotten back to our hotel, we realized that the snake charmer man had removed a second piece from the instrument. The piece was literally worth 1 rupee, and it was worth it to him to screw someone over who eagerly paid him a fair price for his homemade instrument. Unbelievable.
Around 5 p.m., we headed out for the Rajasthani food festival, a main attraction in Jaipur. It was a large, open, sandy area filled with food tents and stages with various attractions happening. There were traditional Rajasthani dancers, puppet shows, balancing acts, magic shows, and camel rides. I felt like I was in the movie Aladdin or the book Arabian Nights as I stood in the dark night surrounded by tents and lamplight and camels passing by me. We had been eating food from the tents, but there was a large dinner planned. We had been told you had to pay extra for the dinner, but it was unclear to us whether it was already included in our ticket or not. When dinner time came, I asked the person at the entrance of the dinner area whether we needed a special ticket. He didn’t really answer me but instead just shuffled us in. Anup was upset because he felt like we were stealing, I honestly wasn’t sure myself but it sure wasn’t worth trying to ask the question when nobody around you speaks English. The dinner was delicious. It was a multicourse meal of traditional Rajasthani food, each brought to us consecutively, eaten with your hands.
A guy performing a balancing act with his mouth
Rajasthani dancers
Camel.....pimp
Sitting down to eat
A view of my plate made of banana leaves
After dinner, we left the food festival to go to our hotel for the night.
Jaipur gives me some faith in India’s future. It is the only planned city I’ve been to in India, and it runs like clockwork. Every other city I’ve been to, while amazing in its own way, is essentially newer stuff stacked on top of older stuff stacked on top of yet older stuff, and so on as the need for more space and automobiles mounts. These types of cities do not seem sustainable.
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