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!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Monday, December 13, 2010


Today was a relatively relaxing, uneventful day. We went to Miayagam Karjan, the village where Anup’s dad grew up. It was a small, overcrowded rural village. We saw the shop where Anup’s dad Atul used to work and where his father, Anup’s grandpa, still works and which he owns. We took a tour of the shop, where different types of oils and grains are sold. They still calculate on and keep records exclusively on paper, and there are receipts everywhere it seems.


They keep the byproduct of the oil they produce, which looks like patty made out of crushed grass, and feed it to cows. There were always cows waiting outside the shop to be fed, and I fed 2 cows by hand. When the first cow was feeding, the second one was behind him waiting his turn, and when he felt that the first one had enough to eat, he scooted forward and stuck his horns into the side of the first and moved him out of the way.




We didn’t stay long in the village because Atul is very popular in his village and causes quite a commotion when he returns. Coupled with the fact that he was with a tall blonde white guy and we were worried about getting mobbed. Word was already starting to spread and people were gathering around us. The village was already so crowded and hard to navigate we didn’t want to get stuck there, so we took off, stopping by Atul’s old house on our way out.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Cyy&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=Miyagam+Karjan&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl



That night we went to a restaurant called Barbeque Nation for dinner. It is an upscale restaurant in Vadodara that wealthy people and foreigners eat at, because the food is good and the place is clean, and they serve meat that won’t make you sick. I ate the first meat of my entire trip here, a chicken shish kebab. I felt food deprived and really stuffed myself here.

To end the day, here is a funny video of Lopa. Backstory: she is terrified of birds. Just hearing them or seeing them flap their wings makes her nauseous. So, as any good brother would, Anup likes to make bird noises to make her sick. Probably one of my favorite videos of the trip.


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