India has been interesting, fun, awe-inspiring, frustrating, fascinating, disappointing and wonderful.
Its varied and colourful history has made it a wonderful place to explore, with its forts, tombs and palaces telling its story. And its natural beauty is incredible. My top three highlights were:
Taj Mahal: this one’s no surprise, I guess. I was ready for its physical beauty, which I’ve seen in many pictures. But photos can’t possibly capture the feel of the stone and the sheer awe seeing that much marble inspires That it was built out of love and grief makes it all the more emotional.
Leopards in the wild: seeing these majestic creatures in their natural habitat was breath-taking. Six hours of safari for about 7 minutes in their presence was well worth it. The tiger was great, too, but the elusiveness of leopards made two sightings in one outing very special indeed.
Waterbird Sanctuary: in contrast to the leopards, waterbirds were everywhere you looked. Fifty-five species in a single day demonstrates the density of wildlife – turn your head and another four species came into view. It’s less well-known, but was well worth the stop.
And my bottom three lowlights:
Extreme patriarchy: this one’s no surprise, either! Explicit and implicit sexism was insuting, frustrating and, quite, frankly, disappointing. From men p*ssing in the street to women sent to their deaths on someone else’s funeral pyre, the disregard and disrepect for women throughout the centuries and in contemporary life was disgusting to behold.
Money, money, money: Western tourists will encounter this in any situation where there is considerable economic disparity, but here it was compounded by rudeness (“is that all?” in response to a generous tip) and the extent of scams; for instance, the multi-agent attempts to con newly-arrived tourists into paying for an expensive hotel was shocking. I do understand that it must be very difficult seeing others who are relatively very wealthy. But it’s not the whole picture. And ethics still apply, whether someone’s loaded or not.
Extreme patriarchy: it made me so angry, it takes third position, too (pushing down the dirt and filth to fourth place). Nuff said.
But it was definitely worth dealing with the lowlights to enable me to experience the highlights. Glad I experienced India and, by graciously accepting all those selfie requests, I’m hoping that I managed to leave it in a slightly happier state than when I found it…
… although why someone wants a photo of me is still something that I just can’t get my head around! But to finish, please find below every selfie request picture that I took from Day 3 onwards – enjoy, and be baffled!
