Being at home with Hindu iconography seriously helped me with the culture shock. With the abundance of god and goddess stickers in auto-rickshaws (as shown here), and the like, I always had something familiar to cast my gaze upon.
Plagued by an urge to uncover the mysteries of life. Genuinely fascinated by the human condition and the commonalities found across cultures. This blog started on my trip to India to study the Jain religion. But it’s evolving into an account of life at home, journeys out of my comfort zone and thoughts about people and places.
Shopkeeper sleeps amongst his freshly carved murtis (idols).
One of India's signature decorative doorways.
My Top 5 Indian Eats and Treats
5: Veg Thali
4: Navrattan Curry
3: Burfi (chocolate, pista, mango)
2: Saag Paneer
1: Mango Lassi
How much for all of them?
Indian sweets taste as good as they look.
Street dancing in celebration of a wedding. We joined in from the back of our rickshaw to spur on the revelry.
"JAIPUR IS A VORTEX OF SERENDIPITY"
Not the cigarettes
So many camels once we hit Jaipur.
Mere Baap Pehle Aap
The Raj Mandir Theatre where we got a taste of Bollywood in its proper setting. Even though the film was all in Hindi, I can still tell you it was only average at best.
Feigning Interest
Me and sari-clad friend at the Taj Mahal. I went there out of duty. She had genuine excitement.
Deep Meditation
Mahavir (the 24th Tirthankar and majority recipient of modern Jain praise) depicted in a super-human state of concentration.
Beware of the monkeys
A girl shares a tender moment with a monkey in Mathura. After that, he bit her. After that, she had to get endless rabies needles.
"THE TRICK TO SURVIVING THE CHAOS OF INDIA IS TO BECOME AS CRAZY AS IT IS."
Qutub Minar
Famous Indo-Islamic landmark in Delhi.
Hijra
A Eunuch begs for change in traffic. Hard to believe they're considered auspicious when this is what they have to resort to.
Pre-Temple Purification
Washing our feet before entering a mosque. Note that I was negligent in my head-covering duty.
No shortage of colour here
Some vibrant sikhs adding to our temple tour.
Street Scene
View of a typical Delhi sidestreet.
The Equine Element
So far, the horses in India seem to be kept in relatively good shape. Unfortunately I can't say the same about the other animals.
The Little Details
Even Indian signage exhibits more modesty than we do.
Holy Cow
The ubiquitous cow-in-Indian-traffic pic. The rumours are true; cows are holy here and traffic will yield to their bovine whims.
Henna Hands
They said it would last 3-4 days. That was three weeks and a full dispenser of hand soap ago.
Things I miss:
Whole grain bread
Access to a refrigerator
Punctuality
Multi-culturalism
Brushing my teeth with tap water
Salad
Walking places (urban India is not pedestrian friendly — especially if you're female and foreign)
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