The Gateway to God

Onto the second blog of my India trip. Where exactly did I go?

I’ve just figured out how to customise Google Maps – swanky stuff! You can click on any of the markers, as well as the lines to see the distances covered.

View Larger Map

For those of you interested in embedding a customised Googlemap into WordPress, it seems as though this is only really possible with WordPress 2.3 on Internet Explorer, not 2.3.1, or Firefox! With 2.3 and even 2.3.1 on Firefox, after inserting the embed HTML provided by Google Maps, editing the blog is no longer possible at all, which means you either have to make sure you’ll never, ever need to edit the blog before adding the embed HTML, or you have to download a map plugin which currently only allows for maps with multiple markers, not lines! Booo. Using the plugin also means having to manually create the map using code alone, not using My Maps on Google Maps, which is pretty shabby, since creating a map on My Maps is very cool and provides info such as the distance between 2 points. WordPress, please fix this bug! So I’m having to type all this using 2.3 on Internet Explorer.  Scary.

Anyway, if you can’t see the above map for any reason, just click here.

So I started off in Mumbai, and we then flew to Delhi. I’d wanted to get the train there but that would have taken around 17 hours and there wouldn’t have been enough time for other things.

I have a few pictures left from Mumbai

I thought the sign was funny.  This was outside a dingy photo studio where my mum had to get passport pictures in order to get a phone SIM card.  To get a SIM card in India, you have to provide identification, as well as a photo.  There are also a few forms to fill out.  I never imagined getting a phone SIM in India would be such a lengthy process – here in the UK they give away SIMs for free a lot of the time, or you can just walk into a shop and buy one!  On a similar note, I was asked for ID in an internet cafe as well.  Apparently this is the norm I was told..

Anyway, back in the photo studio.  There was no photobooth you see, so a photographer suddenly appeared with a Nikon dSLR, took some pics of my mum in front of some curtains, and then proceeded to edit the pics on the PC.

Photoshop seemed a little out of place in this small, shabby photo studio, which I thought was an interesting contrast. 

Paan being sold on the street

Paan can be a mixture of tobacco, spices and sugar, and is highly popular in India.  I suppose it’s the equivalent of chewing gum, but worse for your health!  Personally, I find some of them fairly tasty, but others completely revolting.  Generally, I’m not much of a Paan fan.

Taken from the car, I thought this was quite funny

Muchhad means moustache.

Street stalls in Mumbai are open until quite late, and always seem to be busy.  Each one is specialised, with this one selling bangles.

This is why I rarely take self-portraits:

I have no skillZ! That’s Babu next to me, our friend’s driver.  He looks like he’s giving the finger in this shot!

Well, that’s it for Mumbai for now.

Next stop – Delhi, the capital of India.  It’s much more westernised than Mumbai (in terms of how people dress, and the roads, shops, etc.).  It also lacks the chaos and mayhem of Mumbai, and feels more civilised, which in a way makes it less appealing to me.  I’m not sure what this says about me..hmm..!

Damn reflections..

Janpath Market in Delhi is famous for its intricate embroidery.

This woman there recognised me from two years ago!

The people on these stalls are highly skilled at ripping people off.  Let me explain what I mean.  The items for sale are made by villagers, mostly based in rural Gujarat.  They spend most of their time tediously sewing sequins and tiny beads onto blankets, shawls, decorations, cushion covers, bedspreads, etc.  Women such as these then buy it off them for peanuts and sell them for a much, much higher price in the market.  How do I know this?

Well, it is well-known that in an Indian market, you should halve the price given for an item, and it will still be sold to you.  I picked up a decorated stuffed elephant and immediately had someone trying to sell it to me, for 650 rupees (£8 or so).  I told her I barely had any room to carry it and I’d take it for 150 rupees.  I then walked off, not really intending to buy it.  She came after me trying to negotiate but I ignored her.  She eventually came back with it already in a bag and said she’d take 150 rupees for it.  Hm, so let’s see.. 650 down to 150.. that’s around 1/5 of the original price!  These people are not going to sell something unless they make a profit, and obviously if she thought 150 was completely ridiculous she wouldn’t have sold it at all, so for her, this was a good price.  One can only assume they buy it for close to nothing from the villagers in Gujarat who actually make these items.

I noticed some tourists negotiating with a lady for a bedspread.  The lady quoted 3000 rupees!  It was obvious she knew she could get more out of a seemingly ignorant foreigner, so I warned them discreetly to bargain.  I mean, 3000 rupees is quite ridiculous, and I don’t like the fact that prices are quoted based on the colour of someone’s skin.  Yes, the tourists will be earning more than these sellers, and back in their country the bedspread will be selling for much more, but prices are relative, and people should be aware that they are being ripped off!  Immediately the women started a tirade of verbal abuse against me, simply for warning a foreigner to bargain.

They accused me of trying to stop them from making money and taking away business from them.  I explained that I’m a foreigner, simply warning another foreigner of the situation, but they refused to listen, claiming that god would punish me for being so cruel to them.

I’m a charitable person and quite happy for people to be making money – but if I see someone being ripped off like this, I’m not going to stay quiet.  As it is, the other foreigners were aware that 3000 rupees was a ridiculous amount; they had also been warned by people to at least halve the price!  I told the lady this who admitted that they base their prices on whether a person is Indian or not.

They sell lovely things here – perhaps if they had a set price for everyone, they’d end up making more money overall?  In any case, I don’t think I’m going to be welcome around here again! When I think about it.. isn’t this what high street stores do, just less obviously?  They get people in the far East to produce the goods for a fraction of what they actually sell it for back in the West..

Moving on, we hit the road, headed for Haridwar and Rishikesh, two of the most holiest Hindu places in India.

Along the way, I took some shots out of the window, something I’m quite a fan of it seems!

They have Wimpy! 

I like how only the driver has a helmet.

We came across monkeys!  We stopped the car but were warned not to get out, because these animals will grab anything (I found this out by experience later in the trip), and they could attack as they’re not as accustomed to humans compared to monkeys in other areas such as temples which are frequented by humans regularly.

Conveniently we had some fruit on us.

Indian roads are a nightmare.  I wish I’d recorded the sound of being on the road, which consists of constant honking.  There’s no concept of lanes – people don’t wear seatbelts or helmets, overtake dangerously and don’t let others cut in front, which, combined together is highly risky!  A lot of cars don’t even have side mirrors. 

Funnily enough, I didn’t see a single case of road rage.  People just get on with driving, and even when they almost crash into another vehicle, there’s no sign of anger at all.  They barely flinch.  I love how the trucks are decorated with lights and paintings.  In comparison, driving in London seems quite boring!  Of course, I wouldn’t attempt driving myself in India unless I really had to!

One thing I absolutely loved about travelling by road are the little tea places which have amazing food and deliciously sweet masala tea.  Often they’d be run by just one person in a deserted stall with nothing around, but their cooking skills were just amazing.  I must have been so intrigued by all the food I ate that I don’t think I took a single picture of these wonderful little roadside places. :/

I did take a picture of this though:

I didn’t use it.

We got to Haridwar in the evening.

We went back early the next morning, before sunrise.

Haridwar translates to gateway to god, and it’s regarded as one of the seven holiest places to Hindus.  People come to this ancient place to bathe in the River Ganges, and doing so is thought to wash away one’s sins.

The water was freezing!  I mean, it was around 6:30am, yet some of the people here didn’t seem to be discouraged by the temperature.

I was!

There were many temples dotted around the area.

There were people selling bottles for the public to fill up with water from the Ganges to take with them.  People often drink the water as well.  Of course the Ganges is highly polluted, but telling this to a devout Hindu could easily offend them.  I was given some of the river water in a temple to drink, which I did.  It was surprisingly sweet and tasty.

There were also many people like this selling flowers which are put into the river as part of a blessing ritual.

From Haridwar it was a half hour drive to another holy place by the river, Rishikesh.

It is here that the Ganges leaves the foothills of the Himalayas, which is why it’s also known as the gateway to the Himalayas.

Rishikesh is often referred to as the yoga centre of the world as well.

: )

The temple a few shots above has 13 levels,with numerous rooms containing statues of Hindu gods.

It was an enlightening experience visiting these two holy places.  Religion plays a huge part in the lives of Indians, and whatever your beliefs, there is a great atmosphere here.

Next blog – Shimla, the ‘Queen of Hills’ in the north-west Himalayas..

Mumbai Revisited

I’m back from another trip to India As usual, it was eye-opening and quite amazing really. India is such a crazy country – there are countless words to describe it, many of which would contradict the others. For example, it’s probably one of the most beautiful countries, yet one of the dirtiest and polluted. People are extremely friendly, yet they can appear to have no consideration or respect for others. It’s a calm country, yet stressful – and the contradictions go on and on.

One thing is for sure though – the country is so vast and varied, and steeped in history and culture, that you could never get bored there.

First stop was Mumbai – the world’s most populous city.  I’ve been here twice before, and it feels like a second home really I only spent a few days in this bustling city – I spent the rest of the time in Delhi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Simla, Chandigarh, Amritsar, and Jaipur, but more on those later.

On the high street near where we were staying, this little girl was doing some kind of trick.

She then got on a tightrope. First she simply walked along it with something on her head.

Then she walked with one of these

Quite impressive really.

At the end she went around with a tray for money, and of course I gave her some. I gave 100 rupees which is around £1.20 (over $2) – not much to us in the West, but I heard someone say ‘she gave 100 rupees!’ and the girl looked amazed. It still astounds me how cheap things are in India, and how even 5 rupees can buy these people something. In London £1.20 wouldn’t even buy you a measley sandwich, yet over in India, 2 people could eat a large, delicious meal for the same amount.

Some kids saw me taking pictures and as I was leaving they tapped me on the back. I assumed they’d ask for some money but instead gestured that they wanted a picture. It hasn’t come out too well but here it is:

I showed the preview to them and they were so delighted. It made me wonder if they’d ever had their picture taken before. Probably not.

This boy wasn’t too happy though – I shot this through the car window.

I’ve previously mentioned the McDonald’s in Mumbai, well now there’s a KFC! It made me laugh for some reason.

I can’t imagine why anyone would go to KFC when India has amazing food of its own. Honestly, Indian food over there is amazingly delicious. I didn’t take as many pictures of food as I normally would, but I have to mention two things.

*Major drooling* (no, it wasn’t all for me!).

The Pani Puri Centre in Elco is another place that anyone going to Mumbai has to experience. The food is heavenly.. if anyone knows any places in London that serve good papdi chaat and dahi puri, please let me know!

Not so good food:

Chat Masala popcorn :/

I spent Diwali (the Hindu New Year and festival of light) in Mumbai. Candles were left outside doorsteps..

.. as well as people decorating their doorsteps with coloured powder.

There’s a distinct atmosphere of celebration during this time with fireworks going off and streets lit up. What amazed me was how people (mostly children) set off fireworks on the street.

and even their balconies

These people have no fear at all! A few times I was actually scared of walking in the street near people who were lighting fireworks. They barely put any distance between themselves and the explosives.

The sign here amused me. The thought of celebrating a pollution free Diwali is laughable – the amount of smoke filling the air was incredible! Even inside the car it could be felt.

36 drivers going to jail.. this also amused me. Only 36? In a country where people drive like maniacs (really, it’s a rollercoaster-type affair but more on that later), this number seems quite low!

We went to Nariman Point which is one of the main areas where people congregate

Again, the air was thick with smoke, and quite suffocating. I read the next day in the paper about the pollution and casualties caused by all this.

A fire had started on the banks of the river as well.

Despite pollution and safety issues, there’s an atmosphere during this time which is quite remarkable. Everyone seems happy and both the rich and poor here really know how to celebrate. I was told that the Indian authorities are doing more to combat the problems caused by fireworks, for example they’ve imposed fines for people setting of fireworks after 10pm. It was around midnight when we were there, but I read that hundreds of people were indeed fined.

One thing that surprised me was how the news headlines on Diwali were dominated with one story – which Bollywood film would make the most at the box office? Om Shanti Om, or Saawariya? It really highlighted just how prevalent Bollywood is in the lives of Indians! Incidentally, we watched Om Shanti Om at the cinema – which was luxurious – the cinema that is. It had reclining seats, pillows and blankets. I didn’t know until then that before the movie starts, the national anthem of India is played, and everyone must stand for this. Failure to do so results in a fine

A ‘hijra‘.

I came across a few of these and all of them were really friendly and sociable – and quite happy to have their picture taken.

Some night pictures, also taken near where I was staying.

We drove down Grant Road which is a famous red light area in Mumbai. The following are all shot through the car window as it’s virtually impossible to walk down this street without being hassled, and more so with a camera!

These girls are really savvy – they seem to be able to spot a camera from a mile away. Not a single one was happy to be photographed, as you can see, and who can blame them? Who knows how many have been forced into the ‘profession’?

I barely got a chance to sneak a good picture in either. You don’t want to piss one of these girls off.. some, I’m convinced, aren’t actually women!

The last time I was in this area I remember being heckled even when I didn’t have a camera out. That was also during the day, and I was in a car. I also remember seeing children outside too. I’m not sure whether the situation has changed since then, or whether it was just because it was late in the night, but I didn’t see a single child out. There were many clearly young girls though.

I probably could have benefited from using a faster lens with all the night shots. I don’t like changing lenses often though, so I stuck to my 18-55mm for most of the time.

I walked through a shanty town as well, and took some sweets and a bit of money for all the children. Generally I tried to carry some money on me simply to give to beggars and needy children.

They seemed really happy and excited to see me with a camera, and within a few minutes there was a whole crowd of them.

They were really sweet, and some started inviting me into their homes and offering me food!

Some wanted me to take pictures of their children

They didn’t want me to go >__< The people here seemed so happy and content. People in developed countries are quick to assume these people are deprived and sad – in reality, yes, they’re deprived in the sense that they don’t have many clothes and not as much food as we might have, but they’re probably happier than those of us with all the money in the world. They have nothing to lose and I believe happiness is relative in any case. It was uplifting taking pictures of these people, not depressing.

I like these street barber shops, which are littered all over India it seems. As I took this pic, the barber and his customer both posed, which I thought was cute!

Next door was a butchers.

There were some kids playing cricket nearby, and when they saw my camera they started asking me to take pictures of them. I told them I’d take a picture of all of them instead.

It’s crazy how people here generally love having their picture taken. There’s two kinds of street photography – the kind where you’re subtle and the subject doesn’t know they’re having their picture taken, and the kind where it’s obvious they’re being photographed. Try doing the latter in London close-up and you’ll probably end up stabbed sooner or later.

These guys weren’t happy when I took a picture of them playing a card game.

I’m not quite sure why but I was told it was because it could be construed as gambling.

Even people living and working on the street have a place for religion.

They’re often highly skilled. Villagers for example can spend most of their time making intricate garments. They’ll sell these for peanuts to people who then sell them in shops for 100 times more. More on this in the next blog though when I get to Janpath Market in Delhi.

Mumbai is also home to Bollywood and all the glitz and glamour that India has to offer. Although I didn’t take many pictures this time that depict this, we went along one night to watch a rehearsal of a show by Shiamak Davar , and his dance school, called ‘I Believe’ which was due to start after we left.

This is him

I love Mumbai. It’s the most diverse place in India that I’ve visited, with the poor often living on the same streets as the rich, and despite the poverty, there’s a real feel for glitz as well as culture.