The Indian people that I met on a recent trip to India had been incredibly kind to me; they were generous with their hospitality, warm and caring for their guests. From the time I was picked up at the airport by the hotel to the time I left, including the time I had to visit a doctor due to heat exhaustion, I was touched by the warmth, hospitality and kindness of those who went out of their way to look after me.
I was expecting to see a lot of cows but only occasionally spotted a skinny one or two. It is incomprehensible for me that cows are left to freely roam in the streets and nibble at the garbage rather than being taken to pasture or left at the cowshed. If something is truly sacred, would you let it roam around at will?
This bowl of carnations appeared in my room when the hotel learnt that I was unwell. They offered to call a house doctor but I dilly-dallied in the hope that I would recover, only to find myself being taken to the hospital the next day. Unexpectedly, the waiting time in the hospital was a fraction of that in the Emergency Department in a hospital in the UK. The consultation cost 500 INR, less than £5. I left impressed.
An abiding image of India: garbage, unmade roads and rubble everywhere. I asked why so much litter, and was told that picking up rubbish is a task for the lower caste. Yet within people's own homes, I was reliably told that people are moderately clean. Now check out this funny article at Times of India Clearly the "My Clean India" campaign launched by Narendra Modi the Prime Minister in 2014 hasn't had much effect.
I was expecting to see a lot of cows but only occasionally spotted a skinny one or two. It is incomprehensible for me that cows are left to freely roam in the streets and nibble at the garbage rather than being taken to pasture or left at the cowshed. If something is truly sacred, would you let it roam around at will?
Make no mistake, this auto rickshaw is seriously under loaded; I reckon it can hold up to 16 passengers. Auto rickshaws are here and everywhere, they come at you from all directions, from the front, from the sides; but they add interest because they provide so much human interest in such a small space. If it were not for the heat (40C), I probably would have tried out an auto rickshaw. When in Rome ....
View from the hotel - not exactly a pleasant one but at least no garbage was visible from the 6th floor. In the foreground is the construction of the extension of the rapid metro southwards to Sectors 55 & 56 where the hotel is situated. The skyline in the morning was typically dusty, but thankfully the pollution level wasn't half as bad as Beijing, something of a bonus to a weary traveller.
A clean and modern Indira Ghandi Airport Terminal 3, post immigration and security. There are 5 layers of security: passport and itinerary check at entrance to airport, passport check at check-in, passport check at immigration (long long queue), security past immigration (decided to use fast track), passport check at departure gate. My first impression on arrival was one of poor organization - the information board said baggage carousel no. 11 but the luggage was dispensed from no. 13.
Sadly I did not get out of Gurgaon and Delhi to experience "Incredible India", but from a country that I had no wishes of setting foot on, I came away from a short visit with incredibly good memories of a people not renowned for their good manners abroad.
