Incredible India!

I really, really love India. I felt a rush of excitement when the plane touched down and had a huge smile on my face and a spring in my step as I cleared customs and emerged into the hot, dry morning heat of Bangalore. Something about this country just gets to me. It’s hard to explain it it to people (although I met many travellers in South America who felt the same way). Yes, it’s dirty and noisy and chaotic but it’s also incredibly beautiful and vibrant and filled with sights you’ll never see anywhere else on Earth.

Just a simple journey from A to B makes for an exciting experience here - cars, buses, trucks, motorbikes and auto-rickshaws jostle for space on the busy road, honking and weaving in between each other, narrowly avoiding the cows, slowly plodding down the centre of the road. Women in beautiful, brightly-coloured saris sit on the back of motorbikes, or walk alongside the dusty road, with baskets of produce or huge bundles of sticks or grass seemingly effortlessly balanced on their heads. Beside the road cows snooze, goats trot along, chickens peck at the dust... every few yards is another crazy or unique or beautiful sight, another picture perfect moment.

Bangalore was to be the setting for a reunion with my friend, Becky (currently on sabbatical and travelling through India for 6 weeks) as well as my Mum and Aunties Sonia and Sandra who were here to visit our relatives (nicely timed to coincide with my own visit!). Apparently I've neglected to mention this to countless people, but despite my pasty, pale complexion I actually have some Indian blood in me! More on that in the next post.

Becky’s brother- and sister-in-law live in Bangalore (her husband is Indian) and they had kindly invited me to stay with them. I arrived 12 hours late following delays to my flight out of Sydney and an unplanned overnight stopover in Kuala Lumpur so despite my initial high, my energy quickly flagged. I took a few hours of rest in the afternoon and then flagged down an auto-rickshaw to take me into the city centre to meet my Mum and Aunties for dinner and a much-needed cold Kingfisher beer!

The next day Becky, my family and I set out on a day trip to the city of Mysore, around 4 hours away by car. The main highlight of the city is the Maharaja’s palace, the former seat of the Wodeyar Maharajas, which is incredibly grand and ornate. I could just imagine the royal families holding court here before India’s Independence. 

Maharaja's Palace, Mysore

Walking around the grounds, I got a fair bit of attention from the Indian tourists, who clearly hadn't come across many blonde and/or white girls before. When we first arrived a handsome young gentlemen asked if he could have his photo taken with me and I was only too happy to oblige. His 6 or 7 handsome young friends then proceeded to do the same.. well it would have been rude to decline! Then later as I was taking photos of the palace, a group of some 10-15 young friends literally started running towards me in excitement and wanted to do a group photo followed by a series of one-on-one shots. It was quite sweet really, although my patience was starting to wear a bit thin by the end of it! 

As everyone knows, I love being the centre of attention

Having finally extricated ourselves from fellow tourists and souvenir-sellers, we stopped for lunch at a very popular local restaurant where I had my first Thali of the trip. Served on a banana leaf, this meal consists of unlimited helpings of 3 different veg curries along with rice, pappadums and pickles. To be eaten with your hand of course. I've always loved Indian food - a big favourite with all of my family - but it’s just incredible here. Totally different to anything you’d get in the UK and much, much tastier!!

Om nom nom nom...

Next it was on to the Devaraja Market, which was a really atmospheric bazaar where local traders were selling fruits and veg, flower garlands and spices and the photo opportunities were endless. 

Mum had a special moment here. Around 10 years ago she and my Dad came to India to see our relatives, and had visited this same market in Mysore. A young boy called Musamil had talked them over to his stall to show them how he rolled incense sticks and then ended up spending the afternoon showing them around the whole market (and refusing to take any payment for it, which is rare here!). 10 years later and Mum and I were called over by another young boy wanting to show us how to make incense. As we sat patiently watching, Mum told one of the other boys on the stall, the story of the young boy she’d met all those years ago and how she’d always remembered his name. Unbelievably, it turned out to be this guy’s brother, and he gave a shout and the now 23-year-old Musamil came running over! Of course they then invited us to sit down and take a chai with them, which we were only to happy to do!

Musamil and Mum!

In the car on the way back, I continued with my new favourite pastime of gazing out of the window trying to take everything in. There’s beauty in the simplest things here. Even the poorest of women will be dressed in beautiful bright colours with strings of jasmine tied in their hair. The trucks careering along the road will be painted a bright yellow or turquoise and decorated with tiny paintings of flowers. There’s also something different about the colour of the sky in India. Especially at dawn and dusk, its serene and beautiful, with a hazy glow and hues of pastel pink, yellow and blue and the light it casts is golden. For this brief period of the day, the chaos seems to ease for a while!

While stuck in traffic I’d look into other cars and see people peering at us curiously. I’d smile and their faces would break into a huge grin and they’d start waving enthusiastically at us! Why do people never do this at home?!