Indian Things I Love [en]

I’m regularly told that I give a bad image of India (the horror stories and all that). Here is some of the nice stuff that I never write about. Things I like about India.

I’m regularly told that I give a bad image of India (the horror stories and all that). Here is some of the nice stuff that I never write about. Things I like about India:

  • the rivers
  • poha
  • riding on the back of Madhav or Shinde’s bikes
  • the shopping stalls near Laxmi Rd
  • walking in the university campus
  • going to the movies
  • mad shopping binges
  • kathi rolls and kheer kadam from Radhika’s
  • chay
  • the smell of incense and fresh coriander
  • people who smile at me or compliment my dress
  • rickshaw drivers who go by the meter
  • chatting with people on the train
  • coloured clothes and cloth
  • travelling by train
  • shopping
  • changes of plans and surprises when they go the way I want them to
  • painted signs and boards
  • rangoli
  • sari bags
  • krack cream
  • the dampness of the air on arrival in Bombay airport
  • kulfi and gulab jamun
  • butter naan and butter chicken
  • the warmth
  • having all the time in the world to take my bath and eat my breakfast
  • glass bangles and silver anklets
  • reading for days on end
  • children in school uniforms
  • eating on the kitchen floor
  • the cup of tea offered by the internet café manager because I’m waiting for the end of the power outage
  • Hindi and Indian English
  • negociating seating arrangements and luggage storage with fellow train-passengers
  • sticking 46 large stamps on the 6.5kg book parcel I’m sending home
  • the Kal Ho Na Ho ringtone on Anita’s cellphone
  • sweet-smelling flowers in the night
  • Hindi music in the car
  • chay with milk straight out of the goat’s udder at Taramai’s

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9 thoughts on “Indian Things I Love [en]”

  1. Great List! Sounds like you’re missing India already. Is it possible to email this page to someone?

  2. E-mail them the address of the page. For that, right-click on the date in the upper right next to the title, choose “copy link location” or “copy shortcut” (depending on your browser”, and paste that into an e-mail.

    If you’re viewing this page with comments you can also simply delete “#comments” from the address bar and copy the rest of the address.

    Hope this helps!

  3. I spent a lot of time in Kerala in the 80s and 90s, and I’d be glad to compare notes with you on your experiences, especially with respect to how things have changed.

    My stomping grounds were mainly Chengannur, Allepey, Kottayam, and to a lesser extent Cochin and Trivandrum.

    It’s a weird place, and most people who’ve been there for any length of time love it and hate it both.

  7. having stumbled onto the India section of your blog & having read your experiences in India, I won’t say that you give a bad image of India but I’d agree to that somewhat. What you experienced is no different than what I’d experience if I go to some other country having different culture, way of life than what I’m used to. So that doesn’t mean that there’s a problem with that place but there’s a problem with me adjusting to that change of environment. 🙂

    There are two sides of a coin & of a country/culture. I’d say that you experienced the less brighter side in New Delhi. Its the heart of India, the capital city, so you can’t say that its worse compared to Pune. 😉 It has got a much brighter side too which I think you missed out on b’coz there was no-one to guide you around. 😀

    Still, if you come again to New Delhi, I’d be glad to show you around on what I think you missed out, which makes your experience of New Delhi incomplete. 🙂

  8. Also, I just noticed that you were looking for the Kal Ho Na Ho ringtone. If you still haven’t got it & if you have a Nokia mobile phone, then you might try out the RingTones section of my website at http://www.igeek.info/ringtones.php which has key-press sequences for all popular Bollywood songs.

  9. Hi! I really loved reading this list 🙂
    Rivers … ok
    Have you ever been to seashores? Band-stand and Juhu beach? It is a lovely feeling to walk barefoot on the sand, especially during the night.

    So, you love Poha … lot of people have said I make really delicious Poha, so may be some day …
    I have phobia of walking through the university campus, for personal reasons.
    Eating on the kitchen floor – you’ve actually done that? gr8!
    and yes, it does feel good …
    Krack cream? lol

    GBU
    Arti

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