| Visiting India is like visiting the different regions of China - it is diverse, every region has it's own speciality and character and it's special cultural diversity. The people of the north west are, in the main, taller, fairer and stronger - due to waves of invading forces from across the middle east. The people of north east are slightly shorter and, in the main, have more mongoliod features. The people of south are, in the main, shorter and darker due to their dravidian ancester and the people in the mid region are a mixture of all the region. Indians speak a variety of languages with Hindi being the national language. However, the effect of India's colonisation by the British has left behind a legacy of English language and this is spoken by a large proportion of the population and almost by all who have been to school. It is also the language of industry and commerce. Don't be surprised if the rickshaw puller speaks to you in English - it happened to me in Delhi when the rickshaw "wala" happened to be a student who had fallen on bad times and had taken to earning a living ferrying passengers. There are also innumerable regional scripts which can be a challenge to decipher. However, there are always commercial hoardings in English advertising multi-national brands. Increasingly, this is encroaching villaage life. Don't be surprised to see Coca Cola being advertised in the remotest village. Yes, you do have to be careful with drinking water. Also, personal hygiene is not as evident as you might expect. Although it is a democracy and people have freedoms associated with it, there is corruption and some areas of the country are best avoided due to lack of law and order. As a first time visitor, you will have enough to see and experience even if you kept to destinations favoured by tourists like Agra, Jaipur, Delhi, Goa and Kerala. Once you gain experience from these places you will then be beter equipped with exploring the hinterland. Every region has some speciality and attractions. |
I Want to Go to India