India - Lost and Found

We have been having a great time in India so far - decamping from all the physical stress and emotional upheaval of leaving NY. Since getting here, we have been getting our pending affairs in order - filing our U.S taxes, making sure our credit cards have the updated address, and researching budget friendly hotels in the various cities we will be traveling through.

I love coming back home, but every time I do, I find myself comparing India to every other place that I have ever lived or visited. I come away frustrated at how my time gets wasted and how inefficient the 'system' can be. That being said, I did also find some very heartening changes...

* We arrived in Cochin on May 13th with a 1 day layover in Chennai. Tariq spent an interesting day trying to buy a hard drive - an errand that took him most of the day and inspired this humorous post. If running an errand outside home takes so long, it's no surprise that we need all the domestic help we can get.

* The level of professionalism and enthusiasm across the service industry leaves much to be desired. I went to a local "highly recommended" salon to get my hair trimmed - a rather unpleasant experience which came close to sheep shearing. The person cutting my hair was uninterested and lacked any of the courtesies that I have come to expect of a hair stylist. Unlike the West, in India a large percentage of salon attendants come from a socio-economic background that leaves them with limited professional options - in stark contrast to the stylists I have met in NY who think of themselves as artists and love what they do. It doesn't help matters that waiters and hair stylists in India earn negligible tips - further exacerbating the quality of service being rendered.

* Civic sense seems just as bad if not worse. Now that there is more 'packaged goods', I find that streets (and even rural trails) are even more littered than 6 years ago. On a train ride from Mumbai to Pune, I sat across a man who threw 2 plastic bottles out of the window.

* Perhaps the most promising change I have seen during my visit is an almost feverish motivation among the urban youth to make a difference in the current elections. A friend pointed me to the 'Jaago Re' (loosely translated to 'Awaken' ) campaign started less than 2 years ago by a U.S returned couple who took it upon themselves to simplify the process of registering to vote.

* Delhi's Metro system is a shining example of how public transportation and infrastructure can transform a city for locals and tourists alike. We loved riding the train and for the first time I got a glimmer of what life in India ought to be - clean, efficient and modern.

Day 15 - 18: Delhi, Mumbai & Pune - India

Having flown from Cochin to Leh via Delhi, we wanted to do the rest of the trip by train. Our itinerary was Delhi to Mumbai (Mumbai Rajdhani), Mumbai to Pune (Deccan Queen) and Panvel to Ernakulam (Trivandrum Rajdhani). Having spent many uncomfortable nights aboard Indian trains during my college days, I was less than enthused about these 3 trains we would be taking. Of all the international train travels I have done thus far, Indian trains rank the lowest for unsanitary conditions and discomfort. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the fully air-conditoned Rajdhani trains and the level of service. Each car had a service attendant providing fresh sheets, meals, snacks, tea at regular intervals, towels and bottled water. My only gripe is the toilets continue to be unsanitary, subjecting me to pretty much fasting through the train ride. The train windows had accumulated some kind of muck, so we could barely see the scenic Konkan landscape as we sped by the coastline.

Talking about trains, T attracted curious onlookers at the stations despite his wheatish complexion which I thought would make him less conspicuous. When we stepped out of the station, auto rickshaw drivers and touts swarmed around us - till the crowd became more like a mad mob. I wish I had pictures to prove it. I admit that there is some curiosity that comes from being a mixed race couple - so I wasn't too taken aback when a cloak room attendant asked me in Hindi, "What are you doing with a white man?". There seems to be so many people just hanging around without much purpose outside these stations - odd considering that there are rarely any foreigners that ride the Indian railways.

Leh, Ladakh (India) - Day 10 -14

When in India, we had shortlisted Hampi, Pondicherry and Leh(Ladakh) as possible places to visit. We finally zeroed in on Leh (a place I have long dreamed of visiting) because it was 'adventurous' enough to justify leaving our toddler with my parents for the 10 days that we would be away. At 3500m, it gave our lungs a workout and I am only too glad that we had the good sense to leave my son in Kerala.

Flying into Leh is spectacular - 20 minutes prior to landing all we saw were endless stretches snow capped Himalayas. Driving to the hotel, it almost felt like Iraq or Afganistan - swirls of dust thrown up by camoflauge military vehicles, army men walking the streets, and little shops with tin roofs. The town/market were without character or charm and there were surprisingly few restaurants serving anything authentically Ladakhi. Most of what we found was the typical Indian street fare (samosas, bhel) which caters to the army men who make the bulk of the customer base. Thick sweet Ladakhi tea (part tea, part condensed milk) can be found everywhere - and it almost feels like a regional pass-time, much like cafes elsewhere in the world.

Leh is beautifully desolate - a harsh desert spared only by the Indus river. As we drove along the Leh-Manali and the Leh-Srinagar highway, all I could think of was the sheer endless expanse of this land. Sometimes we saw no vehicle, no tree, no life for as far as the eye could see. We visited 4 monasteries in all and in T's words, we were 'Buddha'd out" by the end of it all.

Our plans to visit the highest motorable point in the world (Khardong-la) was canceled because of weather conditions. Instead. we made an impulse decision to drive to Rizong monastery - known locally for it's strict monastic practice. The road took us for through Likir Maidan, an seemingly endless orange colored desert flanked by mountains on either side. The last stretch of the road to Rizong was washed away in last year's summer floods, so we had to drive the SUV over rocks and streams till a huge fallen tree forced us to walk the rest of the distance. The last 35 minutes felt like the valley of death - steep and narrow slate cliffs devoid of any trees or shrubs. At one point during the trek we were joined by 2 young monks (10 & 14 respectively) who sprung through the terrain while we struggled to navigate it. Visitors are uncommon at Rizong which explained the welcoming party of young monks who had skipped class to see us.

I am sure Leh is beautiful year round, but I am glad I got to see pink lush apricot blossoms that dot the valley in spring. As everyone else has told me, Leh is best enjoyed driving around. If I ever come back here, it will be by car from Delhi via Manali.