Out Of India, Off To Turkey... (In The Final Analysis...)

So, dear readers… as this blog draws to its close, I want to give my many thanks to those of you who have been loyal followers, and implore you to stay tuned for my new, upcoming blog: “sher-traverses-the-world”, to be launched very soon! 

Cannot recall if this was the flight into--or out of--Delhi, but the thickness of the smog was not to be believed! Apparently, Delhi has now surpassed Beijing, China, as the most polluted city in the world!!!

I am on the airplane now--Gulf air--about to fly out of Mumbai. It is April 21st, and I will arrive in Istanbul, Turkey, later in the day. After one week there, I will continue on to Europe... first to Italy, then going on to several other countries. This change is bittersweet: I will miss many aspects of India, while others, not at all!! Will I return for a 6th go-round? Perhaps...but hard to say at this point. I am SO ready to leave that it is hard to imagine returning any time soon, but India has its lure...and, knowing me, I will have to come back!

Meanwhile, for your edification, I am making lists here of what I think are the pros and cons of spending extensive time in India. 

Here you go, with the pros being first: 

•  All of the gorgeous, ancient temples everywhere, as well as other amazing historical architecture

• The deep, devotional nature of so many of the people; the fascinating blend of culture and religions, including Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, etc. 

• The wonderful Ananda communities and friends I have made in them (people with so much heart, lightness and sweetness)

• The amazing variety of food, and how it differs throughout India; the fabulous use of spices, seasonings, etc. 

• The beautiful, traditional clothes, particularly of the women (sarees and punjabi dresses), in the most unlikely combinations of colors and patterns that actually work!

• The relative affordability of life and travel here, particularly if you do it humbly, as I have. (Examples: a decent hotel room, 2000 rupees per night, or about $25. Transportation--especially by bus, train, Uber--is incredibly cheap; planes, less so, but still more affordable than in the U.S., by far!! Food, on average, QUITE inexpensive, especially veggies. Fruits can be pricier but still a bargain; again, relative to the U.S.)

• The amazing wild and domestic animal life: great variety of birds and bird calls; infinite numbers of monkeys;  other strange and unidentifiable animals... The stray cows...herds of goats... elephants and camels...etc. 

• The Indian smile. The beautiful white teeth contrasted with the gorgeous brown skin--nothing surpasses it! 

• The kindness of many strangers. 

• The lovely beach water, so swimmable and warm in places like Goa. 

• The smells of incense, food being cooked, etc. 

• The plethora of beautiful and affordable spiritual items for purchase. 

• The sounds of Arati and other devotional chanting, heard at different times of the day, especially in the mornings and evenings.

• The accessibility--and extreme affordability--of so many medications (many not requiring prescriptions, unlike in the U.S., where so MANY do, AND are insanely expensive if not covered by insurance)

• The ridiculously LOW rate of having a cell phone service! And the fact that it works pretty decently most of the time!

• The way that--in humid parts of the country--my hair curls so nicely and my skin is happy! (This is mostly on the coast, near the oceans or seas. Surprisingly, there are many OTHER parts of India where it is quite dry.)

• So MANY varieties of plants, many with deliciously fragrant blossoms and flowers

The cons: 

• Trash, trash and more trash... absolutely EVERYWHERE you go in the country! In cities and in the countryside, no place I have been is an exception. It is horrifying, depressing and disgusting...especially the great mounds of plastic waste. 

• Such trash being burned EVERYwhere on the streets, in yards, etc... the smoke being noxious and quite toxic

• The other forms of filth. Streets are dirty, bathrooms are dirty, buses are dirty, temples are dirty...etc. The ONLY places I have discovered in India that are NOT dirty are upscale hotels and ashrams, and the airports. The WORST places are bus stations. NOTHING you possess can stay clean, EVER!!! What isn't actual filth is dust...it gets everywhere and into everything!!!

• NOISE, NOISE AND MORE NOISE!!! Noise from construction, barking dogs, loud neighbors, loud music (the nightmare of "techno" being the very worst!!!), loud traffic (especially the incessant and unnecessary honking of horns!!! HATE this!!!) Noise from fire crackers on holidays. Noise from tinny, loud temple speakers blasting the chants at 10 times the volume the speakers can reasonably handle without terrible distortion, people talking loudly at all hours...etc etc. I HATE having to go to sleep with both earplugs in AND headset playing white noise OVER the earplugs in order to be able to sleep!!!!

• The infinite numbers of guest house/Airbnb owners who blatantly LIE about the level of noise at their establishments!!!

• The lack of hygiene of both people and animals. All the street animals root around in--and eat-- garbage. Humans NOT using soap when they "wash" their hands; spitting out phlegm and snot everywhere you look; sneezing and coughing without EVER covering mouths and noses; blowing STREAMS of snot out of their noses in front of you; PICKING their noses (I am beginning to think this is an  national Indian past time, swear to God!!!) in public, no matter WHO is around them!!! UNBELIEVABLE! Belching loudly, farting shamelessly, etc etc. But the picking of noses is the worst and makes me want to SCREAM! (And then they want to make change with my money, touch my phone, shake my hand, etc... ARRRRGHHHH!!!)

• Getting sick SO many times as a result of the lack of hygiene, and the fact that, no matter HOW careful I am (with regard to ONLY buying bottled/purified water and eating what I believe  to be is clean food), I have had endless stomach and  intestinal disorders...really very bothersome and tiresome, to say the least!  

• The invisibility of a foreigner, especially FEMALE foreigner, such as myself: Whenever I am wanting to purchase anything, inevitably (most especially males) will cut in front of me, act as if I am not there... and demand service, though I was there waiting before them. This happens EVERYwhere and virtually EVERY time! I am SO sick of it that I have gotten mean about it, and tell the rude person in no uncertain terms that it is MY turn and they are to WAIT their turn and for God sakes,  RESPECT THEIR ELDERS!!! (Sadly, not a chance...this bit of precious culture went out with the dinosaur...) 

• All the people always asking my age, most disgustingly, the men, who always think I am ancient. But though they may THINK I am an "old lady", do they offer me their seat? Help me with my luggage, even if they see I am struggling? Almost never. And if I actually ask for help, they will do so, but grudgingly. Chivalry is TRULY dead in this country, and tragically so!!! 

• The rudeness and inconsideration of people at performances (and mind you, the ones I went to were almost always at ashrams!!!) Talking to each other, talking on their cell phones, getting up and down, etc. etc... blatant disregard of the audience members AND the performers!

• Bus drivers chain smoking, driving like maniacs up and down windy mountain roads in the most dangerous fashion!

• The sad and starving street animals everywhere...most especially the dogs, with open sores, mange, and God knows how many other diseases, not to mention fleas, ticks and so forth... sooo very heart-breaking! 

• Chaos, drama, myriad challenges of navigating travel, purchases, and all else, on a daily basis!

• Having to pay the "white tax": the blatant discrimination against foreigners-- at tourist attractions, market places, cabs, etc... always paying WAY more than the Indians do!!! 

• Except for Goa, not being able to bicycle anywhere (oh, and the very brief excursion in Chandigarh) 

• The difficulty of finding places to swim, except at the tourist beaches and an occasional pool, such as the one near the Ananda Ashram in Mumbai

• The difficulty of finding places to hike and trek... I had hoped for more opportunities, there were very few...

• The difficulty of buying ANYTHING in this country!!! To wit: a) foreign cards, though "international", NEVER work for ANY online purchases!! This includes Amazon, food delivery services, buses, planes, trains, etc... and having to depend on others--always!!!-- to make these purchases for me! b) even in person, few places can take my international credit card, even in some chain hotels...SO ridiculous and inconvenient!!!  c) the fact that hardly anyone EVER has change... SO annoying, since I often have no other choice besides paying with cash!!! Not taxi/rickshaw drivers, merchants, hotels, etc etc.... they ALWAYS say they don't have change...it gets SO aggravating!!! d) The ATMs only ever dispense 500 rupee notes, which adds to this problem... 

• How sick and tired I am of answering the same questions OVER and OVER again, ad nauseam!! Namely, "Where are you from?" "Are you traveling alone?" "Are you married?" "How old are you?" (The very worst, as expressed above!) "Do you have kids?" etc etc etc. It has gotten to the point where I make a game of making up different answers. For example:  1) To the question, Where are you from? Answer: "anywhere and nowhere; Mars; Canada; Kazakhstan"; etc...  2) To the question, "how old are you?" Answer: "something between 50 and 100", or, "none of your damn business!!!"  3) To the question, Are you traveling alone? Answer: "No, can't you see my gaggle of munchkins tagging along with me??!?!" And so on... 

• Being openly stared at, constantly, as if I were an alien, a freak...

• The constant demand of complete strangers to take photos of me, or selfies with me, as if I am an animal in a zoo... and having to tell these people to go away and leave me alone!!!

• Equally so, with all the beggars, of all ages, the worst being the aggressive children and transvestites...

• The fact that trains are almost ALWAYS very late leaving, and late arriving at their destinations... 

• The fact that taxi/auto drivers will do their level best to scam and cheat me each and every time... ditto, for produce and other street vendors... 

• The harshness of the weather in so many places

• Like in Mexico, the AC trains and buses are ALWAYS way too cold!!! 

• The fact that so many Airbnb/hotels/guest houses don't provide top sheets...sometimes not even towels or soap, and very rarely toilet paper... 

• There is rarely separation of trash from composting...very rarely recycling taking place... 

• The air pollution, so bad, EVERYWHERE in this country!! With a few rare exceptions... 

• Having to fish plastic bags, bottles, etc... out of the ocean when I am swimming...

• Cockroaches...disgusting vermin, bane of this earth!!! They make my skin crawl!!! Ditto for endless flies almost everywhere!!! And... ants... not as bad, but still in so many places...

• Loud birds, such as the Koyal, starting its calls as early as 4 a.m. and waking me up at that horrifically early hour, despite earplugs! (I generally love the sound of this bird...it is such a unique one, and so iconic of India for me, especially in the state of Maharashtra. Just not THAT early in the morning!!!)

As you can see, the cons really do outweigh the pros, quite sadly. Is it any wonder I am SO ready to leave this country?!?!? 

And there you have it...