And so end 3 weeks of adventure in India in which I got to learn about the culture and some habits that Indians picked up under British rule, such as driving on the left and drinking chai.
In fact, tea was popularised by the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, who, on marrying Charles II of England around 1660, started the famous habit of drinking tea.
It was then introduced commercially by the British in nineteenth-century India, who cultivated the native “Camellia sinensis assamica” and Chinese seeds, turning black tea into a popular drink, especially Masala Chai, adding milk and sugar to strong black tea, which is also rich in spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. This is even though it had long been used in India for other purposes.
Another important part of life is religion, which they practise a lot, on any corner you see little altars with their favourite gods, like Shiva and Ganesha, and they go there to make offerings of food, flowers and to sing.
I also had the chance to talk to some Indians and was surprised that many young people start studying in English schools from the age of 6 and, although Hindi is spoken by about 40% of the population, not everyone can read and write Hindi, apart from basic words. Which reminds me of the film I saw in Mumbai that was about exactly that, the lack of students in Hindi schools, since they prefer English schools, which open up more job prospects for them in the future.
India is extremely diverse, with 22 official languages recognised in the Constitution. However, the country doesn’t have a single national language, with Hindi and English being the official languages.
I also had the chance to get to know some emblematic cities, places and monuments. Despite all the poverty and pollution, Indian people are generally calm, not the most polished manners, it’s true, but I always felt safe here. But be careful, because when they come at you with lots of friendliness it’s because they have several tricks up their sleeve to try to get a few notes out of your pocket. They’re just making a living.
You have to negotiate the price of almost everything, just yesterday, when I arrived at the hotel and checked in, when the moment came to pay, the young guy at the desk pulled out the calculator and showed me the price of the night, which was right. But then he remembered to tell me I had to pay another 12% in taxes, I told him the taxes were already all included and that, since I was paying in cash, there was no tax to pay. He simply answered “Ok Sir”. And that’s how the matter was settled, they always try it on, there’s always someone who doesn’t complain and pays and they earn a few extras.
As for the traffic in India, it’s chaotic, the horn is always going, but it’s more a habit and a warning that I’m here and get out of my way because I want to pass, than a way of complaining that someone has done something wrong.
Traffic lights are only respected in some cases, nobody respects the single or double lines on the roads, nobody stops at pedestrian crossings and you see lots of people going the wrong way. On the narrower roads without pavements it’s every man for himself, with cars, scooters and people all mixed up in the middle of the road.
As for means of transport in India, I’ve tried several, ranging from bicycles, helicopters (bicycle with a trailer), tuk tuks, taxis, private drivers, carts and every kind of transport van, from the biggest to the smallest.
Here you see lots of vans and lorries with water tanks driving around the city to fill cisterns all over town, where people go to drink or fill containers. There are also people going around with blocks of ice the size of a brick in plastic bags. That’s another thing I’ve been avoiding, drinks with ice, and I always drink bottled water.
With tuk tuks, taxis, drivers, you should always negotiate the price before setting off, otherwise you’re most likely to pay a lot more for the trip, but usually trips around the city are less than €1.
The metro is relatively modern in the cities I’ve been to and cheap, between 20 and 70 euro cents a ticket. The buses are easy to use and have been costing me between 10 and 20 euro cents per trip, paid to the conductor inside the bus. With Google Maps you can easily get the number of the bus you should take to your destination.
On trains it’s best to take the Express ones, which cost more but are more reliable, you get a reserved seat and they keep to the timetable, which is what I did to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on a 200 km trip and now back to New Delhi. The older trains have no departure or arrival time even though times are listed and it’s usual for a morning train to leave only in the afternoon.
Another option is to travel by night bus, they’re equipped with bunk beds and you sleep while making a long journey and save on the hotel. In my case, even though I have 3 weeks, I preferred to go by plane and I don’t regret it.
As for domestic flights with Air India, besides being cheap and quick, so far they’ve gone well, on top of the 7 kg of hand luggage you get 15 kg in the hold and they even give you a snack and water on board.
Overall, and from what I saw, India is a country very different from all the others I’ve been to, one that makes us reflect on how lucky we are and how often we complain on a full stomach and don’t know how fortunate we are to live in Portugal, despite all the problems we also have. We have to be more grateful for what we have and less greedy and learn to live life in a simpler and more humane way towards others.
Now it’s time to start the journey back, first by plane with a stopover in Jeddah, before reaching Madrid and then returning to Porto.