Things You See in India

Traveling in any country, there are things you see repeatedly, things that are characteristic of that particular country. India being the unique place that it is, there are many unusual things, things that would seem bizarre or entirely out of place anywhere else, that are everyday, many times a day, sights. I thought I would combine some of those into this posting, now near the end of our India stay.

Animals. I think this is one of the things that people who haven’t been to India are often curious about–are there really animals roaming the streets? The answer is, outside of the largest, most sophisticated cities, yes. [Actually, we just saw a cow in central Bombay–not sure how it got there and it seemed a bit confused.] Cows are probably the most common, although in South India we have found about an equal number of goats. There are also some pigs (just for waste management, from what we can tell, since only once in Goa have we seen pork on a menu) and (rarely) donkeys. In Rajasthan there are working camels, often right in traffic along with the other vehicles. If you’re lucky, you can even run into a (tame) elephant (generally used for doing the “heavy lifting” in agriculture, as across Southeast Asia).

Communist goats in Fort Cochin.

We ran into this elephant at the bus station in Thanjavur, where it was giving this tourist blessings (with its trunk) for money, a trick that temple elephants perform. Perhaps this one is a retired temple elephant who now does the bus station circuit.

There are also a lot of monkeys, though they tend to live more often in parks or archeological sites than city centers. In some cities, the monkeys have the run of the town (the “worst” we experienced was Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, where hotel windows had to be locked to keep monkeys from opening, entering and wreaking havoc). This baby was nursing in Vellore fort.

Ordinary dogs, but a cute picture from Madurai, just outside the temple.

Animal poop, from the animals.

Tailors. I guess because a lot of people in India still wear homemade/tailormade clothes, or maybe because people here are more likely to mend than to discard (as we do in the first world), there are an awful lot of tailors in India. The fun part is that they use very old-style sewing machines, which are still marketed and sold. Tourists also use tailors to package parcels for shipping, as parcels even if boxed are usually finally wrapped in cloth, sewn and wax-sealed. Note the pedal on this machine we saw in suburban Bombay.

Women with flowers in their hair. This is somewhat specific to Tamil Nadu, I believe, but many women there wear flower garlands in their hair. It’s beautiful and of course wonderfully fragrant. The other day, I was purchasing train tickets, and the lady at the counter, who was sitting behind glass in an air conditioned space, had jasmine in her hair, and cool jasmine scented air was pouring out of the hole in the glass while I completed my transaction.

Flowers (for hair) being sold on the street, a very common sight. The jasmine garlands made nice little purchases for us as well (10 rupees, or 25 cents, for a couple feet), not to put in our hair but to keep around for their scent.

Sadhus. These religious wanderers would certainly look out of place (well, crazy) back home, but they really are all over India, especially in/around temples and temple towns. Since they are itinerant they often look a bit dirty and disheveled, with wild hair and clothing.

Religious idols. Some of them look strange indeed, to someone such as myself with no background in the Hindu faith.

This one was in a cave temple at Daulatabad fort. It is a Ganesh shrine, and belongs to the family of “naturally occuring” idols (it doesn’t look too much like Ganesh to me).

Indian sweets. Sometimes too sweet, but often delicious, sweets can be covered in edible silver foil.

Below is a huge pan of badam (almond) milk. Absolutely delicious, hot or cold.

Beggars. Almost all countries have beggars, of course, but India has more than its share. One very cute girl, and a group of Europeans passing a woman with child in Pondicherry outside a bakery.

Trains. Many, many locals and tourists (though perhaps not as many as in China) use trains to get around. Perhaps more novel to an American, India’s train system is extensive, well-run, cheap and intensively used. I do worry, though, with air travel more and more popular, whether the system will deteriorate, leaving those who cannot afford to fly with lesser service.

A man waiting for a train to pass at a crossing, and a woman walking alongside a train standing at a station.

These wind power turbines were near Cape Comorin. We also saw a fair amount of solar power use in India.

More unusual modes of transit. The most common way to get around short distances in India is the autorickshaw, with the manpowered bicycle rickshaw only in smaller towns (or congested/old parts of larger cities).

An autorickshaw in the wash, in Thanjavur.

The most common taxi is the Ambassador, which though antique-looking may be new. The second picture is taken beside souvenir stalls in Cochin.

Women doing manual labor. For all the (though still limited) gender equality of the west, manual labor such as road/construction work is still reserved largely to men. In India, women perform a great deal of manual labor, such as carrying dirt or bricks–all while dressed (incongruously, to us) in saris.