11 November 2018 1 of 4
Namaste!
I’m hiding from a 36 degree afternoon by writing a holiday brag note… I’m in India this time, on a 4 week jaunt. Fortunately my friend Abhinav has agreed to be my personal local tour guide so I really don’t have to do much other than tag along, ooh and ahh, and take photos. It’s bahut achcha (very good – my only Hindi phrase…)
I arrived in Mumbai on Monday and have traveled from there to Aurangabad, Indore and Ahmedabad so far. None of those meant much to me before this week but it’s been fabulous, amazing and hot. Loads of history, culture, colour, cows, curries and curiosities.
The biggest adjustment for me has been my meteoric rise to celebrity status – apparently a tall, white girl is quite a novelty. Everywhere I go people want photos with me – no introductions, no niceties, just straight into “m’am – selfie?”. I initially didn’t know what was going on so agreed, but then that created a line of people of all ages wanting photos. Poor Abhinav has had to add bodyguard to his responsibilities in traveling with me! Worst of all, today I accidentally interrupted a lively and colourful religious procession by standing to take photos as they went by – they stopped playing the drums and dancing and singing, and came over to have selfies with me. I was mortified!
This week sees the celebration of the Hindu festival of lights – Dewali. The locals decorate everything in gorgeous yellow and orange flowers including houses, businesses, cars, tractors and cows. Families gather to celebrate by setting off fireworks meaning the night sky is full of pops and whizzes as fireworks do and don’t work, and is thick with smoke for the days that follow. The general mood is very positive and happy so it’s been a wonderful introduction to Indian culture.
In terms of history, we visited some phenomenal caves in some rural areas. In going through the Ajanta Caves I felt like I was in Star Wars but with Buddha rather than Darth Vader in charge. And the Ellora Caves is an enormous complex of different sized caves and monuments. I think because of Dewali, the crowds were resting at home ready for more firework lighting, so we had a lot of the spaces to our ourselves which was super. There are some photos below.
And here’s something I’m not sure would ever take off in Australia – when you buy a ticket to fly somewhere, you have an option of ordering a celebration cake to be presented to you while flying… I will ask about candles on my next flight 😉
