INDIA!!!

Benjamin Disraeli wrote, 'Travel teaches toleration.' I want to add extension to this line, Travel teaches us Socio-economical condition of the place, mentality, Psyche of that particular area. Most of avid readers were complained that there is no Travelogue on India. In October, 2012, they have reasons to smile as Monisha Rajesh took pain and wrote, 'Around India in 80 Trains.' The book has received good applause. In this post, I have no intention to write a review of this book. Shashanka Nanda has already written a review on it. 

Here in below, I reproduce some of the lines of the book which gives insights about India and Indian Psyche.  

"India is not a country that lends itself well to organisation and punctuality, so to try and incorporate any system to the contrary is like trying to force a square peg into a round hole and will only result in frustration or an arterial embolism."

"To understand India you have to see it, hear it, breath it, and feel it. Living through the good, the bad and the ugly is the only way to know where you fit in and where India fits into you."

"India Version 2.0 was now up and running. India Championed their nation as a global superpower, expounding its potential to overtake everyone as the fastest - growing economy. Yet for all its advances and progression, this was still a country where, in a village in Orissa, a 2 - year- old boy could be married off to a dog called Jyoti to ward off evil spirits and ease the bad omen of his rotting tooth."

"One in six people in the world is an Indian, yet when Indians spot another anywhere outside the motherland, we stare as though we expect to be the only ones. Rarely does a smile pass between the two teams, but from afar, a mutual screening process is put into immediate effect. Shaved off the mustache? Progressive. Wearing tweed and a flat cap? Overdoing it. In essence, the process is to ascertain: Who the hell are you?"

'Harassing Women Passengers is a Punishable Offence'

"The warning was illustrated with a cartoon of a man behind bars, sporting a wholly unapologetic smile. It looked like an advert for harassment: the offender appeared quite happy to be there, as though his crime was well worth his punishment. "

"Indian Pye-dogs are a breed in their own right: curly-tailed; itchy; full of personality; full of ticks; and largely forgiving towards any kind of mistreatment, which in India, is frequent and harsh. They are also loving and loyal and will adopt anyone as a master should a biscuit find its way between their lips, which in India, is rare and laughable."

"For Indians, a journey is important, but it is reaching the destination that really counts. In a country where survival is priority, this applies, in a broader sense, to their every undertaking. Lying, Cheating, bribing and conning are bad, but if they get you where you want then there definitions become flexible. Buying medical degrees, flashing the lights with no VIP in the car and inviting an entire constituency to a political wedding in exchange for votes is the norm. Everyone does it and everyone knows. The cancer of corruption and nepotism is in no way unique to India; it exists in every country and within every system. But in India it is structured: condemned on the surface, but accepted as integral to a working society. Theoretically, this clashed wildly with the naivety of our travelling mindset but the practicality was undeniable."

 

 

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