What is Your Impression of India

seadoug said:
My partner is Filipino and his in-laws are staunch Catholics. His brother-in-law actually studied to be a priest at one point.

His sister-in-law married an Indian guy. We went to their wedding and ceremony and it was spectacular. First the traditional Catholic wedding in the church, then the Indian wedding outside by the water followed by Hindi music and dancing inside.

They are probably the most successful couple in the extended family. She is a pharmacist and he is a doctor. And they have been together for many years while the Catholics in the family are divorced. Nothing at all against Catholicism, but I think sometimes adversity makes couples stronger.
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A friend of mine was invited to go to an Indian wedding. The parents of the bride were very wealthy, and the celebrations went on for 3 days. They sat on elephants and did a tour of the town. They came home exhausted.
 
"India is a jarring juxtaposition of splendor and squalor."

I think this sums it up pretty well. Though I have never been there, I worked daily with members of my development team that were in Chennai. They worked in a nice modern office building with high speed networking available; but if they had to do anything from home, they were lucky to have dial-up speeds. Many of the companies there provide bus service to shuttle employees from work to home because of how bad the traffic situation gets. Many a time I had them have to drop out of a meeting because the bus was leaving and if they didn't catch it they might not get home until very late at night.
 
I have just watched another TV programme about
India, this time the statistic that opened my eyes,
was that there are 17 Million Monkeys there and
most live in the towns and cities!

Mike.
 
Dr. Jekyll said:
"India is a jarring juxtaposition of splendor and squalor."

I think this sums it up pretty well. Though I have never been there, I worked daily with members of my development team that were in Chennai. They worked in a nice modern office building with high speed networking available; but if they had to do anything from home, they were lucky to have dial-up speeds. Many of the companies there provide bus service to shuttle employees from work to home because of how bad the traffic situation gets. Many a time I had them have to drop out of a meeting because the bus was leaving and if they didn't catch it they might not get home until very late at night.
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My mother and her sister worked in an office and every day the Tiffin carriers would deliver a hot lunch to them which was made by the cooks at their house. These men used to deliver hundreds of hot meals to the workers.
 
oscash said:
My mother and her sister worked in an office and every day the Tiffin carriers would deliver a hot lunch to them which was made by the cooks at their house. These men used to deliver hundreds of hot meals to the workers.
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The "Tiffin Boys" is a major tourist attraction in Mumbai. It's a sight to be seen.

Ladies from the small villages around Mumbai prepare lunches to order for the thousands of workers in the office buildings in Mumbai. Tiffin Boys pick them up from the villages and take the train into Mumbai, where they pour out of the train station and deliver lunches. Then they pick up the tiffin boxes and take them back to the villages, where the process starts over again the next morning.

It's a "cottage industry" that allows these women to support their families. The workers don't have to go out of the buildings for lunch, thus ensuring efficiency. The boys make a little money. The trains make money. Everybody is happy.

You can find videos about them on YouTube.
 
A lot of contrasts, broad spectrum of economic classes. But a long rich history.

i have an interest in part because first husband was of E. Indian descent raised in Guyana. Since he was killed when boys were 3 1/2 yrs old, and we didn't live near my in-laws from that marriage tho we kept in touch---i wanted to give my boys some idea of their heritage/culture from that side. Once they were reading it was easier because i could give them access to books that gave some insights, including translations of the Rig Veda and Upanishads i had since my teens as part of my collections of scriptures, folk lore etc from around the globe.

How Dean's grandfather got to Guyana gives some insight into colonial thinking. His grandfather's sister was r*p*d, and he beat the perpetrator to death. The British who still governed at the time gave him a choice between prison and being sent to what was then 'British Guiana'. The family were farmers--and that's what his descendants were too.

i've said before one of the things i love about Netflix is access to comedians and films from around the world. i enjoy seeing both types of entertainment from a broad range of countries. But have a bit of soft spot for my own Irish/Welsh/Hungarian and first husbands E. Indian/Guyanese connection. Course i also have great fondness for some Asian Cultures as well--won't bore you with the whys here. Have greatly enjoyed comedian Vir Das. Also there's Hari Kondabolu who is 1st generation American from Indian background. They are an interesting contrast. (Oh, let's face it---i have a near insatiable curiosity about most all cultures)

Also interesting to watch are things on the 'Tribal People React' and 'The Common Man Show' YouTube channel. Both have people from generally rural dwelling tribal village settings watching, listening to and reacting to European/American music, dances, events (one of the most fun was reactions to a Native American PowWow). They YT maker also has them try our foods and react. Exposes both human commonalities and culture differences in perceptions, attitudes.
 
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Also interesting to watch are things on the 'Tribal People React' and 'The Common Man Show' YouTube channel. Both have people from generally rural dwelling tribal village settings watching, listening to and reacting to European/American music, dances, events (one of the most fun was reactions to a Native American PowWow). They YT maker also has them try our foods and react. Exposes both human commonalities and culture differences in perceptions, attitudes.

..I watch those..have done since the beginning...also Tribal People try....
 
I spent a month working in India (Mumbai). My impression was - it's a very hard country to visit!! You need a Visa, and it's a pain to get an expensive!

The people? Wonderful in general, but the caste system is prominent. Also, women make great sacrifices for their children - I'm talking about a woman I worked with who saw her children once a year because she moved "to the big city" so she could send money home. She lived in a hovel. It was very sad.

I was shocked at how they cable things. :D

I desperately wanted to go to the cinema there, but sadly didn't get to do it. Or to take along bus ride. Those little tuk-tuk things are wonderful. I had fun there!
 
VaughanJB said:
I spent a month working in India (Mumbai). My impression was - it's a very hard country to visit!! You need a Visa, and it's a pain to get an expensive!

The people? Wonderful in general, but the caste system is prominent. Also, women make great sacrifices for their children - I'm talking about a woman I worked with who saw her children once a year because she moved "to the big city" so she could send money home. She lived in a hovel. It was very sad.

I was shocked at how they cable things. :D

I desperately wanted to go to the cinema there, but sadly didn't get to do it. Or to take along bus ride. Those little tuk-tuk things are wonderful. I had fun there!
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We went to see a movie at the Rajmandir Cinema in Jaipur. When it was built in the 1970's, I think it was the largest in Asia, seating something like 1300 people. There are separate entrances and seating for men, women and families. Indians take their cinema seriously.

Me, I LOVE Bollywood movies. All the dancing, singing and costume changes.....any excuse for a dance routine to break out can't be passed up. I saw an Indian horror movie once and, yes, there was a major singing-and-dancing episode.
 
jujube said:
We went to see a movie at the Rajmandir Cinema in Jaipur. When it was built in the 1970's, I think it was the largest in Asia, seating something like 1300 people. There are separate entrances and seating for men, women and families. Indians take their cinema seriously.

Me, I LOVE Bollywood movies. All the dancing, singing and costume changes.....any excuse for a dance routine to break out can't be passed up. I saw an Indian horror movie once and, yes, there was a major singing-and-dancing episode.
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Have you seen Director Gurinder Chadha's movie 'Bride and Prejudice'? A Bollywood take on Jane Austen's novel. But then i've liked every.Chadha movie I've seen: Bend It Like Beckham, What's Cooking. She's really talented.
 
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