On the long train journey from New Delhi to Gaya, late due mostly due to fog, I wrote down 60 reasons to love India after reading an article in the Sunday Times of India in the home of Prama and Ranji on 60 reasons for the people of India to love India.
There is much talk here in India of India becoming one of the four economic powers in the world – along with China, Europe and the USA. Globalisation has offered more prosperity perhaps a quarter of India’s population of 1200 million people. Still three quarters of the population live in dreadful poverty. Many of the poor are worse off than 10 or 20 years ago due to increasing living costs. “Emerging India” increases the gap even more of rich and poor.
On the train, I sat on the top bunk and wrote down 60 reasons why I love India despite the abject poverty, the pollution of land, water and air, corruption and mountains of plastic and rubbish dumped everywhere. While Indian homes and gardens are kept very clean. India cares little for the outdoors, even right outside their home. My list is rather a persona list. Many others will agree with much mentioned below. Mind you, it would be easy to write a list of 60 horrid reasons about India. For example, why do people in India, rich and poor alike, show such care for their homes and yet continue to throw their waste, plastic, rubbish over the wall? Rubbish, pollution everywhere. It is thrown out of train windows, buses, from homes, shops and factories. Lack of refuse collectors is a weak excuse. India must surely rank as probably the world’s dirtiest and uncared for country. Anyway, here is the list
In alphabetical order:
- Ahimsa (non-violence)
- Amaji, the spiritual hugger
- Ayerveda medicine
- Ambassador cars- becoming a rare site.
- “Are you one person or two (a couple or friends)?”Question to Western tourists.
- Arranged marriages
- Advaita, Arunchala, and Ramana Maharshi
- Auroville
- Auto rickshaws (gas fuelled)
- Backsheesh
- Banyon Trees
- Beggars – one rupee earned for every thousand rejections
- Bhavagad Gita
- Bhajans, pujas
- Bodh Gaya
- Bollywood musicals
- Boys playing cricket
- Burning ghats
- Call to prayer of imman from minaret
- “Cash today. Credit tomorrow.” Sign in Varanasi shop
- Chai, chai wallahs and chai stalls (e.g. Ram’s chai stall, Bodh Gaya).
- Chaos theory in action
- Dalai Lama
- Electricity. (The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away).
- Ganga at dawn
- Gulab jamans (Indian sweet)
- Himalayas
- Hindu Gods and gurus
- Holy cows
- Indian classical music
- Indian sunsets
- Indian toilets
- Indian weddings (though grossly extravagant and costly)
- Insight (Vipassana)Meditation
- Kama Sutra (ancient discourse of making love)
- Karma Yoga (yoga of service to others)
- Katak classical dance
- Khumba Maila (religious festival with up to 20 million participants)
- Krishna, Radha and the Gopis (the religion of romantic love)
- Krishnamurti
- Micro credit (small loans to help the poor into self employment)
- Motilal Banarsidas Bookshop (full of religious/spiritual/Eastern philosophy books)
- Naked sadhus with dreadlocks
- Neem toothpaste and tongue cleaners
- Palm trees on long, quiet beaches
- Past lives
- Pragya Vihar Inter-Religious School, Bodh Gaya (Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and secular teachers and pupils)
- Rajasthan and Kerala (Goa for beach tourists)
- Rice paddies
- Saris, shawls, Nehru collars, kirta pyjamas
- 2nd class AC two tier train carriages
- Shirdi Baba’s Photo in taxis
- Taj Mahal and its love story
- Tantra
- The Buddha
- Tigers (1400 tigers in 2010. 40,000 tigers in 1910)
- Vandava Shiva and Andurata Roy, (environmental activists)
- Vegetarian food.
- Water, Earth, Fire films of Deepa Mehta
- “We deeply regret to inform you that train number ….. has been delayed.” Railway station announcement
and Yoga.
Namaste