Top 10 things to do in India
After being here for several weeks, I've noticed a few things that you wouldn't normally do or see in the US. These aren't all things that I've done myself, but they're mostly things that I have seen and, in some cases, taken a picture of. They aren't necessarily good things, either, they're just the things I noticed the most or that I could think of the most witty quips for. And so here it is, the top 10, hand picked, in no specific order...
10. Pack eight people into an auto rickshaw
Similar to "pack five people onto a motorcycle", eight people in a rickshaw cannot be comfortable (though I've seen both). When your main mode of transportation is bike or rickshaw, you get creative. The personal best that we hit was five and that was awkward the whole way. It's nice when the driver lets someone sit up front but when he doesn't...well there's only room in the backseat for three so after that things just get weird. Unfortunately I couldn't take a picture of the eight-person feat but this shot of a rickshaw should allow you to use your imagination about who sat where.9. Dance in the aisle at a movie theater
And not just dancing! Whistles, clapping, yelling. Apparently for a bad movie, they throw eggs and tomatoes at the screen and beat the person who brought them. The whole thing is, if they bring the eggs and tomatoes, don't they know the movie is going to be bad? And if they know the movie is going to be bad, why do they go with the person in the first place?! And why does the guy take them if he knows he'll be beaten??! I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!8. Jackhammer at two in the morning
I'm sure it's because it's too hot to work in the day time- which is valid- but that doesn't make it any more pleasant. Luckily, I've been trained over the course of several years to completely block out all sound while I'm asleep (those of you who have expected me to show up on time for functions starting before 9 AM can attest to that). For this reason jackhammering didn't make it higher on the list and "honking your horn at two in the morning" was thrown out completely. The Mind birds woke me up at dawn every morning for the first few days but eventually I even overcame that.7. Drink sour and curdled milk
The nice thing about sour milk is the number of places it's available. You're served it at every meal in the form of curd, you get it in your coffee depending on the time of day, and you can buy it in bags at the grocery store labeled "fresh milk". The most delicious example of sour milk is Lassie, which is mixed with sugar and usually fruit. Lassie is actually really good, as long as you can stomach the chunks of curd.6. Fall from a five story building
I didn't see this happen and I didn't do this myself, but it's bound to happen once someone puts a little too much confidence and weight against the "Window of Death" as it's now known. Full length and protected by a flimsy slide lock, this window inside our office would very quickly find a lawsuit in the US. And I assume that each floor is laid out about the same, which means that there's probably one of these windows on 6th, 7th, and 8th floors as well. A word of advice: if you want to test its strength, hold on to something; the wall it sits on even gives a little when you push against it.5. Drive on the left side of the road
It's fun, it's intriguing, but don't try it at home (depending on where you live)! I'm not sure why we can't all agree on a standard but driving on the left side doesn't appear to have any advantages that driving on the right side does. Left hand turns are easier but then of course right hand turns are tougher. I'm a little worried about my first time driving when I get back to the states. Watch out!4. Drive on the right side of the road
Yeah it's not totally advisable but it appears to be pretty acceptable. You know how you're not supposed to park on the wrong side of the street? Well here if you do that, you just sort of ride the side of the street going the wrong direction until traffic clears up. Then you lurch over to your side without looking for an opening because they will get out of the way. And is traffic bad in your lane? Is oncoming traffic clear? Go ahead! It's very common for people to pull into oncoming traffic to get ahead at a red light. It's Thunderdome!3. Consume massive amounts of ketchup
I had no idea ketchup would be this popular. At the Sheridan Hotel we had lunch and they gave Alec and I four small jars of ketchup, each one sealed so we could be assured it was brand new. This was my first hint that it was a popular condiment. Then I was handed a croissant at the coffee shop with a packet of ketchup. Then our pizza came with ketchup. Finally, I had Chinese food for the first time today and what we thought were bags of sweet & sour sauce turned out to be- you guessed it- ketchup. This must be a ploy by the Ketchup execs to drum up business in non-hamburger eating countries. 2. Take pictures of random strangers
The strange thing about this is that it happened on several occasions. If you have your camera out and you're in public, it seems that there is a good chance that someone will want you to take their picture. The kids I sort of understood but then I was sitting in traffic taking a picture of a building when two guys on a motorcycle caught my eye from across three lanes and started making camera hand motions. Strange. The pictures usually end up being unique and pretty good, so I don't mind.1. Play netless Volleyball
While it must be more fun than ball-less Volleyball, netless Volleyball has got to be about as fun for most people as just not playing Volleyball at all. The thing is, the net is a really important part of the game. Not for these guys, though. They must love their Volleyball.Well those are the highlights. I had some others that didn't make the cut but perhaps I'll include those in a different post. I have a few more days still so maybe I'll even find something worthy of an addendum. I have a few outings planned for my last days so I'll at least be sure to write about that so check back soon.
Comments
Whatever you may say,but he is the one who is in India and he knows it better.
Your way of commenting like this makes you look a bigger idiot !!
That Akshay guy is a bit of an idiot.
That is great....i myself run a portal to promote India,its called
http://www.indianbackpacker.com/
so next time whenever you plan to come to India, please let me know,i would love to show you around.
Cheers
Certainly no hard feelings, Akshay. I enjoyed my time in India immensely, the motivation of my article was just to point out differences between living in India and living in the US in a humorous way. No one should take offense, it is a fun place to be and I would love to go back.
I am pretty sure you would not publish my comment on your article but i would be glad if you yourself go through it and know what the true India is.
Cheers
No hard feelings :)
Dude your article and experience of India seems to be Dumb.
Starting off from the very first pic
1.A max of 4 people are allowed in an autorickshaw(including the driver) else there is a fine for it and not to forget your Pic only shows 3 people .
2.The movie theater experience was the worst you could have come up with, no cases of violence have been heard so far because of a bad movie, forget violence you are not even allowed to carry eggs or tomato's to a movie theater
3.As for the Jack Hammer at 2 in the morning, try renting a hotel room rather than a sleeping bag on the roadside.
4.Have you heard about BUTTERMILK ??? because it is the same as "Sour Milk" you are talking about.
5.Now this one completly cracked me up....I am sorry to say but again your assumption of breaking the wall and falling is very lame....i have been in India since 22 years now and am still waiting to come across such an incident.
6.Driving on the left side--- well US isn't the lawmaker for Indian Traffic rules and driving on the right for us is SCARYYY !!
7. I guess the above explains it again.
8. Ketchup- It is FREE and is given to you to add flavor which is of course your choice to consume or not, I am surprised how come you did not get to try the actual INDIAN sauces as they are much more common or did you confuse it with some KETCHUP !!!
9.Pictures of Random strangers...I am sure you can capture a thousand smiles of these strangers that isn't possible even if you run throughout the states of US....you wont find any stranger posing for you :)
10.As for netless volleyball....that is a way to have fun and ENJOY WITH A FREE MIND....at times even i don't get the whole concept of Baseball when there is a better game like cricket which runs on same lines.
India and Indians Rock !!!!
as an indian all i can say is that we are little cranky n funny n unexplainable...bu we dont mind any of it as long as we have a happy life and our loved ones next to us....
rock on!
and driving on wrong side is stoopid but not when you know u r out of petrol and your only hope of reaching the petrol pump across the street (without pushing your car manually) is to use the leftover petrol on the wrong side shortcut...haha
I'm actually curious to know what the automobile accident rate is in Chennai. With driving on both the right and left sides of the road being a generally acceptable practice, one must wonder how many accidents a typical resident will get into in his or her lifetime.
Also, I wonder what the process is like for getting a driver's license. I'd like to think it would be similar to playing the Paperboy video game, where your character must dodge all sorts of obstacles while getting from point A to point B on a delivery route in one piece.