Exploring India

At the time of writing we are over ten days into our trip and every day we find ourselves learning something new about the people of India, their traditions, customs, religions and way of life. Being such a diverse country, every village, town and city maintains its own cultures whilst most of the time still partaking in the wider regional and national cultures. Having to this point only visited the regions of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, I cannot confidently comment on the whole of India, just of my experiences to now. As a precursor to what is to follow, I’d like to explain that not once have I consulted Google or other information outlets during my time so far. I have chosen to learn from the people which has allowed me to come to my own conclusions, perspectives and assumptions, some which might be wrong. I apologise if I offend anyone reading this or if I have misjudged something, it is all done out of genuine fascination and total respect. We learn by being vulner...

As I sit on the train from Agra Fort to Jaipur on day three of our journey, we have already encountered what makes this giant country unique. And finally, a moment to be able to reflect and put proverbial pen to paper. Our flight from London Heathrow to New Delhi set the tone for what we were to expect for the first part of our trip. Up at the crack of dawn, we proceeded to catch the transfer bus to Heathrow Terminal 2. Like always, you really don’t need to be at the airport so early anymore but because everyone’s Dad insisted on getting to the airport four hours before a flight when you were a child, the tradition still seems to ring true no matter how old and autonomous you are. In fact, you know the times are changing when your mum offers you a plastic bag for your liquids three times before saying farewell but when you arrive at the airport they are no longer a thing (due to a new machine that can do something probably strange but ever so efficient when scanning your bags). Anyway,...