In a land where marriages, outings and festivals are all planned around auspicious dates, India is all about numbers. The decimal system and the concept of zero were both developed in ancient India, it’s a land of 1.2 billion people that speak one (or more) of twenty-five native dialects, is the seventh largest country in the world by area and the second by population, has economic growth of 7.7 percent annually, is 8.5 hours–don’t forget the half!– ahead of EST and its population spend on average eight joyful hours watching each cricket match.
It is also a land of contradiction. Over one million people are considered millionaires while 35 percent of the population are below the poverty line. In many homes a woman cannot show her arms or legs (let alone say her husbands name in public) yet it is home to kama sutra depicting temples like Khajuraho. Cows are found wandering aimlessly in the street (blocking traffic in some areas), yet single file lines are mandatory when entering any government area. And in a car you’ll get pulled over for not wearing your seat belt in the front seat, yet its normal for an entire family to be on a motorcycle or an entire village in a small van.
To add my own data to India’s tally, I have the following tidbits from my 15 days within order among the chaos:
7 cities visited
5 temples viewed
2 forts discovered
4 nature reserves meandered
8 bazaars conquered
6 government sites honored
1 Wonder of the World seen–check!
1 6-hour train ride
8 flights
5 personal drivers
8 bruises
(including one dinner plate-sized whopper)
3 servings of Malai Kofta
1 elephant ride
1 camel ride
1 horse ride
0 tigers seen (or ridden)
16 days (and counting) green hair
1 Bollywood video cameo
1.5 books read
1 Ayurveda massage (one too many)
1 seat belt ticket
9 mosquito bites
1 bout of food poisoning
3 days of Delhi Belly
3/8 cricket game watched
4 seashells procured
9 pairs of earrings purchased
2 scarves bargained
5 fantastic new friends made
Oh, and innumerable cows, lorries, photo sessions and wannabe tour guides.
Melinda Skea got a taste for adventure as her family moved from America’s West to its hospitable south and eventually settled in its fast-paced New England corner. She studied International Relations and Spanish at Brigham Young University and subsequently embarked on a round-the-world trip which included Asia, Oceania and Europe. She has since found a home base in Washington D.C. where she works as an editor for a non-profit publication, but still finds time to put a few stamps in her passport each year.
Melinda is also the founder of D.C.-based Fashion Freecycle, which strives to limit the growing problem of clothing pollution by making “One [wo]man’s trash another [wo]man’s treasure”. These quarterly events encourage women to donate items and swap them for ones they find useful. Also an avid film lover, in 2008 Melinda began a monthly Foreign Film Night, which strives to create an atmosphere of openness, respect and learning as participants dine on the country-of-choice local cuisine and enjoy cinema outside of the usual Blockbuster.
