Sixty reasons plus one to love India

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:

  1. Ahimsa (non-violence)
  2. Amaji, the spiritual hugger
  3. Ayerveda medicine
  4. Ambassador cars- becoming a rare site.
  5. “Are you one person or two (a couple or friends)?”Question to Western tourists.
  6. Arranged marriages
  7. Advaita, Arunchala, and Ramana Maharshi
  8. Auroville
  9. Auto rickshaws (gas fuelled)
  10. Backsheesh
  11. Banyon Trees
  12. Beggars – one rupee earned for every  thousand rejections
  13. Bhavagad Gita
  14. Bhajans, pujas
  15. Bodh Gaya
  16. Bollywood musicals
  17. Boys playing cricket
  18. Burning ghats
  19. Call to prayer of imman from minaret
  20. “Cash today. Credit tomorrow.” Sign in Varanasi shop
  21. Chai, chai wallahs and chai stalls (e.g. Ram’s chai stall, Bodh Gaya).
  22. Chaos theory in action
  23. Dalai Lama
  24. Electricity. (The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away).
  25. Ganga at dawn
  26. Gulab jamans (Indian sweet)
  27. Himalayas
  28. Hindu Gods and gurus
  29. Holy cows
  30. Indian classical music
  31. Indian sunsets
  32. Indian toilets
  33. Indian weddings (though grossly extravagant and costly)
  34. Insight (Vipassana)Meditation
  35. Kama Sutra (ancient discourse of making love)
  36. Karma Yoga (yoga of service to others)
  37. Katak classical dance
  38. Khumba Maila (religious festival with up to 20 million participants)
  39. Krishna, Radha and the Gopis (the religion of romantic love)
  40. Krishnamurti
  41. Micro credit (small loans to help the poor into self employment)
  42. Motilal Banarsidas Bookshop (full of religious/spiritual/Eastern philosophy books)
  43. Naked sadhus with dreadlocks
  44. Neem toothpaste and tongue cleaners
  45. Palm trees on long, quiet beaches
  46. Past lives
  47. Pragya Vihar Inter-Religious School, Bodh Gaya (Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and secular teachers and pupils)
  48. Rajasthan and Kerala (Goa for beach tourists)
  49. Rice paddies
  50. Saris,  shawls, Nehru collars, kirta pyjamas
  51. 2nd class AC two tier train carriages
  52. Shirdi Baba’s Photo in taxis
  53. Taj Mahal and its love story
  54. Tantra
  55. The Buddha
  56. Tigers (1400 tigers in 2010. 40,000 tigers in 1910)
  57. Vandava Shiva and Andurata Roy, (environmental activists)
  58. Vegetarian food.
  59. Water, Earth, Fire films of Deepa Mehta
  60. “We deeply regret to inform you that train number ….. has been delayed.” Railway station announcement

and Yoga.

Namaste

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