Bikini & Boots

You know, I have heard these questions before. So, I will dedicate this blog posting to summarizing my thoughts instead of writing about another spectacular beach :). I have some commonly asked questions listed below, like why travel to India, what is India like, why do Indians have arranged marriges, does the red dot mean married, why is food spicy? As I mentioned earlier, I am not touting as an expert, but these are my thoughts. And in the grand scheme of things – they matter 🙂

a) What are the places to see in India? and my answer is always the same. First, decide, why is it that you are traveling to India. What have you read/heard about it that makes you want to travel to India? Or in case you’ve never really heard about India before, but still want to travel – what interests you as an individual? History, Adventure, Travel, Events/Festivals, Monuments, Architecture, Yoga, Meditation, Alternate Medicine, All? Once you have that figured ou, here is a good resource I saw that could help you plan your trip better:

http://www.incredibleindia.org/

Look at the left hand side menu “Holiday Ideas”

2. What is India like? Take a step back – Most people club everybody from East and NE as Asian. Which is fine by me in terms of nomenclature. But imagine if eveybody clubbed everybody from North America and South America together. Does that make a Canadian similar culturally to an American to a Mexican to a Guatamalan in the coarsest of comparision? The answer, in case you haven’t figured out 🙂 is NO.

I wish I could end my answer there. The problem is, even within the Country, India is so diverse, that it is impossible for a tourist to visit few cities, or even an entire region in India to say they have experienced India. Every region, every state, every community, every metro, is different.

Even beaches are different across the country – some are religious, like in Bhubaneshwar, in Orissa State (East Region), or a commercialized strip, like in Chowpatty, Bombay/Mumbai (West India), or a fisherman’s domain, like Chennai, Tamil Nadu (South India), or a beach bummers delight Goa !

3. Why are there so many arranged marriges there? I have no answer to that. There are almost as many non-arranged marriges, popularly known a “Love marriges”, as arranged marriges. And I would categorically like to say that arranged marriges is not “The Indian Way of getting married” – it is simply a well endorsed practice in India. Arranged marrige as a cultural practice is not exclusively unique to India but given today’s world environment, it is one of the few countries where it is still alive as a social tradition. I do believe this however, people choose what they want to do – they either choose to find a life partner and go for “Love Marrige” or, they Choose to go for the “Arranged Marrige”, where the parents also actively lead or help the search to find a suitable match, through something which is almost like a referral process. What I find somewhat parallel to arranged marrige in the western culture is the online dating or blind date system. And consider peer pressure in the western world equivalent to parental approval in India. However, it is true that in many families, the option of choosing is not granted to you. Especially, in rural communities, there may be many community/cast wars that are aroused, leading to disastrous events.

4. What does the red dot signify? Are you married? The red dot Does Not signify marrige. Please! It is a form of beautification. Red colour in the parting of a woman’s hair signifies marrige.

A bindi for an Indian woman does what eye shadow does for others ! Its just like wearing an earring. It is part and parcel of an Indian woman’s make-up ensemble. Does the dot signify something/anything? Sure – there is a different tale behind that for every State in India. The east believes that its is Durga’s third eye that protects from evil. Central India’s story behind the bindi is not very flattering, so I will not recount it here.

4. Is the food very spicy? yes and no. Don’t equate spicy = fiery hot. Indian food is always flavored with spice, but it doesn’t have to be hot. Many dishes are hot, and many aren’t. Also, what most don’t know is that cookin in India is a very personal activity. Infact, I can almost equate the social value accorded to Indian cooking as similar to that of gift wrapping in Japan. You have crossed the unspoken line by telling/asking your host:

1. The food is too salty.

2. Food is too spicy.

3. Will I fall sick after eating this?

You are embarassing/insulting your host. Remember – an Indian spends 45 minutes per dish (as opposed to 10 minutes total in the kitchen in the developed world). So, Indians cook and serve with the same pride as a successful Chef.

A better way to do that is saying:

Thank you so much for your hospitality. However, I might not be able to eat that as my diet requires me to have bland food. I will try a small portion (1 teaspoon?) to taste it. You can secretly throw that teaspoon of food if you don’t like it. But don’t blunder into a social faux pas by saying that you don’t like it/you don’t want to eat it because its too spicy/salty. And never tell your host the next day with a laugh that you fell sick the next day “because of all that spicy food.” They will not only be embarassed, they will always secretely wonder if the food was not fresh enough, and maybe that caused you to fall sick.

Never forget to complement an Indian who is serving you food on the following:

a. Freshness of food.

b. Flavor of food.

Both are winners. ALL Indians like to be complimented on this. Example of compliment format “The dish is so good, tastes likes its been made from the freshest of ingredients. Is the vegitable from your own kitchen garden? Is the spice separately ground?

While individual experiences will vary from person to person, there will be some variations in food regionally that can be classified. As a general food guide:

1. Food in East India has innumerable dishes, some dishes are sweet and curry based. Dishes are hot to an extent, but the hotness comes more from Mustard than green chillies. Fish dish are famous. Rice is popular. The east is most famous for its sweets.

2. Food in West India has some variety and is sweet and bread based. Dishes are rarely hot, unless you specifically ask for it. Food is less curry based. West is famous for its dry snacks. Food is mostly vegitarian. Also, alchohol is banned in the State of Gujrat.

3. Food in North India is rich, very cream based. So is very fattening. Also, very curry based and mostly vegitarian. The breads are famous. The tandoor food is famous. From up north, Kashmir, dark meat dishes are very famous. Some dishes can be very hot.

4. Food from South India has a lot of variety. There are innumerable vegitarian dishes and rice based. Also, there are innumerable sea food dishes too. The food can be hot to very hot. You can request – in a restaurant only, don’t embarass your hostess – by requesting food with no chillies. As thats what contributes to the food being hot – lots of red hot chilli peppa’ powder ! Its like using lots of Habanero chilli pepper.

5. Food in Central India is mostly vegitarian and brothy curry gravy based. There will be a lot of variety in breads and lentils.

Alright, I am done answering today. Hope this helps. I just realized that there are too many questions still left. I will catch up with them next time.

3. Culture Shock in India?