Visit India – you won’t regret it. The Republic of India is one of the greatest countries on earth. A few thoughts on why, and few pictures to back me up.
Visit India: do I know what I’m talking about?
I know. You can’t really review a whole country.
Railway station in Chennai – all photos Leigh Turner
Especially not India: more than 13 times the size of the UK, massively diverse, and packed with history.
I have to say: India is awesome
The question is, should you visit India? And before you go, should you read “Shantaram“, the cult novel by Gregory David Roberts, to get in the mood? I recently visited Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, and wrote this post in Chennai. My first visit to India, a couple of years earlier, was to Kerala and Goa. Yes, I need to visit the north of India too.
Shantaram and India: the challenges
“Shantaram” sums up the challenges for a non-Indian person wanting to engage with such a tumultuous, many-layered place. The hero of the book depicts himself as someone who has got to the heart of India, with countless adventures and love affairs along the way, thereby earning himself plaudits from every person he meets.
Who wouldn’t want to do that?
Understanding India is a seductive concept. No wonder people like to read “Shantaram”, whose title, characteristically, refers to the author himself and means “Man of God’s Peace”. Some people feel they’ve come closer to discovering the place, or themselves, after reading the book.
A journey of discovery
“Shantaram” is actually a pretty good, fast-paced read. But the smug hero is irritating beyond measure. Overall, like the New Age-ish, idealistic settlement of Auroville, which I visited, Shantaram reminded me of this postcard published by the admirable www.gatheredimages.com – I urge you to buy their products:
Copyright Gathered Images www.gatheredimages.com – tons of good stuff
Visit India: but leave “Shantaram” behind
Finding this old postcard reminded of one of the finest pieces of parodic writing I know. this was a review of “Shantaram” on Amazon. Let’s be fair: the novel gets roughly 90% positive reviews on Amazon. I was with the 10%: I found the review by R Gray laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Visit India: the richest country on earth?
So I won’t go further in these attempts to sum up the richness that is India except to publish below a few photos taken on my last visit, and to make three observations:
(i) do visit India. It is indeed, as the slogan says, Incredible, and worth a visit;
(ii) in Chennai in particular I saw much evidence of rapid economic growth, in what a recent FT article argued may already be the world’s most populous country and will probably have double China’s population in the next 50 years;
(iii) much also remains in India which is traditional, in terms both of customs and historical artefacts. Long may both remain preserved.
Pictures from around Chennai
Pictures below, in rough chronological order:
Nurses crossing the street near Chennai’s historic nursing college
Family group with 1,400 year-old statue at “5 Rathas”, Mahabalipuram
The Shore Temple, built 700-728 AD, also Mahabalipuram
The Elephant God Ganesha decorates a bus in Pondicherry
Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram, with bell-tower and Gopuram (entrance tower)
The Ekambareshwara Temple is by itself a good reason to visit India
Brahmans at the 7thC Kailasanatha Temple, Kanchipuram
One of countless street vendors between Kanchipuram and Chennai
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