Coming to India can be a massive
culture shock. It's not like taking a holiday in the Algarve! So when
my parents and sister said that they were going to come and visit me
in India, I was apprehensive to say the least. Not because I didn't
want them to come, but because none of them had ever travelled
anywhere like India before and I wanted them to have a good holiday!
For various reasons, my family were
flying into Delhi and doing the “touristy” bits around that part
of India (Taj, etc) and then I was going to fly to meet them and we
were all flying down to Kerala together for a week. This made me even
more nervous – I wouldn't even be there to greet them in Delhi and
help them settle in!
This blog isn't going to be about
Kerala (although I'm chucking in some pics of the place! We stayed in Cochin, which is a lovely little town btw).
Instead, I want to talk about the reaction of my family and why I
think it's so important....
This blog has been my record (of a
sort) of my time in India. It's not a 100% detailed account – it's
the stuff I think people will find interesting / amusing / thought
provoking. My natural style is to make light of things, paint things
in a funny light and to be generally positive. The end result was
that it was a bit of an eye-opener for my family when they hit
Delhi....
I live in Hazaribag. I talk about the
power cuts, the muddy roads, the cows in the road. People laugh, they
think – wow, rural India must be pretty bizarre to live in. The
thing is – Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai – they aren't that much
different. By western standards they're dirty, loud, chaotic and
pretty intimidating. There is poverty everywhere you look, and it can
be quite distressing. People will try and rip you off because you're
white. There is little “tourist infrastructure”, public transport
is almost unintelligible and the majority of people speak only
rudimentary English.
My family stayed (for the most part) in
western hotels. Marriotts etc. These places are like little bubbles.
They aren't India. Staying in them means you miss out on so much of
what makes India brilliant (or, more specifically, makes it brilliant
for me!), but perhaps more importantly, they enable you to forget the
country that you are in. In these hotels there is the hot running
shower, the mini-bar and the spotlessly clean bathrooms. If you put
the hotel in England it would be luxurious – in India? It's like a
completely different planet.
I think this made the experience even
more extreme for my family – the contrast between the life in the
hotel and the life outside of the four walls of their rooms. That
might have led to them enjoying the experience less than if they'd
stayed in a more “authentic” place, I don't know. But I do know
that they're now far more aware of the living conditions for the vast
majority of this country's 1.3bn population.
I am so proud of my family for coming
to India. I know it was a huge step outside of their comfort zone and I respect them hugely for doing that. I've travelled to a lot of
places off of the beaten track, which made it much easier to adapt to
life here. I think that also when you know that you're in a place for
a long period like I am, you force yourself to take a different
perspective on obstacles. You can't do that as easily when you're
only in a country for two weeks.
I had a fantastic week in Kerala and I
hope my family enjoyed it as much as I did. I have a feeling that it
will be a holiday they won't forget for a long time and hopefully
it's been one that they will look back on and be glad that they did!
Tim, well done to your folks for making the trip. As you say its no small thing to step outside of your comfort zone. We've all done it and it is easy to forget that other's haven't and all people's experiences are different. If one had never been out of European cities and beach holidays then anywhere on any other continent is going to be downright shocking or exhilaratingly surprising depending on what you make of it. Glad you all had a good time in Kerela. Nice to have a break away. I've not made it to Kerela but to all accounts lovely. My next break will be the homeward journey, a mad visa run and back to the Sahara! At least it will be dry! Actually now I come to think of it dry in both senses - what's new on the drink front!
ReplyDeleteI also love Kerala.I would love to visit this place in future.Thanks for sharing your experience.
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