Namaste - home again

We are back in the land of snow.  I must admit, I was not really ready to come home!
India is phenomenal - colourful, noisy, busy, old and new.  It is a land of contrasts.  I am not sure what I thought I was going to see but it was more than I expected.  Many people asked if we were safe there. Honestly, we felt as safe there as anywhere.  Joe was surprised that nobody warned him to hang on to his camera.  He mentioned it to Shagzil, our guide, who said there was very little to worry about. 
The traffic is as crazy as it is protrayed on the media.  It was described as 'organized chaos'.  At an intersection there are buses, cars, scooters, bikes, pedestrians and tuk tuks going in every direction.  Amazingly, everyone gets through and I never saw one instance of road rage!  Nor an accident.  There were instances when our bus was only inches away from other vehicles.  The driver has a co-pilot to monitor things on the opposite side of the bus and get out to guide when necessary.
It is a land of contrast.  Yes, there are the very poor who live in shanty towns, gypsy's who travel around, small farmers. and the incredibly rich.  We had lunch at a palace - run by the grandson of the Maharajah who lived there.  It is more of a hotel now and is in the village where Road Scholar  (our tour company) sponsors a school.  People can go and tutor students in English, and stay there.  We visited the school - one of the many hilights of the tour.  The students sit cross legged on the floor and are very diligent.  They come from the village and would not ordinarily be able to attend school. We got to talk to some of the older students and they talk of going on to university.
I was surprised to see that most of the women are very modest; they mostly wear saris or long sleeved tops and the pants and scarves.  Men are dressed more modern, except in the South where many wear dhotis - a skirt style garment that can be wound up and tucked in like a diaper of sorts. I did get a bit annoyed to see men out enjoying themselves and very few women out.  Women have a way to go to gain true equality.
I thought that India was primarily Hindu or Sikh.  Not so.  It is a melting pot of religions, especially in the South.  Shagzil, our guide,  is Muslim.  We passed temples, churches, Mosques and visited a synagogue.  He said that the religions live harmoniously together in Kerala.  In fact he said that his Christian friends fill in for him when there is a Muslim holiday and he fills in for them on Christian holidays. I saw a few women wearing the severe Muslim dress complete with face covered, but very few. 
We had lunch at Shagzil's house.  We met his wife, daughters, mom and dad and other various relatives.  We got to see photos of his wedding and see Shireen's wedding sari (one of them).  Wow!  It was red silk and hand beaded.  I can't even imagine how much it cost!!  Weddings are a huge deal in India and go on for days.  They had 800 guests and apparently, that is not uncommon.  Shagzil wore a turban and was almost as glitzy ans Shireen! 
We saw part of a wedding at our hotel in Delhi.  The groom rode in on a horse, lead by a marching band and his family dancing in front.  Apparently the groom's family accompany him with one member of the bride's family.  The bride is attended by her family with a member of his fam in attendance.  She gets to sit and wait!  Shireen said that she was confined to her home and waited on for a week prior to the wedding.
I could go on forever - I never even got to talk about the Taj Mahal or the houseboats where we were accompanied by a photographer filming us for a program on Dream Cruises, or the food - I gained weight!
Suffice it to say, we enjoyed our adventure!
Lisa:  You were along but I wish I could call you up and talk your ear off.  I miss you always and love you forever, Mummy