With some time to kill, I wanted to check out on some travel sites for some location scouting. Interestingly stumbled on this on India. The author is possibly an American male and from the volume that he has turned out on wiki, looks like there are fewer places on Planet Earth that he has not been to!! (For the record, i pine for such an achievement someday...till then...blogging it is!).
The adage goes on the lines that when you go on the Moon and stare down @ the Earth, it does not ressemble anything that you have seen or experienced during your lifetime on the surface here!! Without further ado, here are the links, beginning with his brush with Indian bureaucracy @the Indian embassy in Singapore, then onto Delhi, Haridwar, Jodhpur and finally the mecca of India Shining - Gurgaon!
Pros:
1. Refreshingly third party view.
2. Candid. As seen. Devoid of all baggage. A black kettle is nothing but a black kettle.
3. No fancy packaging.
4. Beautifully shows the "shining" to be as epidermal as you can get.
5. The wannabe culture of the tacky "Ruby Tuesday" is a glorious example.
Cons:
1. Limited in reach. Restricted to a typical North Indian tourist circuit (ok, Gurgaon aint on it) but not much besides.
2. The lack of understanding the culture is evident at some places. The author makes several references to cow-dung patties in a derogatory way. Yup, its shit and thats bad in the Western way of things. But, its from a cow and so "Holy Shit!!" and perfectly acceptable to me and the billions back home. Wondering here what he would think on finding out that cow-urine is a staple of most indian yagyas and hawans and is the prime facilitator in the purification of the pooja-site!!
So sit back and enjoy the ride!
1. India 0 - A taste of bureaucracy
1. India 0 - A taste of bureaucracy
