(Audrey) The only way to really accurately describe India in a single world is as truly diverse. Indians are fond of pointing out how ethnically and linguistically varied their great nation is and rightly so. Time will tell whether speaking dozens of different languages and having a bunch of ethnic groups mixed together in interesting ways is a strength of weakness of India (personally, I vote for the former), but one cannot be here for long without noting the striking array of differences, particularly between different regions.
For example, here in Delhi, we deal with our trash in the open. Here’s the waste disposal system just outside one of the main railway stations—
Down south in Kerala, they seem to have evolved a better system. The railway station in Varkala—
But the south may not always win against the more densely populated, poorer, and often disparaged north. Back up in Delhi, we’ve got principles, such as—
But down south it seems that beer companies are literally on the taxi stand, as sponsors—
Beyond regions, there are also incredible religious differences—the majority of Indians are Hindu with substantial populations of almost every other major world religion (including Mormons, see here). If we start looking at lifestyle choices, things are equally all over the map. Many Indians are vegetarian, following religious precepts and/or the example of Mahatma Gandhi, the great independence leader. As Gandhi once said (from museum in Ahmedabad)—
But then go into a nice restaurant in Delhi, and you may find this on the bar—
Speaking of food, cuisine is where India’s diversity really shines. One can eat fresh fish in Kerala—
Bhel puri in Bombay—
All things fried in Gujarat—
And, of course, Mughlai cuisine in the north—
And, of course, how could one forget those little balls of sweetness that make all the heat and dust of north India in the spring and summer worth living through…lycees—
India offers so much, and yet no place ever truly has it all. To continue with my theme of food, certain rarer types of meat are often unavailable here. Just think, if Partition had never have happened, then this Yak meat that I feasted upon in the mountains of Pakistan a few years ago, would have been bonafide Indian—
