My Ignorance of India

By -
29th July 2010

As Aaron and I flew into Mumbai it dawned on me just how little I knew about India. I felt ashamed that despite the many Indian friends I have and the colleges I worked with in Austin, I had not found out much about their home country. I was also embarrassed that I know hardly anything about the history of the British colonisation. It was a surprise to me to find out that we would be spending Indian independence day (15th August) in Mumbai, just before we fly to Sri Lanka. We were inspired to visit India to meet up with Meredith, Aaron's sister, who is currently teaching English in Shanghai and travelling through India with some of her friends during their summer holiday. My only preparation for entering India had been to read 'A passage to India' by EM Foster whilst we were in Greece.

Soon after arriving in India I put to work rectifying my ignorance by starting to read Gandhi's autobiography and 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga. India is the first country Aaron and I visited where we relied very heavily on a guide book, the incredibly useful 'Lonely Planet', which we also spotted in the hands of several other travellers we crossed paths with. As soon as we got to an internet cafe I used facebook to get tips from friends who had lived in or visited India. I was excited to find out that one of my friends from Austin will be in India when we return to Chennai from Sri Lanka, but she is in Hyderabad, about 400 miles from Chennai, so we might have a challenge meeting up with her. It felt strange to me that India is one of the most exotic countries I will visit, yet for some of my friends a trip to India is just 'going home'.

Comments

TomY. said…
Jean,I hope that your next visit to India will be uplifting for you and Aaron.
10 September 2010 at 09:53
Andrew said…
I'll ask my parents the best way of getting from Chennai to Hyderabad is. I was actually born in Chennai....or Madras if we want to use the British name.

Still got some family there too. If you are spending anytime there let me know and I can suggest some things.
10 September 2010 at 10:12
Jean said…
Thanks, Tom, don't worry we did enjoy our visit to North West India, as you will soon see from our next blogs. We just had some bad first impressions, but first impressions aren't everything. I hope our writing doesn't come across to negative, it's not intended.

Thanks Andrew. It turns out my friend visiting Hyderabad had to delay her flight back to the US, which was lucky for us, now we have some more time to meet her. We are flying into Chennai, then planning to go to Kerala, as we've heard great things about it! Then we are working our way North through Hyderabad and eventually flying out of Kolkata, travelling via train. I don't think we will be getting more than a day in Chennai, but if you have any tips they are always welcome. Looking forward to seeing your birthplace! Thanks!
12 September 2010 at 03:49
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