Traveling to India

General info about traveling to India

Really important ... Sign up with the State Department:  Go to this page  - at the bottom, sign up for STEP.     http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/india.html 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get your shots!  You need shots/medications for India.  You should begin this process at least a month before your travel date - you need a month between the first two Hepatis B shots, and it's a good idea to get two of the three before you go to India. (Final shot - #3 - is five months after #2.) 

1)  All travelers - using a travel clinic or figuring it out solo -- should read this page:  
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/ind   In addition to the helpful info about shots and meds, you will find lots of links to ways to keep safe.  Read the info about eating and drinking!

2)  If you want to simplify this process, make an appointment with a travel clinic  This is one-stop shopping for health and safety issues around your trip to India. They will make sure that you have the right immunizations (Flu, Hep A, Hep B, and the tetanus combo, for sure, MMR, probably), and will likely recommend anti-malaria meds starting just before you leave and ending a week after you return home.  (If this is a good nurse/clinic, they will also give you some solid teaching about food/water safety in India. Pay attention!) And they will send you off with two three-day courses of antibiotics for your use if you should become sick.  This is a really good idea.  (If they do not offer, ASK!) And they will probably also provide some material for you to read.  Read every word!!! 

3)  If you are a DIY kind of a person, and want to go to your personal doctor, you need to assume that the doctor does not know everything about India travel. Read that CDC information carefully, and go in with a list of what you need.  Don't forget to ask for a course of antibiotics in case of emergency. (I would stay away from cipro.  Read the horror stories.)  

4)  To carry with your passport - print up and laminate a card with your name, insurance, emergency contact, and all of your medical conditions/meds/allergies. (Not a bad idea to have this in your wallet even at home. Just sayin'.)

And then, hopefully, you are done, and ready to go.. Another good idea... even if you complete the three shot series -- before your *next* trip to India, have someone check your antibodies for Hep B.  Your PCP can order this test. You may need a booster. (I did, one year.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get your Indian Visa.  You can work directly with the Indian government (https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/). If you prefer, or if you have waited too long and now need to rush, you can use a visa/passport service like Ambassador Visa (http://ambassadorpassportandvisa.com/) to handle the process for you. You will need to complete a visa application, and will also send your passport, two new passport photos, and another id (copy of your driver's license works well). You can give your first planned hotel in India as the destination address. Apply for a multi-entry ten-year visa.  It costs only a bit more than a six-month or one-year visa, and you will be all set for future trips.  You are going to love India -- get a ten-year visa.  Trust me on this one.

Booking flights within India:  If you want to work with a multi-airline service, I recommend http://us.makemytrip.com/  If you have questions or concerns, call the toll-free number - their people are very helpful.  And if you will be checking more than one bag, be sure to mention that to them. 

Scheduling your trip   You will arrive in India at dark o'clock.  Highly recommend having a hotel booked for that night so that you can go straight there.  (So you arrive at 3am on Wednesday December 2.  You have booked your room for December 1, so it's waiting for you.  If you can manage it, a second night at that hotel is also a great idea.  Leaving India -- you will also leave India at dark o'clock.  I usually book a hotel for that night as well, just to have a place to relax until it's time to go to the airport.   So my flight is a 4AM on February 9.  I book the hotel for February 8.  This is important -- make sure that you have your printed tickets and boarding passes when you go to the airport in Mumbai.  The hotel can print them for you. You will not be able to enter the airport without those in hand!  (I have not been there since 2018, but I suspect that this is still the case.)

Arrange for a car/taxi transfer from the airport to your hotel in Mumbai or Delhi You can set this up through your hotel (may be included in the cost of your room - check that!), or through a travel agent. When you walk out of the airport at 2AM, walking into chaos, you will be very happy to see a driver holding a sign with your name on it.  Trust me on this one too!  Arrange the transfer before you leave home. Also -- you will arrive in the middle of the night. Have a hotel reservation.  (Unless you are younger and stronger and want to do the straight-to-the-domestic-airport thing.  I'm older and need a day or two to acclimate.)  (Note:  If the arranged car is not there -- ie your flight was late, or whatever) -- go to the Prepaid Taxi stand inside the airport.  You tell them the name of your hotel. You pay them a fixed rate, They give you the number of your taxi.  You go outside to the taxi stand and take that taxi.  You have paid, so you just need to give the driver a tip.)

Planning what to take on the plane:  Travel from the US to India is about 23 hours door to door, including a plane change and some walkaround time somewhere in Europe. Invest in comfort gear for the plane - especially if you will be flying coach! Eye mask.  Neck pillow. Ear plugs.  Maybe a lightweight travel blanket.  Seriously... this is a whole lot of time on airplanes!

In addition to the obvious stuff (your toys [tablet, computer, phone], your wallet, passport and other important paperwork like your plane/hotel confirmations).... I strongly recommend that you also take enough clothing and personal gear to get you through one day in your gateway city (Delhi or Mumbai, probably).  You will be arriving in India in the middle of the night. (Why am I so sure about that? Because *all* international flights into India land in the middle of the night!)  If your luggage is delayed, it will not arrive until the middle of the following night. So... good idea to have a clean lightweight outfit, necessary toiletries, medications, etc., with you on the plane. Enough to get you comfortably through one full day.  (NOTE:  If you do need to return to the airport the following night to retrieve your delayed luggage, plan on being there a while. Only ticketed passengers can enter the airport. When you get to the airport, go to the security office and follow their guidance.  Alternatively - worth a try - see if you can arrange for your airline to deliver your luggage to your hotel.)  

Clothing  You can certainly buy some clothes once you get there…. but you should pack enough to get through at least a week or so.  If you are packing lightly, make the clothes washable, and pack laundry detergent. I recommend laundry "sheets" - zero risk of a leakage problem. I was happy with these, but there are other options. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B071XYKHX4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Clothing tips for women   You want to cover your legs. Avoid sleeveless tops -- short sleeves, long sleeves, 3/4 sleeves are all ok. Pants should come well below your knee, loose pants, lightweight fabric. Leggings are ok. Long skirts are fine too.  Long shirts are good - ideally, your top should cover your butt. Bring one long scarf (or buy one in India) to cover your head in temples - it's a sign of respect. Good clothes to take with you.... lightweight drawstring or elastic waist pants, long shirts, long cotton tops with at least short sleeves, long skirts.  With a few pairs of pants in neutral colors, you can inexpensively  Indianify yourself once you have arrived in India by buying some kurtas (long shirts) and scarves.  (Scrubs are great for casual pants for India... lightweight, every size and color imaginable, and easy to wash and hang out to dry.) Full Indian-style suits ... called salwaar-kameez, or Punjabi suits... consist of a long shirt (kameez or kurti), a long scarf (dupatta), and loose drawstring pants (salwaar).  The pants may be simple straight legs, or gathered in with a cuff at the ankle, or true salwaar style - very loose at the top, gathered at the ankles -- tthe salwaars are *very* loose and comfy.  If you are a small/average size woman, you may be able to buy these off-the-rack.  Or ask around for someone to "stitch" some clothes for you. (This can happen amazingly quickly... as in, get measured in the morning, have clothes delivered after dinner.)

If you are in Mumbai, I recommend Paaneri in Andheri - north of the city.  (PAANERI   217, Ceaser's Court Housing Society, Swami Vivekanand Marg, Andheri West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058, India.  Hours: 9:30AM–9PM  Phone: +91 22 2628 3733) Paaneri has wonderful  and inexpensive colorful kurtis, salwaar kameez sets, dresses, scarves.... and the clothing is available in a wide range of sizes from small/petite to XXXL for the tall and larger among us. Tell them you are looking for casual cotton clothing.  (Many of the outfits are really dressy... lovely and fun, but not practical for everyday wear!) You can also ask the concierge at your hotel about clothing, or talk to your friendly cab driver, telling him you are looking for "everyday" Indian clothing, not expensive clothing - the drivers can usually take you to a couple of places in one afternoon. 

Clothing tips for men: Men - it's easier for you! Bring several pairs of lightweight comfy slacks, easy to wash and hang out to dry. Scrub pants are good for you also! You also can Indianify your appearance by adding some kurtas and some scarves.  Bermuda shorts seem to be ok for men, or at least I never noticed raised eyebrows when my friends were wearing them!  Tshirts or short-sleeved shirts are fine.

Clothing tips for everyone: Bring some comfy shorts and tshirts for time spent hanging out in your room. Shoes – you will want sandals or shoes that are easily put on and off.  You will remove your shoes in many stores, all temples, and every private home.  Flip-flops are a good idea too... in an Indian-style bathroom, your entire bathroom is your shower stall. (The shower head is just attached to one wall of the bathroom – no enclosure.) You will need dresssier grown-up shoes only if you are planning on doing something dressy in one of the cities. And if you are a walker/hiker, then you will need footgear for that!

Carrying stuff around with you – Men and women:  Bring a small backpack or cross-body bag.  (Travelon has great theft-proof bags.) You can carry a wallet, your passport, snacks, sunscreen, hand wipes, tissues, small flashlight, etc., in that bag. (I also carry a “bathroom kit” – more about that below.) Many travelers buy a passport holder which is worn under the clothing (either around-the-neck or around the waist)  -- those work well for passport + extra money + credit card.

Food and water in India:  Rules about food and water in India.... BE CAREFUL! Water is the main problem.  (Note: if you are staying a a modern western-style hotel, the water may all be filtered.  When in doubt - ASK!  And even in very upscale hotels, I stuck with bottled water.) Any food you eat should be hot enough to burn your mouth.  Food prepared by street vendors is risky.  (I have eaten street food, when I could see the food being cooked... but it's still risky.)  You should only drink filtered or bottled water. For bottles, you must hear the snap when you break the seal on the water.  It is not at all uncommon in India for bottles to be refilled with tap water and then resold as "bottled."  Other stuff about water:  ice is water, and should be avoided unless you are in a very good hotel.  The water in your shower is water (keep your mouth closed).  Rinse your toothbrush with bottled water.  Avoid salads - again, may be ok if you are in a very good hotel.  Fruit you can peel yourself is fine.  Chai is ok if you can see the chai-wala boiling the tea.  Reminder:  ice is water! Avoid ice!  (Another note... you are ok if the water has dried completely.  For example, you forget and fill you water bottle with tap water.  Just empty and dry it, and then let it dry for a while. Good to go. (With filtered water this time!)  Or you have a brainskip and rinse your toothbrush in tap water.  No problem. Just let it dry completely before you use it again.  If you are going to be out in the country, a water purification device is a must.  I like this one:  

Snacks - good idea to bring some.  You need snacks in sealed wrappers - Trader Joe has wonderful little bags of raw almonds and trail mixes ("just a handful" or some name like that). Protein bars are good. Just make sure that whatever you bring has individually wrapped servings. And no chocolate -- it melts! 

If you want more substantial foods as a backup:  pack a spoon, a water immersion heater, and a good microwave mug with a cover.  Instant oatmeal works well - heat water, add oatmeal, cover, stir, wait a few minutes.  Dr McDougall soups are healthy - just move them into small plastic bags for packing. There are other options, for sure.. but read the instructions. You likely will not have a microwave, so you are looking for INSTANT options. If you can manage an Indian electric teakettle in your luggage, it's much easier than an an immersion heater!  Bowls with covers work well when you are making soup/oatmeal in your room:  like this one:  https://smile.amazon.com/Sistema-Microwave-Collection-Noodle-1109ZS/dp/B009SD35IO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542372671&sr=8-3&keywords=microwave+bowl

Travel insurance:  I *always* sign up for this. Travel insurance will cover things like missed connections and lost luggage.  But the insurance also provides peace of mind around health issues - they provide a number to call in case of a health emergency so that they can help you to get the care you need. In the event of a true life-or-death emergency, they will fly you out of India.  I use http://www.travelguard.com. Worth every penny.

Health stuff and supplies: Note... you will not find a CVS in India.  Nor a Walgreens.  Nor a Rite-Aid.  Nor anything else that even vaguely resembles a US pharmacy.  (At our house, we sometimes joke about "buying CVS by the aisle" for trips to India.)

First step:  think about every medication you use at home.  Prescriptions, of course.  But also whatever you use for indigestion or headaches or whatever ails you.  I usually review my medicine cabinet at home, and make a list from there.

Very good things to have in your bag... and note, you can just leave it all on your dresser as you head for the airport on the last day in India, making more room in your luggage!   It's a bit easier to find stuff you need in the cities, but even there, familiar brands are non-existent and quality is a concern with no-name brands. NOTE:  at the risk of belaboring the obvious - this list assumes that you are traveling solo. If you are traveling with someone else, you can split up this list and just share.

• First aid - a first aid kit, or at least bandaids + some gauze pads + tape + antiseptic ointment
• Sunscreen lotion.  (Sunglasses are good also. The glare in India is... quite something.)
• Hand sanitizer.  Pack a couple of those little bottles, carry one in your backpack. The little single packet handwipes are good also.
• Headache/pain remedies (if you have frequent headaches, you will know what you need) - but at least some Ibuprofen or Advil or Tylenol - whatever you take at home for aches and pains
• Gastrointestinal - My travel docs have recommended that I *not* take any OTC medications for diarrhea - if I did have a problem with diarrhea, I was to go straight to antibiotics.  Taking OTC stuff may stop/slow the loose bowel movements, but does *not* help to move the bad bugs out of your system! (Other docs tell travelers to try Pepto and then Lomotil, moving to antibiotics only as a last resort. Your Mileage May Vary. Talk to your doctor or travel nurse.)
• If you are really worried about getting sick and dealing with diarrhea... another thing to consider putting in your bag -- Preparation H - medicated wipes, Maximum Strength with aloe.  We all hope we will not get sick... but if you do, you will be happy that you have those soothing wipes with you.
• Electrolytes - I recommend Nuun - all of the flavors taste the same to me - like watered down generic Koolaid - but are quite drinkable.  And you will be drinking *a lot* of water while you are in India.  The tablets easily break in half and are just dropped into your water bottle.  (You can buy them on Amazon.)
• Toiletries - city hotels will have the familiar little bottles and wrapped bars of soap. Indian-style hotels likely will not.  Bring some soap/shampoo/toothpaste with you.
• Women - if you are pre-menopausal, take menstrual supplies with you even if you are not expecting to have a period while you are in India.   If your timetable gets messed up, as happens frequently when women are traveling, you will be trying to find supplies in a country where.... well, let me just say again - take what you would need with you, just in case!
• Eyeglasses/contacts - take an extra pair. Your glasses are not readily replaceable in India. Also pick up an eyeglass repair kid. (On one of my trips, when I did not have a kit with a tiny replacement screw and a tiny screwdriver, a helpful friend "repaired" my glasses with a paperclip and scotch tape.)
• Insect repellant.  Either DEET or picaridin. (I vote for Picardin, because DEET is... well, DEET.)
• Any other pharmacy-bought stuff that you use frequently, or regularly, or anything more than once in a blue moon ... because you probably will not be able to find it in India! (My partner and I joke about buying CVS by the aisle for India trips... )
• Ear plugs are a really good idea.  (And a sleep mask is also a good idea.)  Particularly useful if you are staying within blocks of a temple where mantras are blasted out of loudspeakers day and night...
• Toilet paper. If you are only staying in western-style hotels, you will mostly be ok.  But it's a good idea to have a packet of toilet paper in your bag when you're out and about.  Also bring small bags for disposing of the used toilet paper. (Somewhat ironically, rolls of doggie poop bags are terrific for this purpose.)

Bathrooms in India:  Most of the upscale hotels and now a few stores and mid-range hotels, offer western style toilets. But many bathrooms in India still have Indian-style toilets - squat toilets. This is a helpful description:  http://www.wikihow.com/Use-an-Indian-Bathroom

When I am out and about in India, I always (ALWAYS) carry a "bathroom kit" in my bag, and keep it right on my person.  (This started after I needed to use a bathroom in a store during my first trip to India. I was barefoot in the store, having removed my sandals at the door... and using the dark and smelly and wet-floor store bathroom while barefoot was a very very very  unhappymaking experience.)  My bathroom kit is just a small pouch (a small plastic bag with a zipper would also work) including the following: a pair of lightweight flip-flops in a plastic bag (the ones you get with a pedicure), some soft disposable wipes, some toilet paper or tissue, a second plastic bag to carry any waste (dog poop bags work well for this. There is no place in the bathroom to dispose of paper!), and a couple of hand-wipes.  With those supplies, I might need to deal with a squat toilet at some point ... but I can avoid bare feet on a dirty wet floor, and also avoid the whole clean-up-with-water routine.  (Sorry.  Born and raised in the West.  Maybe if I lived in India long enough, I would get down with the whole bathroom thing.  Maybe.)  I have needed my bathroom kit only very rarely... but knowing that I have it just in case gives me a disproportionate sense of comfort.

If you are out in the country somewhere, the odds increase that you will encounter a) an Indian style toilet, and b) one that is small, dark, wet, and very smelly.  At the risk of being indelicate... in some cases you may prefer having someone stand guard while you pee behind a bush!  (Or a haystack.  Or a small building out in the middle of nowhere.) Yes, I have been in this situation. (This is another reason to have some bathroom supplies in your purse or backpack, including toilet paper and a small plastic bag for disposing of waste paper!)

Getting cash (rupees) in India: A few years back, this was challenging.  Then ATMs happened, and the process became easy.  In 2017,  the government removed the very common 500 and 1000 rupee notes from circulation.  If you have older bills, they are probably no longer good. You should be able to get rupees from ATMs, although you may need to try a couple of times. I use a small-balance debit/Visa card when I am in India, both for charges and for ATMs. (I do not even use our primary bank debit card in the US…. and am doubly cautious in India!)  You can exchange dollars for rupees at the airport – take as much cash as they will give you. You can exchange dollars for rupees at a brick-and-mortar bank. You may also be able to exchange dollars for rupees at your hotel. And in the cities, may have better luck with ATMs. As much as possible, use up your rupees before you leave India.  2018 update:  the law has changed, and the currency exchange people have told me that they can now exchange INR 25000 -- so about $350. Not a bad idea to do this before you leave the US. And keep your receipt: they can exchange back from (up to 25000) rupees to dollars when you return.

This is important ... before you leave on your trip, notify your bank(s) and credit card companies that you will be traveling! If they block a charge because of concerns about security, you will have a major hassle trying to get it sorted out.  If they know you are going to be traveling to, say, France and India, then no hassles.

Connectivity in India: This has been a hassle for me -- but my last trip was 2018 and it may be easier now.  Also, I was spending a couple of weeks way out in the country, which certainly made it more challenging - no wifi shops out there!

It is not easy for visitors to get SIM cards for phones. You can acquire one at a phone store - but activation may take between 24 hours and some indefinite date in the future.  So that's a bit of a gamble. Talk to your carrier about international travel - you may come out ahead by just working with your usual phone company.  (They will help you to set up the phone so that you are not accidentally downloading tons of expensive data.) For a laptop, you would need a Tata Photon or other hotspot.  Again, talk to your carrier before you leave the US.

Western hotels will likely have wireless connectivity.  You can also look for Internet Cafes… these small shops are frequently available in smaller towns and cities. They will usually have a signal, and will probably also have laptops available.

You can also rent a hotspot, and with a hotspot, you can use WhatsApp or Zoom or Skype or whatevever. Some new companies have rental phones with SIMs. (Note....if connectivity is important to you, you can Google the day away -- or google several days away -- trying to figure out connectivity before you travel.)

Other good stuff to bring

• If you are bringing food (instant noodles, tea bags, instant oatmeal), check Amazon for a small/mini electric teakettle. So much easier than an immersion coil!
• Power adapter - you can get this on Amazon or at a travel store.  You do not need an entire set of adapters... just India-US. I highly recommend this one - it takes a 2 or 3 prong US-style plugs and also has two USB ports.  https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N25OUYG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Mosquito net and malaria meds - I usually travel in February or March to Madhya Pradesh, and have not seen mosquitos.  I have never used a mosquito net. Some people skip the pills, concerned about side effects.  Some people do use mosquito nets. Your call.
• Small flashlight. Always. In your backpack or purse, but somewhere right on your person.  Power outages are very common in India!
• Flying coach?  Invest in a travel pillow and blanket and earplugs and other necessities. Check Amazon for options. 
• Some sort of alarm clock/alarm watch/smart phone alarm is very useful.
• Electronic toys...  Kindle will be fine if you have access to power.  Phone/tablet/laptop -- see above re connectivity. Not a problem in Western-style hotels, but getting a signal may (well, actually, WILL) be a problem if you are not in a modern hotel!

And here is a great link for more info...

http://www.journeywoman.com/girltalk/india/default.html

Air travel in India

The air travel is actually fine... there are several good companies, and lots of flights to choose from to get you from City A to City B.  And the prices are completely reasonable.  So.... all good.

Great way to book flights inside of India:  http://us.makemytrip.com/   If you have problems/questions as you look at flights, just call them.  They are *really* helpful. If you will check more than one bag, be sure to talk to the makemytrips person about that also!

My flight from Indore to Mumbai was interesting.... or at any rate, *finding* my flight from Indore to Mumbai was interesting!

Now, arriving at the airport... one would go to check the Departures sign, right?

OK, so the Departures sign is all in Devanagari.  (The script for Hindi and Sanskrit.)

I can read Devanagari (the script on the screen)...  slowly and awkwardly, but I can read it.  So.... now I know my gate number.   (And a bit of wandering about would have led me to a Departures sign in English.  I just enjoyed dealing with the first one I found!!!)

Arriving at the gate, I find a helpful sign saying that announcements will not be made at the gate.   Shhhhhh.  In the airport, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.  (Peace, peace, peace).  OK, no problem!   I am a cheerful and resourceful traveler, and I will simply check the gate information!  But I look at the gate information sign and.....

Nothing.   Not a clue.  Blank.

Sigh.

Actually, there was a fair bit of confusion at that particular airport, where a gate was changed (without an announcement, of course) and neither the agent at Gate 1 nor the agent at Gate 2 had a clue about what was going on.  Fortunately, an Indian traveler figured it out, and we all moved to the correct gate.  I was pretty relieved when I actually boarded that plane!!!


 

My favorite works of Indian fiction

These are not in any particular order. (Although I will admit that A Fine Balance is in the number one position for a reason.)

A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry
Set in the 1970's, during the state of emergency in India.  This is not just my favorite work of Indian fiction... it's the best book I have read. 
http://smile.amazon.com/A-Fine-Balance-Rohinton-Mistry/dp/140003065X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413994422&sr=8-1&keywords=a+fine+balance

A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth
For an Indian woman (er... girl), the search for a "suitable boy" becomes an all-consuming process.  This classic book is set in the 1950's. 
http://smile.amazon.com/Suitable-Boy-Novel-Modern-Classics/dp/0060786523/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413994463&sr=8-1&keywords=a+suitable+boy

The Toss of a Lemon, by Padma Viswanathan
The story of a proper Brahmin widow and her family.  Evocative and engaging.
 http://smile.amazon.com/Toss-Lemon-Padma-Viswanathan-ebook/dp/B003K16PNW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413994492&sr=8-1&keywords=toss+of+a+lemon

Sacred Games, by Vikram Chandra
A police story - but so much more than that.  This is a massive novel, and may prove a little hard to get into.... but really worth the effort.
http://smile.amazon.com/Sacred-Games-A-Novel-P-S/dp/0061130362/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413994656&sr=8-2&keywords=vikram+chandra

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, by Kiran Desai
A rollicking good time.  
http://smile.amazon.com/Hullabaloo-Guava-Orchard-A-Novel/dp/0802144500/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413994697&sr=8-1&keywords=guava+orchard

Train to Pakistan, by Khushwant Singh
Set during Partition.  Deeply moving.
 http://smile.amazon.com/Train-Pakistan-Khushwant-Singh/dp/0802132219/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414161356&sr=8-1&keywords=train+to+pakistan

The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
This is a book where I find myself saying "it's like that scene in Inheritance of Loss, where..."  --  the scenes and the characters stayed with me long after I had finished the book.
http://smile.amazon.com/The-Inheritance-Loss-Kiran-Desai/dp/0802142818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414161322&sr=8-1&keywords=the+inheritance+of+loss

The Death of Vishnu, by Manil Suri
Vishnu is dying in the stairwell... and the entire book takes place while he is dying.  You will feel like you have met the characters, and at dinner time you may be able to smell the chapattis cooking. (This was Suri's first novel, and I loved it -- but I was disappointed in his other novels.)
http://smile.amazon.com/The-Death-Vishnu-A-Novel/dp/0393342824/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413994731&sr=8-1&keywords=death+of+vishnu

The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga
Members of my Indian fiction book group all loved this one.  Hard to put down.
http://smile.amazon.com/White-Tiger-Novel-Aravind-Adiga/dp/1416562605/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413994767&sr=1-1&keywords=white+tiger

The Space Between Us, by Thrity Umrigar
Deeply moving story about castes and relationships.  A wonderful read.
http://smile.amazon.com/Space-Between-Us-Thrity-Umrigar/dp/006079156X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413994992&sr=1-1&keywords=the+space+between+us

Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts

Gritty, and a great read.  (I did not like the sequel The Mountain Shadow as well, alas.)

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B002U5HKZ6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

The City of Joy, by Dominique LaPierre.

Non-fiction -- but as easy to read as a novel.  I was so moved by this story.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0446355569/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i10

And a few more books that I really enjoyed

Serious Men, by Manu Joseph
The Sari Shop, by Rupa Bajwa
Everything written by Rohinton Mistry -- all of his books are wonderful
The House of Blue Mangoes, by David Davidar
Tiger Hills, by Sarita Mandanna

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay  

Driving in India

The slow version.  Traffic in most of the cities includes cars, trucks, three wheelers (autorickshaws, sort of like a golf cart with a yellow roof), two-wheelers, bicycles, pedestrians... and not infrequently, cows, goats, and other animals.  All of this makes for some *massive* traffic jams. This video captures some of the sense of Brownian motion as everyone tries to figure out a way forward:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NZVSiAy6c4

The highway version.  Most of the "highways" are two lanes.  The lane on the right hand side is for oncoming traffic.  The goal of each driver is to pass as many other vehicles as possible.... and since passing puts the driver into the lane facing oncoming traffic, this leads to some interesting situations.  This video captures some of the feeling of constant passing maneuvers:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAWDEcDgbQs

The longest drive of my life was from Indore back to the ashram, in a hired car.  In the dark.  In torrential rain.  With high winds, and trees down all over the place. It was... well, an opportunity for personal growth!

Book review: Sideways on a Scooter, by Miranda Kennedy

I love the title of this book.  In India, there are about a zillion "two-wheelers"  - aka motorcycles.  The vast majority are driven by Indian males, and in many cases a woman is perched sideways behind him on the bike.  (And in *way* too many cases, there are two-three children aboard as well, including a baby in her arms, one on her lap, and one squished between the two adults.)

The "sideways on a scooter" idea is cultural - it is considered improper for a woman to straddle a motorcycle.  On my most recent trip to India, I did see some women driving motorcycles - but they are a decided minority!

So... based on the terrific and evocative title, I started this book with high hopes.  It's hard to put my finger on why I was disappointed.  The author does not follow any sort of a timeline.... the narrative jumps by months and years, with no explanation of the intervening time.

Things I liked:  some of the descriptions are excellent.  This passage is very evocative:

I'd moved around the corner from my old barsati in Nizamuddin, and although my new apartment was fully indoors, we still couldn't stave off the ooze and creep of the humid season.  The spices disintegrated into a soggy mash in their leaky jars.  The chapati bloomed with fungus just hours after Radha made it. Brilliant green mold rose up in a shimmering line along the windowsills.  Millipedes scuttled along the walls, and hordes of mosquitoes hovered around the sink.  The transparent geckos gorged themselves all day on the insects in my kitchen.

And I thought she did a good job with caste distinctions - why it still mattered so, so much to both her servants and to the people she had befriended in India.

Overall, I guess I would give this one a B.... some good sections, but I was unhappy with the uneven and unpredictable jumps in the narrative and in the timeline.

Amazing Grace

I listened to this in the car last night, and was really struck by how strongly it rings true for me:

          Through many dangers, toils and snares
          I have already come;
          'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
          And grace will lead me home.

I have been thankful for the grace flowing in abundance through my life.... but if I had to pick one grace-filled moment, it would be the moment when I was meditating with my teacher and found that my heart had been torn open with light and love.  I had that feeling very strongly as a child, but lost it along the way... and after that experience with my teacher, never lost it again.  (I wrote about that experience in my first post on this blog.)

The hard part is remembering that we are safe, and grace will lead us home.

One Omkareshwar experience - we drove to Ujjain.  As we drove toward Indore, we could see that we were driving into heavy black storm clouds.    We spent an incredibly long day of driving and visiting spiritual sites in Ujjain, walking around in heavy rain, including some stressful times walking with bare feet in water and mud and who-knows-what.  The sites we visited were really interesting, and Swamiji really knows how to tell a story!, but it was a long day.

The day started at 5AM, fast forward and it's now 6PM, and we are looking at a two+ hour drive back to Omkareshwar, and then a boat ride to the island and home to the ashram.   Right around the time we left Indore and headed for home, the storm really ratcheted up.  The rain was torrential, and for added dramatics, the storm threw in massive thunder and lightning right overhead, and tree-knocking-down winds.  (Did I mention that "It never rains in India at this time of year."  Ha.)  The road out of Indore is unbelievably treacherous, with switchback after switchback in the two lane road.  Now add to that the Indian way of driving, which involves passing everything in your lane by darting in and out of oncoming traffic. (This is nerve-rattling on a GOOD day, in the sunshine, with moderate traffic... )  So there we are, nine souls packed into this SUV, in this terrible storm, darting in and out of oncoming traffic.  After about an hour of this, I said to my friend sitting next to me, "Anybody besides me concerned about how we will cross the river in this storm?"  Because in a severe lightning storm, one (seriously!)  does not want to be in a wooden boat out on a river!  We had no backup plan - once we made the decision to leave Indore, we were committed.  We were in the middle of nowhere... it was not an option to just change the plan and stop at the Holiday Inn for the night.

So we talked about this on and off for about 45 minutes.  We discussed the possibility of walking from the village to the ashram (there is a pedestrian bridge) - but that was not a great plan either.  The walk out to the ashram is hilly, with many many sets of stairs - and we were in a pounding rain with lightning, and no flashlights. No overnight options in the village.... and having the nine of us sleep in the car would certainly be less than ideal!  We did mention the fact that Swamiji would almost certainly have talked to us about "Why are you worried?  Have trust... "

And when we reached the village, the rain began to decrease... and by the time we traveled through the village to the boat dock, the rain had stopped.  And the boatwala was right there where he was supposed to be, at the dock.  We piled into the boat, and had a most peaceful crossing of the Narmada... black sky with a zillion stars overhead, and a horizon still lit by remote lightning flashes. (I think that for the rest of my life, the term "relieved" will bring back the feelings I had that night as our boat crossed that river.) When our tired little group made it to top of the long set of stairs from the landing to the ashram, three or four hours later than expected... we were met with warm hugs and great relief by our friends Steve and Michele, who had not accompanied us to Ujjain.  We all headed for our rooms and washed up... and then one by one, still a little worried, we all found ourselves back at the top of the stairs waiting to greet the other group of friends traveling in another car.  They arrived safely about half an hour later.

So.  What did we all learn from that experience?  My friend said that she learned SO much about letting go and trusting the flow.  I wish I could say that I share that... but mostly I learned that I never never ever want to be out in that kind of severe weather, especially on a dark winding road in India! And that thought brings me back here...

          Through many dangers, toils and snares
          I have already come;
          'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
          And grace will lead me home.

Would it have made a difference if I had been able to trust the flow?  Well, on the upside, it certainly would have made the adventure less stressful. (Swamiji would probably have thought that the adventure was fun, but he thinks *everything* is fun!)  In the end, we were all (thank you very much, presiding deities) safe and sound, and our worrying had not helped one bit to get us to that state.  I don't know.  It's hard.
 

Sanskrit and Hindi

When you hang out with books about Hinduism, you begin to pick up some Sanskrit words... ahimsa (non-violence), sadhana (the spiritual journey), deva/devi (god/goddess).  So when I went to Divinity School, I signed right up for Sanskrit.

Oh.  Oh my.

So here's the thing about trying to learn Sanskrit.

First, it's written in Devanagari (Devanagari means "Writing of the Gods"), so you have to get past that.  Devanagari is easy to identify, by the bar across the top of the letters.... looks like this:

ॐ भूर्भुवः॒ स्वः॒
तत्स॑वितुर्वरे॑ण्यम्
भ॒र्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धीमहि।
धियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया॑त्॥

Second, Sanskrit has interesting rules, called sandhi.  The first two lines of Sanskrit just above looks like four words, right?  Um, not so fast.  It's actually the first two lines of the Gayatri mantra, including eight words, from the Yajur Veda  Transliterated, it looks like this:

Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ

tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ

bhárgo devásya dhīmahi

dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt

The sandhi rules cause the words to run together....   so, in effect, in that second line,  tat savitur varenyam becomes tatsaviturvarenyam.   (I am absolutely not going to try to explain why specific sandhi rules caused them to run together.  There are many, many sandhi rules.  Dauntingly many.  Staggeringly many.)

Sandhi makes it hard to even identify which words you are trying to translate.  The example above, transliterated ....  has become one long string of characters, tatsaviturvarenyam.  So your first task is to figure out the separate words in that long string of characters.

Third, like Latin, Sanskrit is fully inflected.  This means that every word includes all of the grammatical information about that word in that context.  In English, if we take three words...   Boy throws ball.... and toss them in the air, we have difficulty reconstructing the sentence.  Could be Ball throws boy.  Not a problem with Sanskrit, where Boy would clearly be in nominative case, the subject of the sentence.  Each noun is identified by gender, case, and number (singular, dual, and plural) for each of the eight cases.  This means that there are 24 forms of EVERY noun.  (Mercifully, dual is not used very often... )   Verbs are fun also.

Fourth, Sanskrit is an astonishingly rich language.  One can say the same thing (in English) a dozen different ways in Sanskrit, and one can translate any given Sanskrit into a dozen different English meanings.  I think because of that richness, Sanskrit poetry is unbelievably gorgeous.  In Divinity School, we had a scholar come and read Sansrit poetry for us, and then translate the poems.  That was one of the *best* classes.

But when I left Divinity school after two years of Sanskrit, I gave up.  It was just too challenging.  (One of my friends in Div School had studied Chinese, and said that Sanskrit was *much* more difficult.)

The good news about any of that? I did learn how to read Devanagari, which is also used in Hindi.Sanskrit's relationship to Hindi, is something like the relationship of Latin to Italian.  (Any linguists reading this blog?  Ah, that would be the people yelping in horror about that sentence.)

I have studied Hindi on and off for years... each time I have stopped because it's just too challenging.  The Devanagari is hard.  The sentence structure is nothing like English.... if you are studying a romance language like French, you need to learn many words - but the sentence structures of French and English are very similar.  Native Hindi speakers talk a mile a minute.  (They same the same about English speakers!)

So a couple of things happened when I was in India.  First, I was looking at the Sanskrit for the homa, the fire ceremony.  And one thing led to another, and I found myself talking to a French Sanskritist who put her files on a thumb drive for me.  When I got home and looked at those files - I was fascinated by her work. (And a tiny bit challenged by the fact that the explanatory text was all provided in French, not English.)  Talking with Naniji made me very wistful for Sanskrit.

The other things that happened - I was trying to order a couple of things in a shop, and the shopwala and I were pretty much failing to communicate.  (That ending -walla, or -vala -- means "the person who does this, the person who knows about this.  Can be used with English or Hindi words.  For example, one buys books from the bookwala, or one buys books from the kitaabwala.  One buys chai from the chaiwala, etc.) So after a couple of tries, in some desperation, I decided to try saying it in my clumsy Hindi... and his face lit up, and he got my things for me.   And I got a kick out of being able to read signs written in Devanagari....  including finding many instances where an English word was written in Devanagari rather than being translated at all. 

So I came home all fired up to try - again - with Hindi. Even a little bit... a few words... helps!