Well, there has been limited vacillation on the part of this author about whether to write, given that articling season is in full swing and half of his 2011 cohort have changed their Facebook names to hide their profiles from the eye of Sauron. Yet, India was so much fun that I would be remiss not to recall some of my favourite experiences. Lastly, if you are looking for in-depth legal analysis in this article, stop reading.
In India, one of the more peculiar experiences for which a Westerner may not be prepared is the sheer number of people defecating and urinating in the road. While sanitation in India is obviously problematic -- consider, for instance, that there are reputedly 32 sewers which empty directly into the Ganges at Varanasi -- it is still astonishing, for me at least, to see someone pull down their pants and deposit a stool onto the roadside for all to see. I am not suggesting that it is wrong per se; rather, I find the public display unusual. As an aside, a coworker of a relative (so be cognizant of the potentiality of corruption of veracity by indirect communication) working in Mumbai tallied TSIRs (total shits in road) for his daily commute, and the data revealed seasonal variations.
Our hotel in Varanasi was interesting, too. Despite excellent reviews on the internet, our hotel was infested with ants and lizards (the latter of which I quite like), and there was a territorial dispute between dogs, outside, in the early hours, about two afters after a confrontation between young men, which had brought both myself and the hotel manager outside to spectate. Needless to say, there was little sleep -- particularly as we had later discovered that our air conditioning had broken because the electric wiring on the exterior of our room had caught on fire (which explained the bang after the human fight but before the dog fight). Furthermore, Varanasi was also notable for a decomposing cow corpse floating down the Ganges (entrails exposed); this corpse was about 150 feet away from the bathers. My wife, a biologist and former quality control inspector at an abattoir, noted sarcastically that the cows are holy, so perhaps it was safe to be in the water with the corpse.
Taxi rides are also interesting. In Amritsar, my wife kept on kicking me when I questioned why our taxi driver ran red lights. When we arrived at the hotel, she pointed out to me that the exceedingly nice Toyota van in which we were riding was in fact a police vehicle. But this was not the most unusual element of taxi rides in India: the negotiations after the ride often were. Twice in Delhi I had to renegotiate the fare after arriving at the location. Certainly, the terms of the fare were well established before we set off. I would use both a map and a name or address, get the driver to confirm the itinerary, and both audibly and visually indicate a price (for which I would demand confirmation). On the most unusual occasion, in 43-degree heat, we arranged a short rickshaw ride for 15 rupees and there was no miscommunication about where we needed to go. After getting to the location without incident, the driver demanded 20 rupees, a number which had never arisen during negotiation. As 5 rupees is about 12 cents, and as it was 43 degees, I obliged, but felt cheated nonetheless.
But I did not feel too cheated. Why? India is a different kind of place. Take this example. On the first class carriage of a train, I asked the attendant where the garbage was. He held out his hands, I placed the bottle and wrapper in his hands, and he turned around, opened the door, and threw the garbage off the train.
In summary, I had heard that India can really get under the skin of experienced travelers, which, for me, was part of its allure (and, indeed, I yelled at someone for the first time in seven years), but India is pretty fun because it is so different. I would not recommend India for a relaxing vacation, unless, of course, one can afford luxurious digs at the Oberoi hotels, but it is a heck of a good time.
Oh ya, the Taj Mahal, Golden Temple, Mehrangarh Fort, and Ranthambore National Park are nice.
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