In this new blog post I am going to talk about the “False myths about India”.
Whenever I travel to India, many people start telling stories of a friend of a friend, who by the way no one knows who has been told things about India that most are usually false.
The image they give us of India is always sadness, poverty and lately because of the rapist news, and I can assure you that it is very far from reality, so in this new blog post we are going to try to remove those terrible clichés!
I have heard that there are people who go crazy after visiting India.
And have you believed it? Could it not be that he was already touched enough there…? I understand that there are people who travel to India and stay there longer than expected, it is a magical place, but as much as it is like going crazy…..
Have you ever wondered why you travel? Surely it has to do with the desire to have new experiences and why do you want new experiences? To progress as a person, right? Well, that’s a trip to India, an accumulation of life experiences that will make you progress as a person, in your way of seeing life, an investment in your happiness, in your life formation. Wonderful madness!
I’ve been told that India smells bad.
That’s not true, it smells different, smells full of life, spices or incense. Smells that will captivate you, that will always remind you of that wonderful trip.
I’m going to see a lot of poverty
It is a delicate issue, it is true that there is poverty, but unfortunately as in all parts of the world, India must work so that all slums or slums disappear and have decent housing, but you will surely be much more struck by the joy, vitality and happiness of its inhabitants. You’ll see!.
The way of life in India is different from the West, The religions they profess make them not so materialistic, that they look more within themselves than outside, that they worry much less about accumulating things. In that they are different.
It is curious that in the eyes of an inexperienced Westerner a renouncer of Hinduism, a sadhu can seem poor or a vagabond, and they are very wrong, it is a very different way of life in which they renounce everything material.
Oh, and don’t worry about the image of hundreds of kids behind you asking for a few coins, it’s not real. Just be prepared for the image of a bunch of Indians behind you asking you to take a picture with them….
The Ganges River is full of floating dead
I have been visiting India and the holiest cities bathed by the Ganges for many years and I can assure you that it is flatly false.
The bodies are cremated until they disappear in the crematoria on the banks of the Ganges or the sacred rivers, only babies, pregnant women, sadhus, lepers or if you have been bitten by a cobra, are the only ones who are not cremated, with a few large stones they sink into the sacred water.
I leave you with an image of one of the crematoria, where they allowed me to take a shot since the bodies were already cremated, it is usually forbidden out of respect for the relatives and you should not take photos.
I can fall ill
Traveling to India is not synonymous with getting sick. Perhaps, with the change in diet and the heat, you may suffer a period of diarrhea. Nothing worrisome, one day dieting and taking saline and you will almost certainly solve it.
Don’t worry, we don’t visit places where you can get sick with malaria, that’s a disease present in rural areas. We visit cities, where with a minimum of caution, you will see that you do not have to worry.
I’m going to be eaten by rats and cockroaches.
To begin with, we must know that the rat in India is sacred , in fact there is a temple dedicated to them, the temple of Karni Mata. In the train areas we can see some but not as many as they count… People really like to exaggerate. As with the famous cockroaches, I have been going to India for many years and I have seen some of them but almost the same as in Spain.
I won’t be able to eat anything, I don’t think the food is safe.
Indian food is very rich and varied, in each area they have their specialties. A common characteristic is that it stings, although you can always specify that you don’t get spicy.
Most Indians are vegetarians, so their cuisine is also vegetarian. Rich and elaborate vegetarian dishes, pasta, rice and some chicken, that will be our diet.
We get to know the areas and restaurants we visit on the Photo Trips we organize. They are clean and safe, you can eat with peace of mind. Still take your precautions, take care of your hand hygiene, don’t drink unbottled water, no ice….. You’ll see that food is not a problem.
If you still see it wrong, you should know that there is also MacDonald, of course.. in the Indian style with the famous McMaharaja, you know that they don’t eat cow, it’s sacred.
I still have problems, they are not welcoming to tourism.
I have visited more than 50 countries, and I assure you that, along with Nepal, I have not seen such welcoming people in any country. They make you feel that you are also part of that country.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to withstand the heat. I’m worried about the monsoon.
In summer in India it is hot, I would avoid the months of May and June, or visit mountain area.
The humid environment increases the thermal sensation. Have you visited Andalusia, New York, Italy, Greece….? Well, you can get the idea. You sweat but you can hold it well. That shouldn’t be an impediment to missing the trip. And don’t worry about the monsoons, they are appreciated. Intense rains of approximately one hour duration that cool the atmosphere.
However, we also organize trips on other dates, a cool atmosphere and no monsoons.
I’m going to get dehydrated.
Don’t even think about it. In India they sell bottles of water everywhere for less than ten cents.
I don’t know if I’m going to be able to carry my backpack all day long.
Who said that to go to India you have to carry a backpack? From the airports or train stations we will take a taxi or tuks tuks that will take us directly to the hotels. You don’t need a backpack for luggage, I carry a small trolley. If you want, you can carry a small backpack so you don’t check in the photographic equipment on the plane and put your personal belongings. A small trolley of no more than 60 liters and a backpack to carry your photography equipment will be enough.
I will suffer discrimination for being a woman.
In India, more than in the category of woman, you will be pigeonholed in the category of foreigners. Their macho customs and attitudes do not go with you. They will respect you like any other foreigner, they know that you belong to another culture. Of course, to enter their temples they will ask you to cover your legs and shoulders (a sarong is fine).
Trains don’t seem safe to me.
To give you an idea of the immensity and importance of the Indian railway network, I will give you a couple of facts: it is the second largest railway network in the world and moves about 5,000 million passengers per year. Every day, an average of more than 8,350 passenger trains travel 80,000 kilometers with 12,500,000 users. What do you think? Impressive, right.
Sometimes we hear that there has been a train accident in India. Remember, 8350 trains running every day…. They are safe.
I am concerned about the safety of my photographic equipment.
Your photographic equipment is totally safe. The same precautions you take in Spain serve you there. India is a very safe country, it is not in the character of the Indians to appropriate what belongs to others. There are also a lot of police that will give you extra security.
Wear your camera around your neck and take all the photos you want, you will have no problems.
I don’t know their language, I’m not going to understand myself.
There are two official languages in India, Hindi and English. You can understand them. And if you don’t know English, resort to body language, gestures, it’s very effective. Oh, and don’t forget that with PhotoTravel you will always be accompanied by a guide who will be your interpreter, don’t worry.
In short, India is a huge, wonderful country, with a rich culture that has managed to maintain its identity. Every year I travel three or four times to India taking photographs in the Photo Trips that I organize with PhotoTravel and every day I feel more ignorant and more eager to return to continue learning.
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