"Everything is special in India" (Day 38 of the world trip)

10/12/2019

Today we didn't do much for most of the day, which is also nice (there are more and more days like this and we are getting used to it :p). First, we had breakfast, watched climbing, and then went bouldering after lunch :)

Both of us were a bit fitter this time while bouldering, so I enjoyed it even more ;-) It's kind of cool when you can complete routes that you couldn't before on the second attempt :D

After bouldering, we actually wanted to go to the mall again to withdraw cash (who knows when we will have good luck with an ATM again^^) and have dinner there. Oh well. By the way, we had to move from our 4-bed room to an 8-bed room and now we were sharing a room with Haril (the South Indian who is studying in China and waiting for his visa...). I asked him if he wanted to go to the mall and he agreed. I just quickly took a shower, but when I was done, the plan had changed :D

Haril had shown Jonas on Uber Eats what he ordered there recently for only 140 rupees - a special thali. Actually, I didn't want Indian food again, but I wanted to stick to my rude version and go for Western food, but now it was 2 against 1 :D Of course, I could have said no, but I went along with the majority and also ordered a dish there. Haril kindly explained what everything is (because the Indian names don't tell me anything and it would have been a hassle to google every dish^^). With his help, Davinder, another roommate, joined the conversation. With his help, we ordered something for me that was allegedly not spicy :p

Many of the dishes had the word "special" in their name, and at some point, Davinder dryly remarked that everything in India is always "special" ;-)

I knew that I shouldn't rely on the judgment of Indians when it comes to which dish is not spicy, but somehow I had hoped that the level of spiciness would be okay. Quite naive ;-) Because when my dish came, a kind of stew and naan bread (a type of flatbread), I unfortunately found out that it was quite spicy. I ate a few spoonfuls because it tasted quite good, but unfortunately, I had to give up... At least I got two small sweet dessert pieces, which made up for it <3

Starting with the food and continuing afterwards, we had long conversations with Haril, Davinder, and later with a third guy. They all wanted to know our conclusion about India and gave us a lot of tips for South India, but they also listed what we missed in the North :D

It's really cool to see how proud Indians are of their respective states :) We exchanged numbers and we might receive and take up some tips via WhatsApp. Really nice!

By the way, Davinder is a family man who actually comes from Punjab and may now move to Delhi for work. For this, he has rented a room in our hostel for 2-3 months to try out his new job (he sells software) and organize the possible move. During this time, his wife and child live away from him, so that the little son doesn't have to change schools in the middle of the school year.

Well. Something like this probably also exists in Germany, but apparently it is absolutely not uncommon here in India to do this. The reason is that the work in well-paid, internationally active industries is concentrated in few cities in India, and then it has to be considered how to reconcile this with the population numbers...

By the way, our conclusion about Northern India is actually quite positive. We had certain expectations from the horror stories about the dirt, stench, and poverty, but it wasn't that bad. Of course, all these things exist, but the stories you often hear are sometimes exaggerated, at least when you consider the overall picture.

Of course, in a slum, it is probably like you imagine it, but on the streets, there are also sections where you can see that efforts are being made to change this image (for example, the campaign against plastic bags). India still has a long way to go, but things are already happening.

Oh yeah. And one topic that has particularly occupied me is the role of women. In villages or even in poor settlements, you often see that women are subordinate to men. But as a woman in Delhi, for example, I felt super safe. Especially in public transport, great attention is paid to taking the reports of sexual assaults seriously.

There are special seats for women on buses, at the front behind the driver, and there are also seats reserved for women in the metro, which are actually respected. If a man is sitting in this seat and a woman gets on, the man will make room for her, "Seats for Ladies" it says very politely. In addition, the first coach of the metro is reserved for women, so that they can travel undisturbed, for example, in the evening. So, this issue is not being brushed under the carpet :)

Well. Tomorrow we will fly to Trivandrum. We are excited! :)