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Muslims praying at noon. The number might be 20 times more than people in mosque(at right edge), and more than people walking in-and-out the train station. I didn't see such amount all together at the same time even in Islamic countries.
Arcade game playing in the slum. There're King of Fighters and Metal Slug. 1 Rupee for 1 play, but no rivals, pity.
Crickets everywhere, no matter how tiny the space is, how few people are. Only 1 pitcher and 1 batter could be a whole world. No one would be worried about flying balls, except the foreigners.
A sleeping man at a corner of a wall. One of my favorite about Indians is that everybody could sleep everywhere. Finding a good spot and put blankets on, they could sink in sleeping like a baby. Passing by noisy wheels would never wake them up.
A monkey enjoying being with people. Indians respect not only cows but all other animals. Don't offend monkeys here since you might probably lose fighting them.
The most friendly instrument shop I'd even seen, though the price is not friendly at all.
Gangster lambs. But tattoos refer to identification, not violence, which I think it's not necessary. Cattle and lambs know their owners and the way back home. It's not really needed to prevent them from thieves, so might still being gangster tattoos.
Why are there cattle everywhere in India? Indians raise cattle mainly for their milk and milk products. There's not much space for raising cattle in the cities, so Indians let cattle go anywhere. By sunset cattle would come back by themselves. What interests me is, cattle who have rubbish all day long could still make fresh milk. And they are so capable to find their way back, while foreigners like me are still wandering around those narrow Indian labyrinths. Cattle are admirable.
A Sikh. They neither cut hair(just wash) nor shave for the whole life. Sikhs have more respect and higher hierarchy if they have longer and bushier hair/beards. The Sikh temples, which are everywhere and provide free meals, are good places for travelers. I visited my first Sikh temple in Nairobi, Kenya, and had a meal with guys there. The meal contained chapati, curry, potatoes and a kind of green vegetables called lady's fingers.
A typical Indian family meal, tearing chapatis and wrapping with curry, potatoes, sauces, onions, fruits, accompanying with drinking lassi or chai, then a cup of milk tea after meal. Full vegetarian. There're different dishes coordinating in different areas. Above is an example from Punjab.
A drink stall by the road. Fresh juices are available but not so cheap. It's just wasting money if you don't get used to tap water before trying this. Hot weather makes delicious juices. From this point of view, Sudan is hotter than India.
Jesus under umbrella.
There're so many different religions in India, and everybody is working together finely. Although there're few religious conflicts, the tolerance and respect between different religions are definitely one of the best in the world. I believe this has something to do with the easygoing Indians. Just like other places, religious people are getting fewer and fewer, no matter which religion. Some rare religions are disappearing.
Shrine in a pharmacy, a small place on a cabinet. The praying and worshiping processes are not so much different from Taiwanese ways. Mr. elephant(Ganesha) is the most common seen one.
Growing marijuana. It's illegal to smoke marijuana, but they are growing everywhere. You might just take some on your way home, grinding then smoke it as long as you know how. I always heard "hashishi" while walking in tourist spots. Marijuana business covers tourism and police system, which sounds like very profitable. Many foreigners came to India for marijuana, and stayed for 3-5 years. This makes it more and more annoying to apply Indian visas. Since marijuana here is so overflowing and biased in quality, it's better to have some knowledge of marijuana then come here to relax, if you don't want to die for it.
Dry cattle shit being used to burn for cooking. It's daily essential.
Holy body of Shiva, made by stones or woods. You would see this in most Shiva temples, while sculptures or portraits in just a few temples. People would walk around it clockwise, touch it with hands or heads, pray, put down flowers tenderly, then walk out of the temple along the same path. People are required to take their shoes off before entering temples, sometimes men are required to take their shirts off. It's usually dark and humid inside, lots of people squeezing together and won't be able to see much.
Forbidden items in Taj Mahal. This picture tell the difficulty to understand Indians. By the way, no Indians would wear helmet while riding a motorbike, neither I could see people selling helmets, who actually would bring a helmet to visit Taj Mahal?
Moving broadcasters while making festivals. It's so attractive just by looking. We should have some of them in Taiwan. Indians love horning VERY MUCH. They just horn for fun and don't really care if there's anyone in front, including the trains. Foreigners who don't know about this might believe there're cattle everywhere along the rails.
Praying people around big bodhi tree on the birthday of Buddha. Catholic holy choruses, Muslims' prays, Buddhists' chanting, voices with simple and repeating rhyme always make me feel calm and peaceful. People with books usually chant harmonically. People without books chant in their own paths. Since the rhyme and tunes are similar, it's hard to tell the differences. I found this by accident.
Ba'an, wrapping tobacco, spices, sugar with leaves, chewing then spitting some liquid out. I used to call it Indian betel nut.(almost the same as how people have betel nuts in Taiwan)
A night in the train station lobby, and my room mates. Something I would definitely miss after leaving India.
2 families in a tent by the road in Mumbai.
People, who lived in tents by the streets, rivers, garbage yards, parks, are not always because they are poor. Many of them have lands and houses in the country sides. For making more money, they would bring a few luggage and their families, jumping on trains and go to the cities, finding a good spot to stay and living toughly. While the monsoon seasons come, or garbage is full, they just pull out stakes and move to another place. I heard more than half of those street families are outsiders of Mumbai, and there comes more and more outsiders every season, every year. There are not so much jog offers of course, so those volunteering refugees spend most of their time wandering around, occasionally doing retailing or construction jobs.
Piling firewood in Varanasi. They use special firewood, which was transported by rafts from the mountains of upper Ganges River. It takes 150 KG firewood to burn a body, which is costly. It would cost people more if they want to burn bodies with the 3-thousand-year burning eternal fire in the temple. Cremations are for rich families.
Some young guys working around cremation sites would "kindly" introduce the cremation process and sites for you, including a nearby building where homeless and disable people are waiting for dying, then ask you to donate some money for those dying people for food. I don't believe their stories much. Those so-called dying people wear much better than the homeless in any random Indian street. Moreover, they would guide you somewhere and tell you that you might be able to take photos of cremations from this spot. This is a lie. Not a single family, from my understanding, would allow people photographing the cremations of their beloveds. If you believe those young guys' stories and take photos, then no one comes to you and punch you at the face, that's just because they don't want to offend you and give you respect. You are totally losing dignity of yourself and your country. Family folks would not stop those young kids(who would charge you after you take photos) out of the empathy of understanding those young fellows' business. But I'm sure you would piss them off if you do take shots. I was so willing to smash up some Spanish guys there, having guide books with them, when they were ready to shoot the cremations. Gladly Indians around started yelling at them. I don't believe there's any guide book without noting "do not photograph cremation in Varanasi" in it. Those arrogant tourists always annoy me.
A broken car on the road. This one is at normal level. Once I saw a car with merely 4 wheels running toward me, then I ask an Indian guy, "Is there a war in front?"
Inside a tea factory in Darjeeling.
There're 2 harvesting seasons of tea around Darjeeling, Assam, Nepal, Bhutan and around. The first flush is from March to May, second flush is from June to August. It's been told that smell of Darjeeling tea matters more than taste. People said the second flush is better, meaning the second flush smells better. Although it really depends(on people's smelling), the price of second flush is indeed a bit higher than first flush.
Better tea leaves are going to other countries. Most of the tea shops in Darjeeling are for tourists, which have exporting and semi-exporting tea on sell and of course higher price. Local restaurants and hotels buy tea from markets and bazaars. The tea leaves are still completed, good looking but less fragrant. Probably they are from the bottom of tea trees. Those tea cost much less.
None of any tea leaves would be smelling better than inside the tea factory, which is so sweet and fragrant. I'd never had this kind of smell on any kinds of selling tea leaves. Even in a factory room without any tea leaves and with all windows opened, the smell is still strong and won't be gone for a long time.
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