As I begin these words we are deep in traffic heading out of Delhi as we find our way to the new motorway that will get us to Jaipur. This image captures some of the feel – a modern SUV edge of shot and historical India by the side of the road.
It’s a perfect metaphor for what is going on here. The global world is upon us, India is at the forefront and if you’re not a part of it you will be left behind.
There is a sharpness to the people that isn’t dependant upon education and status. This rings true from my childhood here. It’s most obvious with the underprivileged – the ability to hone in, without distraction, on exactly what it is you must do – just to survive. There isn’t any government underpinned fallback, no rights or entitlements, no one else to lean on.
Yesterday in traffic I inadvertently made eye contact with a woman selling trinkets into vehicles. Her eyes were piercing and an unusual colour, she sought to look through you. The eye contact technique is a common strategy here. It can be intense and in a sense pushes into an intimate space, kind of without permission. What was unusual was the colour of her eyes – more than most they were her entry point to a sale and she was well practised. For half a second our eyes met and I looked away as she bee lined for our vehicle. The end of that story was predictable with her banging on the window trying to re-engage to sell me bright plastic while I looked anywhere but at her and listened to my daughters chastise me for the initial contact.
^ Street colour
Later on I saw two middle class girls on a scooter who looked 18 or 19. Jean-clad, they were dressed like modern urban youth from anywhere. The driver was piloting, dodging and weaving while the passenger on the back was busy with both hands on a smart phone, using her legs to grip the seat and stay anchored to the bike. I loved it! Once these girls are armed with an education – they should be world beaters, right? In Australia most of us have to manufacture environments to challenge our kids. Here you just leave the house.
^ Shopping at Lajpat Nagar
^ Found some replacement skins for my tabla
^ A local festival
^ Lunch: Xpress Special Virat Thali (accompanying breads not shown)
Not having visited this country for over 30 years (I’ll write about that later) I had prepared myself for change I have long heard about.
Progress is everywhere and people head down looking into smart phones are the most obvious reminder. The growth has been at some crazy rate and if you’re up for it and have cash to burn you can experience the country at a level of opulence that is up there with the very best.
Despite all that, the familiar is what is still all consuming.
^ The streets of Jaipur
Like it always has, the country pulses at every level. As a friend recently said, it’s so highly sensory and constantly stimulates. There is never a dull moment.
The way the use of car horns is like an actual language, the shake of the head to affirm yes, the cows nonchalantly always having right of way, the families of four on scooters (haven’t seen five yet), the incredible food, the generosity of spirit, those who want to take you for all your money, the filth, the beauty, the can do attitude even when they can’t, the constant resourcefulness, the chaos all around, the never ever ever-ending mass of humanity.
This place feels exactly the same, it’s like I never left.
