India - the good, the bad and the ugly

This is my last post in India, and I wanted to write about the things I've noticed and learnt along the way, although there is so much that I'm sure I'll miss something:

1. Indian men are often sen walking hand in hand and arm in arm - in fact they are not gay (apparently), it is just the way. Homosexuality is actually illegal in this Country although Mumbai is leading the fight against this law.
2. A country of contradictions - Indian people are known to brush their teeth for 20 minutes or more. They are actually incredibly hygienic in the way they eat and share food and drink, never touching the mouth of a bottle with their lips. However the streets are their landfills, and the rivers their sewers and many people have luminous orange teeth.
3. In some regions of India, widows are complete outcasts of society. It used to be that they were burnt to death and some say that this still happens although it is rare.
4. If you are born into a low Hindu caste, and you get sick, you might refuse treatment and put your life in fate's (or the gods) hands. I learnt this from a Spanish girl who was working for MSF in the Bihar region after the floods this year.
5. In Delhi (and elsewhere), people tap into the electricity grid illegally, and if you walk the streets with your eyes to the sky you'll see knots and tangles of wires pulled in through people's windows.
6. Speaking of electrics - why are there SO many switches everywhere? Every room I've entered has a minimum of 6 switches, although only 1 light and 1 fan.
7. People advertise their children in the local papers (in Delhi) for arranged marriages. Similar to a lonely hearts column.
8. Indian salesmen are the best in the world.
9. A camel costs from 10000-20000 rupees (GBP 130 - 250)
10. During Diwali, thousands of Owls are sacrificed - tortured, mutilated and bled to death as a sacrifice to bring wealth and fortune.
11. As urban growth accelerates, so do pollution levels. For the past 15 years the Indian Government has been procrastinating about introducing a high capacity bus system that allows buses to run in dedicated lanes where no other vehicles can enter. It is cheap as it doesn't require new road space to be constructed. This has been proven to work in South America and other countries, yet still hasn't been introduced anywhere here yet. At times in these cities you can barely breathe or see past the smog, and no-one seems to care to do anything about it.
12. The poverty. I was naive and stupid to think that it wasn't that bad. I thought that, although India is a developing country, the economy was catching up rapidly with the west. Now I'm not convinced. I can understand why global warming is not high up on the agenda when the majority of people are just surviving on 100 rupees a day. Last night I walked back at night, past the men sleeping in their taxis, or on the pavement amongst the giant rats and stench of urine. If I hadn't looked down I may have stood on the small 2 or 3 year old, wearing nothing but a vest curled up asleep on the road. I wanted to take him home but then what about the other children, mothers and babies? There doesn't seem to be a refuge for them. I can buy a big bag of rice that will last a boy 4 months, and maybe some milk so that a mother can feed her baby, but then what? And what about the others? At first it was a challenge, and then there was pity and frustration, and then a certain numbness to it all. And now I feel tired and very sad.
    

Although I feel relieved to be leaving in a way, I also feel a horrible guilt to be turning my back on these people. Ghandi would be disappointed in me. Maybe I should take a leaf out of his book and give up my material life and devote myself to the poor. But I know I'm not going to. I'll go straight back to my nice flat, with my nice clothes and expensive food and moan about the weather in England.

I think I understand this country less now than I did before I arrived. It's such a massive, unique blend of history, culture, character and religion and to get to the heart of it would take a lifetime. One thing I do know for sure is that I will definitely be coming back - Bollywood beckons.