| INDIA TRAVELS >>
SOCIETY AND PEOPLE |
The fabric
of Indian society is woven with myriad threads.
The result is multi-textured, many layered
and though this diversity has fuelled some
dissension, it continues to be India’s
strength.
India is predominantly Hindu and it also has
the world’s largest population of Muslims.
Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Christians (Roman
Catholic, Protestant and Syrian Christian),
Jews and Zoroastrians people this great land.
There is phenomenal ethnic diversity too.
While the people of the north are mainly Indo-Aryan,
in the south they are mostly Dravidian. The
tribal population in the northeast is of Tibeto-Burmese
extract, while the ‘adivasis’
of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are probably
proto Australoid. Language varies almost every
ten miles and India’s billion-strong
population has a total of 1535 recognized
dialects.
One of the most marked things about Indian
society is the great diversity. This applies
to religion, ethnicity and language as much
as to the economic situation. The yawning
gap between the rich and the poor is bridged
by a large middle class of small businessmen,
professionals, bureaucrats etc.
Most Indians actively practice their religion,
and despite the creeping westernisation, most
of India is socially orthodox. That means
that caste distinctions have not been forgotten,
man-woman interaction may be frowned upon,
and the public display of affection is strictly
no-no. The cow is sacred and ‘all ye
who forget that-be doomed’. The left
hand, which is an indispensable tool for Indian
ablutions, is considered impure and isn’t
used in passing things around.
On the whole the Indians are a warm welcoming
people. The guest is next only to God and
crooks and touts notwithstanding, and curious
looks and probing questions notwithstanding,
you’ll find that they are great hosts.
Their idiosyncrasies just make it all the
more interesting; be patient and you will
learn to love the complete package.
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Religion |
India probably
has the most religious diversity in any country.
It’s the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism,
Sikhism and Jainism. It’s among the
few places to have a resident Zoroastrian
population. The Syrian Christian Church is
well established in Kerala; the Basilica of
Bom Jesus in Goa, old churches in Calcutta
and Delhi, synagogues in Kerala, temples from
the tiny to the tremendous, ‘stupas’,
‘gompas’ and the Bodhi tree, the
Ajmer Sharif and Kaliya Sharif in Bombay,
all reflect the amazing multiplicity of religious
practice in India. Tribal people in the northeast,
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat practice forms
of nature worship.
Secularism is enshrined in the Constitution. |
Language |
| The national language
of India is Hindi, which in one form or another
is spoken all over the north. In the Deccan
(south India), the languages are completely
different. The states were formed on the basis
of language so each has its own. On the whole
though, dialects, accents, idioms and linguistic
flourishes change every few miles. There are
18 official languages but over a thousand
recognised dialects. English is widely spoken.
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Imp.
Documents |
All visitors
are required to carry a passport valid at
least for the next 6 months. Visa exemptions
include:
Bhutanese and Nepalese visitors who are staying
for less than 3 months,
Nationals from the Maldives, if they are staying
for a maximum of 90 days (this includes any
periods they may have spent in India up to
6 months prior to the visit in question),
Transit passengers who have a follow-on ticket
within 72 hours of arrival as long as they
are not going to leave the airport.
Special restrictions apply to Pakistani and
Afghan nationals.
Its always wise to check updated visa requirements
prior to travel. |
Customs
& Duties
|
If you
are above 17 years you may import the following
in without attracting duty:
200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 grams of
tobacco, a litre of alcoholic drink, 250 ml
perfume, gifts up to a value of Rupees 4000
(foreign passport holders), gifts up to a
value of Rupees 6000 (Indian passport holders)
and articles of personal use. But its best
to check with the authorities for the specific
details.
It is illegal to bring in drugs, gold and
silver bullion, plants and coins that have
gone out of use.
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Post
& Communications |
Postal
services in India are quite efficient. Letters
overseas must be marked "Air Mail"
or "Par Avion". It takes a week
to 10 days for letters to reach the UK and
the US from Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and
other major cities. Have letters for you
(surname first) addressed to the GPO (General
Post Office) of the city, ‘Poste Restante’.
The post offices hold letters for 30 days,
and you’ll have to show them your
passport for identification.
Parcels are a bit tedious to send or receive
and often when they do finally arrive, they’ve
been tampered with. Courier services are
widely available in the cities and small
towns.
"Cyber cafes" are an increasingly
common fixture in India’s urban landscape,
in major cities and even in smaller towns.
At a fixed rate that varies from city to
city, locality-to-locality, you can check
your mail and surf the net. Very often the
Internet business is an extension of what
used to be a just a "PCO".
In loopy lanes, beneath shady peepul trees,
in busy markets....all over India, little
yellow boards spill out of little kiosks
with the cryptic letters "PCO-STD-ISD"
(..... huh?) 15 years ago the telecommunications
miracle swept India and today, proud bearers
of that legacy, ‘Public Call Offices’
bring to the streets the services of ‘Subscribers’
Trunk Dialling’ and ‘International
Standard Dialling’. Most offer fax
services, and more and more now, Internet
facilities too.
Country code for India: 0091. Codes for
the metros: Delhi-011, Mumbai-022, Calcutta-033
and Chennai-044. When calling from overseas
omit the zero in the city code.
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