Back from a BR (I) C

For those of you who may be wondering what the title of this article is about, I’ve just returned from a whirlwind trip to India (hence the (I) ) which included visiting & experiencing several cities of one of the world’s great civilizations and next emerging superpowers. Oh yeah… I forgot to mention the fact that I also had the opportunity to participate in a 22-hour wedding, only to find out the next day that it proceeded on for another 2-hours (after I thought we had reached the finale and bowed out at 3:00 a.m.)

It was fascinating to see firsthand and form my own opinion of what exactly I believe has propelled this country into being a powerhouse and also being able to compare it to a developing country (Uganda) from which I have a large interest in and hold close to my heart.

When I’m usually travelling to the East and even sometimes to Uganda my preference is to travel with Emirates Airlines. I don’t know if it’s the individual movie screens and selection, nice hosts or the warm face towels they pamper you with before and during the flight. This time however we travelled with Lufthansa Airlines (via Frankfort) which meant no movies but at least I got to say Danke, Bitte Schon and display my wide vocabulary of German words. What I will say about Lufthansa airlines is that I enjoyed what probably was my finest airline meal of my life and the ride was comfortable.

After a quick layover in Frankfort airport we landed at the new Rajiv Ghandi International Airport, located in Hyderabad, India (pop. 7,000,000) and I will say this airport is definitely top shelf http://hyderabad.aero/index.html . As I was travelling with my wife and the in-laws who had been to Hyderabad several times before, they informed me that this new airport was 10 times better than the original Hyderabad airport which was located in the center of the city. They then went on to make wagers on how long the airport would be able to last in the nice condition it was in before being damaged. The Rajiv Ghandi airport very much reminded me of another airport which I had visited earlier and rated high as well, that being Suvarnabhumi International Airport of Bangkok http://www.bangkokairportonline.com/node/115 .

On the 45-minute ride from the airport to our accommodation I was amazed at the infrastructure in place. The roads seemed to be almost perfect without potholes and you could see the government was investing large amounts of money by constructing a large overpass which would connect the central part of the city directly to the airport. From my experience travelling in Africa unless something of utter importance was approaching (CHOGM) it was almost a bit bizarre to see the government investing in large scale infrastructure projects of any sort. This was the first time amongst many during my trip in which the importance of infrastructure and the role it plays in development was directly in my face. I think my mother-in-law forgot several times that my family comes from Uganda as she kept on apologizing for the state of the roads when we did encounter the slight pothole. I had to remind her that I had been through much, much worse and there were no problems at all.

After spending one day in Hyderabad and after a heavy duty shopping session we eventually made the way from Hyderabad to Guntur via car which equates to a 6-7 hour car ride excluding time used to switch flat tires caused by fast driving (which we had to do once). Again the roads were in much better condition to ones I have encountered in Uganda.

Guntur became our base for the next week of the trip. Now the relatives all considered Guntur to be a smaller “city” to them and it had a population of around 2 million people. What they consider to be a small city definitely was a bit different than my standards. Guntur was different from Hyderabad in the sense that the Subway’s, McDonald’s and Pizza Huts that we once were able to see were replaced with Gheeta’s Veg & Non-Veg restaurant.

One thing which I noticed during the trip was the prevalence of water. Now I know that India is blessed by the fact of having water surrounded at least 3 sides of its country while Uganda is a landlocked country. Whether we were travelling in the city centers, villages or in the countryside you would see many water pumps, people washing their hands and feet and transporting water from place to place. Water seemed to be in abundance and I thought back to my times in Uganda and seeing people with jerry cans transporting water on bikes for multiple kilometres at a time. You could also see rice paddy fields full to the brim knowing that irrigation was very much instrumental in this.

Now this being my first time to India I had mixed emotions on what to expect. I knew that I would have an absolutely amazing time and it would be great experience but I had some preconceived perceptions.

Right of wrong, having grown up in the United States, in central Illinois, smack middle of the cornfields as a Black man, I am always aware of how I am perceived by others (even as a 29-year old.) Maybe it’s due to the fact that the city in which I grew up in was around 97% white and conservative. Maybe it’s just down to the fact that I am a bit paranoid (racism doesn’t exist does it? i.e. plot to assassinate Barack Obama) With all of this in mind I always thought about how I was going to be looked at walking in India, me with my black skin (even thought some Indians were a shade darker than me and I’m a dark person) walking hand-in-hand with my Indian wife. In the end as always everything was just fine (I put it down to my rock star status.) There were the few odd stares here and there but nothing of any significance, if anything people stared more with a look of bewilderment and amazement versus a stare of discontent.

The remainder of the trip consisted of a lot of touristy attractions which was amazing to see however I wouldn’t be disappointed if I didn’t encounter another tourist guide for another few months. The guides tend to know all the best shops to visit (too many) and they are a must see.

We had the opportunity of visiting the beautiful city of Jaipur and also got to see one of the wonders of the world in the Taj Mahal. It’s evident that the importance education Indians have placed in their communities dating back to the 1700’s and earlier has had a great impact on where the country is today. The country I had the opportunity to see was literally dotted with higher institutions, business schools, IT centers and I must say that I saw some of the finest hospitals (at least from the outside) that I’ve seen in a developed (developing) country.

There is an astrological center in Jaipur that is still functioning to this day and can calculate the time of day within 10 seconds which I don’t consider to be too shabby considering it was build over 300 years ago! The Taj Mahal is another example of pure brilliance as one wonders as to how it was even constructed at that time without cranes. Magnificent craftsmanship with semi-precious and precious stones is displayed on the Taj Mahal and the government seeing that this craft should stay in the Indian community has constructed programs to see that these arts do not vanish from the culture; a step I think is rather noteworthy.

The trip in the end was pure class and I could write on and on about many things which I fortunately left out. If anyone has any questions about the journey please feel free to leave a comment.

India here I come

I've always been fascinated by travel. Seeing different parts of the world opens up our eyes to different cultures, different ways of living and in the end, hopefully makes us better individuals.

I've had a pretty good year for excursions if I do say so myself, and my wallet is definitely suffering, but hey you only live this life once.

In about one and a half hours time I'll be in a taxi on my way to the airport to India for the first time with my lovely wife. We'll be travelling to Hyderabad, Guntur and finally doing some sightseeing in New Delhi.

Needless to say I won't be able to blog freely and therefore everyone is going to have to wait and hear all my stories when I arrive back in the U.K.

As I'm an avid meat eater I'm wondering how I'm going to cope with all the vegetarian dishes that I'll be dining on and where I'll get my energy to write, let alone move.

It's going to be exciting to see a developing country which is rapidly advancing.

Until next time.