India
has always welcomed and intrigued the traveller. In 1897, Mark Twain
described it as “the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous
wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and
hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin
lamps, of Tiger and Elephant, the Cobra and the Jungle, the country
of a hundred nations and hundred tongues, of thousand religions
and two million gods…..” Today’s Visitor, from
the moment the step off the plane, are assaulted by contradictions
no less vivid and paradoxes no less puzzling then they ever were.
India is the land
of myriad experiences and exotic locales. It is a world of resplendent
colours and rich cultural locales, be it magnificent monuments,
heritage temples or tombs. The Country's ancient cultural heritage
is inextricably linked to its technology driven present existence.
The co-existence of a number of religions and cultures, together
with an awe-inspiring topography makes it the perfect place for
a complete holiday experience. India has the right tourism potential
and attractions to captivate all types of tourists, whether they
seek an adventure tour, cultural exploration, pilgrimages, visit
to the beautiful beaches or to the scenic mountain resorts.
Every morning at dawn, an ancient ritual takes place in the holy
city of Varanasi. Thousands gathers on the banks of the Ganges and
Strip to their underwear. Then, uttering holy Mantras, they wade
into the muddy water, scoop up handfuls and drink. The Ganges is
dangerously Polluted but Hindus believe it to be sacred: able to
cure disease, absolve sins and confer immortality.
A plane ride away
is Bangalore, India’s fastest growing metropolis. Atop a four-storey
buildings, a giant satellite dish points towards the sky, connected
to computers in climate-controlled rooms below. These are the officers
of Taxes Instruments, where software engineers labour in hushed
cubicles adorned with Bred Pit posters. Every morning they receive
assignments from Taxes via the dish. In the evening, they beam the
completed work back.
India has both incredibly
old and the startlingly new, but the old predominates. The great
historian Herodotus said it lay in “the furthest regions of
the inhabited world”- a metaphor that, until recently, reminded
true. India has existed at the edge of the modern world, not just
poor or backward but cut off and stagnant.
But as those engineers
in Bangalore prove, change is coming. The India of the postwar years
– ruled by the Nehru and Gandhi Dynasty, and soon to be a
developed country. No one quick knows what the new India will be
like….
No one feels neutral
about india. It slams you in the face with heat, spice and dirt,
then seduce you with colours and sensual pleasure. Time distorts,
and assumes surreal yogic contortions: distance take longer to travel,
minutes crawl during interminable waits, then vanish into a blur
of hours, even days. The constant chaos can charm or repules, as
everything jostles for attention at one. And there are so
many different facts of India: 25 stats and seven Union Territories
offer a bewildering number of Travel Options.
Many visitors comes
India seeking something within themselves, some spiritual calm beyond
the cacophony. Volunteering to work in Mother Teresa‘s Orphanage
or undergoing an ascetic course at a retreat beside a holy river
can be life-changing experience.
India’s travel
experience can be similarly uplifting. Take a hot air balloon over
a river where elephants bathe. They’ll glance skyward and
puzzle over the spectacle of a Mughul dome in free flight. White
water rafting down the Ganges, practicing yoga on a sunrise beach,
tracking wildlife in game sanctuaries, and climbing a Himalayan
peak, sketching wildflower in a hill station meadow, or examining
erotic sculpture at tantric temples: it would need immense stamina
to undertake all the travel possibilities in India. This website
will help you awaking your wanderlust and give a rounded view of
the people and places that might other wise be omitted from a journey
because of shortage of time.
Some run away from India;
other keep returning!
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