Ask me about India

[nation]

As many of you know, I'm Indian. My cousin's getting married (an arranged marriage) and my parents and I are going there for 3-4 weeks (leaving on saturday).

I've been there about 5 times before this, but not in the past 7 years. I'm looking forward to it.

I will have internet access there, and I'm taking my camera so I'm going to be posting pics and mini-updates.

Feel free to ask me anything about India and Indian culture in this thread!

-nation

[zasterguava]

I love Indian food. What is Indian food like; in India!?

[nation]

It's a LOT spicier. Everything is better there, although indian food here is generally pretty traditional. It's not NEARLY as bad as like bastardized mall chinese food, which is basically a different type of food than real chinese food.

[WordWhiz]

nation--I'm going to be going to India in 2 months. I have about 3-4 days of downtime between when my tour ends in Delhi and when I have to be in Bombay. My tour sees most of Rajasthan--http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/AHRA. What do you recommend I do for my free days? Goa? Chennai? Ahmedabad? Kochi?

Anything special I should know as a foreigner to avoid trouble? Thanks.

[T50_Omaha8]

Where in India?

[WhoIam]

I have a drinking buddy here who's lived in India for the past 15 years. One thing he told me is that while the old caste system is very much alive, some of the richest people in India are untouchables. I found this to be really bizarre. I realize that discrimination is officially illegal, but what can you tell me about the way it works now?

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a drinking buddy here who's lived in India for the past 15 years. One thing he told me is that while the old caste system is very much alive, some of the richest people in India are untouchables. I found this to be really bizarre. I realize that discrimination is officially illegal, but what can you tell me about the way it works now?

[/ QUOTE ]
way is this surprising to you? isnt it the samething in thailand?

[nation]

Wordwhiz,

I would definitely recommend Chennai if you haven't been there. I spent most of my childhood summers there and I always enjoyed it. I imagine I would have enjoyed it more if I was older too.

You don't have to worry about too much, be careful with your bags when you get off the plane. It's pretty standard to pay a few rupees to a porter to carry your bags, but you'll sometimes see them just run away with the bags.

T50,

The wedding's in Hyderabad, and I'll be visiting Chennai too.

WhoIam,

From what I can tell, it's nonexistent in the sense anyoneh as the same rights as any other person. However, people treat you differently when they know what caste you are. People still try to marry in the same or better class and Brahmins are still pompous aholes.

I don't know much about rich people being untouchables.

[Cancuk]

[ QUOTE ]

I would definitely recommend Chennai if you haven't been there. I spent most of my childhood summers there and I always enjoyed it. I imagine I would have enjoyed it more if I was older too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure it's different because you're a Indian National and probably know a ton of people there, but from a travellers/tourists perspective, Chennai doesn't have much to offer at all. I really didn't like it. I'll even go as far as saying that it's one of the my most disliked cities I went to on my last trip (along with Jakarta and Ahmedabad (sp?))

[toss]

What kind of India foods are there? The only one I know of is curry.