Of Sarees, Dhal, and the Taj Mahal
It was all too easy to become accustomed to the constant honking when travelling along the endless roads; not aggressive, but more of a greeting to other commuters. It soon became second nature to greet others with a ‘Namaste’, hands together in front of your heart, and it became awkward not to eat with your right hand. When you find yourself immersed in a country with such a rich culture, such promising educational institutions and industries and awe-inspiring monuments, you wonder how its people still remain so unassuming and down-to-earth, warmly greeting you with a megawatt smile even though you clearly are a foreigner. You realise that the advertisements have been cheating you all along. ‘Incredible India’ is a terrible understatement.
Fifty ASEAN students (five from Singapore, including 2 ACJC students) were given the opportunity to visit some of the educational institutions in India, and I found it hard to understand why so many Indians were coming to Singapore to pursue further studies. The university campuses in Singapore are put to shame by the sprawling 500-acre grounds of the Indian Institute of Science, a highly prestigious tertiary institute with a cut-off percentage of more than 90%. It covers a wide range of faculties, including Physics, Math, Chemistry and even Electronics. Some of its research projects look into developing low-cost earthquake-resistant housing, and also a programme on satellite tracking for elephants.
The Fifty ASEAN students involved in this trip
Five of us from Singapore
In terms of industries, Tata Steel wins the prize hands down for biggest industry in India yet. The Tata industry was set up by a man called Jamsetji Tata, who was a great entrepreneur, and who expanded his business beyond steel into telecommunications, cars, even cosmetics. The steel factory located in the small but bustling Jamshedpur (also known as the Steel City) produces copious amounts of steel rolls daily, and prides itself on maintaining high safety standards. The compound is so large that they even have their own locomotive to ferry workers around!
India should challenge Thailand for the title of ‘Land of Smiles’. Everywhere we go, the people are so warm, from the hotel staff to our bus driver. Even when we called the reception numerous times to ask for various items in a span of fifteen minutes, the housekeeping attendant would always have the most sincere and brightest smile I have ever seen on his face. People in India take pride in what they do, regardless of their occupation. The humble tailor in this shopping complex we visited which closely resembled Bras Basah charged a mere 10 rupees (30 Singapore cents) for any form of alteration, and yet it was evident from the meticulous way he stitched up the hems and took in cloth that he really enjoyed what he was doing, and that he believed in producing quality work. Indians are proud of their culture, and everywhere you go you see women in beautiful sarees, looking so dignified and poised. Men don the traditional kurta (a long-sleeved top) and pants, and when we visited a heritage village that showed us how the Indians used to live a few decades ago it was so heart-warming to see so many people still practicing the same cultures and centuries-old traditions from long ago. Despite its rapidly accelerating economic and industrial growth, people still embrace their history, and I think this is a very important aspect of forming a national identity which everyone in the vast nation of India can relate to.
I have saved the best for last, and really, no one can fathom just how majestic and beautiful the Taj Mahal is till you see it with your own eyes. The massive structures took twenty-two years to build, and is a moving testament of a king’s love for his deceased wife who bore him fourteen offspring. Each intricate detail is hand-carved arduously by first carefully chipping out the shape of a particular design, then chipping out that shape from another coloured stone, and then pasted onto the marble. The colours you see on the designs on the wall come from natural stones such as onyx and granite, and will never ever fade. It is just so overwhelming to stand at the base of one of the seven wonders of the world and just take everything in, from the flawless white marble finishing to the ingenuity of its architects who built the four turrets of the Taj Mahal leaning three degrees out, so that in the event of an earthquake (which was common in those times) the turrets would fall away from the main building of the Taj Mahal and not on it. Everything was built in perfect symmetry. It made me feel like just sitting down wherever I was and just absorb the wonder and beauty of this magnificent monument. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult now to find a man who loves his wife so much he would build something of this size in loving memory of her.
Beatrice and Christabel at the the Taj Mahal
I have just touched on a few of the many places we visited in India and really I could go on and on about how India is so wonderful and beautiful, but essentially, I feel that India is most worth visiting because of just how different it is from Singapore. India is so raw in the sense that you can see slums surrounding the impressive Assembly House where members of parliament congregate, and so beautiful in terms of its rich history and its people. It really exposed me to the real world, where not everyone is as fortunate as us, and where roads were unmarked and numerous buildings are left uncompleted. In spite of this, her people are proud of who they are and of where they belong, and they are truly happy. In every aspect, India was just so beautiful to me, and I was captured heart, mind and soul.
How can anyone not fall in love with India?
Beatrice Lee (1AD1)
