In 2017 I travelled to India for 5 weeks. 🇮🇳 Finally, I took the time to write about what I learned there. As European, I tried my best to adapt to the Indian life as much as possible, eating what and how they eat, doing stuff the way they do it, visiting some nice places and working at the same time. 🍀

I was lucky because Bhargav–an Indian friend travelled with me and I had the privilege to be hosted for a few days at Suresh. 🙏

I made this video which covers a couple of highlights from India:

Summarizing, here are some things I learned during these 5 weeks:

1. 🚦 The Traffic is Chaotic and you have to embrace it.

   They love honking their horns! 📣 And I mean… a lot! It is fun… because you need to get used to it anyway! It reminded me about the Romanian weddings they use to honk while driving to the restaurant. In India, I even saw messages like "HORN PLEASE" on many cars. 🚍

   Do you want to cross the road? Cars, motorbikes, bicycles, people, animals, all on the narrow streets. Kinda. But in any case, if you want to cross the street, look on the right side ➡️, on the left side ⬅️, forward ⤴️, backwards ⤵️, upwards 🔼, downwards 🔽 and only then cross the street and show to the drivers that you are crossing the street, so they will stop and blow the horn… they will do it anyways. 📣🚙📣🚗📣🚙📣🚗

2. 🇬🇧 English and Hindi are Official Languages

   Hindi and English are official languages, so if you talk English everybody will understand you… well, not everybody, but I didn't have problems with communication. Indian accent is so cute too. 🇮🇳

3. 🍚 Indian Food

   It's spicy. Really spicy. It makes you cry. But it is so tasty! I loved it. As a vegetarian, I was impressed by these marks: a green square + circle ❇️ means the food is vegetarian. If it is red 🔴, it is not vegetarian. 😐

   Oh, and I ate with my right hand! It's fun! Btw, I really liked idli and chutney, made by Suresh's wife! They are the best! 😋

4. 😍 Indians are Very Friendly!

   I was amazed by their hospitality. I visited a couple of families, three churches and I was hosted for a few days at an Indian friend. They did the best for me to feel good in their homes! Food was way better than in the restaurants. 😌

   Also, in general, Indians ask a lot of questions! *How much costed your iPhone? 📱How much costed for you to reach our country? ✈️ Where are you from? 🌍 And stuff like that. Do not forget to ask them whatever you want. They will be happy to answer! 😅

   They will take photos with you! On the street, at the touristic points etc. Just be patient and you will see so many happy faces! 📸

   Indians will stare at you if you are not an Indian. I remember walking along the street and everywhere I was looking, I was seeing lovely eyes staring at me. I was smiling… and getting smiles back! 👀

5. 🙄 Don't take Stuff for Granted

   Water? 💦 Always drink it from the sealed bottles. They are cheap. Make sure they do not have fake logos and double-check if they are sealed. I did the mistake to drink "DRINKABLE WATER" from a railway station and it was bad. Really bad. I got sick for a couple of days, but now it is a fun memory to share with my friends. 🤕

   Toilet paper? 🚽 At some hotels, you will find toilet paper. Check out this video to learn how to use the Indian toilet. It's easy. 😂🙈

   Internet? 📡 At hotels, the internet tends to work very slow… but good enough for messaging. 🐌 If you need faster internet, you may want to buy a SIM card and use a portable router.

   ATMs don't really work 💰Some of them have no physical money, others were blocked by my bank, others were simply not working and I have found couple which worked.

6. 👨 The Indian Head Shake

   I have been watching videos regarding the head shake before going to India, and when I was there… everyone was shaking the head exactly like that. In short period of time I learned it, and after coming back to Europe it was hard to unlearn it! 😂

7. ✨ Simplicity

   Among the things I really appreciated about Indians was their simplicity. They do not need fancy things to be happy. Being happy with what you have and working hard to keep growing is the key! 🚀

Photos and Videos from my Trip

1. Bangalore

In Bangalore I had the joy to make a jam session with the guys from Yamaha Music Station. 🎶 Here is what we did that evening:

2. Madurai

A city of temples! 🕍

We reached Madurai by riding a train from Bangalore. 🚞

3. Rameswaram

This island is close to Sri Lanka, in fact, you can see Sri Lanka from there. 🏝

4. Kanyakumari

The sunset and sunrise were beautiful there! 🌅

5. Jaipur

The biggest sundial in the world is in Jaipur! ✨

6. Amer Fort

This fortress is awesome! ⛰

7. Ranthambore National Park

We saw tigers! 🐅

8. Agra

Of course, the Taj Mahal! 🕌

9. Delhi

The Lotus Temple is amazing! 𑁍

10. Hyderabad

In Hyderabad I made another jam with a random drummer from a music shop:

My friends live there! 🎹 And I taught their cousins to play their toy keyboard:

And sugarcane juice is so tasty! 🥛

If you want to visit India, perhaps you need to talk to your epidemiologist to take the needed vaccines and medication, apply for a visa online, buy the tickets and fly! 🚀

My experience in India was intense and I definitely want to go again! 💖