India Travel Forum

I have recently returned from India.
I am looking for residents of India to give a few of their favorite reasons for loving their country.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A few reasons...

1. India is a democracy like the US and so have freedom of speech.
2. Its a capitalist society though with a lot more bureaucracy than the US. however, this allows one not to realize their dreams albeit at a more difficult level.
3. Its a multicultural country that respects various relgions and provides religious freedom to ethnics and minorities (contrary to what some biased newspapers have to say)
4. Majority of the people are friendly and helpful to the tourists and visitors.
5. Has terrific educational institutions that provide a springboard for people to realize their dreams.
6. It has a lot of historical tourist attractions (though not well maintained) with extraordinary history behind it.

The above are some of the few reasons to like the country. India, like any other country, has its faults but in general it is considered a peaceful country (though the western neighbor seems to be perpetually at war with the country). It is a country which is a bridge between the East and the West, maintaining the Eastern traditional values and not inhibiting the progress of Western ideals at the same time. In short, it has absorbed the cultural clash much better than any country in the world. A country can be considered great only when it strives a lot for the betterment of its own people first and though India is not yet there, it is progressing towards those ideals. And those are some of the reasons to love India as a country. Hope this helps.

the second sentence should read, it allows one to realize their dreams albeit at a ........and NOT as "it allows one NOT to"...s.orry for the confusion.

Not a resident of India, obviously, but I'm curious about your post. . .was your experience there bad and now you're looking for someone to tell you why you *should* have liked it? Maybe I've misunderstood the question, but personal experiences are just that ~ personal ~ and I don't think anyone will be able to say anything that would change your impression of your visit.

hi.
curious about your question. where is it coming from.
anyways my reason is -
you came.
you saw.
and you were conquered.

do you agree?

krishnan
(indian by body, soul and mind)

My apologies for asnwering a question that was inteded for the residents of India, but I wanted to comment regarding what prompte me to love India ~ if for nothing but what the people and the country do to challenge mindsets as to what is life about, the issues of living in a resource-chalenged envirnoment, the clash of the haves and the have-nots, and envronmental impact of humans. All that said, I woudl go back in a heartbeat.

For a more Western perspective on the country, it's people, history, political concerns and beliefs, there is a great book. "Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana Through India" by Jonah Blank.

It basically recounts the epic story of Rama ascent to becoming a god (not in too much detail) as he traveled across India. As the book jacket describes it, "It is during this journey that the dutiful son, sent into exhile,by his father, makes the spiritual journey from man to go."

The beauty of the book is that Blank relates his own travel on the same path with descriptions and stories of how the story of Rama continues to be reflected in modern (well, 1987) life in the country.

I cannot reccomend this book more highly if you are looking for insightful and entertaining ideas to help bridge the Western/Asian Indian cultural differences.

It helped me greately in my travels through Maharasta state ~ Mumbai, Pune, and Jamket.