Preparations and pre-trip observations....

There have been some changes made to the itinerary, hotels and activities but I will no go into them here as they will only complicate matters. We can see where we are going and what we are doing day by day.

Darshana has offered us lots of alternatives for activities and food. She would like input on our preferences but as I really do not know what each alternative actually offers this is difficult. All I would like is as immersive experience as possible. Street food is fine with me. I would like to see as much of the 'real India' as possible 'warts and all'. It would be a shame to go all that way and then hide behind the walls of 'western' hotels and restaurants. 

Having been to India before, albeit a long time ago, I am somewhat aware of what to expect and the fact that living conditions may be different, to coin a phrase 'from the home life of our dear Queen' and that there may be poverty on view and different cultural norms. This is exactly what I want to absorb and make my own assessments of the country absent judgments based on what I am or have been used to. There are many issues which India wrestles with in the form of religious and cultural mores and I would like to try to understand some of them, how they arose and if they are ascendant or if western influence is starting to erode them either for good or bad.

A recent visit to a Hindu temple in New Jersey and attending  the short ceremony there sparked an interest in this faith which seems to have many branches and traditions.

The remarkable BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple at Windsor, New Jersey

I am sure that this will just be a foretaste of the amazing temples we will see in India.