# My trip to India 2008



## O'uitte (Aug 8, 2006)

WOW!!! Nice trip!


----------



## chotu32 (Mar 28, 2010)

Tubeman said:


> It's not a huge adventure really... But I suppose it's not for the faint-hearted: it's quite an assault on the senses, and the poverty is quite 'in-your-face' with aggressive beggars and hawkers at every tourist attraction and set of traffic lights. It's the most diverse country on earth as far as I'm concerned in terms of faith, language, culture, wealth... It feels very positive and progressive but it seems odd that to watch Indian tv you'd be forgiven for thinking all Indians are light-skinned, live in comfortable western homes and speak English whilst the reality of the average Indian life is very different. It felt almost as if the country is in a bit of denial about the reality, as if Bollywood actively sells the same dream to Indians that Hollywood sells to Americans.
> 
> Coming from the UK I'm used to advertising, TV and film to focus on the Working class, the average, the gritty and unpleasant... The Middle classes and affluent are under-represented in our media whereas in India and the US the Bollywood / Hollywood ethos seems to grossly overrepresent the affluent and middle class and overlook the vast swathes of working classes.


I agree, the sad reality is that it doesn't have to be that way. The truth is corrupt politicians are stealing billions and billions of the countries wealth, which would be used in development of infrastructure etc. In 12-15 years, there are either 2 ways that India can go. Either the people will continue to suffer if corruption isn't dealt with, or we might see it progress to a mid level second world country in 15 years time, maybe something like Malaysia. Just depends on what happens with corruption in the next few years.

That said, there are some states which are better than others. Uttar Pradesh(Agra and Taj Mahal's state) is the most corrupt and overpopulated, it's really the worst of the worst. Most other states are relatively better, and if you go to states like Gujarat and Kerala, you will see things are quite more organized and developed, and there is less corruption. The man in charge of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, has to be given all credit for this, and if he becomes Prime Minister of India in 2014 elections, you will see the face of India completely change by the end of the decade.


----------

