What are some things you didn’t know until you went to India?

The most meaningful piece of advice I have ever received in my life is what my friend Lao Liu said: “Don’t go to India if you have nothing to do.

But at that time I was too young and didn’t take it seriously. When I graduated in 2018, I was planning a graduation trip. I just had some spare money from my part-time job, so I quickly looked for someone to fly to India on Fliggy. Tour group. After packing my luggage, I set off on my own the next day with great excitement. Apart from the tour guide, I was the first to arrive at the airport. I recognized the tour guide at a glance, holding a small flag and his tan skin. , with strong arms, was talking nonstop with his cell phone. I rushed up to say hello, and the tour guide checked the information and asked me to sit down and wait for the others to gather. There were only 10 people in our group except the tour guide. It is composed of family members, mom and dad with a child, and two older ones, in their 50s and 60s, who seem to be the couple’s grandparents

1: The special smell of India

Speaking of India, my first impression is that this country has a strange smell that is everywhere. It is very special. After I got off the plane and walked on the passage leading to the airport building, I smelled it. That smell. The moment I stepped into the airport, that smell filled me with joy and excitement. It was the smell of gods, demons, empires, resurrections and corrupted civilizations, mixed with the movements of India's tens of millions of animals. The smell of sleep and excretion, mostly of humans and rats. The smell smelled of heartbreak and the hard work of survival. It was home to ten thousand restaurants, five thousand temples, churches, and mosques. The smell is the smell of a hundred markets specializing in perfumes, spices, incense, and fresh flowers.

2: The heat in India

After getting off the plane. After a while, my whole body was soaked due to the bad weather in India, and I had a sticky smell. It was like a disgusting experience when a large bucket of water is poured on you and it is not dry yet. I was sweating all the way.

3: Uncontrolled Traffic

The traffic situation in India is, how can I describe it, a mess everywhere? The car horns sounded, and each car rushed into the street like a race. The bus engine roared, the gear lever clicked, and the bus sped through the crowds of luggage porters and pedestrians. Step aside, step aside, and the bus will pass by, just a few centimeters away from hitting someone. The driver is standing on the bottom step of the door, cursing at the crowd in fluent words. .

Four: Men bathing everywhere on the road

The most interesting thing I experienced on the road was to witness with my own eyes the strange custom of bathing everywhere in the streets of India. . Things that are considered impossible in their own country are really common in India. Indians will take a bucket to take a shower in a crowded street, smearing soap bubbles on their bodies and saying hello to Indian grannies passing by. I even saw a family sleeping on the road. Their entire possessions were three bricks (cooking utensils) for cooking, a board, and a plastic sheet for lying on.

Five: India’s Standing Baba

It was already 7pm when we returned to the hotel. After dinner, we all went back to our houses to rest. Everyone gathered at 8 a.m. the next day to visit the Gateway of India. It is one of the most popular and treasured landmarks of Mumbai. The 26-metre-long basalt arch, which blends the architectural style of a Roman triumphal arch with traditional Hindu and Muslim designs, was a welcoming gesture to King George V and Queen Mary when they visited British India in 1911. The arch was the gateway through which the last British troops left India in 1948 after the country declared independence from Britain.

Today, the Gateway of India is one of the most popular hangouts in Mumbai, both for tourists and locals. Watch yachts and ferries sail into the sea from the five marinas on either side of the arch. Enjoy some famous bhelpuri (a crispy, salty snack made from puffed rice and dipped in tamarind sauce) from street food vendors. Or just spend an hour or two watching this lively attraction. Then, walk 10 minutes southwest to Colaba Causeway Market, a vibrant bazaar selling everything you can imagine. It is one of the best places for cheap shopping in Mumbai.

At this market, I was crowded out by the crowd. When I realized that I could no longer see the tour guide, I looked around in panic. At this time, a short man with curly hair came towards me. He opened his mouth and said something with a bright smile on his face. I made gestures with him to show that I didn't understand what he was talking about. He seemed to understand and spoke English to me. However, my English is not very good, so we stumbled over each other. During the conversation, I heard the word search and thought he was going to take me to find my tour guide, so I followed him with great gratitude. (I later learned that he was talking about taking me to find the most worthwhile places in India). I followed him down a corridor between two brick buildings. Within the temple walls, there is an iron roof covering it and the floor is paved with stone slabs. A group of people with strange steps entered through a door at the back of the corridor, while others entered and exited through another iron door at the end of the street. Customers from all over India and from all walks of life line the corridor walls. Everyone is standing. There is a faucet installed in the drainage pipe near the entrance of the iron gate. Some people drink water or bend over to spit. The strange group of men moved from group to group, filling funnel-shaped clay hookahs with marijuana for customers and smoking along with everyone else. Seeing this incredible sight, I knew that I had come to a wonderful place. If it weren't for this young man, I might never have seen it in my life.

A Standing Baba is a man who vows never to sit down or lie down again in this life. They stand day and night, forever. They eat standing, defecate standing, pray, work, sing and even sleep standing. Use a sling to support the body while sleeping so that the weight of the body still rests on the legs and prevent them from falling to the ground after falling asleep. After five to ten years of standing for so long, my legs begin to swell. In the veins that are not allowed to rest, the blood flows very slowly and the muscles become thicker. The legs are swollen, and the legs no longer look like legs, with many varicose veins distributed on the surface. Toes protrude from thick, fleshy feet like elephant toes. Over the next few years, the legs will become thinner and thinner, until only bones and a thin layer of skin remain, as well as atrophic veins like termites crawling over them. The pain was never-ending and unbearable. Every time I pressed down, pain like nails or spears came from my feet. Standing Babas are tortured by pain, but they are anything but still. They swayed and danced softly, constantly changing their feet from side to side. Anyone who saw them was fascinated by their movements, just like the hand movements of the snake charmer playing the flute.

Some people swear such asceticism when they are sixteen or seventeen years old. They are driven by a mission, the same mission that drives people to become priests, rabbis, and imams in other cultures. More older men went into solitude to prepare for death and the next stage of reincarnation. Many of the standing Babas were originally businessmen, and before they went into seclusion and practiced asceticism, they devoted themselves to the pursuit of pleasure, power and money. Some saints have gone through other spiritual paths, mastered self-punishing ascetic practices, and finally made a firm vow to become Standing Babas. There are also criminals: thieves, murderers, important gangsters, and even veterans who are willing to endure endless pain to atone for their sins.

At the last moment of departure, this overly enthusiastic Indian tour guide asked me for a tip, and then took me back to the hotel where the tour group was located. Whether traveling in a group or traveling independently, I suggest that everyone needs to be mentally prepared when traveling to a place. The ancient sites in India are still very interesting, especially religious and some sacred temples.