The Russian woman took the risk of moving to India and is now talking about her new life. Interview with Oksana Ukhlina: life in India as it is How ordinary Indian people live

India seems to us an amazing, almost fabulous country with bright exotic nature, ancient culture and unusual traditions. But those who are going on a tourist trip to this country should find out how people live in India. Because if we ignore the glossy prospectuses of travel companies, then everything turns out to be not so rosy and beautiful.

It would probably be right to say that people here live in the same way as in any other country in the world - in different ways. However, the contrasts between wealth and poverty, prosperity and a miserable existence, civilization and barbarism are so great that they shock any European visiting India. It suffices to cite some statistics.

Before traveling to this amazing country, you should find out how people live in India.

• India is a rapidly developing economy. By the number of dollar billionaires, it ranks second in the world. But 65% of its population lives in extreme poverty.
• With huge incomes of some, the other part of the population does not have these incomes at all. 30% of Indians are unemployed or do odd jobs.
• One of the richest cities in India is Mumbai, where every fourth inhabitant owns a luxurious mansion. And 42% of Indians live in slums and do not even have the opportunity to use normal drinking water.
• In terms of financial investments in the development of advanced technologies, India ranks 8th in the world. But 30% of the population can't even write.

These are far from all contrasts, and, speaking of India, it is difficult to get rid of the idea that there are two completely different countries. But many tourists who have returned from there notice, first of all, the appalling poverty.

Indeed, in our opinion, many people here live in appalling conditions. The caste system, although officially prohibited by the constitution, actually continues to exist. And basically the population adheres to caste traditions.

The lowest castes, belonging to the varna of the untouchables, live below the poverty line, even by the standards of India itself. And if in the cities the differentiation is not so noticeable, then in the villages the untouchables can still do only the dirtiest work.

But they take their position and fate for granted - in history there have never been uprisings and riots of the untouchables. It is not for nothing that India is called the country of the happy poor.

For thousands of years, the Hindu philosophy that has dominated society has taught people to calmly endure hardships and accept the world as it is.

Without a doubt, India is considered one of the most beautiful and interesting countries in the world. She still remains a mystery to most, despite the fact that everyone knows about her, about her traditions, cooking, history. Everyone knows that this is a country of contrasts. And yet in India, in a country with democracy, mobile phones, a developed pharmaceutical industry and Bollywood, there are many strange and incomprehensible phenomena.

It is known that more than a billion people live in India, it is the largest democratic country in the world. It is difficult to imagine such a huge amount of public support for the government, but society, in turn, makes the government work hard. Well, or so it seems! Until now, India has preserved the caste system, which indicates to each member of society his place.

In most countries of the world there are only 4 seasons, there are countries in which even less. For example, in countries located on the equator, it is warm all year round, and vice versa, in countries beyond the Arctic Circle it is constantly cold. In India, there are 6 seasons according to the calendar of Hinduism, the main religion of the country: summer, monsoon season, autumn, winter, pre-spring season, spring.

Unfortunately, the national currency of India, the rupee, is not allowed to be taken out of the country. This news will upset tourists, but it rules out currency speculation. Although locals are trying to export currency and speculate with neighboring Bangladesh, this is all happening on a small scale. More and more people in India are starting to use cards.

India is a country of contrasts. In the country, poor and rich, literate and people who cannot write and read live nearby, and such a majestic structure as the Taj Mahal is adjacent to shacks. The country has only 65% ​​of the literate population. There are 45% of literate women and 75% of men. Despite relatively high literacy, India has a high rate of poverty.

The country's population continues to grow. India is said to overtake China by 2028. Already today it has exceeded the total population of Western Europe.

At the time of Pangea, all the continents were one large piece of land. Thanks to tectonic processes, huge parts began to separate. It was then that India began the journey separately from other parts. Later, she came across the piece that is Asia today and stopped.

In India, people speak 1000 different languages ​​and dialects. A traveler will not be helped by a phrasebook, as many local dialects and languages ​​are radically different. True, most people know Hindi.

India has the highest death rate in the world. The main reason for this phenomenon is traffic accidents. Traffic on the roads in India, especially in cities, is extremely heavy and there is no regulation. It takes talent to maneuver safely between cars, motorcycles, rickshaws, animals, and pedestrians. People die under the wheels of cars or due to suffocation in overcrowded buses. The death rate of newborns and pregnant women also contributes to the high mortality rate due to insufficiently qualified medical care. In addition, they still kill for infidelity and for dowry.

When it comes to cinema, everyone has associations with Hollywood. However, about 1,100 films are released annually in India, which is twice as many as in the US. Believe it or not, most Indian films are not made in Bollywood. Although many people like the colorful, emotional, expressive films of Bollywood stars, this is only a small part of the entire Indian film production.

The passion of Indians for records in various fields can be called strange. For example, the Guinness Book of Records holds the record for the largest crocheted blanket in the world. The largest metal peacock in the world was erected in India. The record for the most massive performance of the national anthem was recorded.

Everyone knows the problem that occurs in multimillion-dollar megacities around the world - this is air pollution from car exhaust, which manifests itself visually in the presence of smog, and physically in shortness of breath. China is most famous for this, but in Mumbai the situation is even worse. Staying in Mumbai or Delhi for one day is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. According to the World Health Organization, 1.5 million people die each year from lung cancer and asthma in these cities.

Although most people in India eat plant-based foods, Indian cuisine has very tasty dishes made from chicken, goat, lamb. But India has the largest number of vegetarians. At the Indian Golden Temple, several thousand free vegetarian meals are handed out daily to the poor and homeless. Be sure to try paneer, naan and biryani - vegetable and rice dishes.

8. 53% of houses without running water and sewerage

In the cities of India, people die under the wheels of cars, from polluted air, and also from unsanitary conditions, since 53% of houses lack running water and sewerage.

Dowry is an ancient Indian tradition. When a guy and a girl are going to get married (very often parents make the choice for them), the bride and her family give a large amount of money to the groom's family. Especially these are large sums when through marriage they are going to improve their social and caste position. Unfortunately, because of this money, one girl is killed every hour in India.

In every spoon of almost all Indian dishes you can find turmeric, coriander, mustard, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, chili pepper. Not surprisingly, 70% of the world's spices are of Indian origin. If you want to try an authentic Indian dish, then it is better to visit any Indian family. They spend several hours preparing the dish, a huge variety of spices - this art is difficult to learn.

Unfortunately, slavery still exists in India today. The number of slaves reaches 14 million people. For a long time this topic was silent, and no one paid attention to it. People in many countries of the world could not even think that in India there is slavery, which exists due to imperfect legislation, corruption of local authorities. Most of the slaves are poor, illiterate women and children who are forced into hard labor and prostitution.

In addition to slaves, there are a lot of poor people in India. A large number of families with children live on the street, collect alms. In India, the average person has to work 14-16 hours to earn little money. On average, they earn up to $1.25 a day. The government is trying to provide benefits to the poor, stimulate the development of agricultural areas and motivate the poor to take up farming, but so far to no avail.

There are a number of developed countries in the world where the rights of men and women are equally respected. In India, in some families, newborn girls are deliberately killed, as they will not be able to continue the race. Between 100,000 and 500,000 girls are killed annually in the country, just because of their gender. Selective abortions are practiced here, which were officially banned back in 1994. Those girls who manage to survive are often humiliated all their lives by the male population. If we talk about medicine, then more attention and respect, when talking about vaccinations and treatment, is shown to boys and men.

In accordance with the traditions of Hinduism, which is very common in India, the day of the funeral of the deceased is celebrated and commemorated by relatives. Most often in India, corpses are burned, and at the funeral they are not allowed to drink alcohol or eat meat products, this rule also applies to the next 12 days. The eldest son in the family pours the ashes of the deceased into the water of any reservoir nearby, it can be the ocean, sea, river, lake. Relatives and family friends commemorate the death of the deceased, wishing him a happy afterlife.

In ancient India, marijuana was used for various purposes. Today, this is an absolutely legal action, marijuana is used in different forms, although there are some restrictions that are associated with religion and traditions. For example, it is added to dishes, milkshakes are prepared from it. It is one of the five sacred plants that are mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. Marijuana is also used to treat various diseases and during religious ceremonies. Hindus are sure that Shiva also used marijuana.
Not less than

After seven years of work in the Russian office of Home Credit Bank, I was invited to the Philippines for two years, and from there I moved to the Indian branch - and stayed there for almost a year and a half. I chose India as a professional challenge: the opportunity to take part in the development of a bank in a country where about 1.3 billion people live is not given every day.

When I first came to India "for exploration", it seemed to me that she had a lot in common with the Philippines. In fact, they are united only by the fact that they are in the same part of the world. In the rest, there is little. People, culture, market, business practices - everything had to be re-learned.

India is so interesting and strange that it seems as if you are in several eras at once. Here wild tribes who kill foreigners who come to them. And there are cities with metro, modern shopping centers and the City. There are people who are far below the poverty line and live on the street. At the same time, there are super-rich people. According to a study by Wealth X, in 2017 India fourth place in the world in terms of the number of dollar billionaires - after the USA, China and Germany. According to this indicator, it overtook, for example, Switzerland, Russia and Great Britain.

View from the balcony of the guest house in Udaipur

The ancient city of Varanasi. India is an amazing travel destination

Inhabitants of Varanasi

In the center of Old Delhi

Locals in the center of Old Delhi

Such a gigantic stratification between the rich and the poor is reflected, among other things, in Indian life. It can be said that, in general, the quality of things that are produced for the mass consumer is lower in India than in Russia. But at the same time, you can buy goods of higher quality if you are willing to pay more.

Housing

I live and work in Gurgaon, it is a satellite city near the capital of India, New Delhi - almost like Balashikha or Korolev for Moscow, only more (about 800,000 people live there). Gurgaon is considered a major industrial and financial center. Here are the head offices of many international companies, for example, from the field of consulting or IT. Therefore, the quality of life in Gurgaon - not only for expats, but also for locals - is markedly different for the better from life somewhere in Coimbatore or Allahabad.

Flat rent

Many Indians live for several generations at once under one roof: grandmother, parents, son - perhaps with a wife. For this reason, they often own or rent large apartments with multiple bedrooms. The cost of rent can vary tenfold depending on the prestige of the house and the area.

So, an apartment (or townhouse) with an area of ​​​​about 120 square meters. m without furniture and in the usual area of ​​​​Gurgaon can be rented for 30 thousand rupees (27,600 ₽) per month. But in a guarded residential complex with a park on the territory, renting a four-room apartment (living room and three bedrooms) will start from 120,000 rupees (110,400 ₽). To this amount, you will need to add the cost of maintaining the territory, including home repairs - about 30 thousand rupees (27,600 ₽) per quarter. You also have to pay 20– 30 thousand rupees (18,400– 27 600 ₽) per year for access to services on the territory of the complex: swimming pool, gym, cafe, parking. If the apartment is rented without furniture and appliances, all this can be rented (about 30 thousand rupees per month, or 27,600 ₽).

Public Utilities

The weather in Delhi changes quite dramatically from season to season: in the middle of winter, at night, the temperature can drop to 6– 8 degrees of heat, and in the summer during the day - to reach 48 degrees. In summer, everyone uses air conditioners and heavily overpays for electricity: up to 10 thousand rupees (9200 ₽) per month. There is no central heating in India, so in winter some people turn on radiators - with them you have to pay about 5 thousand rupees (4600 ₽) per month for electricity. The rest of the year, the bills are approximately 3 thousand rupees (2760 ₽) per month.

Gurgaon, golf course and high-rise residential view for wealthy Indians and expats. Smog

Smog haze golf course

In Moscow

My rented apartment in Gurgaon is 15– 20 minutes drive from Cyber ​​City is a corporate business park, something like Moscow City. This roughly corresponds to the Dorogomilovsky district of Moscow (next to the Park Pobedy metro station).

Rent a three-room apartment in the area, Domofond.ru costs an average of 105 thousand rubles per month. A four-room apartment in an elite residential complex"Sparrow Hills" , for example, for 175 thousand ₽. The average cost of utilities for a similar apartment, according to Numbeo, is 8300 ₽.

Directions

Public transport

Gurgaon has a fairly comfortable metro. It can be reached in the center of Delhi in 40– 45 minutes. One trip on the metro costs 65 rupees (60 ₽), but if you buy a travel card, you can save 10%. It turns out that 60 trips per month will cost 3240 rupees (2981 ₽).

Also in Delhi and in neighboring cities, you can travel by shuttle - a bus that travels non-stop to the final station. A package of 30 bus trips costs 2370 rupees (2180 ₽). You can pay for travel and replenish your account through a mobile application.

Taxi

In India, the two main taxi providers are Uber and Ola. They are cheaper than in Moscow, but also of lower quality in terms of cars, cleanliness, skills and knowledge of the driver. Traffic in India is chaotic, with drivers constantly changing lanes, driving in the middle of the road and signaling to each other. It will be extremely difficult to communicate with a taxi driver if you do not know Hindi. Although, in fairness, taxi drivers in Russia hardly speak English better.

The trip from Gurgaon to the center of Delhi by taxi will cost 400– 500 rupees (368 – 460 ₽), depending on traffic. At rush hour, a 30 km journey takes 1.5– 2 hours. For those who often travel by taxi, Uber offers a profitable service: you can buy a package for a month for 250 rupees (230 ₽), and then any trip will cost 39 rupees (35 ₽).

Taxi in Kolkata

In the center of Old Delhi

Five traffic controllers at one traffic light teach motorists to stop at red, Cyber ​​City, Gurgaon

In the center of Old Delhi

Also in India, tuk-tuks, or three-wheel auto rickshaws, are popular. It is curious that tuk-tuk drivers accept payments not only in cash, but also by transfer to a mobile wallet. Imagine: an Indian landscape, a cow is walking along the road and chewing plastic, a tuk-tuk is driving nearby - and then the driver takes out a smartphone, opens an application (it is called Paytm), scans a QR code and accepts payment for the trip. Awesome!

In Moscow

A card for one trip in the Moscow metro and on land transport costs 55 ₽. It is more profitable to pay for travel using a Troika card, with which each trip will cost 38 ₽. For those who often travel by metro or buses, the most profitable option is to “sign up” a package for 60 trips for 1900 ₽ on Troika.

Popular taxis in Moscow include aggregator apps Uber, Gett and Yandex.Taxi. A trip, for example, from Tsaritsyno Park to VDNH (distance about 30 km) will cost 700 ₽. Approximately the same will cost a taxi from the center of Balashikha near Moscow to the Moscow Kremlin. Taxi trips within Moscow for medium distances cost an average of 300– 500 ₽.

Food

Products

Most Indians are vegetarians, they do not eat meat or eggs (although the trend is changing recently). In the state of Haryana, where Gurgaon is located, eating beef is generally prohibited by law. Instead, it is proposed to eat buffalo meat, it can be bought for 400 rupees (368 ₽) per kg.

The main emphasis on the shelves of stores is on vegetables and all kinds of seasonings. Fruits are sold all year round - bananas, watermelons, pineapples. January is strawberry season, summer is mango and lychee.

My girlfriend and I usually buy food in supermarkets. There are both local (Le Marche) and international brands such as Spar. You can order food online at Amazon.in, they deliver not only groceries in packages, but also fresh vegetables and fruits. You can create a basket that will "come" to you regularly.

In total, it takes us about 15 days to buy groceries.– 20 thousand rupees (13,800– 18 400 ₽) per person per month. To compare food prices in Gurgaon and Moscow, I made a table. For Gurgaon, these are average prices, but for a visitor they can be higher than for a local. It is a matter of choosing the quality of products, knowing the places and bargaining skills.

Source: Numbeo.com Prices are rounded to the nearest ruble.

Cafes and restaurants

There are many expats in Gurgaon, so there is a large selection of not only local, but also European cuisine. In addition to Indian, Italian and Asian restaurants are especially common. True, they also have a local flavor: for example, Italian pizza resembles Indian wheat naan cakes, and pasta or noodles are most often buried in sauce- similar to curry.

The Indians themselves adore national cuisine with tandoori, curry, rice. And bread cakes - they are made from different flours, on water, with or without yeast. At the same time, products cooked in a closed oven, tandoori, are always considered a snack. And curry (pieces of meat, vegetables or cheese in a lot of sauce) is the main dish. One of the most popular Indian dishes among expats is butter chicken, chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. I also love palak paneer, which is an unleavened cheese in a thick green sauce made from spinach leaves. In the south of India, the cuisine is a little different, there is more seafood, and coconut milk is often added to curries.

Flower market in Varanasi

Pan merchant (pan - tobacco with spices that is put under the lip)

Vegetable Market in Old Delhi

Food prices can vary greatly. You can buy lunch on the street - eat dosa (this is a flour pancake from South India) and drink lassi (a spicy yogurt drink) - for 50 rupees (46 ₽). And you can dine in a good restaurant with wine for 5 thousand rupees (4600 ₽), and the main part of the cost will be alcohol, for which the state of Haryana has a very high tax (15%).

In the business centers of Gurgaon, the average cost of lunches is 500– 700 rupees (460 – 644 ₽) per serving. By local standards, it is quite expensive. But the final cost of lunch will be even higher: you need to take into account the amount of taxes of 5%, which is not indicated in the price list, and about 10% of the service charge - it is included in the bill automatically, but you can bargain.

There is a stereotype that in India you need to be very careful when trying food from public catering, otherwise there is a risk of poisoning. My family and I have never experienced this - probably because we avoid "suspicious" places and choose only proven street food. It is also possible that some tourists confuse poisoning with the adaptation of the body to an unfamiliar climate, water and food.

In Moscow

You can taste Indian dishes in several establishments of the Russian capital. For example, in the Jagannat vegetarian cafe you can eat palak paneer for 120 ₽, in the Indian restaurant Khajurao - butter chicken for 790 ₽, and in Darbas you can drink lassi for 300 ₽.

Business lunches in Moscow City cost an average of 300– 450 ₽.

Internet and mobile communications

Until recently, there were three main mobile operators in India - Vodafone, Airtel and Idea. In 2016 richest Indian billionaire another network - Jio. And this served as a tangible impetus for the development of the mobile communications market in India. Jio came with very low rates and the fastest mobile internet in the country and allowed many users to go online for the first time. So, they launched a data plan with a smartphone included, which you can rent for a small fee.

This forced other operators to significantly reduce tariffs. So now mobile communications in India are very cheap. For example, a tariff plan for 28 days with unlimited calls and 1 GB of Internet per day will cost 169 rupees (156 ₽). A package for 82 days with 2 GB of internet per day will cost 499 rupees (459 ₽).

Home internet in Gurgaon is also cheap and relatively stable. My tariff includes about 50 GB of Internet per month, and the rest is carried over to the next term - and in 1 year and 2 months I have accumulated a whole terabyte of unused Internet, although I often watch online TV in HD format. Such Internet costs me 1300 rupees (1196 ₽) per month.

In Moscow

In Moscow, a similar story happened with mobile communications - when the Tele-2 operator entered the market. The cheapest package with conditions similar to those in India (30 GB of Internet, unlimited calls within the network and 800 minutes outside of it) costs 700 ₽ per month. Home Internet for most providers is completely unlimited, and its price is an average of 500 ₽ per month.

Entertainment

Gurgaon is located near Delhi, where there are many famous attractions - the 12th century brick minaret Qutb Minar, the tomb of the Mongolian padishah Humayun, the historical citadel of Red Fort. For foreign tourists, visiting each of them will cost about 500 rupees (460 ₽), but for locals it will cost only 20 rupees (18 ₽). The discount also applies to those who work in India and pay taxes here.

Monkey Temple in Jaipur

Evening performance in Udaipur. This woman dances on broken glass

Taj Mahal and surrounding area

Indian cinema is known far beyond the borders of the country, and it is easy to guess that the locals love to go to the cinema. Gurgaon has an IMAX cinema that shows Hollywood blockbusters in English with subtitles - a ticket for such a session will cost about 500 rupees (460 ₽). But in general, Indians are unlikely to be very interested in American films. In the cinemas of small towns or villages, only local films are shown, and a ticket there can be bought for 30 rupees (28 ₽).

In Moscow

Visiting popular metropolitan attractions is not a cheap pleasure. A ticket to the architectural ensemble of the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin costs 500 ₽, for admission to the Armory you will have to pay another 700 ₽. An entrance ticket to St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square will cost 500 ₽. There are no discounts for local residents, but there are benefits for schoolchildren, students and pensioners. IMAX movie tickets will cost 400– 600 ₽, depending on the location of the cinema and the time of the session.

Money

Indians are born negotiators, they love to bargain. They are very reluctant to make concessions if they see the needs of another, and vice versa, they are ready to offer favorable conditions if the need is on their side.

I recently sold my stuff online. And absolutely all potential buyers demanded huge discounts for the fact that things were already in use - despite the fact that they were all almost new! Let's say, for my ad price of 17,000 rupees (15,640 ₽), I received bids of 3,000 rupees (2,760 ₽). Of course, there were more adequate proposals. But all discussions had to be conducted for a very long time, without hurrying.

Payments and banks

November 2016 in India monetary reform: the authorities withdrew old-style banknotes of 500 and 1000 rupees (460 and 920 ₽) from circulation in order to bring the country's economy out of the shadows and force businessmen to pay taxes. These banknotes accounted for about 90% of all cash in the country. For the first few weeks, it was possible to exchange small amounts for new banknotes, but then the government stopped the exchange and left the only option - to put money on deposit. Huge queues lined up at the banks, and there were even riots in some Indian cities. However, the reform gave a big boost to cashless payments and the use of mobile wallets. Partly for this reason, every tuk-tuk driver accepts payment via smartphone.

India has a very complex banking system and is heavily regulated by the government. There are universal banks with a license for all products. There are depository financial companies - those who can only accept deposits from the population, but do not have the right to lend it. Lending companies, in turn, are prohibited from accepting deposits. Literally, each area of ​​activity has its own narrow financial company: someone finances construction, someone finances cars or household appliances.

Salary

Let me remind you once again about the gap between the rich and the poor and about the rather high standard of living in Gurgaon compared to the rest of India. The average salary of yesterday's graduate in the initial mass position, say, a call center employee, is 10– 15 thousand rupees (9200– 13 800 ₽) per month. Specialists from 6– With 8 years of experience, they earn around 100 thousand rupees (92 thousand ₽) per month. At the same time, graduates of good universities that are in the top 10– 20 in terms of performance in their course, they can count on employment in some large corporation and on a monthly salary of about 150 thousand rupees (138 thousand ₽) immediately after studying.

in Moscow in 2018 Mosgorstat, the average salary was 78,946 ₽ - this is also a figure before taxes.

Average spend per month:

Prices are translated into rubles at the rate of 1 rupee = 0.92 ₽.

Total:

India: 96,743 rupees (89,004 ₽)

Moscow: 118 630 ₽

When calculating the total costs, we used the prices indicated in the text. If the price range was indicated, the arithmetic mean was considered. When writing the text Sravni.ru did not cooperate with any company and brand.

India is a beautiful country. Tourists who came to rest at the resort and did not visit the province may not be aware that how to live in india simple people. The majority of the population, almost eighty percent, are rural people employed in agriculture. Education is at a very low level, a little more than fifty percent of the inhabitants can read and write. Almost thirty percent can't even write. Contrast in everyday Indian life between different strata of society is striking. The age-old caste system and Hinduism, which professes the inevitability of fate, have accustomed people to a calm perception of everyday difficulties of life. Indians are very calm about the complete lack of comfort. Moreover, this applies not only to the poor.

You can often see a well-dressed person just sleeping on the sidewalk. And next to him perched a stray dog. Such philosophical practices as yoga, Ayurveda allow a person to take a different look at the world around him. People who profess these teachings perceive reality differently. The need for material is reduced many times over. In India, in connection with the thousand-year-old culture based on these teachings, people are very calm about the lack of the benefits of civilization. Although Europeans are sometimes shocked by this attitude of the local population. For example, in India, a husband has every right to put his wife in the form of a bank bond, and this will be in the order of things. Complete disregard for the rules of personal hygiene allows various skin and intestinal diseases to grow in a riotous color. Child mortality remains very high. All this is combined with India's clear economic successes and rapid economic growth. Large Indian companies successfully compete in the international market in light industry, agriculture, and high technologies. India launches rockets with satellites, builds nuclear power plants. Despite this, it remains the leader of countries with a very low standard of living.

Where to go to rest in India, more:.

wedding in india

Still in high gear contractual weddings in india. Parents agree in advance on the marriage of their children and after that no one asks the consent or disagreement of the newlyweds. This is a kind of analogue of a wedding contract. The only exception is that the wife is transferred to the full ownership of the husband. It becomes part of his property. At the same time, the bride and groom can only see each other after the wedding ceremony, and then surprises can await them. Indian weddings are different. The guests first dance, sing and have fun in every possible way, and only then they sit down at the wedding table and the feast begins. Weddings in the villages and the city are very different. This happens not only because in the city they are, as a rule, much smarter and richer. But also because there is no electricity in the villages, the festivities stop at sunset. Although India is rapidly entering the twenty-second century, caste boundaries are very zealously observed and it is very unlikely that young people will be from different castes.

Temples of India and their inhabitants

There are a huge number of active temples in india. Many people live on their territory, worshiping the deities of these temples. Moreover, these deities can be quite peculiar. There are temples dedicated to rats, monkeys, crocodiles, cows, and many other animals. People protect them and take care of them. This attitude comes from the foundations of Hinduism. Since they believe that the soul after death can enter the body of any living being. It all depends on how much a person led a righteous lifestyle during his lifetime. It is quite possible to be in the body of a rat or a monkey, so they take care of them. Basically, the monks of these temples live within the walls of these ancient structures and try to achieve the state of samadhi, that is, inner initiation. True, most of them believe that one can achieve initiation without exhausting prayers, but simply walk around in orange robes, beg for alms, and smoke charas. Monks of India- this is a special caste, they do not bother themselves with work, but are content with what nature gives them.

City life in India

Against the background of the life of poor peasants in provinces of India life in urban areas is very different. For example, the home of a local billionaire is located in Mumbai. This twenty-seven-story fortress makes a grandiose impression. Even in his garages, only crystal chandeliers are lit. The building has nine elevators ready to take visitors up to three helipads. A huge number of rooms allows the owner to relax daily in different rooms, and all this splendor is adjacent to the darkest slums of the city. Only six people live in this giant house, spread over thirty-seven hectares. The owner himself, his mother, wife and children. Nearby, in the slums, without water, light and basic amenities, more than twelve thousand people huddle. According to experts, more than sixty percent of the eighteen million city live in slums. And this does not appeal to the local residents of a special protest. It's crazy for us to see such a luxury, knowing that two-thirds of the citizens of the country live on two dollars a day, and one in three children suffer from malnutrition.

India's economic miracle

Example Minister of India in his speech just recently said that "No force can stop the country on the path to progress." The government of India backs up its words with deeds, and now it is one of the leaders in IT technologies. Experts in this field, who once went to Silicon Valley to earn money, are now happy to return to their homeland. They are paid no less than in America, and the cost of living is much less. India actively attracts specialists in high-precision production, such specialists willingly go to work in large cities of India. Residents of cities in India have the opportunity to watch more than four hundred private TV channels. Perhaps there is no such choice in more than one country in the world. The export of arms to other countries is at a very high level. The growth of light industry ensures the growth of jobs. India has such ambitious plans as a flight to Mars in the near future. Truly, this is a country of contrasts, where fabulous wealth coexists with no less fabulous poverty.

Resorts of India: life near the sea

Life in India near the sea fundamentally different from life anywhere else in the country. Everything is set to meet any needs of tourists. The tourism business is a very significant part of the country's income. He is given special attention. If in the provinces electricity is a curiosity, then on the resort coasts, nightlife is colored with multi-colored lamps that never go out. Life in the resort area has a completely different rhythm. There are always a lot of people here. You won't see any. The local police are very careful about this and try not to bother tourists. Although the caste of beggars is very numerous and ubiquitous, if you carelessly give large alms, then you will be pursued by crowds of beggars throughout the rest, passing each other like a kind of prize. Therefore, once in India, you need to be careful so that Christian mercy does not play a cruel joke. The staff working in the resort area is quite well educated. He has good qualifications. Numerous communities live in Goa, consisting of citizens of different countries, united by one idea. Therefore, their life is very different from life in cities.

Read more about yoga in the article:.

Yogis of India

This caste of people is absolutely different from others. They strive, by means of improving the spiritual, mental and physical abilities of their body, to reach a state where the physical needs of the body begin to be covered by spiritual ones. There are cases when yogis who have reached a high level of self-consciousness could neither breathe, nor eat, nor sleep for weeks. Various schools in india and temples teach all who wish to comprehend this art. But achieving perfection is not easy. There are many branches of yoga. They are very different. Goals can be set different - from improving health to achieving enlightenment. Most often, it all comes down to the study of elementary physical exercises that do not affect the aspects of improving the spirit and soul. Europeans are usually content with this.

Stunning vacation in Goa, video: