Sent on Dec. 24, 2002 from (somewhere in) India.

US $= about 48 Rupees; 1 Rupee = about 2 cents.

The time difference India to USA EST is 10.5 hours.

The YAMUNA river flows thru both DELHI and AGRA,
the GANGA (or GANGES) thru VARANASI.  

1. INDIA.  Friends, Tom and I arrived in Delhi on 12/16,
here until Jan. 1.  Our trip concentrated on the areas
about 1,000 km (600 miles) to the east and west of the
Delhi-Agra (Taj Mahal) corridor, within about 600 km north
and south boundaries.  This is perhaps the most interesting
region of India, including from Delhi the cities to the
west (in the province of Rajasthan) Bikaner, Jaisalmer
(near the Pakistani border), Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ranthambhore
(National Park which President Clinton visited when here),
and Jaipur (capitol of Rajasthan, 2 million pop.), then to
the east Agra (and the Taj Mahal), Khajuraho (center of
eternal Tantric Love and statues), and finally (by train
to)Varanasi and the Ganges river.  We did all but the last
destination by a rental car with driver, returning to Delhi
on Dec. 31.

2. Tour by ITDC.  We asked the Indian Tourism Department
Corporation at the Connaught Square in Delhi to arrange for
us the driver and the hotels along the way.  This is really
the most convenient way of seeing India, and our driver
Santos and the trip itself were superb.  Of course there
was some rip off in that supposedly we paid for $45 per
night rooms, discounted to $30 for us.  In reality, we
found ourselves in standard rooms at half that price. 
However, when we could, we upgraded the rooms.  On the
other hand, given a smooth and very nice trip thanks to
Santos' driving skills and sense of hospitality, we are
willing to forgive, especially due to the fact that tourism
to India dropped so much since 9/11 that hotel occupancy
rate is somewhere around 7 percent, from 66 percent before
9/11.

NOTE.  I recommend that if you decide to go you do this
trip as we did, by rental car.  Contact Santos directly at

SantoshChoudhary2002@yahoo.com

Figure about $25 per day for the car and driver.  Leave
hotels open and ask Santos to get you a hotel at the level
you like after you arrive at your destination.  Eat at
places he recommends; drink bottled water.  Just in case,
have with you aspirin, diarrhea and runny nose-pills, so
you are prepared.  A roll of bath tissues is also strongly
recommended, also for runny nose should you get a cold. As
you drive, pay attention to some unbelievable scenes, take
photos liberally.  (Yes, you will also see cows eat
newspapers and cardboard boxes, as there are no grass
available to them in many settlements, especially since
this has been a very dry season in these parts.) And read
your guide book for the recommended sites at your next
destination.  One of the advantages of a car with driver is
in that within reason you can stop and take photos.  Be
prepared to walk some distances or be on your feet for some
time once at your destination, for some of the forts, for
example, cover huge real estate, not to mention the steep
cliffs. Shop only at places Santos points out.  Postal cards are
cheap and you can mail them for only 8 Rupees each.  Internet
is widely available for 20 to 50 Rupees per hour.  Get
telephone cards.  Ask Santosh will help in all this.  Many
items, like batteries for photo equipment, are about 1/2
the price you pay in USA. Bargain.

3. DRIVE THRU. Our trip satisfied a variety of interests,
such as glorious old forts, palaces, Hindu and Buddhist
temples, old Maharaja palaces now serving as top-notch
hotels, rivers, lakes, mountains, the Thar desert, cities,
towns, villages, settlements, the Indian countryside, arts
and crafts, and women adorning everything around them with
colorful saris, even the poorest in this shockingly poor
country, women working on road construction, women
balancing huge water containers, firewood, etc. on their
heads while often carrying a child in one arm and still
walking gracefully like a trained model on rough pavement
and cow paths.  I admired the infinite courage with which
the people in the settlements seemingly faced life in such
incredible poverty, pretty smiles on the hardened faces of
women.

Yet in the middle of staggering poverty, there are also
incredibly rich Indians who can pay several millions to
have every square-centimeter of the entire front of their
4-story home, made of polished sandstone or marble,
delicately carved.  And then there are such places as the
Lake Palace Hotel in the middle of a lake in Udaipur, which
was used for the James Bond movie Octopussy, that are fit
for Kings, Presidents, and Maharajas.  

4. CITIES & ROADS.  The highways are generally very narrow
barely paved roads.  The towns are full of cows, pigs,
dogs, cats, camels, and goats, and at some places also add
peacocks, monkeys, chipmunks, and field mice.  Seemingly
they all have the right of way.  That is, you have to drive
around and thru them.  Add to these pedestrians with loads
on their heads and arms, carts drawn by men, donkeys, oxen,
camels--some pulling hay piles, wrapped in canvas, the size
of a truck on a 2-wheel cart--the countless bicycles,
mopeds, motorbikes, 3-wheel 2-stroke motorbikes with
shells--in one of which we counted 9 people--cars, jeeps,
busses, and large trucks, and you wonder how this chaos
functions, but it does.  If you think the traffic in NY,
LA, etc. at rush hour are bad, believe me, you have seen
nothing that would compare to the traffic in India at any
hour.  Yes, 2 things can occupy the same space in India,
somehow without colliding.  Come and see it for yourself.

5. HINDU RELIGION.  The Dipabali Light Festival in India is
the most important celebration.  Last year it was in Sep;
this year in Oct., based on the Hindu Calendar.  The Hindus
believe in many MANY Gods, much like the ancient Greeks and
Romans.  This is to say that a Hindu prays to a different
God depending in what area he/she needs help and guidance. 
Ganesh, with human body and elephantine features, is the
God superior to others.  Hindus ask him to bless important
events and new beginnings, like marriage, a new home, job,
baby, etc.  Other important gods goddesses include:
Lacksmi, Khrishna, Shiva, Rama, Hunaman (Monkey God), and
Durga, each in control a specific area of life. If you
get a chance, do observe how the Hindus pray.  Ask
questions.  People here are very courteous and friendly
people.  They will readily help, show, explain.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

ADDENDUM INDIA, Jan. 4, 2003

1. About this trip.  This is my 3rd trip to India, and this
one covered more days and area than the 2 earlier ones. 
Delhi is in the north-central part of India and so the tour
focused on the north, though not the northern most parts
that border on the Himalayas.  Indeed, the highest peaks of
the Himalayas are better seen from Kathmandu, Nepal, which
I did in 1998.  The trip covered some 5,000 km (3,500
miles), of which 3,500 km were by car, 1,500 km (nearly
1,000 miles) by train thru 5 states, between the 25th to
29th degree latitudes and 71 to 83 degree longitudes. The 5
Indian States included DELHI--a city-state, as are other
major cities--HARYANA (Southern Punjab), RAJISTHAN
(Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Johdpur, Jaipur, Ranthambore Park,
Udaipur, Bharatpur), UTTER PRADESH (Agra and Varanasi), and
MADHYA PRADESH (Khajuraho, Orchha).  The southern-most tip
of India is at 8-degree latitude and is tropical.  As far
as the places we visited this time, the weather was like in
Miami--at about 24-degree latitude--at this time.  We added
2 other destinations to our itinerary, both of which were
already on our way, or required a small detour: 1) we
stopped at BHARATPUR to see the KEOLADOO GHANA Bird
Sanctuary--which you can skip as normally you do not see
many migratory birds--and 2) the fort at ORCHHA, which you
can also skip as you will see much more impressive forts in
the other cities I listed in previous report.  I should add
that despite its billion population, major cities in India
are not as crowded as they are, for example, in Mexico City
or Cairo.  Apparently no population center has more than 10
million people, which is remarkable in that although India
is a poor country the urban/rural distribution of its
population is balanced.
  
2. EXTRAS. If you are thinking of duplication our trip,
note that are a few occasions on which you will have the
option to spend more for certain attractions.  For example,
1) in Jaisalmer you will be asked to pay 750 Rupees for a
3-hour camel ride in the desert followed by entertainment
and food at an desert inn of mud huts in KHURI, 40 km from
Jaisalmer.  You should do this.  OR, you can also enjoy the
camel ride much cheaper.  Ask your driver to drive you to
Khuri and start walking towards the dunes.  A camel driver
will rapidly approach you.  Pay about 100 Rupees for an
hour of camel ride to the top of the dunes and back to the
car.  2) In Udaipur, you will be asked to pay 750 Rupees
before you can take the boat to the Lake Palace Hotel (of
James Bond Octopussy fame).  Note that on some nights the
dining room may be fully booked and you may be denied
access even if you are willing to pay.  If you decide to
go, pat the 750 as soon as you can.  The dinner and
sightseeing in the hotel is included in this fee.

3. INDIA, HISTORY, ET AL.  India's history began in about
2500BC in Indus Valley, today's Pakistan.  The VEDIC-ARYAN
period followed by 1500 B.C., when concepts like KARMA,
SAMSARA, and NIRVANA were expounded, which were also
fundamental to the evolution of Buddhism. Around 326 B.C.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT also left his mark, especially in the
form of GANDHARA art and sculpture.  The MAURYAN Empire
reached its peak under Emperor ASHOKA.  The empire was
converted to Buddhism around 260BC.  Under the next empire
that followed around 321AD, HINDUISM spread throughout the
empire.  Under the CHOLA Empire next around 800AD, Hinduism
spread also to other parts of India.  Concurrently, ISLAM
too arrived in India at about 700AD.  With it the building
forms like domes and arches got a foothold in Hindu
architecture.  Under the VIJAYANGAR Empire at about 1336AD,
the blending of the Hindu and Islamic art and architecture
matured.  This blending of art reached its peak under the
MUGHAL Empire around 1526AD when the TAJ MAHAL was built. 
EUROPEAN COLONIZATION began at around 1650AD first by the
Portuguese, later also by Great Britain.  Both have left
their impact in the form of many grandiose buildings. 
India reached INDEPENDENCE in 1947.

4. PHILOSOPHY.  In ancient India, the VEDIC religion
permeated all aspects of life, stressing the harmony
between religion, philosophy, and even sciences, not
competing with one another but that philosophical wisdom is
the basis of religious truth.  Later these notions expanded
to thoughts of an all-pervading universal ONE in which
there is no split between matter and spirit--NON-DUALISM.  A
person could make himself better off either by working
hard, OR by renouncing society and seeking enlightenment. 
Other thoughts also evolved.  Buddhism rejected the idea of
soul but retained the Vedic notions of KARMA--as justice
for past deeds.  MOKSHA, liberation from endless
reincarnations, became a goal.  JAIN Hinduism began
promoting the concept of NAYA, that there are many
perspectives of reality, all of which are valid. Challenges
from Buddhism and later from Islam spurred further shifts
in Hindu thought.  Around 788AD, the idea of Non-dualism was
reinforced, along with the thought of JNANA, the importance
of knowledge for salvation.  In turn, TAMIL BRAHMIN
proposed that while knowledge was one path to salvation, it
was not the only one, nor the most important one.  In the
19th century, a reform movement promoted the idea that
other religions were striving toward the same goals as
Hinduism.  In the 20th century Hinduism became more passive
when political activism was replaced by YOGA.  Indeed,
MAHATMA GANDHI turned traditional ideas such as SHIMSA
(nonviolence) into weapons against the British rule. 
BHAGAVAD-GITA is the Hindu equivalent of the Christian
Bible, Islamic Koran.

5. DANCE, MUSIC.  Exist in 2 forms: classical and folk. 
The Classical dance form is based on well-defined
traditional disciplines, some of which evolved pure in
various regions of India, others that are a blend of
Islamic and Hindu dance forms.  The folk dance form is more
liberal in interpretation and includes the high-spirited
BHANGRA dance of Punjab, and others from the KARNATAKA,
TAMIL NADA, and ORISSA states.  In turn, classical music of
India has roots to the VEDIC era when religious poems and
chants were collated into an anthology called RIG-VEDA. 
The legacy today is the 1) CARNATIC music of South India
and 2) HINDUSTANI music of North India, the main difference
between the 2 being in that more voice is used in Carnatic.

6. VOCABULARY.  Two of the Hindu words you hear often in
USA are Hare (Pray to) Krishna (Lord Krishna, a handsome boy
of some aspects of life).  In turn, Kama (positions) sutra
(sex) refers to the obvious and involves 84 such
possibilities, which are depicted artfully by the rock
statues on the interior and exterior walls of the several
Hindu temples in KHAJURAHO.  The statues come in different
sizes, like a lower band of many about 8-inch statues,
higher-up some of say 15-inch height also in a continuous
band, then bigger ones say about 2 ft in height.  The
scenes depicted by the statues are all facets of life in
India, but with some emphasis on eroticism.