8 things India does better than anywhere else
10 things India does better than anywhere else
you either love it or hate it. Or one day you wake up and realize where you fit into India and where India fits into you.
The country of 1.3 billion draws more than 7 million tourists a year, but there's far more to gain than spiritual enlightenment and an expanded waistline.
Home to 28 states and seven union territories, India contains more than 800 dialects and can lay claim to some of the most varied sites in the world. From Kerala's backwaters to Tamil Nadu's temples, and Rajasthan's deserts to Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, there are endless superlatives to go around.
Here are 10:
1. Barbers
In India, a simple hair cut is anything but. Barbers will take their scissors to wayward eyebrows, tufts of ear hair and nostrils. That's just the beginning.
Once the customer is shorn, wet-wiped and toweled off, barbers begin a firm head, neck and shoulder massage, which can descend into facial slapping and skull-pounding known as "champi," which is where the word "shampoo" comes from.
Be warned: their signature move is a swift neck crack, which can come as a shock to first-timers.
2. Enterprising street vendors
India's street vendors sell the usual wares, from fake DVDs to earrings to bags of masala popcorn and roasted peanuts.
But there's also ear-cleaning, street dentistry and pavement astrology.
Vendors possessing the presence of mind to seize any opportunity -- last year when Starbucks opened in Mumbai, the queues were so long, a tea-vendor set up shop outside and sold his wares to waiting customers.
India's street vendors sell the usual wares, from fake DVDs to earrings to bags of masala popcorn and roasted peanuts.
But there's also ear-cleaning, street dentistry and pavement astrology.
Vendors possessing the presence of mind to seize any opportunity -- last year when Starbucks opened in Mumbai, the queues were so long, a tea-vendor set up shop outside and sold his wares to waiting customers.
3. Obsessing over cricketWhen the British left India, they left two real legacies: the railways and cricket.
Not just the preserve of the upper classes wearing club ties, drinking Pimms and eating cucumber sandwiches, cricket in India is a way of life, enjoyed by every class, age and sex, while cricketers are revered as gods.
Watching a live Indian Premier League match is a nighttime floodlit spectacle featuring semi-clad cheerleaders, fog horns, fireworks in the crowds, drummers and, of course, with a brand value of just less than $3 billion, a lot of extravagantly rich cricket players.
Not just the preserve of the upper classes wearing club ties, drinking Pimms and eating cucumber sandwiches, cricket in India is a way of life, enjoyed by every class, age and sex, while cricketers are revered as gods.
Watching a live Indian Premier League match is a nighttime floodlit spectacle featuring semi-clad cheerleaders, fog horns, fireworks in the crowds, drummers and, of course, with a brand value of just less than $3 billion, a lot of extravagantly rich cricket players.
4. FestivalsWith so many religions and cultures existing side by side in India, it's rare for a week to go by without some sort of celebration.
Indians will normally extend invitations to anyone and everyone from next door neighbors to stray travelers who they may have met that morning on a train.
It's wise to bring along a change of clothes when invited to share mutton biryani during Eid or set off Lakshmi banger fireworks in the street at Diwali or be doused in colored water during Holi, the festival of spring.
Indians will normally extend invitations to anyone and everyone from next door neighbors to stray travelers who they may have met that morning on a train.
It's wise to bring along a change of clothes when invited to share mutton biryani during Eid or set off Lakshmi banger fireworks in the street at Diwali or be doused in colored water during Holi, the festival of spring.
5. Cities in the mountains
India's cities in the mountains, or "hill stations," are walkers' havens. Less well known than other hill stations, Matheran is one of many we love.
Hidden between the jungle-topped Sahyadri hills 80 kilometers east of Mumbai, it was originally used by the British to escape the Bombay heat, and is free from fume-spewing vehicles while being accessible on horseback, on foot or by the narrow-gauge toy train that trundles along tiny tracks.
Recommended: picnicking on Charlotte Lake, lookouts at Celia Point and chikki (a sweet made from groundnuts and jaggery) at Nariman Chikki Mart.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly stated India's inbound tourism data. According to the UNWTO, in 2012 India had 6.649 million tourist arrivals.
India's cities in the mountains, or "hill stations," are walkers' havens. Less well known than other hill stations, Matheran is one of many we love.
Hidden between the jungle-topped Sahyadri hills 80 kilometers east of Mumbai, it was originally used by the British to escape the Bombay heat, and is free from fume-spewing vehicles while being accessible on horseback, on foot or by the narrow-gauge toy train that trundles along tiny tracks.
Recommended: picnicking on Charlotte Lake, lookouts at Celia Point and chikki (a sweet made from groundnuts and jaggery) at Nariman Chikki Mart.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly stated India's inbound tourism data. According to the UNWTO, in 2012 India had 6.649 million tourist arrivals.
6.AccessorizingFrom Hyderabad pearls to Jaipuri gems, intricate Indian jewelry is coveted the world over, and local women are usually dripping in it.
In the markets in Rajasthan, maids sweep temples and Rabari tribeswomen in Gujarat effortlessly carry buckets, mop floors and balance heavy loads -- all while wearing five-inch diameter nose rings, toe-rings, glass bangles to the elbow and gold necklaces swinging by their bellies.
In the markets in Rajasthan, maids sweep temples and Rabari tribeswomen in Gujarat effortlessly carry buckets, mop floors and balance heavy loads -- all while wearing five-inch diameter nose rings, toe-rings, glass bangles to the elbow and gold necklaces swinging by their bellies.
Comfort food
From Mumbai's Mohammed Ali Road for kebabs to Amritsar's Lawrence Road for Makhan Fish, India's addictive food leaves no room for worries over waistlines.
Steaming chicken kathi rolls, crunchy sweet and sour bhel puri or creamy lassi from even the starkest of roadside shacks are bewilderingly tasty and satisfying.
From Mumbai's Mohammed Ali Road for kebabs to Amritsar's Lawrence Road for Makhan Fish, India's addictive food leaves no room for worries over waistlines.
Steaming chicken kathi rolls, crunchy sweet and sour bhel puri or creamy lassi from even the starkest of roadside shacks are bewilderingly tasty and satisfying.
