Mumbai: Also, it is known as the commercial capital of India. There we met a friend from Mumbai who guided us to the places where we could observe some stereotypes like local trains, colleges, tea stalls, tourist places etc. There is a big stereotype about mumbai that there is no place to keep two feet at a time. But it is not the case, it is just that people are very busy and they mind their own business but still everyone manages to keep some breathing spaces. Also, it is said that “mumbai mai koi bhooka nahi reh sakta hai!”, that is everyone has some work to do and it is very easy to find some work here.
Goa: There also we observed a bunch of stereotypes like overwhelmingly nice people, lots of bars and wine shops, open-minded people, churches, vibrantly colorful houses, people selling weed, influence of foreign culture etc. Coimbatore: We were expecting a language barrier, so we started talking in English but to our surprise, taxi driver, shopkeepers, waiter, etc also knew enough hindi to understand us and communicate. We thought that we would have to eat south Indian cuisine like idli, dosa, vada etc. but almost all the restaurants were having a variety of other types of food as well.We visited a place in pondicherry named french colony, where the whole colony have houses with french architecture which was very fascinating.
Hyderabad: The famous Charminar was really disappointing as it was located amidst a crowded market and was not worth the spectacle. We could not even see the Charminar properly as it was too crowded. Visakhapatnam: The city was too hot which made our initial hours in the city really tough. It was difficult to find rooms for girls and boys combined as no hotel in Vizag allowed boys and girls to live together without a certified relation.
Kolkata: This was one of the best weeks of our journey. On our very first day we observed their physical appearances and we found out that bengalis are usually short in height, men and women there have great hair and Bengali women like applying a big bindi on their forehead. There is immense love for football in kolkata as we saw different football team’s flags on the roads, cars etc. Darjeeling: We were finally relieved as the weather in Darjeeling was pretty
awesome.We loved the cool weather as we were tired of the heat and humidity. Darjeeling had a unique football fever. People in Darjeeling are too much passionate about football. Not only fifa world cup but also people wore jerseys. We witnessed graffiti of ‘human trafficking’ on street walls and on
the side of footpaths which suggests that human trafficking is one of the biggest concerns of Darjeeling. People here in Darjeeling also follow the traffic rules very seriously.
Gangtok: Sikkim with the group ‘The Numinous’. Sikkim gave vibes of chinese culture not because of the people there but the architecture style of some shops/buildings, restaurants, food style. There were statues of dragons outside some shops which gave chinese feels. It is common stereotype that people of northeast kind of hate northern people but we found it totally incorrect as they behaved in a very helpful and normal manner. Infact those people were more friendlier than some of the people of south indian states.
Kanpur: As expected we found red patches of pan masala on every wall of railway station as well as the streets. Then we headed to Agra after a one day stay at Kanpur. Agra’s walls too were stained red with the pan masala pichkaris. We observed people there do not follow traffic rules at all. Everyone just wants to go ahead of someone somehow risking lives of oneself and all others.
New Delhi: New Delhi was one of the most developed city we visited during our explorers fellowship. Its famous metro rail made our transportation really cheap, comfortable and easy.
Shimla: The beauty of the himalayas was breathtaking and mesmerizing. We have heard a lot about the toy train of shimla but we did not find it so comfortable. People address each other as ‘Bhaiji’. Also, we have heard a lot about people taking weed but we did not find anything of such sort.Amritsar: As we know that punjabis are very much fond of food specially parathas and ghee, we had food with a lot of ghee. A big stereotype about punjabis is that they all are lookalikes and yes they do look almost the same. We noticed a lot of punjabis who almost looked similar which also confused us sometimes. We did not find langar food that good and satisfactory. It was a bit disappointing for us.
