Today is my last full day in India, and of course, this makes me very sad because I have had an incredible time here.
Yesterday, Avantika and I woke up early to catch a bus to Pune (Pronounced: Poona). The journey up, which very scenic was rough. A few things about Indian buses: They are cheap (a three hour journey cost Rs250=$5). Even on the most luxury buses, the seats are worn down, will recline into the lap of the person behind you and don't have toilets. It was an uncomfortable trip to say the least, but once we arrived in Pune, we were greeted by Avantika's grandmother who took us back to her house for a traditional Indian meal. This is when I learned that no matter what country you live in, grandmothers will make sure that you have eaten enough to feed a small army.
While we did not tour Pune, as there is not much to see in the city proper, I had a very interesting conversation with Avantika's grandmother and I learned some really interesting things about India:
1. The Indian gov't will not permit parents to know the gender of their child as the majority of parents here will abort the fetus if it is a girl. Furthermore, when girl's are born many indian's will mourn and will be very upset. Except for the few who are educated, the family will blame this on the mother. Also, spinning sperm to determine the gender of your child is illegal here.
2. There is currently an Indian tribe that resides close to the Nepalese border that has a ceremony where they will take all newly born girls and boil them in calves milk. Because the women all either died off or were boiled, they import women from Nepal to have their children and sell the mother's of their children when their services are done.
3. To get to Leh (Northern India where the bad flooding is currently happening), one must take a 16 hour bus.
4. There is an incredibly large Indian community in Muscat, Oman. Many Indians travel freely between Muscat and India. The local people from Oman often learn Hindi and come to India to get educated. A lot of the students in India come from the Middle East, countries like Afghanistan and Iran.
The drive back down to Bombay from Pune last night was also very scenic, but kind of long as Bombay traffic is insane. Last night I went to be early at the NSCI club.
Today we woke up and had breakfast in the room as Avantika was preparing to go to the RTO (RTO:India::DMV:America) to get her driver's license. I was throughly amused by the people sitting outside the RTO in straw huts selling car insurance. Afterall, who wouldn't purchase car insurance from a man in a hut? After this I went to a store called Shurjan. This store sells beautiful handmade crafts from a small town outside of Bombay that had lost all of its industry a few years ago due to a poor economy. Now, They have revived that and sell those items this store. I bought a few nice things and most importantly, I am supporting these artisans with my purchase. This store was not at all a tourist trap as most of the people who shop there are Mumbaikars (a person from Mumbai/Bombay).
Afterwards, I took some time to pop in and out of stores here and look around. I bought a few things and we went to their club for lunch. I am now resting in their apartment as I am tired and my stomach is still fairly upset.
Anyway, I have about 24 hours left in India so I will try to make the most of it!
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