Be prepared to feel small, filthy rich and the number one target for scams and beggars. That was the advices I got before travelling to India to work. I'm about half through my stay here and I agree on every word... However it's not all that bad! After a few thousands dismissals of people who wants to use you, I feel quite polite in rejecting people swiftly. Sounds like a bad thing, but it's a mere necessity in a country where the population in Delhi alone outnumbers my own country 3 times over and the brink of poverty is the normal situation.

Work is of course filling up most of my days, but I have had the chance to see the "golden triangle" Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Overwhelmed by impressions I will let my photos speak of them soon when I have time to go through them. I'm also planning to take a few more outings in the weekends to see more of the real India apart from the typical tourist destinations I have already visited.

UPDATE



Jaipur, in the heart of Rajastan, is considered to be a very safe tourist destination apart from the normal density of pickpockets you can find at any tourist destination. Tuesday 13.05.2008 it was severely hit by a devestating terrorist attack. Ten bicycle bombs was carefully timed and mounted to achieve highest possible damage on soft targets. The locations chosen where all within the walls of the Pink City, the very image of Jaipur, extremely crowded and filled with streetshops in abundance outlining the streets. The sequence of the powerful bicycle bombs packed with metal pellets caused the death of 60 people and injured 150 more. The population of this area is quite evenly distributed between Muslim and Hindu and it is believed that the blasts was an attempt to cause a divide between the fractions. However the ties and respect between Hindu and Muslim cultures in Jaipur seems to be very strong and together they form a strong opposition against this senseless attack.

Source: The Times of India, Bangalore.

There certainly is hope when the aftermath of such horrible terrible acts shows a unity between the people it was supposed to divide. Still I can't stop wonder if any of the people I watched and exchanged a few words with only 9 days earlier where hit.