India: Five things you won’t find anywhere else in the world
By Amit Shukla
India is a country that should be on your travel list. If you love to travel and haven’t travelled to India, your itinerary, or should we say your journey as a traveller, is incomplete. The country once considered the land of the snake charmers has so many things to charm you now that you will be left spellbound.
Talk about their history, cultural and historical monuments, and their lip-smacking cuisines a lot is unexplored for someone who is a frequent traveler to the country. So if you hardly traveled to India, then you don’t know about this beautiful country.
Cultural heritage, beautiful dresses, tehjeeb (culture), and their linguistic approach are traits that you can’t find anywhere in the world. Let’s take any other country, for that matter, The United States of America. America doesn’t have an official language, but they do have people who moved there from all over the world, making it a multi-linguistic nation. If English and Spanish are two languages, the country faces issues there, and people are classified accordingly. On the contrary, India has multiple languages, but they all live in absolute harmony. Let’s look at the things that you wouldn’t find anywhere else in the world but India.
Officially 22 languages, but 19,500 mother tongues spoken in the country
India has 22 official languages, but the number of mother tongues is 19,500. We didn’t make this up because this is something mentioned in a leading newspaper’s online platform. It also quotes Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, that has authority over this aspect.
Think about the kind and amount of languages you hear when you travel between places. America has a different aspect as everyone speaks English, or should we say most of the population. It’s just the accent and style that differentiates people. Texas person will have a different way from someone of the south side, and a cowboy will speak differently. There’s a famous saying about India,’ Chaar Kos par paani badle, aath kos par baani.’ (Water changes every 12 km and language every 24 km).
The historic places, the food, and the ability to learn a new language are phenomenal. After all, we never stop learning, and if you can learn about a dish for your meals, a language for your communication and a memory for a lifetime, then it is exceptional. History about a place is a way to appreciate how we connect beyond boundaries.
15,105 Post Offices connecting India
While Mobiles and advanced technologies took center stage, nothing matches the art of writing letters to your loved ones. Ask your grandma or grandfather about their communication, and they will tell you the love for letters and the gifts that came with them.
India has places that are not accessible to all, including courier service providers, but Indian Postal Service caters to all. India’s Postal Service covers every postal code (US: Zip Code). A salute to those that travel far and wide to deliver messages, letters, ordinances, orders, and documents to people across the Indian Geographical space.
A way to cherish the country and the travel is to learn about its zip codes. It helps you navigate places and tell people about your experience in a specific area of a location. Isn’t it funny that we hardly recall our zip codes, but they hold extreme importance?
Let’s say you had food at Bahadurgarh, but with the location being geographically vast, you can’t define it unless you know the space by its zip code. With 15k+ zip codes, the chances are that you may not recall all, but isn’t it amazing to know that the biggest democracy in the world also has several post offices?
Largest Rail Network in the World
Post offices connect India, as does the rail network. It is the largest interconnected network in the world. Ministry of Railways, or should we say the rail network employs the most people in a vertical. The current government has reformed the department and built a rail network to previously inaccessible places.
Secularism and cultural diversity are visible in a railway coach where people from different beliefs, food types, regions, religions, ethnicity, gender, and orientation travel together in harmony. India has the world in awe of everything they do and have changed their ideology from being dependent on others to becoming Aatm-Nirbhar. (Self Dependant)
One can imagine enjoying the food at a railway station, and every place will have different flavors and rich history. Now, that’s food for thought and a reason why you should travel to the architectural brilliance in India.
India has a variety of Chai (Tea)
Chai is essential to people as some use it to cleanse their minds, while others use it for their waste. Chai is a cult and not a drink in India. People drink tea for reasons that are far beyond anyone’s understanding. People like to drink tea before eating snacks, smoking, and even before drinking.
There are 3000 varieties of tea, but the ones used in India are 11, which can vary based on the location. Have you ever heard of butter tea? Well, India also has it, and its aroma and taste are bliss for the taste buds. Try drinking it or cardamom, ginger, cardamom, and ginger, butter, black, green tea are some options you will love. Traveling to India and viewing its architecture as you sip tea is an experience like no other.
Spice your plate with Indian Saffron
If spice is something you like, then there’s nothing like Kashmiri Saffron. Saffron doesn’t have a spicy taste; it’s sweeter. When used in a dish, it tastes spicy. Kashmir is India’s integral part, and anyone that says otherwise states a hoax. Kashmir, or the northern part of India, is known for chai, and Kawa Chai in the hilly mountains with a picturesque view is bliss.
One can only imagine enjoying a kawa chai with a food that has saffron in it. Believe it or not, the entire team at TripSided would love a trip to Kashmir to witness Heaven on Earth and experience Indian hospitality.