When you come to India expect to be surprised and delighted at every turn. Expect things to happen that will amaze, shock, challenge and motivate you as you get to know this vast, enigmatic country. On a recent tour of the state of Rajasthan I was staggered at the diversity of its landscape and people.
The colours, smells, sights and sounds of this exotic destination, with a history spanning 5000 years, will leave you spellbound. My imagination was captured by the hues of Rajasthan. The amazing red sandstone forts, white temples and marble palaces are complemented by the bright colours of fairs, festivals, functions and weddings. Everyday street scenes are enlivened by the vibrant splash of women's saris, in eye-catching red, orange, yellow and crimson.
Brace yourself for the masses of humanity, holy cows, chaotic traffic, Bollywood movies, tandoori chicken, cricket mania and 330 million Hindu gods.
Touring by car with a driver from Delhi to Agra, Jaipur, Mandawa, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Manvar, Jodhpur, Rohetgarh and Udaipur, we passed thousands of pilgrims walking beside the road. Their destinations were important Hindu temples and notable shrines such as Amarpura Dham in Rajasthan, which can be a staggering 300km from their home villages.
Although the pilgrimages take weeks to complete, invariably the fully veiled women carry just a small overnight bag on their heads. Most pilgrims sleep among the roadside acacia trees. Some find budget guest houses and others use temporary marquees set up on the roadside for their use.
The men wear white cotton clothing and distinctive white turbans. They stride nonchalantly along the dusty verge, some proudly holding aloft their district flag. Thousands more travel by bus or truck, crammed in tightly, even standing on the doorway steps. Men squat on the bus roof, oblivious to the dust, exhaust fumes and obvious danger.
Dominating the national news was the election of a new president, Pranab Mukherjee, and speculation on the future political role of Rahul Gandhi, son of Sonia Gandhi and head of the Congress Party in the coalition Government. It seems large-scale misuse of privileges by Members of Parliament and bureaucrats is impeding the nation's economic growth.
During my stay , a 74-year-old political activist, Anna Hazare, began a life-threatening fast to persuade Parliament to legislate against graft and corruption. He has now abandoned the fast and has formed a political party. It remains to be seen whether one man can move the mountain.
But India has huge potential for growth and prosperity. The country manufactures or assembles under licence virtually all of its cars and trucks. The popular compact Suzuki Swift and the Dzire have waiting lists of 120,000 loyal customers. I rode in 4WD Mahindras on two desert safaris and was impressed with the performance of these replicas of World War II American Jeeps.
The monsoon season begins in August in Rajasthan. However, with its low annual rainfall this semi-desert region produces hardly enough precipitation to moisten the parched soil. In fact, the farmers' crops were seriously threatened after two months of drought. In an act of desperation the Government asked 5000 Hindu temples in Rajasthan to pray for rain but the clouds held back. Each prayer ritual called for 5000 rupees ($124) of blessed rice and up to 30 herbs. Despite the expense, 32,000 temples were asked to repeat the exercise.
My heart went out to the Rajasthani farmers as I watched them turn over huge acreages in 45C heat with heavy wooden ploughs pulled by a camel.
Their village homes are made with hand-hewn slabs of red sandstone, thatched roofs and compacted floors of sand and cow dung mix. These dwellings are efficiently organised with separate family rooms, storerooms, cow and goat fodder stores and cooking rooms.
In one small hamlet I met three children who were delighted when I took their photos, the eldest demonstrating her scholastic prowess by counting to 20 in soft, lyrical tones.
Drought is a way of life (and death) in Rajasthan and the present drought is ruthless. Over a 500km length of highway from Jaipur to Jaisalmer and Udaipur, thousands of ploughed acres resemble orderly rows of sand ripples fashioned by the wind. But locals assure me that the desert has a soul - and a conscience. One day in late-August when the she-camel and black billy goat lift their noses high to face the breeze and dance in a circle, the rains will surely come.
With thousands of years of deeply entrenched religious and cultural traditions, not surprisingly Indian people tend to be superstitious. Take the hospitable lower-caste farming folk, the Bishnois, who strictly observe 29 rules conceived by a 15th-century guru. Their homes lack any modern conveniences, although they use motorbikes to drive to town. They are surrounded by cows, goats and wild deer, but never kill any animal and cannot eat meat, eggs or fish. Their staple foods are millet flour bread, yoghurt, vegetables, cassava (tapioca), desert beans and pulses.
An Indian family can spend, on average, 53 per cent of its income on food. The Indian Government has 80 million tonnes of food stock, but the logistics of distributing this to needy villages in this vast country are huge. In a nation of 1.2 billion, 40 per cent of live below the poverty line (on less than $1.55 a day) and the availability of adequate nutrition is a burning issue.
Walking through various town centres, I met and, with their permission, photographed a number of gypsies and the lowest caste Dalits, termed the untouchables. These groups often camp outside the towns and are very active in the tourist industry.
At every fort and palace in Rajasthan, you'll find attractive, heavily veiled women standing in strategic locations inviting visitors to photograph them in their colourful garb. Once you proffer money the veils are lifted to reveal coy faces with broad, toothful smiles.
Throughout Rajasthan it is common to find that women's faces are completely covered with a transparent headscarf that is pulled down over their features like a veil. It is common for women to wear gold jewellery, rainbow-coloured bangles, bright printed headscarves and lavishly embroidered leather shoes.
India has an insatiable demand for gold for social and cultural reasons. It's a hangover from a prehistoric era when the country possessed fabulous wealth and contributed one third of the world's GDP. Today, 969 tonnes of gold is imported primarily for jewellery and religious ornamentation.
A highlight of my tour was visiting the spectacular red sandstone forts in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. An elephant ride took me up to the lofty heights of the Jaipur Amber Fort.
The immense ramparts of Jaisalmer's Sonar Fort and Jodhpur's Mehrangarh Fort are impregnable.
The Taj Mahal, Hindu temples and marble palaces, with their elaborate gold inlays and painted frescos, are architectural wonders.
India is also renowned for its lively festivals. I was in Jodhpur during the grand procession of Teej, where thousands of women devotees dressed in their finest ethnic clothes and adorned with jewellery, sang and danced their way to a Hindu temple. There they offered prayers to Goddess Parvati (the consort of Lord Shiva) for the well-being of their husbands, and asked the goddess for a long and happy marriage - a well-founded prayer as divorce is a foreign concept throughout India and frowned upon, given 85 per cent of Indian marriages are arranged by family.
Other prominent festivals include Divali, which commemorates the day Lord Rama returned home after years of exile.
Cities are illuminated with millions of oil lamps and boys wreak havoc with fireworks.
Holi Festival heralds the arrival of spring and people splash each other with coloured water and smear friends with powders.
This is just another example of the "technicolour" brilliance of cultural life that thrills travellers who visit India.
Paul Rush travelled to India courtesy of Adventure World Tours and Cathay Pacific.