Marvellous Madness: A Plethora of Beautiful Contrasts from India.

India is an assault on the senses. It’s colorful, it’s noisy and it’s spicy. In many ways, India represents everything in an extreme form. Your photos from India won’t look like your photos from anywhere else, and your taste buds will never forget the mixtures of flavors and textures they encountered in this intoxicating country. India is a land of contrasts, and nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to your senses. Whether you are experiencing hectic 21st-century Mumbai or relaxing on a holiday to Goa, a trip to India will tempt and tease all five.

Sight

The Festival of Holi is the Hindu religion’s way of celebrating the onset of spring. It’s celebrated mostly in the north of the country, where people take to the streets and throw gulal (colorful powder) and colored liquid over one another. This symbolizes the growth of new life, and mirrors the explosion of color in the Indian landscape.

However, one of the biggest juxtapositions when it comes to color is the contrast between the natural and the artificial. Seeing the neon lights of Mumbai reflecting on a cow walking down the street, or a sign in the Bengali jungle advertising Coca-Cola all takes some getting used to.

Sound

India is, without any doubt, a noisy country. The sheer number of people means that you have to be noisy to be heard. The system of Dabbawalas (lunchtime delivery men) is a sound to behold, as the hundreds of thousands of individual lunchboxes are sorted on railway platforms. Reportedly these Dabbawalas are so efficient that they average one mistake per six million lunchboxes.

As well as noises that are a century old, India also lays claim to being one of the birthplaces of trance music. Indian culture also played an important role in the Beatles’ White Album and Abbey Road. There is also a seeming irony that India is home to the noisiest and most bustling cities in the world, yet is also the home of meditation, and is seen by many Westerners as a retreat from the modern world.

Taste

India is internationally known for its food, which varies greatly throughout the country. In the northwestern part of the country, in Jammu and Kashmir, lamb and mutton are key ingredients. This is born of a long history of trading with Central Asian peoples. In Goa, the food has been influenced by the Portuguese, the sea, and by the tropical climate. In the Punjabi region, the tandoor ovens cook bright red chicken by the roadside.

Only by traveling around India does one realize that there is no such thing as ‘Indian food’, but a series of regional styles of cooking and different ingredients. One of the main contrasts in Indian food is how it retains such a distinct identity, yet one drawn on centuries of interaction from other cultures.

Smell

Incense is something intrinsically Indian, with a history dating back centuries. Incense was used medicinally and religiously, and retains both uses to the modern day. As well as the created smells, the Himalayan region is known for the purity and freshness of its air, particularly when the cold winds blow down from the mountains. However, perhaps the most enduring scent of India is the smell of the monsoon – a mixture of the wet air and the dry Earth. It is this contrast that creates a smell you will always remember.

Touch

India is a land of many different textures. The feeling of being jostled in one of the busy train stations, of swimming in one of the northern mountain lakes, or floating in the Arabian sea during your holiday will remain with you forever.

The most enduring contrast when it comes to touch is that it requires interaction with the outside world, and yet is a deeply personal sense. This is a microcosm of India itself – although it is a place that forces interaction with new things, it is a place that helps you learn about yourself.

India is not only an assault on the senses, it is an assault on itself. Each of the five senses are placed into overdrive on a trip to India, from south to north, east to west. This fascinating country is a series of juxtapositions, which is exactly what makes it so boisterous, entertaining and ultimately engaging.

Image credits (used under creative commons licence)

Scared BUT…. by Vivek Joshi
Here’s Some Colour by Abhishek Shirali
Mumbai Dabbawala by Ayan Khasnabis
Lunch by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson
Bonalu (23) by Shashank Mhasawade
Smile Please by Anant Rohankar