My first out of the country trip was in India more than a decade ago. It was basically a study trip in New Delhi to study Psephology — the art and science of the numbers in voting and elections. During those times kaya, mabilang mo lang sa muro ang mga Psephologists sa mundo and saro duman si Yogendra Yadav. But the side trip was more interesting than the main purpose of the trip itself — an insight into India’s religions.
There are nine major religions in India with more than 100 sects. That is why India is sometimes called as the “Land of Many Faiths”. Interestingly, the number of religious organizations in India is almost equal to its number of recognized national and state political parties. India also has around 3,000 castes and this is almost equal to the unrecognized, but operational, political parties in the country.
This just came to my mind because of The Geeky Cat Lady’s article on her trip to Gubat, Sorsogon that included the “unplanned” visit to Museo de San Antonio. Sometimes, the side trips are more interesting. And India also sparked some interest because there are insinuations that the Ibalong Epic has been influenced by the people of India. Some interpretations say that the Ibalong heroes are descendants of Indians.
Another thing I learned during my first out-of-the-country trip was “the must-see” places a traveler should always include in his or her travel plan — religious places or places of worship, public market, and the government center. The religious places provide a glimpse of culture in the area. Medyo problematic lang pag sa lugar na arog kan India ka magbisita ta magsawa ka sa mga templo, mosque, simbahan asin shrine. Ubos talaga oras mo. But the visit provides a glimpse of what kind the people are in the place you are visiting and what way of thinking they might have. Of course, you can also get ideas on the kind of culture they have. Usually, they also provide a sense of history. A visit to a public market also provides an idea not only of their culture but also their tastes while the visit to government centers provides perspectives on how the place is governed.
Another interesting fact: More than a decade ago in New Delhi, you can determine the position of a party in the political spectrum by the thickness of the walls of their headquarters. The more liberal ones have ordinary thickness — that is, between 5 inches to 8 inches thickness — while the communists have at least 12 inches-thick walls. Not sure if this is still true today especially considering that India has become lax with communists. Bakong arog sa Pilipinas na sobra pang Third World ang pag-iisip when it comes to political and economic ideologies. Just like in Europe, communists are also elected in India. In fact, one of its States, Kerala, is run by communists. Kerala is the first autonomous polity in Asia and only second in the world to have democratically elected a fully communist-led government into power. And mind you, Kerala, of all the states in India, has the highest human development index. It tops all the Indian States in terms of Health Index and Education Index with 0.834 and 0.713 scores, respectively. The Communist state also has a life expectancy of 74.23. But why the Communist Party in Kerala did not influence the rest of India, however, is a subject of another discussion. But a hint: The mindset of some states in India are the same as the mindset of majority of the Filipinos — very Third World-ish.
Anyway, India is India and India is considered a “country of two faces” — that of a “developing” and “developed” country.
