India: Interesting Place to Visit

TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 6 Nov 2023

Dr. Ravi P. Bhatia – TRANSCEND Media Service

India is a huge country with the world’s largest population of about 1.5 billion people, having recently overtaken the Chinese population–1.05 billion–and that of Europe–750 million. Delhi, India’s capital city, also has a large population of about 35 million, larger than that of small countries like Sri Lanka (22 million).

Delhi is architecturally an interesting city. It has monuments built by Mughal rulers such as Qutab Minar, Lal Quila (Red Fort), Hauz Khas built by Aladdin Khilji, several mosques built by various Mughal rulers.

The city that was built by the British rulers can easily be seen — CP (Connaught Place), the South and North Blocks that were office buildings, the Presidents Estate, etc. India Gate building looks nice as one travels along Rajpath road from Presidents Estate. Even Delhi University Campus that is now  a century old, was started by the British and the old campus building is a heritage building now. One interesting part of Delhi University is St Stephen College which now admits both boy and girl students and has hostels for them.

England also built many industries and railway trains to move from one region to another. They also built what are called   toy trains to connect Kalka to hill station such as Shimla in the northern part; also Darjeeling in north east of the country.

There are not many buildings or structures constructed by Hindu rulers that can be seen in Delhi. Rani of Jhansi can be remembered by a small road in northern western part of the city. Several beautiful temples with deities of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, of course were built by Hindu rulers. One well known temple is   Birla Mandir which not only has several idols of various Hindu Gods, but also has spaces where children can swing and jump around.

Embassies of different countries  add to the beauty of Delhi. The American Embassy is a prominent one in the   Chanakyapuri  region of Delhi.

Mahatma Gandhi struggled for nonviolence and freedom from the British yoke, and has buildings where he lived in Delhi for some time. He was unfortunately assassinated by a bullet of a fanatic in January 1948. His ashes were collected and became part of Gandhi samadhi that is a prominent place to be visited by political personalities and tourists who come to Delhi.

Being the capital of India, several international conferences such as G 20 are held throughout the year in Delhi. Living in Delhi one clearly or indirectly feels the impact of history, politics of the country. Narendra Modi has been Prime Minister of the country since 2018 and continues to get respect and affection from people in India and from many other countries. This respect is also observed by some Indians who travel overseas.

Many persons from Dubai and other Middle East countries come to India — the first stop being Delhi. They come as tourists in places like Jaipur,  Udaipur , Kanpur, Darjeeling (in north east part of India) or for medical facilities. These are easily available and not expensive for tourists coming from Mid East regions.

Sometimes, they can speak a little bit of Hindi having picked up this language from Indian workers who are attracted to the Mid East regions and work there. Many a time they are also attracted to see Hindi films in cinema halls in Delhi or other towns. Sometimes these tourists come with their sons (or daughters) to study in Colleges or engineering institutes in India since they lack these facilities in their own countries . Education is fairly inexpensive and effective for these overseas persons.

With interaction at multiple levels between these tourists and Indian people, a friendly not just a business level, relationship builds up. This is encouraged by persons at different levels. This also fosters friendly relations between India and the countries to which tourists generally belong. This relationship is not diluted on the basis of religion, or backgrounds of tourists. The government also encourages this amity partly because it brings in foreign exchange — dollars, or pounds or whatever.

Earlier several overseas people used to come to India for business purposes and gradually settled here. Britain also came to India for trade but gradually annexed various regions of the country and ultimately began to rule the country — their rule lasted about two hundred years and ended by the struggles of various persons such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru , Lal Bahadur Shastri, Subhash Chander Bose and others . Many women such as Sarojini Naidu , Rani Lakshmi Baai and others also participated in the struggle against British rule.

It is difficult to talk of the history or politics of India in a small essay such as this one. One can only say “Come to India and enjoy the sights and sounds of the country “.

You will not be disappointed.

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Dr Ravi P Bhatia is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, an educationist, Gandhian scholar and peace researcher. Retired professor, Delhi University. His new book, A Garland of Ideas—Gandhian, Religious, Educational, Environmental was published recently in Delhi. ravipbhatia@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 6 Nov 2023.

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