2022
My company used to have a large group of Indian expats forming the core of our IT Support operation but over time they had changed out to employ local staff in their place.
Regardless, the Indian mothers in the workplace contributed hugely to my success and I wanted to repay them in a way they would find special.
They had, for most of the past year brought me gifts from South India, so off I went to Delhi on a solo adventure to prove I had learned enough from them to survive on my own!
The tour operator GeTS Holidays was very flexible, allowing me to customize a 8D7N Golden Triangle itinerary which I enjoyed to the fullest by adding my own stops and activities along the way.
My main takeaway from visiting India was interacting with the local people in Delhi and Jaipur and enjoying their hospitality greatly.
They were much enamored by my love for Indian history and culture - I learned a lot about the Mughal Empire of old in Agra, paid respects at the palace of Jodhabai, while in Old Delhi I knew enough of Muslim culture from previous cultural exchange in Malaysia, to start sharing and teaching others around me who stopped by to listen to the conversation between the guide and myself.
In Jaipur I toured forts and palaces, learned a bit of practical Hindu astronomy (the expert guide provided was that good), then in the evening made friends in town and was invited to stay for dinner with a local Rajasthani family.
To my pleasant surprise, I was also welcomed to join the traditional dances at Chokhi Dhani Resort, and that was my little secret agenda for wanting to go to Jaipur 🙂
I'd love to visit India again, either a week alone in Delhi free and easy, or a tour of Rajasthan proper because I am absolutely smitten by the history and culture there.
I also had the opportunity to debunk a lot of myths about traveling to India. I feel safer in the streets of Delhi than I am back home in Singapore. Amazing right?
That's how well I got along with people. Give it several years, or a decade, I'm sure one day I will decide to make a living there... legally of course 🙂
The Full Story:
Blog - A Lost Sheep in Delhi
