One of the great things about travel is to see how people live in different cultures. The 'westernization' of the world scares me because I think we're getting too close to a homogeneous culture and I haven't even experienced a lot of the differences yet before they disappear ( I like to call this the walmartification of the world!). A good friend of mine recently moved to India for work and is still adjusting to the differences which are stark even though she is in a very modern, Western city. Above is the view from her balcony - what a view!
Although she has full electricity (of course) she says it goes out for hours a day which has taken some getting used to. She has all of the western appliances at home but has to plan their use around times when power is available. All of the outlets are high up on the wall near the light switches.
The place was rented furnished -lucky her, right? Check out this entertainment center, have you ever seen anything like it? CRAZY! Did they follow the instructions when they built it?
Above is the modern kitchen. I love how it all just plugs into the wall visibly! That looks like a scarily overloaded circuit though!
The master bath is very modern with this trendy sink (just don't drink the water!).
I think this is the same toilet I have in my apartment! A bit odd that the shower doesn't have walls or even a curtain....in a humid environment it must be hard to keep it all dry! But how nice must a shower be after a long hot, humid day!
A major difference in the cultures are the upper/lower caste society where the 'white collar' workers have servants and drivers still (which she says is a blessing as the streets are crazy to drive!). Here in the US we have mostly gotten rid of having live-in servants as we let technology do the work. They have the technology (which works when the power is on) but still rely on the help. Above is the bathroom in the servant's quarters. Not as nice as the master bath.
Because of the climate, the entire house has marble floors to help keep the rooms cool. Notice the water bottles in the corner -it makes me feel so lucky to be able to drink from the tap! The furniture is .......interesting. It's an Indian luxury apartment after all, you have to have some 'fancy' furniture! It's very western but I still love to see the minor differences as they reflect the culture. I hope you enjoyed the travelogue!
One of the great things about travel is to see how people live in different cultures. The 'westernization' of the world scares me because I think we're getting too close to a homogeneous culture and I haven't even experienced a lot of the differences yet before they disappear ( I like to call this the walmartification of the world!). A good friend of mine recently moved to India for work and is still adjusting to the differences which are stark even though she is in a very modern, Western city. Above is the view from her balcony - what a view!
The place was rented furnished -lucky her, right? Check out this entertainment center, have you ever seen anything like it? CRAZY! Did they follow the instructions when they built it?
Above is the modern kitchen. I love how it all just plugs into the wall visibly! That looks like a scarily overloaded circuit though!
The master bath is very modern with this trendy sink (just don't drink the water!).
A major difference in the cultures are the upper/lower caste society where the 'white collar' workers have servants and drivers still (which she says is a blessing as the streets are crazy to drive!). Here in the US we have mostly gotten rid of having live-in servants as we let technology do the work. They have the technology (which works when the power is on) but still rely on the help. Above is the bathroom in the servant's quarters. Not as nice as the master bath.
Because of the climate, the entire house has marble floors to help keep the rooms cool. Notice the water bottles in the corner -it makes me feel so lucky to be able to drink from the tap! The furniture is .......interesting. It's an Indian luxury apartment after all, you have to have some 'fancy' furniture! It's very western but I still love to see the minor differences as they reflect the culture. I hope you enjoyed the travelogue!
