And so back to “Dilli”

Our last full day in India has arrived and so it’s a full days coach travel back to Delhi (correct pronunciation Dilli, Raj tells us). First stop, however, was the gemstone outlet so we had a little demo followed by the hard sell for those who were indulging. Very pretty trinkets and jewels to be bought but very pressurised too!

Raj’s little talk was about marriage and taxes today. 90% of marriages are still arranged in India, totally by parents although if either the boy or girl does not fancy the only choice offered, he/she can opt out and the parents have to start again. This would be acceptable in the cities but probably no choice at all in the villages-the original choice would be the only choice! 5% of marriages are semi-arranged where boys and girls find their own partners (within their castes) but 5% are inter-caste marriages and these are frowned upon and not recognised by the families and friends concerned. In this case, the couple would have to leave their home town and set up somewhere else. Divorces are becoming increasingly common in the cities, as women have better means of self sufficiency with better jobs but the divorce rate is still low.
70% of people, mainly farmers, do not qualify to pay tax. Money earned in farming is ploughed back into the land, literally.

A comfort stop followed by a lunch stop ensued, where many plates of French fries were ordered-people are a bit “curried out”! We ate at picnic tables outside. There were a lot of flies here! Back on the road and all too soon the chaos of the Delhi outskirts with all its huge corporate buildings such as Deloitte, PWC, etc and huge IT centres were on either side of the highway.

As usual, any Indian people in other vehicles, whether they be schoolchildren, bus travellers, lorry drivers as well as pedestrians, are very interested in a bus full of boring old Brits and are anxious to smile broadly and wave enthusiastically at us. In addition, wherever we have been, all sorts of people ask to take our photos or have selfies with them, even at our age! I must be appearing on several social media pages as we speak! I have been amazed.

So…. Back to ITC Maurya, Delhi for the third and final time, which is absolutely heaving with tourists as well as delegates from G20 (foreign ministers meeting 1-3 March apparently). We were also told that Fred and Mary (Denmark’s Crown Prince and Princess) are also staying there! We went to a different bar and managed to get free drinks in the guise of Happy Hour 🤷🏻‍♀️. Then there was a complimentary glass of wine with Great Rail so no bar bill tonight. A farewell to those on a different flight tomorrow and then off to bed …..Read more