Many Ways to Change Your Mind Travels in India Mark Moxon Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 You are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work under the following conditions: Attribution. You must give the original author credit. Non-commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. • For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the licence terms of this work. • Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the author. Many Ways to Change Your Mind Page 2 Copyright © Mark Moxon Your fair use and other rights are in no way affected by the above. This is a human-readable summary of the Legal Code (the full licence), which is shown at the end of this work. Many Ways to Change Your Mind: Travels in India v1.2, October 2004 Cover Photograph: The Taj Mahal viewed from a nearby building, Agra, Uttar Pradesh Many Ways to Change Your Mind Page 3 Copyright © Mark Moxon Contents Foreword ....................................................................... 9 Map .............................................................................. 11 West Bengal and Orissa............................................. 12 Thoughts Before Arriving ........................................ 12 Calcutta..................................................................... 14 Puri ........................................................................... 28 Hinduism and Indian History ................................... 38 Konark ...................................................................... 44 Travellers in India .................................................... 46 Religious Tolerance.................................................. 48 Andhra Pradesh.......................................................... 52 Hyderabad................................................................. 52 Golconda................................................................... 61 Hyderabadi Conversations ....................................... 67 The Indian Film Industry.......................................... 73 Music on the Brain ................................................... 77 Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.................................... 79 Chennai..................................................................... 79 Buying Music in India.............................................. 83 Slowing Down.......................................................... 85 Mamallapuram.......................................................... 89 Pondicherry............................................................... 91 Many Ways to Change Your Mind Page 4 Copyright © Mark Moxon Trichy ....................................................................... 94 Thanjavur................................................................ 100 I’ll Have a Limca, Please ....................................... 105 Madurai................................................................... 106 Kodaikanal.............................................................. 109 The Sound of Indian Politics.................................. 117 Travellers’ Opinions of India ................................. 121 Madurai................................................................... 122 Kerala ........................................................................ 125 Kollam to Alappuzha.............................................. 125 Kochi ...................................................................... 129 James Bond in India ............................................... 136 Karnataka ................................................................. 140 Mysore.................................................................... 140 Bangalore................................................................ 142 The Post Office....................................................... 148 Reflections on India................................................ 151 Kama Sutra............................................................. 157 Hampi ..................................................................... 159 The Holi Festival .................................................... 168 Bijapur .................................................................... 172 Maharashtra ............................................................. 179 Aurangabad............................................................. 179 Ellora ...................................................................... 181 Daultabad................................................................ 183 Many Ways to Change Your Mind Page 5 Copyright © Mark Moxon Ajanta ..................................................................... 184 Cricket and India .................................................... 186 Madhya Pradesh....................................................... 190 Mandu..................................................................... 190 Sanchi ..................................................................... 192 Bhopal..................................................................... 196 Thoughts on Leaving.............................................. 201 West Bengal............................................................... 204 The Toy Train......................................................... 204 Darjeeling ............................................................... 207 Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh...................... 218 The Power of Authority.......................................... 218 Death of the Ganges ............................................... 222 Varanasi.................................................................. 225 Death on the Platform............................................. 248 Air Coolers ............................................................. 252 Gwalior................................................................... 253 Agra ........................................................................ 263 Fatehpur Sikri ......................................................... 275 Service Station Hell................................................ 279 Rajasthan................................................................... 282 Jaipur ...................................................................... 282 Pushkar ................................................................... 290 Udaipur................................................................... 297 Many Ways to Change Your Mind Page 6 Copyright © Mark Moxon Gujarat and Diu........................................................ 314 Louis Armstrong..................................................... 314 Bhavnagar............................................................... 316 Alang ...................................................................... 325 Palitana ................................................................... 334 Hindi Pop................................................................ 343 Diu .......................................................................... 345 Lies, Damned Lies.................................................. 354 Rajasthan................................................................... 358 Mt Abu.................................................................... 358 Indian Television.................................................... 375 Jodhpur ................................................................... 376 Yogi and Babaji...................................................... 384 Jaisalmer................................................................. 404 Pigs Over Jaisalmer ................................................ 407 Camel, One Previous Owner.................................. 410 The Thar Desert...................................................... 415 Bikaner ................................................................... 423 Nuclear Testing ...................................................... 430 Punjab........................................................................ 433 Amritsar.................................................................. 433 Surviving India....................................................... 443 Schrödinger’s Cat ................................................... 454 Himachal Pradesh and Delhi................................... 457 Dharamsala............................................................. 457 Many Ways to Change Your Mind Page 7 Copyright © Mark Moxon The Dogs of Bhagsu ............................................... 467 Delhi ....................................................................... 470 Further Reading ....................................................... 473 Copyright Notice....................................................... 475 Many Ways to Change Your Mind Page 8 Copyright © Mark Moxon Foreword This book is a collection of writing from the road, covering a five-month trip I made to India in 1998. This was part of a much larger, three-year journey that took me through Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Nepal, from 1995 to 1998. The travelogue for all these countries and more can be found at my personal website at www.moxon.net, where you can also find travel tips, recommended journeys and further free books for you to download. If you enjoy reading this book, then I’d be delighted if you would sign my website’s Guestbook. I’ve released this book and its companions via a Creative