I have
spent seven years in India.
Seven
years full of trouble, difficulties, hard work and little joy.
Seven
years in a world entirely different from what I was used to: hot and humid
climate, dirt and poverty, unbelievable differences in wealth, a fantastic
mixture of languages, habits, behaviour, snobbery or even cruelty towards
the low strata of society.
As I grew
closer to the wonder that is India, I understood the positive sides of
this huge country as well: the quietness and tolerance of the population,
easy way of life, friendly attitude towards foreigners, beauty of the
landscape and architecture, richness of culture, love of children.
I have
read hundreds of books on India, travelled in the empire as much as I
could, was trying to be open for everything, and after 4 – 5 years of
staying in India I thought I knew quite a lot about the country. I even
told an Indian: “ I am half-Indian now.” His reply was quiet and
simple: “Mr Halmos, one cannot become, but has to be born Indian.”
Another time I referred to an English-born orientalist to an Indian. The
reply was a cold shower again: “Do not refer to English experts, they
have spent lifetimes here, but could not understand even the surface of
India.”
In spite
of these warnings I cannot keep silent on India. I feel I have to share
with the world whatever I learnt. I hope it may prove to be useful for
those who want to get acquainted with India.
Our
approach will be the following: we present information in English, in
parallel with my writings on India in Hungarian (and my pictures).
Whenever I feel that my opinion differs from the opinion of the published
information, I shall make comments.
The
subject is so vast that we shall never be able to complete it: we shall
continue adding to the text new and new data.
Our
chapters:
General
remarks
Geography
History
Great
Souls
Peoples, Languages
Religions,
Casts
Literature
Music,
Dance
Architecture,
Cities
Cuisine
Health
Coins
Hungarian
Sites
Read
Antal
Halmos' writing about "Delhi"
