Mary on the Move – India
“17 blasts in 70 minutes rock Ahmedabad, kills 29, injure more than a 100 - one day after the Bangalore blasts”- this was the headline of the daily newspaper in Delhi in India on 
my first visit to this ancient city. There was high tension and a visible police presence for a day or two but then the people seemed to relax and just continued to eke out a daily living in this densely populated city of 3.5million inhabitants. The walled city (Old Delhi) is all tradition whereas New Delhi, in contrast, is a city living up to contemporary international standards.My travelling companions and I toured Old Delhi in traditional rickshaws. Rickshaws are a favoured mode of transport as you see the hustle and bustle of street life as you glide by. Delhi’s rickshaws are on the road since 1940. They provide rapid transport by cutting corners and they ferry a hundred thousand people each day on short intra city trips with zero emissions – a very important factor in this age of global warming.Markets
Delhi is loud, the traffic never stops and vehicle horns always honk. You need good brakes, a good horn and good luck if you are to survive the chaotic traffic problem. Cars, buses, rickshaws, pedestrians, and tuck toos (small vans) violate traffic rules constantly. Crossing the road is a nightmare. Drivers drive at an erratic pace with little regard for fellow users. Whole families ride motorbikes with no helmets no safety belts. It is amazing that more people are not killed. People carry enormous packages on their bikes while others transport packages on their heads. The opposite of all this fury is the slow pace of life on the footpaths where the Indian people carry out their different trades – shoe shine stands, bicycle repair stalls, mechanics and welding places, barbers plying their trade with a mirror attached to a street pole, fruit and vegetables stalls, people selling chickens and hens from wire cages, people cooking Indian dishes in large woks over small road side stoves and fires, people with horrific forms of disabilities lying on the pavements begging, women sweeping the dusty streets with long brooms, farmers selling milk from large milk cans, old men, women and dogs sleeping on the footpaths, cows and buffalo carrying huge loads - make up a kaleidoscope of colour and activity all along the streets. Deprived of public service street families – people who were born on the streets, live on the streets, and most likely will die on the streets wash their teeth and hair at street pumps in the early morning rush hour. I was utterly shocked to see cows and calves eat from piles of grass collected by their owners from roadside verges and parks. I even saw a cow calf on the street. 
Cows, pigs, goats, dogs, camels and even an elephant compete for space in the bustling city.The cow is sacred to the Indian people and it is allowed to roam wherever it wishes - on city streets, on the motorways and in fact I encountered a cow in a narrow back-alley way!! I had to make way for this noble beast stepping into a big cow dung in the process!! The traffic slows down and weaves around the animals – they are surprisingly all very docile in the midst of all this confusion. I witnessed cows lazily chewing their cud in the isle dividing two lanes of fast flowing traffic. Old Delhi is a hive of activity. In the midst of chaos there was great serenity and calmness as we mingled with the Indian people, who always seemed to be smiling and happy. Women carry their adorable babies everywhere. We saw no baby buggies. We all felt very safe and secure and at no time did we feel threatened.
Traditional DressThe young men wear European clothes while the older men wear traditional clothes – 
long white robes, turbans and tight white trousers under kaftans. Women wear the traditional saree – a garment of six yards of cloth. It is 300years old and continues to sell more than any other garment in India. Young slim and stunningly beautiful dark skinned Indian women look sexy in them. They tie them just above the hip line and use very elaborate fabrics. They often reveal mid riff, neck, back and arms and are still called proper. Sarees give a very graceful image to all women regardless of their size. Definitely the saree has survived the onslaught of globalize fashion culture of jeans and T-shirt.
On our way to Mass on Sunday we walked through New Delhi. It has high-rise buildings, ambassadors’ residences, wide boulevards, well-kept gardens and dual carriageways. 
The Indian flag flew over the buildings. The Indian flag has the same colours as the Irish flag except that the bands of colour are horizontal with an elephant imposed on it. The elephant is a symbol of good luck. Ghandi, father of Indian’s Independence took inspiration from De Valera father of Irish freedom and adapted the colours of our flag. Attending mass was a moving experience. The church choir used drums, percussion instruments and sang with the whole congregation with great joy and rhythm.Hindu Festival -"Eclipse of the Moon"
We travelled from Delhi to Jaipur. All along the route we met pilgrims, dressed in saffron robes coming from villages carrying offerings on long decorated poles to the River Ganges to celebrate the Hindu Festival of the “Eclipse of the Moon” 
We attended this festival at Varnasi at sunset and sunrise. Thousands made their way to the river to improve their karma - their destiny in the after life. Varnasi is a place of pilgrimage. Hindus travel from all over India to visit the temples and bathe in the Ganges. I saw thousands immerse themselves three times in the water and under the twinkling stars they prayed for their ancestors and sent small boats made of banana leaves with flowers in them and lighted candles floating down the Holy Ganga. The sight and sound of temple bells, chanting of prayers by the priests and the light of numerous floating prayer lamps is a profound and
moving spiritual experience, truly fascinating.Cremation at Varnasi
I also visited a cremation site along the river Ganges. By day the area is veiled in a haze of smoke from the burning corpses and by night the glow of fires can be seen from afar. 
The bodies are embalmed with incense and butter and scented flowers and placed on a pyre of wood. It takes several hours for the bodies to burn. Usually the men folk of the family, having shaved their heads and dressed in white robes gather the ashes of their loved one and they scatter it into the holy Ganga. To die at Varnasi is to be liberated.Taj MahalI was blessed to see the splendour and majesty of one of the ancient wonders of the world –The Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal symbolizes India to people worldwide. It was erected at a cost of 400million rubees by the Muslim Emperor, Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife of 19 years, Mumtaz Mahal – a woman who bore him 14 children before dieing in childbirth. They were inseparable lovers – she even joined him in his battle campaigns. We were privileged to be allowed into the underground vault to see the tombs of the Queen and Emperor as we were fortunate to visit the site on a Muslim festivals day. It is believed that 20,000 skilled workers and craftsmen laboured day and night for 22 years to create the wonderous Taj Mahal. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world – “a dream in white marble”, sparkling like a jewel in the centre of a meticulously planned garden.
India lived up to all my expectations, all journeys to this vast and varied land are adventures – it is a country that exists in several centuries at once, a sophisticated and modern society, an industrial leader and yet it is home to millions of wretchedly poor people. India and its people have changed me.
Mary Kyne
long white robes, turbans and tight white trousers under kaftans. Women wear the traditional saree – a garment of six yards of cloth. It is 300years old and continues to sell more than any other garment in India. Young slim and stunningly beautiful dark skinned Indian women look sexy in them. They tie them just above the hip line and use very elaborate fabrics. They often reveal mid riff, neck, back and arms and are still called proper. Sarees give a very graceful image to all women regardless of their size. Definitely the saree has survived the onslaught of globalize fashion culture of jeans and T-shirt. 
The Indian flag flew over the buildings. The Indian flag has the same colours as the Irish flag except that the bands of colour are horizontal with an elephant imposed on it. The elephant is a symbol of good luck. Ghandi, father of Indian’s Independence took inspiration from De Valera father of Irish freedom and adapted the colours of our flag. Attending mass was a moving experience. The church choir used drums, percussion instruments and sang with the whole congregation with great joy and rhythm.
