Shannon - Northern India

If we’ve learned anything from all of our travel over the past three weeks it has been that there are many differences between northern India and southern India. The cultures different in the languages they speak, the food they eat, the way they dress, the names of celebrations and types of dancing. Facts have proven that that the south in more conservative than the north and because of that the women in the south are better educated than those in the north and increasingly more empowered.
After observing this phenomenon first hand in all different castes I find it somewhat backwards and confusing. I’m not sure if it was just because of the cities we visited in the northern part of the country that made me feel this way. My impression of the cities in the north was that they were more modern, more advanced in a way. Delhi in particular even had a metro system. These cities had high rises and European cars. Compared to the cities in the north the south was much more similar to the impression of the India I got from the pre-departure readings; with the live stock frequently blocking the poorly maintained roads and farmers moving crops with camels and buffaloes.
Based on my encounters and observations the first hand experience I accumulated during the trip I found it completely necessary to say that all stereotypes I had prior to leaving the Unites States have been completely dispelled and that the underlying moral is that appearances can be deceiving.