This morning (05-04-2011) I arrived in Calcutta one of the largest
cities of this enormous country.
Due to problems in Thailand and Myanmar I just wanted to skip
these countries, because I didnt want to run into a too troubled situation.
It got way too much on my back. I can only hope India and its
inhabitants give me a more pleasant time. With pleasant I mean: I hope I
wont be confronted with too much devastation and misery. Lets hope well have
an interesting trip.
Me and my crew, we rented a car. (I couldnt believe how cheap it
was: only a couple of Indian Rupee.
On the airplane I had read some articles about India and I found
out that India is the worlds largest
democracy and second most populous country. India emerged as a major power in
the 90s. It is militarily strong, has major cultural influence and a
fast-growing and powerful economy.
However, India is still tackling huge social, economic and
environmental problems.
Next to those huge social, economic and environmental problems
India is an enormous country with 1,210,193,422 citizens reported in 2011. The
name India comes from the river Indus which is the well know river that crosses
its landscape.
India's culture is marked by a high degree of pluralism. Indian religions form one of the most
defining aspects of Indian culture. Major religions which were founded in India
include Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, with Hinduism being the
most influential.
Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were
influenced by socialist
economics which caused
the Indian economy to be largely closed to the outside world. Since 1991, as
said before, India became one of the fastest growing economies.
But there still is a major problem that needs to be taken care of.
The returning problems in India are caused by their civil war against Pakistan.
This war is going on since 1947. There have been three wars between India and
its arch-rival Pakistan two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Due to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden I rescheduled my trip.
Instead of staying some more days here back in India, the land of the holy cow,
I decided to go immediately to Pakistan.
Osama has terrorized western society for way too long. I want to
find out what Pakistan and all Islamic countries are really thinking of his Al
Qaida network. Maybe this isnt one of my smartest ideas but in the end it will
be worth it.
