Back to the Taj Mahal Palace (Photo is of the modern tower block) for a final lunch and then all too soon it was time to return to the waiting Black Watch after an amazing four days away.
Unlike China I was much more aware that India is the second most populous country in the world. You cannot help but do so since life hits you from all sides in a great cacophony of sound, colour and smell. Undoubtedly the Indian economy is developing at a phenomenal rate and yet alongside its wealth there is abject poverty and yet again one gets a sense of people getting on with life – they may well suffer hardships that we find difficult to accept but it is life in the raw.
When I reflect on the huge infrastructure projects that China has undertaken and compare this with the poverty I have witnessed in these four brief days I do wonder if India is capable of bringing higher standards of living for all. So many people have described India to me as organised chaos tinged with huge layers of bureaucracy – a legacy of British rule – that I fear it will remain just that ‘organised chaos’ but maybe, just maybe the thirst for life will win out. One thing is for certain I hope this is not my only visit to this vibrant, colourful sub-continent.
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