haridwar (or hardwar) in January? Some questions.....

River rafting might be a bit cold... brrrrr...

I would think that all one would expect after 5 weeks in India (or anywhere) is a beginner's glimpse into religion and culture. As a western agnostic family we are curious about every faith and culture...and about how people live and their world view... but would never pretend to be able to 'understand'... and are certainly not looking for a new religion

(I certainly don't understand Christianity and I went to a Presbyterian school all my life ).

I really can't stand tourists who try to appropriate another culture or religion ... there was a completely hideous book written by some American woman who claimed to have become an Australian Aboriginal - she made a fortune out of peddling ridiculous 'native truths'. That is one reason I'm tentative to go to Pushkar or Rishikesh...

On the other hand if we fail to learn from those who live & believe differently from us, then we have failed as human beings, and with the western world currently busy demonising 'the other' what could be a better time for a 'beginner's glimpse'.. I am hoping that in India we will meet Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Jews and everyone else....

I was there in Jan/Feb and I was amazed how the western tourist seemed to ignore Haridwar. Especially compared to upstream at Rishikesh. In Haridwar I felt like I was the only westerner in town. Rishikesh is very beautiful despite all the tourists and I would not miss it if you are that close, but Haridwar feels much more Indian.

ps. Rishikesh is only 350 meters elevation so you don't have to worry too much about winter conditions.

you wont even realize the difference 90% ot the time..

BTW - the book is called 'mutant message from down under' or something like that and her name is Marlo Morgan - its the biggest load of rubbish you've ever read!

I have always believed that its very diffult to understand the culture or religion unless you have prolonged exposure to the same..maybe I can understand 20-30 % of western culture, christianity because I had a lot of exposure to Hollywood, reading material etc..

so that is the reason i thought 5 weeks is good enough to get a glimpse..Hindu religion is practised both in North and South India, but essentially rituals and other things might be totally different..