14 Things That Can Make You Fall in Love With India All Over Again

They say India is a country that is easy to love and difficult to forget: dances, food, and even their head bobbles — every little thing in India is enchanting. Those who have visited it even once, will surely want to go back there again. All because their customs, traditions, and everyday lives are so full of unusual things for tourists that it becomes hard to resist the temptation to get to know them better.

We at Bright Side love India and we dared to collect a bunch of things that’ll both amaze and amuse you in this country that is never short of warmth.

Why Indian babies wear eyeliner

If you ever see a baby in India, they’ll likely be wearing a kind of eyeliner called kajal (also Kohl or Surma). Kajal is an ancient eye cosmetic made from soot.

This eyeliner is usually put on a baby’s lower lid and is believed to protect the child from evil. Some people also believe that kajal is beneficial for the baby’s eyesight, however, there is no scientific study that proves this.

Dancing as a lifestyle

India is a country that loves dance. Apart from the well-known Bollywood dances, there are 8 types of classical dances. The emotions shown in Indian dances can’t be compared to anything else in the world — and just by looking at them, you have an immense desire to start to dance right away — even John Travolta wasn’t able to resist it (see the video below).

Gesticulation as a means of communication

Apart from the emotional dances, the gestures and face mimics that Indian people use are stirring too. They help local residents express their feelings in a deeper and brighter way. Perhaps the variety comes from Indian classical dances and yoga, where many mudras (hand gestures) are used. Anyway, this is another thing that makes India so unique. By the way, below you can see the gesture used for apologies in India.

It has one of the biggest filmmaking industries in the world.

Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai are perhaps 2 names that come to mind when we hear about Bollywood. Bollywood is known to be one of the largest centers for filmmaking in the world. The movies it produces are mostly of the masala genre, a mix of various genres like thriller, action, love stories, etc. Maybe that’s the reason why you can experience multiple emotions when watching Bollywood movies.

It boasts the spiciest tea in the world.

While we’re talking about masala, which actually means spices, just like the masala genre, masala tea (mixed-spice tea) is extremely popular in India. You can find it being sold in almost any corner of the country. Moreover, this tea has gained popularity all around the world too.

Masala tea is cooked by brewing black tea, and adding some milk and a bunch of spices to it. It is believed to strengthen immunity, reduce inflammation, and boost energy.

Thali plate — the biggest dish you’ve ever seen

Thali (which literally translates into ’plate’) is a round metal plate that serves 6 different flavors: salty, sweet, spicy, bitter, sour, and astringent. According to the Indian idea of good food, a perfect meal is a balance between these 6 flavors. Oftentimes, Indian restaurants end up serving up to 20+ dishes on one plate. Moreover, all the parts of the Thali plate are refillable and you can always ask for an additional portion if you still feel hungry.

Indian families don’t use porcelain pottery.

Most Indian homes use steel tableware instead of the clay or porcelain pottery that other countries in the world are used to. There are several theories explaining this interesting phenomenon.
Some say it’s practical to have, because it doesn’t break like glassware, it doesn’t chip, and it retains its cool look for a long time. Others say that glazed pottery is considered to be unclean, because it’s made of mud. Whatever the real reason is, you’ll hardly find any pottery in Indian homes.

You can forget about your diet with Indian bread.

There is a vast variety of bread in India. From chapati to puri, each of them is unique in its own way and can make anyone drool. Indians are used to cooking fresh flatbread separately for each meal. Some types of bread are cooked in clay ovens, others are deep-fried, and some contain garlic — there are so many tasty varieties of Indian bread that anyone who goes to India will easily forget about their diet and counting calories for a while.

There’s a huge lunchbox delivery system in place.

The Indian movie The Lunchbox perfectly describes the system of delivering those lunchboxes. The thing is, Indians are used to eating everything fresh, very fresh actually, that’s why they mostly don’t take lunchboxes with them to work in the morning. Instead, their wives or mothers (and sometimes cafes) cook a fresh lunch for them and drop it off to them using a special delivery man called a Dabbawala. The lunchboxes are picked up in the late morning and get delivered to customers, afterward the lunchboxes are returned to their homes by the same people. Each dabbawala picks up a big bunch of lunchboxes and supposedly makes less than one mistake in every 6 million deliveries.

Each Indian product has an MRP sign on it.

If you ever go to India, you shouldn’t feel worried that sellers will try to rip you off as a tourist. Each item and product that is produced in India has a special MRP mark, which stands for maximum retail price. Therefore, shops are not allowed to charge their customers more than the price indicated on the package. Smart, right?

The bobble you won’t see anywhere else

Ah, that head bobble Indians are famous for. It can have many meanings, depending on the context. Sometimes those meanings are quite controversial like, “Yes” and “Maybe,” which makes it hard to understand Indians. Nevertheless, we bet there is not one tourist who has never tried to repeat that magical head bobble themselves.

The biggest festival of colors and love

Holi is a popular Indian festival celebrated at the beginning of spring. It is also called the “festival of colors” or the “festival of love.” The main feature of the festival is using colored powders and throwing them at each other. There are quite a wide variety of colors: from red and orange to black and brown. The festival has become so popular outside India that many countries have started to celebrate it too.

No left hand is allowed!

The right-hand rule is still on in some regions of India. All because the left hand is considered to be unclean (we perform many unsavory functions with it). That’s why you will see many Indians eating with their right hand. Moreover, the rule of the right-hand applies to handshakes and passing on objects to others as well.

Marrying trees and animals

Tree marriage or animal marriage is something that makes India even more outstanding. Why marry a cow or a dog? You might think. Since Indians follow their horoscopes when making important life decisions, there are special people who “calculate” their luck. If a horoscope says that a person’s life is all about bad luck, this person is offered the chance to marry a tree or an animal. These unions take place as a person’s first marriage in order to break the curse and to avoid bringing suffering to their second marriage with a real human partner.

Are you able to do that famous Indian head bobble? What other unique Indian traditions are you aware of?