Here are 5 questions someone asked me before coming to India.

1. I’ve heard that it is respectful and recommended to wear more conservative clothing for women - longer skirts/pants and t-shirts that
cover shoulders/upper arms, but several of the pictures I’ve seen show tourists in tanks tops and shorts. What would you recommend for a woman traveling solo who wants to be respectful, blend in, and stay cool?

2. Any recommendations for train or airline travel - different companies or classes you recommend? How early do you need to book tickets?

3. What should I expect from the monsoon? Rain all day every day? Sporadic hard rainstorms? Light constant rain?

4. I’m a runner, and I would like to continue running while in India. Any suggestions about this?

5. I’m also a fourth grade (9/10 year olds) teacher, and would love to visit a school in India to hopefully observe and take some photos to bring back with me. My students are fascinated by seeing how kids that are half way around do things! Any suggestions on how I might arrange this or if schools will be in session?

These are my personal answers keeping in mind that, India is so vast, it cannot fit into neat little boxes or generalizations…

1 (about the dress code)… Many tourists are often inadequately dressed according to local standards, though some tourists never realize it, and locals in touristic areas are quite used to it. If you are traveling alone, it’ll be a lot easier if you cover your shoulders, and avoid shorts.
Some of my colleagues and roommates are western women in their 20’s, their impression is that they are least hassled when they wear indian clothing like Salwar Kameez, or anything Indian that you feel comfortable with. One thing I can say about India, is that it is too diverse to generalize. If you go to Bombay, you’ll see girls in miniskirts walking down the streets, the same is not true in rural areas and even in some cities like Ahmedabad (5 million people). Many women who travel alone have been mildly annoyed by men staring at them, or acting like silly pre- pubescent boys. This is in part because you’re a foreigner, but mostly because you’re a woman alone, Indian women also have to deal with that. There is a good deal of sexual repression in many social circles. As a result, some people never go through adolescence until marriage, which effectively creates little boys in men’s bodies, feeling things that they cannot quite come to terms with. This is probably why SOME men act ungainly towards women in public places.

2. Any recommendations for train or airline travel -
For planes, book 2 weeks ahead for best prices 1 week head for good prices. For train, you can get on the tourist quota which reserves seats for tourist travelers (indians usually have to book 1-2 months in advance). You’ll have to ask for the quota, often, it will only be available from a particular teller. In terms of planes, the best (but more expensive) are Jet Airways and King Fisher, Indian (Airlines) may have dellusions of grandeur, but I don’t think they’re up to the mark. In the budget airlines, Spicejet is very reasonnably priced (though sometimes late), Air Deccan serves a wide range of destination, I’ve never taken it so I cant comment on price and quality, some people say it’s a little shoddy.
The train is definitely an interesting experience in India, if you travel a popular tourist route, there’s a chance that you’ll be sitting next to
tourists since they reserve blocks of seats for tourists. I would generally recommend 2nd Class Non-AC or Sleeper Class Non-AC, those give
you a good taste of the railways in India and the peole who travel on them. Avoid the General Compartments class, those are really crammed and dirty (on an Indian scale).

3. What should I expect from the monsoon? Rain all day every day? Sporadic hard rainstorms? Light constant rain?
With the climactic changes and the impact of global warming, no one can really predict what the Monsoon is going to be like. RIght now it’s not raining in Gujarat, mostly it hits in hard rainstorms that could leave you stranded for a day or a few days at most.

4. I’m a runner, and I would like to continue running while in India. Any suggestions about this?
I’m a runner too, running in public parks or lush green avenues works best for me (Marine Drive is a must if you’re in Bombay). Mostly you’ll find lots of walkers in India. I prefer running in the morning when the pollution has settled and traffic is calm, also if you jog in the morning, you’ll get to see people doing Yoga and other such activities.

5. I’m also a fourth grade (9/10 year olds) teacher, and would love to visit a school in India to hopefully observe and take some photos to bring back with me. My students are fascinated by seeing how kids that are half way around do things! Any suggestions on how I might arrange this or if schools will be in session?
While some Indian schools are doing very interesting work in education, most will show you a very outdated and overpopulated education system where learners are passively learning from a textbook. You should really look them up, many are using fancy pedagogical terminology that does not always translate into their classroom practice. Schools are in session at this time of the year (August) - though they may close for a day or two if there is heavy rainfall. If you want to see a truly innovational school in India, checkout Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi International School in Ahmedabad Gujarat ( http://www.mgis.in ) .