Impressions of India

I think that anyone who says they absolutely loved traveling in India is either full of shit, on a packaged tour or hid out in an ashram the whole time. I met one person on a previous trip who told me she hated it the whole time she was in India but after she left it was her favorite country. We shall see.
India is a country full of travel-lore. Myth seems to proceed it. People say India changes you, that it's mind boggling. Really, I think it's ironic that people come here for peace and quiet in ashrams when it is one of the busier places I have ever been or could even imagine.
I suppose I was prepared for it so maybe that's why it hasn't shocked me. The poverty of Africa and chaos of some African and Asian countries I have seen, as well as the dirt and garbage of places i have been has maybe decreased the shock value. But despite having survived those other places, I don't do well with the traffic, congestion, crowds and constant honking of horns. It frays on my nerves.
It's strange because India receives a fair share o9f travelers, but the novelty doesn't seem to wear off. People are constantly coming up to us to ask us where we are from, if we are married, why we aren't, what our money is called, what our national flower is (any clue?), our national animal. . . the list goes on. Then they want to introduce us to their family. Then they want to take photos with us.
Those are the friendly people. Others just stare. We took a train from Haridwar to Varanasi. It was supposed to be 18 hours, but of course stretched to 24. We were riding in the lower class sleeper which must be unusual because we were pretty much like animals in the zoo. A group of more than 20 men gathered in our compartment. They were hanging from top bunks, packed in, just staring at us. I thought it was all quite ridiculous so I went to see how full the train was, it was almost empty. We started to feel really violated when the men began sneaking photos of us with their camera phones.
The hassle is pretty relentless, the crowds insane, the streets dirty. But India has its charm. The friendly people help, so do the cows that wander the streets freely. The food is amazing but fattening. I love the little chai stands on the side of the road and the street food. I love the alters that interrupt buildings with gifts of candles and flowers around them. The monkeys that are everywhere are highly entertaining.
Its not an easy place to travel, that's for sure, but then nothing worthwhile seems to be.