Backpacking India

India is just not like any other country, they call it a sub-continent. Its so diverse in all the ways, say like Europe (i presume a lot more diverse than Europe as well). The culture, food, language, dressing, manners, terrains, changes every 500 kms in India.
We have close to 800 languages in India, so you can very well assume how different are we Indians from one another.

Say for instance I am from Bihar, 'Angika' is my mother tongue, speak 'Hindi' in general: right now I am staying in Hyderabad, where they speak 'Telugu' - which I don't understand, they eat different food, use different spices, celebrate different festivals. I studied in Manipal, where they speak 'Tulu', which again I dint understand. So you see to be able to see India, and to be able to form an opinion about India - you should travel across all parts of India. In some parts you will come across poverty (like in my state - Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and also in Varanasi), while in Other parts your experiences will be entirely different. 

If you wish to explore India comprehensively, I suggest plan a trip of more than 2 months. Itinerary - land in Delhi spend 2-3 days there, head to hills (Rishikesh, Kullu, Manali, Dharamshala: 1 week) - then go to Leh-Ladhak (motor bike - hire a bullet: 3 days) and then experience a bit of Punjab (Amritsar and Wagah: 2 days). You will get exhausted after that, so straight away head to GOA (relax, unwind at its beaches, go scuva diving, try some weed, offshore gambling and all: 5 days). Then try Kerala (goto Kochi, Munnar/Coorg/Wayanad : 3-4 days) then you should try Karnataka (Silicon of the East-Bangalore, spend 2 days in Bangalore then visit Mysore/Hampi: 3 days). And if you are coming in Winters then head to Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Pondicherry/Madurai) from Bangalore: 2 days and then goto Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam:1 day). After that head to Orissa (Bhubaneswar and Puri: 2 days). Visit Bengal from here (Kolkata and Darjelling: 3 days). Explore the North East India (Kyongnosla, Majuli, Mechuka, Dawki, Moirang, Shillong: 10 days). Then come the challenging part try Bihar & Uttar Pradesh (Patna, Gaya, Varanasi, Luckhnow and Agra for Tajmahal: 7 days). Go to Rajasthan from Agra (Jaipur, Jodhpur/Jaiselmer, Udaipur, Pushkar: 1 week) and then head to Gujarat (Ahemdabad, Rann of Kutch, Daman & Diu: 2 days). Finish your Travel in Maharashtra (Ratnagiri, Pune, Mumbai: 5 days). Spend atleast 3 days in Mumbai, experience its night life and Bollywood and then fly back home. 

Then in your next trip plan for Andaman & Nicobar and Lakhsdweep. Its always advisable to befriend someone of your own age in India for any help, write to me on rakeshchandravanshi@gmail.com for any help if you coming to Hyderabad. Cheers!!