Saudi Arabia - Cradle of the Arab race

It's hard to study the history of Saudi Arabia without making reference to the historical context of the rest of the Middle East.  I picked Saudi as my first Middle Eastern country for a good reason - because this is where it all started.  By that I mean, Islam, the growth of an Arab identity and the influence of oil-rich nations on the global politics of the late twentieth century. 

In preparation for this learning journey, I watched Lawrence of Arabia, the 1960's epic starring Peter O'Toole and Egyptian-born Omar Sharif.  It covers an interesting period in the history of the Middle East, when the British were conspiring with Bedu tribes of Arabia, to overthrow the oppressive yoke of the Ottoman Empire and establish a united and, according to Lawrence, independent Arabia, with Britain's support.  A major historical theme of the movie is the fact that Lawrence helps unite disparate tribes from different parts of the Arabian peninsula.  The concept of a united Arab identity is, in many ways, an historical construct and the real picture is a lot more complex, with tribal and religious loyalties taking precedence over the idea of nation.

In the same way as Hinduism has long been associated with ethnicity in India, Islam too was very much the religion of the Arabian people.  The main difference is that, whilst Hinduism is still predominantly practised by people of Indian origin, such was the appeal of Islam that a mere 20% of Muslims now live in the Arab world, with approximately 203 million Muslims in Indonesia and half a billion Muslims in Pakistan/India/Bangladesh.  Although the holiest Islamic sites of Medina and Mecca are in Saudi Arabia, the centre of Islamic culture has shifted around since the time of Mohammed to cities like Damascus (under the Umayyad's) and Baghdad of the Abbasid.  Delhi, Cordoba, Cairo and Constantinople have all had their golden ages of Islam and even a city like Samarkand in Uzbekistan, where I spent two years, has played its part in the development of Islamic culture and sciences.

I find the history of the Middle East fascinating.  European involvement in Middle Eastern affairs goes back to the days of the spice trade.  The Portuguese occupying the island of Socotra (in Yemen), securing their safe passage to India.  The Dutch stealing Arabian coffee beans and introducing a craze to 17th century Europe.  It would seem as though Saudi Arabia has bobbed along through all of this, taking a sceptical interest in regional affairs, often divided between the politics of the Gulf states and Iran, on one side of the country, the influence of Egypt and Africa on the other.  The change came in the 1920's, when the royal Saudi family of Riyadh managed to gain control of most of the Arabian peninsula, uniting the various nomadic tribes in, what was to become, a definitive Saudi Kingdom. 

Both the US and Britain have actively supported the national integrity of Saudi Arabia.  Even more so, when oil was discovered in the late 1930's and American interests moved in to make a quick buck and get the Saudi oil wells open for business.  King Faisal was a key figure in the OPEC oil embargo in 1973.  The major oil-producing countries found that they could treble the price of oil overnight and that affluent Western nations would still pay the price.  The result was an unprecedented explosion of wealth in the Middle East, for the oil-rich nations, naturally, and even the labourers coming from poorer neighbouring countries, who could send their wages home and create mini economic booms there too. 

I'm not sure anyone could have guessed how quickly things would change in the Kingdom and Riyadh, a city of 150,000 people in the 1960's, now has a population of 5 million!  Saudis enjoy one of the highest living standards in the world, have become notorious for their immense wealth in a way that, more recently, the Russian oligarchs have caught the world's attention.  The ruling Saudi families can send their children to the world's most exclusive universities.  Obesity is a pressing issue for a country hooked on American fast food. 

Of course, there is a downside to all of this - the exploitation of immigrant labour, the repression of women and LGBT people, the emergence of shadowy fundamentalist groups and the uncompromising hold that the ruling Saudis have on the country's governance.  Who only knows what the future has in store for this highly-influential nation, I guess the oil will run out some day? 

Image credits:

The satellite image of the Arabian peninsula is from Wikimedia Commons from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project.  The image is more than 5 years old and is, therefore, in the public domain.

The beautiful picture of King Fahd Road in Riyadh (one of the wealthiest addresses in the country) was shared with us on flickr.com by flickruser Ayman Aljammaz who is from Dhahran in Saudi Arabia.  Ayman is a very talented photographer and you can see more of his images at

http://aljammazphotography.com/photography/

Saudi Arabia - Assalom Aleykum

From Jaipur, we're heading west another 1808 miles or 2910 kilometres to Riyadh, capital of al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya, a.k.a the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  This one is going to be a real challenge for me, not only because it's a country I have never visited and can barely begin to comprehend, but also because it's so easy to fall into the stereotypes of Saudi Arabia, to get caught up in the excesses of an oppressive regime and a society that makes no sense to someone living in the liberal and 'decadent' West.  It's a challenge to myself, really - to go beyond the negative stereotypes, overcome my own prejudices, to learn about the everyday lives of Saudi Arabians and to learn about aspects of their culture, music and language that are, I'm sure, every bit as enthralling as the culture, music and language of Rajasthan.

When I think of Saudi Arabia, I think of oil, Islam and the scorching heat of the desert.  Adding Riyadh to my weather app today, I struggled to come to terms with the idea of the 45 degree heat in the Saudi capital.  I often think that national character can be influenced by your weather system - the languid, easy-going nature of Thai people, only occasionally getting hot under the collar - the stern and stubborn nature of the Russians, getting through six months of winter with curses and gritted teeth.  I'm guessing with scorching hot weather, the Saudis are a pretty tough bunch, surviving in a landscape that the rest of us would find intolerable.

Although I've not been to Saudi Arabia, I know several people who have.  Their stories have varied and the hospitality of their Saudi hosts seems to have only been dampened by the frustrating lack of alcohol, a staple of British and Irish culture.  As an ex-TEFLer, Saudi Arabia was always an option for me, with its high living standards, competitive salaries and low living costs.  But I decided against it in the end.  I like adventure, but Saudi Arabia was a little bit too adventurous, even for me!

In the next few weeks, I want to learn as much as I can about Saudi culture.  I want to learn about Islam and understand Arabian history.  I've already ordered a book by a Saudi author and one by a Westerner, with his insights into living in the region.  I want to watch 'Laurence of Arabia', listen to some Arabian music and cook a traditional Saudi dish.  I don't know if it'll be possible, but I want to find some Saudi friends on Twitter, as I have done with the other countries in my blog.  If nothing else, it will be an interesting journey and one that I hope you will join me on!

Image credits:

The image of the minarets was taken at dawn, in Medina, by flickruser Shabbir Siraj who is a Pakistani-Canadian photographer and film-maker and has shared this image with us using the Creative Commons License.  If you want to see more of his photos visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/shabbir/

Rajasthan - Fir Melenge

The time has come to say goodbye to Rajasthan and au revoir to India.  I've spent much longer on Rajasthan, than any other place I've blogged about so far.  This was partly down to my getting lost in the array of stories, colours and music Rajasthan has to offer, but was also partly because June is a really busy time for me in terms of work. 

I think reading three books was probably a bit excessive and I've resolved to limit myself to two books per place in future.  The cooking, music, movies and general reading don't take me a long time, so getting bogged down in books really slows me down somewhat.  Despite reading three books, watching two movies, cooking a meal, learning about Bhajans and raising my Hindu consciousness, I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of my learning experience and, as usual, there is so much more . . .

During my virtual journey through Rajasthan, I've learned that Rajasthan is just slightly smaller than Germany and that 65% of its land mass is taken up by the Thar desert, the most densely populated desert in the world!  I learned that Ajmer is a mainly Muslim city, which is also the location of the prestigious Mayo College, founded by the British in the 1860's to educate Rajputana's elite.  I learned that 70% of Rajasthan's population works in agricultural, but also that tourism is a major industry and has been made a compulsory subject in Rajasthani schools.

I learned about the classical dance, Kathak, two forms of which originate in Jaipur.  I learned that Rajasthan is reknowned for its miniature paintings.  I learned about the bhuuts or dakins, which are ghosts that inhabit crossroads and this reminded me of a similar tradition in England of burying people who committed suicide at the crossroads.  I learned that most barbers in Rajasthan close on a Tuesday, as it's considered to be bad luck to have your hair cut on this day.  I learned about the traditional form of enamel work called Meenakari.  I learned about Jantar Mantar, Jaipur's famous observatory, built by its founder, Jai Singh.  I learned about yantras (sundials) and gnomons.  About the gates of Jaipur and Amber's resident poet Bihari.

I learned about the Kalyanamastu ceremonies, or group weddings, often the only option for impoverished young men and women.  I learned about the Jats and Siberian cranes.  I learned about the Pushkar camel festival and how puppeteers travel around the state, educating the masses on social issues, health and human rights.  I learned that Pushkar is the only official place where Brahma can be worshipped.  I learned about the kingdom of Matsya, of Mewar and Udaipur and of Marwar, the land of the dead. 

I learned about hathphools and turbans.  About the remote province of Jhalawar and the 'Scotland of Rajasthan', Shekhawati, with its proud people and painted havelis.  I learned the story of Mumal and Mahendra, about Padmini, the Queen of Chittor and Amritdevi, heroine of the Bishnoi people, who had her head cut off, rather than let their beloved trees be felled.  I learned about Bassi, with it's famous wood-carvers, Pokaran with its nuclear testing and the Afghan town of Tonk. 

I learned about the Demoiselle Cranes of Khichan and why Jaisalmer has been nicknamed 'the Golden City'.  I learned about the Karni Mata temple in Deshnok, near Bikaner and how they have an annual festival or worshipping rats, which are believed to be re-incarnations of local people.  I learned all of this and so much more.

धन्यवाद राजस्थान - thank you Rajasthan!  I hope to visit your wonderful cities sometime soon. 

Image credits:

The image of the Pichola lake in Udaipur was taken by flickruser bit ramone/off a.k.a. Jose Luis Hitos, who is from Granada in Spain (another amazing city!). 

The image of the Kathak dancer is by flickruser Meenakshi Payal. 

Thanks Jose and Meenakshi for sharing your images with us using the Creative Commons license.

Rajasthan - Gayatri Devi, the Last Maharani of Jaipur

It's almost a year since Gayatri Devi, the last Maharani of Jaipur, passed away, aged ninety.  I've just finished reading her autobiography, A Princess Remembers and it's been a fascinating read - one that has covered, not only the Maharani's interesting and event-filled life, but also a period in India's history that saw independence from the British, the separation of British India into three separate states and the birth of a turbulent and sometimes frenetic experiment in democracy.  I've read two fictional books previously that cover the period of India's independence and partition from the (then) two Pakistans - Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children is an amazing read and I also loved Shauna Singh Baldwin's award-winning novel, What the Body Remembers.  Gayatri's book is a real account of events and it re-inforced my knowledge of modern Indian history and gave me a perspective on events that I didn't previously have.

Now, I'm not a monarchist and don't support the existence of royal families, so this isn't a book I would normally want to read.  Nevertheless, it was interesting to peek into the life of Indian royalty, trying to imagine what it would be like to have 700 servants to run your household, including six butlers, thirty grooms for the horses and four footmen (what exactly does a footman do?  Put on your shoes?).  Gayatri was born in the princely state of Cooch Behar, which is north of present-day Bangladesh and a distance of almost 1,000 miles from Rajasthan.  Like most royal families in India, her family had connections all over the sub-continent and her maternal grandparents were from the princely state of Baroda (Vadodara, Gujarat).  Gayatri met the Maharaja Man Singh of Jaipur, who she called Jai, at her family home in Calcutta when she was twelve.  She became his third wife and moved to live in a succession of palaces and royal homes throughout Jaipur region.

Her upbringing was one of immense privilege, being educated, not only at an exclusive school in India, but also at a finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland.  Her summers were spent in England and France (Dinard and Cannes), with winters skiing in Engelburg and travel as a tourist to pre-war Prague and Budapest.  It was a life of Schiaparelli for clothes, Farragamo for shoes and Fortnum & Mason's for everything else!  Before her marriage she lived the fairly free life of a wealthy, young woman, dining at the Willingdon club in Bombay, travelling to Calcutta every autumn for the polo season and retreating from the hottest part of the year in hill stations such as Darjeeling and Ootacamund. 

When she married Jai and moved to Rajasthan, she was expected to observe a level of purdah she hadn't really experienced before.  Society in Rajasthan was much more conservative that other parts of India and she also found the style of dressing to be very different, with brighter colours, pierced noses and bangles right up her armpits.  I get the sense that her marriage to Jai was a love-match, as much as anything else.  Certainly, her parents weren't entirely happy to have a Princess of Cooch Behar becoming the third wife of a Maharaja.  Gayatri's attitude towards her co-wives was very pragmatic.  She understood that both of those marriages had been arranged for Jai during his childhood.  She was the one who continued to travel with Jai, to Europe, the United States and South America. 

When India became independent, the excesses of a princely lifestyle finally caught up with them.  Gayatri describes how the 600 or so princely states agreed to become a part of the newly-independent India, thereby unifying the country, as opposed to fragmenting its existence.  She talks about this as a choice that the various princes made, out of their genuine goodwill towards their new country, however I can't help thinking they didn't have much choice in the matter.  Her husband benefitted from this system for a while and, indeed, gained slightly more power as the Rajpramukh (Head of State) for all of the newly-created state of Rajasthan.  Her account of events is obviously biased and I couldn't help thinking that the description of Jai's subjects in Jaipur and how loyal they were to him and his family, was just part of the vicious circle of dependence on a monarch, which the new Indian government was desperate to break. 

Gayatri herself went into politics in the 1960's and has gone down in The Guinness Book of Records as the political candidate securing the biggest ever landslide in an election.  The days of princely rule were numbered though and, by the 1970's Indira Gandhi had broken the opposition, imposed a state of emergency and thrown politicians like Gayatri into jail, on trumped up charges.  India's history is incredibly facinating and the changes that have taken place in India since independence are nothing short of revolutionary. 

It's hard to feel sorry for someone like Gayatri, who was lucky enough to have enjoyed a world-class lifestyle and never to have suffered deprevation or lived in poverty, like so many of her fellow citizens.  I guess it was inevitable that the princely states, which were tolerated for so long under British rule, would become obselete in the world's largest democracy.  One point that Gayatri makes that I can agree with, is the short-sightedness of local politicians in terms of preserving the beauty of Rajasthani cities like Jaipur.  Gayatri and her husband found it heart-breaking to watch Jaipur change from an ordered and architecturally balanced city, under their rule, to a sprawling metropolis, with unimpeded social and industrial development, under a democratic government.  Gayatri points out that the royal family of Jaipur were always going to think about tradition and the long-term development of the city, rather than making a 'quick buck' and ruining Jaipur's beauty with a plethora of advertising billboards and ramshackle markets.  Whilst, I think that's true, I also think it has more to do with the corrupt nature of modern politics, than the need to maintain a royal family in Jaipur. 

Rajasthan - The London Connection

One of the reasons I live in London is because it is so multicultural and you can experience the whole world, just by walking down the street, or listening to a myriad of languages on the bus.  This is why I've decided to introduce a new feature to my blog called 'the London connection'.  With all of the places and cultures I'm learning about, I reckon there must be something in London that connects with this, so I want to find out what this connection is and have an experience related to the things I'm blogging about.

Today I went to visit the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a.k.a. the Neasden Temple in the North London Borough of Brent.  It's reputedly the biggest Hindu temple outside India and it's not so much a Rajasthan connection, as a Gujarati one, having been built by followers of Shri Swaminarayan, who are primarily Gujurati immigrants. 

It's a very beautiful building and no expense was spared on the Italian marble and Bulgarian limestone.  The marble was sent off to India, where figures were hand-carved into it by artisans and then returned to London and painstakingly put together by large numbers of volunteers.  The temple was opened in 1995. 

The setting for the temple is rather unusual, as it's right beside one of London's busiest roads and is surrounded by a mixture of lower-middle class suburbia and industrial estates!  Nevertheless, the atmosphere in the temple was one of calm and welcome.  There were lots of people there today, this being the weekend and the thirty degrees temperature outside was in keeping with any other visits I've ever made to a Hindu temple. 

I also walked around the exhibition called 'Understanding Hinduism' and learned about the life of the 18th century Shri Swaminarayan.  Swaminarayan was a precocious student and led an interesting life, including a seven-year journey across India, from his home near Ayodhya in Utter Pradesh, to the state of Gujarat where he finally settled.  Swaminarayan was a modern Hindu reformer and spent his life on social projects with the poorest people in his society.  He was also opposed to the practise of sati (self-immolation of widows on their husbands' funeral pyres) and called for reform of the dowry system, which was (and still is) the cause of so much poverty.  His charitable works are continued by the BAPS organisation and the exhibition ends with details of their various social programmes. 

Afterwards, of course, I was able to feast on delicious meat-free samosas and pakoras at the Shayona restaurant which is opposite the temple.  Time Out has named the Neasden Mandir as one of London's Seven wonders and I would definitely recommend a visit, if you live in the London area.

Image credits:

All photos were taken by me, however it's forbidden to take photos inside the Mandir, so you'll have to go see the wonderful architecture and Murtis for yourself. 

Rajasthan - The Book is the Word

Most major world religions are defined by their most sacred book.  Both the Bible and the Qur'an have high profiles and are known the world over.  The most sacred Hindu collection of scriptures - the Vedas are probably less well-known, at least in the West and, like Hinduism itself, pretty obscure in their origins.  In fact, as I've hinted at in the title of this blog, the book is the word in Hinduism, meaning its a mainly oral tradition.  The sacred texts weren't always written down, but learned by devotees and passed from generation to generation. 

In the eyes (and ears) of believers, the Vedas are sruti, meaning 'that which is revealed' and have a divine source, rather than human authors.  Secular and non-Hindu scholars have been obsessed with dating these scriptures and slotting them into an appropriate historical context but, in many ways, the source is irrelevant to Hindu scholars, as the word is divine and beyond definition or historical concepts.

As in many other traditions (including Ireland), there was a great reverence for the pandit or bard, who would learn, not only the sacred texts, but also the mythology of Hinduism and tell stories to the villagers, as a form of entertainment and enlightenment, after a hard day working in the fields.  Just like the Celtic bard, Hindu pandits are not only versed in literature and the story-telling tradition, but are usually accomplished musicians, music being an easy way to encode human experiences for generations to come.  In a more formalised system called Sampradaya, the ancient Hindu scriptures were 'remembered' in this way.

There is some debate over which texts are to be considered sruti and the importance of scriptures varies from one part of India to another.  Generally, all four collections of Vedas are considered to be sruti, including the Atharvaveda which is a book of Hindu spells and charms.  The Upanishads are also considered to be sruti and these are secret scriptures that are only taught by a sage to his disciple.  Both the Vedas and the Upanishads were 'revealed' in Sanskrit.

All other scriptures and stories are considered to be smriti or 'handed down/remembered'.  These are the ones that pandits would have recited to entertain their community and include the great Hindu epics, such as the Mahabharata, Bhagavad-gita and Ramayana.  I'm sure the Mahabharata would have been a favourite of the kshatriya or warrior caste, as it deals with an ancient conflict between the Kauravas and Pandavas.  The Bhagavad-gita is considered to be part of the Mahabharata and tells about the life of Lord Krishna.  It's a book that was in my parents' house, as a child and perhaps raised my 'Hindu consciousness' somewhat, with its beautiful pictures and potent symbolism.  Most of all I want to read the Ramayana and perhaps I'll have time to do this, next time I blog about India.  It's a fairly classical story, dealing with the essential Hindu concept of dharma and I'll try to summarise as follows:

Boy (Rama) meets girl (Sita).  Boy is cheated out of his kingdom by wicked step-mother (Kaikeyi).  Boy, girl and boy's best friend (Lakhsmana) head off to the forest for a big adventure.  Girl gets kidnapped by bad guy (Ravana), who is also somewhat of a handsome rebel!  Boy enlists the help of the monkey-king (Hanuman), defeats bad guy, wins back girl and returns in triumph to reclaim his kingdom. 

All pretty standard stuff?  This is where it gets complicated!  Through a heavily symbolic ordeal by fire, Sita manages to convince Rama that she hasn't been violated by Ravana and is as virginal as the day he met her.  Rama believes her and affirms his love by taking her as his wife.  Unfortunately the people in his kingdom can't accept Sita's version of events and Rama banishes her once more to the forest, despite the fact that she is pregnant with twin boys.  It's a clear message of dharma (duty) above all else.  Despite being in love with Sita and going through so many ordeals to win her back, Rama has to sacrifice his love to keep peace in his kingdom.  There are many interesting variations on this theme - some of them painting Ravana as a hero, others telling the story from Sita's point of view. 

I'm following some people from India on Twitter and there's been a lot of chatter in the past few weeks about the new movie Raavan which, interestingly, interprets aspects of the Ramayana for a modern audience, although with more guns and car chases than the original, I would imagine!

Other smriti scriptures include the sutras and puranas.  The sutras are a collection of aphorisms and statements related to concepts such as dharma, yoga etc.  The puranas are mythological stories of Hindu gods, avatars and incarnations.

I often see people reading either the Bible or the Qur'an on my daily commute to work.  After learning about the sacred Hindu texts, I suddenly found myself being more aware of the existence of the vedas and, lo and behold, on my way to work I saw an Indian woman reading, what looked like, a sacred Hindu book.  Although I couldn't quite see the title of the book, I knew it was sacred by the gilded pages and the ornate lettering at the beginning of the chapter she was reading.  I was feeling quite pleased with myself and immensely clever, until the train arrived and she closed the book, revealing its title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!  Ah well, I guess it's an epic of sorts!

Credits:

The picture of Rama and Sita on the throne was taken from Wikimedia Commons.  It's in the public domain and copyright free.

The illustration from the Bhagavan Gita Chapter 18, Verse 78 was provided copyright free by flickruser ISKCON desire tree on behalf of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (more popularly known as the Hare Krishnas). 

I owe a lot of the research I did on this topic to a book called Hinduism:  A Very Short Introduction by Kim Knott.  I've used a book in this series before and I absolutely love these books, which are published by Oxford University Press and immensely readable, without losing the essence of a topic. 

Rajasthan - क्या आप हिंदी बोलते हैं?

It would surprise most people to know that a mere 41% of Indians speak Hindi as a first language. In a country as big as India, it's proved impossible to impose Hindi as a lingua franca amongst its 1 billion plus population and, ironically, English is most often used as the language of communication across India's language divide.

There are currently 22 'official' languages in India. Official in inverted commas, because the Indian government prefers to use the term 'Languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution'! I've noticed that the word 'schedule' is incredibly popular in India, especially when referring to things outside the Hindu mainstream!

Most of the scheduled languages, eg Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati, have millions of speakers. Other more recent additions, such as Bodo and Dogri, number their speakers in hundreds of thousands, rather than millions. Apart from the scheduled languages, there are approximately another 150 non-scheduled languages spoken in India. The Rajasthani language, which is spoken by an estimated 36 million people in India, is recognised at a regional level, but isn't one of the 22 national languages. I get the impression that the linguistic proximity of Rajasthani to Hindi has led to it being considered more of a dialect of Hindi, rather than a language in its own right, although this perception seems to be changing.

In my last blogpost I referred to the north/south divide in India between the Mughal/Sanskrit and the Dravidian/Tamil cultures. This divide is also borne out in the distribution of language families in India, with the northern part being Indo-European and the southern part Dravidian (about one third of India's population).

I remember travelling through India, passing linguistic boundaries from Delhi (Hindi/Urdu) to Bombay (Marathi) to Mysore/Bangalore (Kannada, a major Dravidian language and the administrative language of Karnataka). Not knowing any Indian language, I barely perceived the linguistic changes. Except when it came to the scripts, which became noticeably rounded, as I moved further south.

When I lived in Thailand, I learned to read and write in the Thai script, which belongs to the Brahmic 'alphabets' that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Due to the way these languages are written down, it's more accurate to describe them as abugidas, or alphasyllabic scripts. The main difference between an alphabet and an abugida is that an alphabet has separate letters for each consonant and vowel, whereas an abugida prioritises consonants and is written in a syllabic way. There is often a default vowel (like the Hindi schwa or 'eh' sound) which can be changed into other vowel sounds (eg Hindi 'oo' and 'ee') by adding diacritics, or marks below or above the main consonant.

The Brahmic or Indic scripts are the biggest group of abugida scripts, however this type of script does exist elsewhere in the world, notably in Ethiopia, Canada and even the ancient Irish Ogham script is deemed to be abugida - the name abugida comes from the first four sounds of the Ethiopian language Ge'ez. Learning to read/write in Thai meant looking at the writing system in a completely different way and actually made a lot of sense and was easier to learn than you might think.  It's also nowhere near as difficult as learning to read a logogram system, like the one used for Chinese.

Hindi is instantly recognisable by the straight line which runs across the top of each word, conveniently separating them. Thai was harder in this respect, as Thai sentences look like one big jumble of words with no spaces in between - kindoflikeifenglishwaswrittenlikethis!

In the south of India, the straight line disappears and the script becomes more cursive, apparantly related to the fact that early Dravidian scripts were first written on coconut shells, hence the difficulty of using straight lines. I'll never forget trying to catch a bus at Kohlapur station, finding myself surrounded by a bewildering array of signs in Marathi, any one of which could have been my intended destination of Mysore. I can't describe how powerless I felt, finding myself unexpectedly (and temporarily) illiterate. 

क्या मतलब मैं क्या जानते हो?

Image credits:

The image of the Kannada alphabet is from Wikimedia Commons and is in the public domain. 

The image of 'aum' written in different Brahmic scripts is by flickuser tdietmut a.k.a. Dietmut Teijgeman-Hansen, originally from Hamburg, but now living in Rotterdam.  Thanks Dietmut for sharing this image with us through the Creative Commons License.