July 06, 2012 | By Bill Gates
Bill Answers #askBillG Questions about India
India is a remarkable place. It touches all your senses and emotions. The videos and articles I posted from my latest trip prompted a number of questions.
Questions submitted to #askbillg:
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What was the most striking moment of the trip when your head said “Bill, we’re not in Kansas anymore?
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Do you have a favorite Indian food or dish?
QUESTION: What was the most striking moment of the trip when your head said “Bill, we’re not in Kansas anymore?
BILL GATES: When you first arrive in India and get out in to the streets, there is this overwhelming amount of activity which always takes some time to adjust to. There’s lots of traffic, lots of people on every street, some just trying to make a little money with their one-person businesses. It can feel a little overwhelming at first if you don't live in that environment.
I'm sure if you live in a rural area and you go to New York City, you feel some of that, but this is like New York City times ten, where everything is amazing and people are in a hurry. You also see the immense poverty and wealth at all sorts of different levels.
You see new foods you're not used to, the dress is very colorful, some of the women are covered up, and some are not. There are all of these animals wandering around. You're sort of prepared for that, because somebody told you that would be the case or you have read about it, but you know you're in a very different place. You don't look around and think, “Oh, am I in Seattle?” No, you are not in Seattle.
QUESTION: Do you have a favorite Indian food or dish?
BILL GATES: I love Indian food. Melinda makes sure that our family eats pretty healthy food and some of the Indian dishes we get at restaurants in the Seattle area are fairly rich, so we don’t eat it often at home. However, I have it for lunch at work pretty often and it’s just great. But going to India is phenomenal. I probably eat far more than I should when I travel to India as it is such a great chance to eat the local food. In particular, I really like lamb curries and some of the chicken dishes. And because mangoes were in season, I ate a lot of them on this trip too.
