My 'Muchila' content layout as I spread it out in my Bhagsu village guesthouse room. This is what I had accumulated about two thirds into my 1 year travel.

Best and inportant:

-Teva sandels

-High Sierra day backpack

-H&M light cotton pants

-No name brand fleece jacket

-San Disk mp3 player

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Also have with you a hand sanitizer (no soap in places and the indian alternative to toilet paper, make it important to sterilize hands after a visit to the restroom)

Don't bring, cause you can get quality local made at low prices: woolen socks (but do bring several light cotton socks, as you can walk fresh with one laundried ply of these and a second of a wollen pair that can last few days in between laundry days. These cotton socks can always come handy as little padded pouches for various items in your bag) or hats (northern India makes them and that's the only place you'll need them, so why drag them around at the hot areas)

Dark chocoate - India has chocolate, alright, but ! it's as sweet as the Chai. If you are one of those how likes a strong bitter dark chocolate bite one in a while - you'll be challenged outside metropolitans. The same goes for real coffee (late, espresso, 'Turkish/Arabic' or even Americano). unless you're in the southern states of India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) where coffee is grown, you'll get ness coffee when you order any coffee based drink.

Toilet paper - not the Indian way of doing things. The system in India traditional consist of water rinsing (it is also a squatting toilet, but lets leave dragging a toilet seat with you out of the question for now) Toilet paper is expensive ( cost of one roll was as an hour use of a computer in an internet cafe back in 2007) and that is if you're lucky to find one around rural villages and towns. I got used to the Indian way, it actually sound better if you think of bidet or the analogy of the irritated red-nose effect you get when wiping it too often when you catch a cold.

Hair clipper/shaving machine - clip off substantial weight when you leave these machines behind. India, as a nation of richly hairy heads, has a barber on every corner. For 70 cents you get a haircut and shave plus head and shoulder massage and some nice refreshing/ herbal fragrance, all while relaxing on one of he most comfortable chairs around.

And obviously, what you can not see in the photo - my SD600 faithful Canon cameraMuch more was parcell shipped by sea. And yet, this was heavy. Himachal Pradesh, India.

My India: Where every village is home - Experience !