Watching

To share a few observations I have made in the past 14 days while in India. I give you, 'Watching'.
First, crosswalks do NOT exist, I repeat, do NOT exist in India. Not from what I have seen at least. Traffic, I'll give you, moves slower than at home, although you are bound to find a few speed demons wherever you end up. They make crossing the road that much harder. Most of you, readers, know what it is like to cross Sherbrooke st. at Mcgill college during rush hour. It is easy; you have red lights, green lights, and crosswalks. Well, take away those three, as well as every other traffic rule you seen or heard of, add 43 motorcycles, a few rickshaws (Indian helicopters they call them), and then try to get across. Okay, so now that we've established that there are no cross walks we can move forward. There are no sidewalks either. Where sidewalks are supposed to be, are motorcycles, cows, hundreds of dogs, chickens, goats, your occasional donkey, kids, and all of the aboves' excrement. Smile. Are you smiling? I sure am. Everyday. Honestly, it's true and it's great.
I've covered most of the animals but now "let's get down to brass tax, how much for the monkey?" Okay, they are not for sale but they are everywhere. I've heard the term 'concrete jungle'. I never thought it meant this, oh wait, it doesn't! For real though, I see them doing their monkey business all over the place: Allies, roofs, you name it.

A more somber observation I need to reiterate: Poverty. When I decided I was coming to India I had a good idea of what I would be in for. I knew major parts of this great country would be a slap in the face, they were. Being poor and homeless in Canada seems, to me, like living in the Ritz compared to here. Poverty is never pretty, don't get me wrong, no matter where you are. I know, I know, I said this in my last post, people are poor here. It's hard to see, it's hard to see repeatedly, and that is why I will write it repeatedly. Although they do not have to weather the cold they have many other harsh factors to face with a much more limited amount of supplies to help, let alone the lack, or rather, non-existent social welfare system.
It is one thing to walk past a grown man who is homeless it is another to have a 7 year old girl with beautiful brown eyes tapping you on the arm asking for 5 Rs so she can eat, so she can survive one more day. You are forced to look the other way. I have much compassion and sympathy but if you give them a single thing you are mobbed by dozens more both young and old. You cannot walk, you cannot move, they will follow you home and be there in the morning.

A last observation for the day is that; there are kind people all over the world. Today I walked alone for a few hours, it was different then being with someone. I cannot fully explain it, I have not had the time to get my head around it but it was different. I met many more people, had tea with them. They were not out to sell me something, they were out to talk. They were curious why I was here. What I was doing here? One young guy drove past me saying hello in Spanish. I am not able to speak Spanish, I can say, 'I cannot speak Spanish,' in Spanish though which made him laugh. Lots of Spanish in that last sentence, 'Spanish, Spanish Spanish.' Moving on. We began to talk about where I was from. He ended up giving me a ride back to my hotel on his motorcycle. Traffic from a whole other perspective.

Yesterday, Taylor and I walked off the beaten path and found ourselves in the slums. We had a group of 40 kids following us, screaming in Hindi. They were shocked at our size, our pale skin and most of all our presence in this part of town. We were trying to make it to tiger fort, one that over-looks the city. We were trying to make our own path up the hill. After reaching a dead end with these kids beside and behind us we decided that we better have fun with them. A sand dune close by provided me with a great idea. I began to run, Taylor knew my plan, he followed close behind. The kids did as well. No words can describe it. just look.




I am in Jaipur now. I went to Agra, home of the TajMahal. It is by far the most beautiful building I have ever seen. A picture does not do justice, it is fantastic. I thought it was a bit curious that the most wonderful building in the world is a tomb, a tribute to a dead wife, curious. Just a side note: I stayed there a few days, and then took a 3 hours train which was 4 hours late to Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan. It is a lovely city with a huge fort on a hill top behind it, overlooking it. Where I head next is still up in the air but will be decided within the next few hours. Flip a coin maybe, who knows....