where

where

where were we? So, I arrived in India and I made it safely to the hotel. I woke early the next day and the beginning of Jet lag weirdness took effect. It also was so hot. Once morning came the sounds (and smells) of Bombay filtered in to my room. There was plenty of honking of cars. Apparently, In India honking the horn is encouraged and even a small village sounds like Times Square grid lock at rush hour even if there are only a few scooters about. The smell of Bombay is of pollution. The pall of carbon monoxide is overwhelming. Often you do not notice how bad it is with your eyes till the evening when the headlights illuminate the thick smoke in the air. You gasp for air during the day and night often I found I must cover my mouth and nose with a shirt. The sights of Bombay and movement are nearly indescribable. There are so so many people in Bombay and India. There are 1 billion Indians! The poverty is there and its hard to stomach. While walking about I explored the back areas of the Slums of Colava. There chicken, goat, dog, cat, crow, dog, rat, and do not forget the ever present Cows live all together and many are all eating on the same filthy floor. I saw babies sleeping on the sidewalks and in corner with nothing under them, not even a piece of cardboard. Once I saw perhaps a three year old girl sleeping with a rat next to her head eating something. The beach is used as a toilet and trash heap. Every inch is a pile, and those are the fresher ones! Imagine what lay beneath the sand and how many years of non stop shitting and trash…I gagged and nearly vomited from the smell that hit me. I nearly gagged now writing about it. Around that time I saw an image that has disturbed me since. I saw a goat eating trash and than landed a crow on it which proceeded to very aggressively, violently even eat out the asshole of the goat. The goat could not shake it for a while. The crow is everywhere. They are evil and dirty. Their HAW HAW is your morning wake up call and everyone else in India. No one seemed to like my Idea of Crow Genocide month, they said it was bad for my Karma and shanti. On that note there was a tourist I later met that saved a kitten that was being eaten alive by a crow as she was trying to nurse it back to health, I am glad I did not see it occur. Once asleep I saw one come close to me I think hoping I was dead so it could peck and eat my eyes out of my sockets. However, enough of these sinister beasts, they are a big part of the Indian experience (unfortunately) but lets move on…

In these back streets with the poverty so real, so horrendous that it wavers on the bizarre and incredible. There are people walking around that seem to be dying. One man came to us begging and it seemed that he was one meal away from dying or living. When I imagined that I myself might be one day dying and walking around begging, pleading for help while every one around ignored me I felt terrified and began to cry. I am surprised I did not cry more. I must say that a life time of living in NYC has jaded me but not enough as to make me inhumane. It is hard to dispense money to beggars on the street. You give one and they come in an onslaught of outstretched, brown, corpse like arms, and you are besieged by adorable, starving children that tug on your sleeves. Of course at times I gave but it seemed that the poverty was so rampant that a feeling of futility overcame me. There is also the untouchable element of India. This caste of people that have jobs like cleaning the toilets (imagine vile places) and there are the deformed or crippled. One man is feet were inverted as were the joints of his legs, he walked sideways (crawled rather) like a Crab, he was the human crab. Than there were hands thrust to my face in which the finger were all shriveled up and a claw like hand was presented to me and this was a fairly uncommon site such imagery and people. You close yourself off. I have not even got into the how many stray cats and dogs there are. I saw dead puppies, emaciated starving kittens and a rat that had blotchy, patchy skin that was not afraid of people or cats. The cat would not go near it. I saw rats shimmy up the walls of buildings and about people. The Indian people themselves seem to ignore all this. They do not wantonly harm animals and many are vegetarian. I have seen in my travels many times where livestock on farms and people lived closely. However, I had never seen in a Urban landscape where the people live so closely with the "city wildlife". The whole time I am writing this I am thinking that I do not want to sound superior or judgmental yet I do. Who am I to judge? maybe people are meant to sleep on the streets with the rats and other vermin? Acceptance is a big lesson and theme in India. You need to accept things, you must accept them. Ghandi once said to the prime minister of England as he came on a visit that one when comes to India they must come as student and not as a critic. This about India rings true. I do naturally tend to compare things. Our culture, standards of cleanliness, life style are very different "in the west". I think many things are education like disposing of your trash not on your lawn but in a landfill for example. Or not burning it everywhere while children and adults alike develop respiratory problems from the toxic fumes. There is a Indian middle and Upper class. I meant many many Friendly educated people on my trip. Many Indians said hi to me or spoke to me. I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly Indians were to me and they make good conversation (when we have a mutual language) also there are many people that speak English for the amount of languages spoken in India are staggering so many speak English or Hindi among themselves as a common tongue. These more educated Indians (many whom have lived or traveled abroad) live as we do. They have nice apartment and homes, internet, AC, cable and all the comforts that we have been accustomed to and are spoiled on. Many I met (on the plane) had three doctor children and well I am sure we all have met back home successful Indians and have seen that many are natural business and tech people. I think this has to do with the caste system which seemed to be known by everyone about but not apparent to me. As we know Class is very important there and everywhere. I did not intend to write an essay on India. I do have much more to write but this blog is long enough for now. I have not spoken of the food, the colors, the smells (many good ones too to be fair) and the people in depth. Also there are all the fellow travelers, the gurus, the Israelis and tourist about to discuss. Digest this for now and I will write more again….