INDIA - Brief Comments (On-going)

1. After Maaza, I am addicted to cane juice. I had forgotten how refreshing this drink was until one day I followed this rhythmic clank to a street vendor. Extremely hot and thirsty, I chanced my stomach and possible threat of traveller's diarrhea for a glass. Ah! What sweetness! (Bonus: No upset stomach...)

2. The open air market (Crawford Market, Mumbai) is much like those of Morocco with types of things being sold clustered mostly together in a specific area. Although no less chaotic, there is a greater hint of orderliness to its chaos as compared to the Moroccan souqs.

3. Local buses are extremely cheap (Rs. 5-7, approx. 1-2 pennies) and convenient. It's not a bad way to go locally, providing if you can get a seat/bus isn't too horribly crowded and traffic flows well enough to catch a breeze through the opened windows. (BTW, there are a few rows of seats up towards the front of the bus reserved "for ladies only.")

4. When asking for directions, it's a good idea to ask several people. Oftentimes you get conflicting or differing responses. Earlier in the trip K and I experienced this in Chennai. At one corner, asking one person we were told to go left. Another person informed us to go right. A third person adamantly gestured for us to continue on straight ahead. A cruel joke on the tourist? A random answer thrown out better than not providing an answer? All correct but varying ways of getting to the final desitnation?

5. The darker I get (despite the liberal use of sunscreen), the more I am believed to be from the northeastern states of India. I've noticed that I'm greeted more and more in Hindi...

6. Officially, there appears to be a strong aversion to acknowlediong the theft of my bag as such. Not even with the preface of "alleged." No. I've just reported "the loss of" my bag, oh she just "lost" her bag, her bag was "lost", etc. Hmmm...

7. Some of the people that I have come into contact with all like their music, TV, and movies played at VERY LOUD volume! What?! What was that? No, I can still hear you! Turn it up! Yes, I can still hear myself think! LOUDER!!

8. At the cinema, they play a snapshot of the governmental approval prior to the trailer or feature film they are about to show. Sometimes it is in Sanskrit and others it is in English. Also, right before the feature film starts they run a short film of the Indian flag at which the audience immediately stands up and sings the national anthem.
(By the way, if any of you haven't seen "Crash" yet, I highly highly recommend it. It was kind of weird sitting in an Indian theater absorbing what's going on in the movie while contemplating if the audience realizes that what happens in the movie [which is a worthwhile representation of reality, in my opinion], transcends all kinds of boundaries be it nationality, ethnic, religious, value-systems, and beliefs.)

9. There is no such thing as "moderation" here in India. It is my perception of extremes.

10. Dogs rule here in India. As opposed to Morocco, I've only seen 4 cats during my entire 6 weeks here.

11. During "rush hour" here in Mumbai, the police ties a rope to the light post and holds the other end. This is so that he can prevent people from trying to cross against the light by pulling it taut. When people are allowed to cross, he just drops it down until the next light change.

12. People jaywalk/cross against the light constantly here. I've picked up the habit and have gotten very adept at it (patting myself on the back)!

13. The wealthier people here not only own foreign cars (such as Ford, Chevrolet, Honda, Hundai, Mercedes) but it appears to be a must to have drivers for them - drivers that wait around all day to take you to wherever whenever you need to go.

14. Despite being a huge supplier of IT/computer-related brilliants, there is not a single website available for people in India to book a ticket on-line.

15. The more expensive larger vehicles do not have a simple repeated beep that sounds when they put the vehicle in reverse. No, no. That would not do! Too boring! So, in lieu of that, they have horns that play some melodic/musical fragment of songs. Really.

16. Although it has been difficult for me to become completely vegetarian with my diet in the States, I have slipped into one here very easily. In fact, I've eaten beef only a couple of times.

17. My backpack, upon leaving the States, weighed in at 22 kilos (~48.4 pounds). I believe that it is now up to about 27-30 kg and has gained about 6 inches in height. Yes, it has been christened "Ganesh" although K honors it with "Vishnu"!

18. OMG!!! The air pollution is so completely horrible here. And I hate how my mind works sometimes because I started thinking of all the dry particulates that I'm breathing in; in addition to vehicular exhaust, you have spit, spit with betel juice, piss, cow dung, dog dung, horse dung, garbage, evaporation of waterways clogged with garbage and sewage, urine from everyone and everything...ugh.

19. The pictures that I have taken will not do India any justice for they fail to also capture the smells and sounds of India.

20. Bollywood: Where are the dark-skinned actors? Things that make you go 'hmmm...'

21. When my travel partner and I laugh, we laugh heartily - from the belly. And we laugh loud. Which is something that India women do not do so we often get the entire area within hearing distance craning around to see the source of the laughter and the cause of it. Jeez...it was how a new friend of our found us/our hotel room in Darjeeling - by following the sound of our laughter!

22. The screeching of the birds in Mumbai gives the growing number and volume of vehicular honking a total run for their money in the mornings.

23. Spitting is the thing here. Often with betel nut juice. YUCK!

24. Drivers of Mumbai utilize any and all space available on the road much more efficiently than any other drivers on the road. You get so close to the other car that, as my travel partner put it, "you can almost smell their mouthwash!"

25. I'm not that good of a salesperson. I was trying to sell my watch (band included) for 800 Rs. to the street vendor trying to sell me a small drum. The sale didn't take...

26. I am SOOOO LOVING the music that Indians play here...whether it's in English or some Indian dialect, they all have SUCH great beats!!! I am in great danger of spending much of my money on ripped CDs.

27. Strolling the pathways/roads/alleys with cows have gotten to be a very commonplace thing.