Monday, February 4, 2008

India oh India

It is a nose pick'in, honker spitting, flip flopp'in, human poop'n, dirty, filthy, stinking country. And it is fascinating. It's kind of like road kill, or a train wreck. But friendly. Somewhat like the cat lady's house but big, very big. It is busier than the cat lady's house, less bloody than a train wreck,and stinky as road kill, but more interesting. It is... hard to describe. The first city Sherry and I made it to was Madari. As Sherry said it was a village that woke up one morning to find it was a bustling city but had no infrastructure. It was crazy there. Crazy. Cows were milked on the streets, tailors squatted on sidewalks working hand powered machines, chickens nested in corners and trash piled up everywhere. It was so noisy you could not hold a conversation while walking. The smell was offensive, the food was fantastic and the pollution stuck to your teeth. There were beggars and temples and beggars in temples. There were dogs running amuck and people so thick you couldn't see the shops. The shops were spilling out onto the streets and the streets were spilling into the shops. There were no sidewalks. Buses only "stopped" to pick up older passengers. The young had to do the hobo grab to get on, or run to ease the jolt as they jumped off. Chaos was the rule rather than the exception. Muslum prayers woke you at five and the clock tower chimed rhymes all night long. Bad versions of nursurey rhymes. Horns honked, people in your hotel halls talked, roosters crowed, dogs barked, doors slammed and tuk tuk's roared; day and night. Cows walked down the middle of the street with cars passing them on both sides. Cows "went to market" pushing people out of their way as they moved down the aisle ways. It truly appeared that they were shopping. There were dumpster diving cows and trash pile cows. There were cows that would follow you into shops, and cows that would lie on the sidewalk and chew their cud. Who knew whose cows these were. How they got water or something other than trash to eat. They were, however, part of the population and society for that matter. And of course with cows come cow patties. Just another addition. Welcome to India.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Tracy,
It sounds like utter chaos!!! No wonder so many Indians want to come here & then thrive on our wonderful life! I would run away from that atmosphire too!! The smell alone would drive me away!
Maybe you need to invest in some masks & earplugs. At least you are finding out where you don't want to be from!
As usual, your life is interesting!
Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

Yuk. I think it's probably a very good thing that it's YOU on this adventure and not ME! I don't think I would deal with it very well. Quite an education, huh? Wow. I'm looking forward to the photos! And I really will send an e-mail soon...! (Work has just been really, really awful...). Love and hugs!!!!

Anonymous said...

Tracy...as always, an incredible visual blog of your ongoing sensory stimulation...and overload.

Anonymous said...

hey tracy! how are you???
im so interested in India but i think i can't go.... people, smell and noisy...many people fall in love with India like Sebastian....ummmmmm interested. onece i have to go and check by myself!! sorry i haven't check your all blog... maybe bit long to read in english for me.hahaha.
anyway i'll send e-mail soon!!