Walking in India

If you ever get the chance to travel internationally, don't miss the unique opportunity to walk among the people in that new place. If, after taking this walk you don't come away with a different view of the people in that place, then you've either been there before, or you weren't paying attention. Sure... You'll see alot from the hotel car or the taxi cab. But you can't really know it until you've walked in it.

My impression of India before arriving was that it was overcrowded and dirty and filled with poverty-stricken, hungry people. I've never been here before but I do have a television...

Yesterday I decided to walk the 1 - 2 miles between my office in Bangalore, India and the hotel I'm staying at. Don't get me wrong... 1 - 2 miles between a hotel and an office building in Bangalore India doesn't make me an expert or anything close to it, and yet even this tiny experience has made an impact on my perceptions.

Walking in India

When a person is hungry they get a certain look in their eye. It's an intense, penetrating look conveying single-minded focus. It may be accompanied by a smile. It may not be. It doesn't matter. If you are paying attention, you can't help but wonder if the person looking at you is thinking he might like to eat you.

In India, you see this look alot. There is no hiding from it here. If you venture outside, (and you will have to go outside, after all) you will be surrounded by it, even in a city like Bangalore which, by Indian standards is doing well.

*** Time Warp ***

Okay... so I started writing that one and then stopped because I didn't have any energy to finish it (walking in India can do that to a person...) At this point, I really don't remember enough detail to actually finish it with any integrity at all. I figure I'll just wait until the next trip to India to finish it off.