I've only just begun

     India does not hide anything.  It is a visual country where everything is exposed to the passerby.  A young boy prancing around naked on the sidewalk.  A man limping with a piece of plywood serving as a cast.  A pregnanat dog sprawled on the pavement scratching at the dried scabs.  Men taking a piss out in the open air.  Men and women spitting lugees that look pale green and phlemy.  Parades of men huddled together, arms linked and hands touching, drinking chai and conversating.  Women walking hurridly on the crowded streets with flourescent sarees leaving a trail.  Rickshaws stopped with a snoring and drooling driver taking an afternoon nap.  Beggars and touts touching you, both equally wanting your money.  Gawking men that stare as if they have never seen a women before.  The honks are defening and each day I am inches away from breathing my last breath as I am almost hit by a car.  Everyone is in a hurry here, rushing by, bumping into you and pushing you out of the way.  yet, amny seem so still with nothing to do.  Many linger aimlessly or just wait for something that will never come.  The noise level is unsettling, the smells are mixed together, and the streets are cluttered with garbage.  Vendors crowd the sidewalks selling you chapati bread, chai tea, fresh squeezed oj and flshy statues of popular dieties.  Shoe shiners wait patiently for the next customer that is in a rush to get somewhere.  The mix of incense, spices and sweat along with diesel fumes fill the air.  The smell is exotic, pungent, alluring and sweet.  The smell of India is bizzarly delicious.  Deals go down and negotiations are made while sipping chai.  India and her people are proud of who they are.  here is a sense of pride and ownership that is so astonishing.  India is accepting and remarkably tolerant but she doesn't budge and holds on to her ways not letting the west have too much control.  All are welcome, and all can find home here but India is a world of her own.  She is like a sponge that absorbs all.  All ideas, all religions, and even all cuisines flow together with an incessant current coming toegther into what we call India.