You just have to smile! People warned me so much about India I really think that it is not that bad. Yes, there are more cows and cow shit on the streets that in all the farms of Guilderland (including Altamont). And the street is utter chaos with persistant noise, people, rickshaws, motorbikes, cars, carts, vendors and beggars. Beside those minor nuisances, the people are nice, there are plenty that speak English, I can walk at least 1 minute out of every 5 without some new friend and the sites and cultural differences are fascinating.
Yesterday I walked around town to a few of the Ghats. I overlooked the main burning Ghat where bodies are cremated in the open air. I was close enough and down wind so a few ashes started accumulating on my bag and clothing.
This morning I took a sunrise boat ride on the river. It was beautiful to see how huge the river is, how many Ghats there are and all the people bathing and performing religious cleansing on its shores. At first I snapped pictures left and right, but eventually I felt bad. Five westerners in a boat, paddling by, taking pictures of people bathing as if it were the zoo. Yes, it is a different culture and abnormal by western standards, but they are humans and this is what they do. They must get sick of all the photography and jaw-dropped faces that stare their way. In the end I took more pictures of the buildings, river and sunrise than the people themselves.
