FEB 17, 12 .. HUM-M-M ..

WAY-BACK-WHEN .. it was when I was in Calcutta .. I wrote of the trash being searched by the hotel help or other 'outsiders' .. and of the problem it was for me to cut and 'shred' sensitive documents that I am throwing away .. 

I FINALLY GAVE IN AND NOW USE THE PERFECT DISPOSAL OF SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS .. such as bank receipts .. your address lists after I update them and need to dispose of the old ones .. envelopes with both of our addresses showing .. hotel bills .. etc ..

 The above was just a trial run for me .. NO odor what-so-ever .. and just a small amount of ash ..

 Clean and you would-never-ever-KNOW ..

 EXCEPT NOW I burn all items over the toilet and then flush the ashes .. I use a pair of pliers to hold the paper(s) I am burning and wear one of my raw-hide gloves to protect my hand .. 

SO REST ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY ASSURED THAT NO ONE WILL HAVE ANY SENSITIVE MATERIALS OF EITHER YOURS OR MINE FROM THE TRASH !

FEB 17, 12 .. AGRA CANTT .. STREET SCENE ..

I see .. and I HAVE SEEN .. over the past 21 years of traveling here in India .. so many just 'day-to-day' things here in India .. that I just walk past them and pay no attention to them .. today the following scene .. one I have seen too-many-times to even begin to count them .. CAUGHT MY EYE and I snapped it for you all to enjoy..

SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT .. JUST A TRIM .. PLEASE STEP RIGHT UP SIR !

NO OVERHEAD HERE ! .. just pull up your stool and arrange your 'fixings' and go-to-work!  RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD ..

 Jump forward in time now to February 20, 2012 .. for the same scene in New Delhi !

Just ONCE MORE CAPTAIN .. please tell us .. "Cap .. just exactly what is it you LOVE SO MUCH about INDIA" ..

FEB 17, 12 .. CHENNAI RAILWAY STATION ..

This is for Patti 99501 .. but you all can read along ..

Do any of you ever get a 'song in your head' and it just keeps going around and around ..
When I was in elementary school .. about the third or fourth grade I am guessing .. I was walking in the hallway and a class a year or two ahead of me was singing a song in their room and I could hear it as I walked past the door to their classroom  .. to this day I can hear it and remember it .. the song just enchanted me .. and I still love it !

Here are a few lines from it
..
Froggie went a - courtin' and he did ride .. a - hah ..
Froggie went a - courtin' and he did ride .. a - hah ..
Froggie went a - courtin' and he did ride ..  sword and pistol by his side .. a - hah ..

and it continues ..

He rode up to Miss Mousie's door .. where he had often been before .. a - hah ..

He said Miss Mousie are you within .. yes kind Sir I sit and spin .. a - hah ..

He took Miss Mousie upon his knee .. said Miss Mousie will you marry me .. a - hah ..

When I was in Chennai in my Air Conditioned Dormitory Cubicle waiting for my train North to Agra Cantt last Sunday .. the 12th of February ..

I was sitting on the edge of my bed when ..

Wonder of wonders .. the cutest small grey MOUSE walked confidently past my right foot and explored some crumbs I had dropped on the floor from a cookie .. satisfied he (or she) had gotten them all .. he (or she) quietly retreated back under my bed ! .. after all .. this is his/her HOME .. I am just passing-through ..

That instantly took me back to  1996 .. when Patti and I were staying in the YMCA in Calcutta .. and the same thing happened there TO Patti .. she was sitting at a desk against a wall when a mouse (or two I think) walked calmly past her feet .. 

Patti .. as I recall .. was NOT TOO PLEASED with her mouse encounter .. 

And so there you have it .. it all took me to .. Froggie Went A - Courtin'  and He Did Ride .. A - Hah !

Of course all of the above 'dots' were connected in less than a nano-second ! .. you all know how fast our minds work !

And aren't we all having fun here in India !

FEB 15, 12 .. TRAIN NORTH TO AGRA CANTT ..

I do NOT know if my 'market' will stand more train photographs .. of what you see .. out-the-window from the trains as you roll-along .. 

BUT .. if just one .. just one of you .. finds one or more photos interesting  .. since I have them .. I will post them .. so here we go .. a shot of an oncoming train on the other track ..

 A shot of a special working-utility-car/engine .. you have-to-know I am not shooting from a  stationary-platform .. I am on a moving train and I get one shot .. frame it and shoot it .. flip-a-coin will it come out .. this one came out nicely ..

 A shot of a working-crew taking-a-break as we pass them .. notice the women out working alongside the men ! .. another train is approaching on the other track ..

 A very small Hindi temple .. way-out-in-the-countryside .. 

And ..a very small road-crossing-guard-gate .. way-out-in-the-country .. don't forget .. this small station must be manned 24-hours a day .. each and every day of the year .. the trains roll constantly .. I imagine that many of these men are very proud of their jobs .. with the Indian Railway !

YES .. THEY HAVE LIVESTOCK in India .. NOT all of the cows are wandering the streets of India's cities !
I LOVE the green of these fields .. I was told they are rice paddies .. but I will not swear to this .. this does NOT look like a rice paddy to me .. yet towards the upper portion of the field it looks like small dikes to hold the water rice requires ..

And .. MORE lovely green out-the-train window .. OK so I have told a 'fib' .. actually I stand between the coaches with the door of the coach wide open .. the train crews just love me for this most dangerous practice ! .. constantly lecturing me to .. "Be SURE you close and you lock the door when you leave " .. after some years I KNOW how to open and how to close them .. I do get a lot of fresh air standing for hours in the doorways ..

Well NO .. it is NOT all flat and green and lush !

OK .. thirty (30) hours on the train spanning two nights .. the trip had to finally end .. at 3:51AM in the dark morning .. ONE MINUTE EARLY .. we were scheduled to arrive at 3:52AM ! .. I got down at Agra Cantt .. and into the station I went .. got it .. it is now about 4 o'clock in the early morning .. and WHAT DOES ONE FIND .. 

Bodies .. of people .. colorfully adorned with their blankets .. sleeping as they await their trains ..

And out-the-door you walk and what do you find .. 

People .. still more people is exactly what you find .. the station police keep the steps pretty much clear for those coming and going .. but on the far step .. humanity is slowly encroaching upon the steps .. MANY OF YOU .. were it not for my photos .. COULD NOT IMAGINE such scenes !

Oh yes .. I walked .. in the early morning dark .. to my hotel .. here is my road ..

 And when I arrived at my Pawan Hotel .. at about 4:45AM in the early morning .. MY room number 115 was ready and waiting for me .. I do NOT know how they do this for me .. MY room .. What exactly is it I LOVE about India ..

FEB 15, 12 .. CHENNAI

I saw and I snapped the first two (2) photos below at one entrance to the Chennai Central Railway Station .. on Sunday morning .. February 12th ..

They are so special that I am devoting this small post to the two (2) of them  .. smile if you get it .. and "What do you love so much about India Cap " .. well .. as a Sr. Citizen I am in good company looks-like-to-me !

THIS IS WHAT I LOVE OH-SO-MUCH ABOUT INDIA ..

OH YES ! .. JUST IN CASE YOU DID NOT 'CATCH IT' .. I HAVE TAKEN A MUCH CLOSER-UP PHOTO of one portion of the above sign in the CHENNAI CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION .. I hope you smile a big smile when you 'get it' .. 

 DIFFERENTLY ABLED PERSONS ..

Do you think that they mean .. DISABLED PERSONS .. oh-my-oh-my how I LOVE INDIA ..

And what 'card' do you show to prove you are indeed a FREEDOM FIGHTER ..

The third photo below is a side entrance to Chennai Central with .. guess who .. MISTER INDIA BAG .. standing proudly for his photo ..

 The blue stuff-sack on top of Mister India Bag is a 'pillow' for me .. the insides of this 'pillow' contain my Down Jacket and my Sleeping Shawl .. I use it under my arms on the bus and trains and between my knees to sleep .. as you can see .. Mister India Bag is PRETTY FULL without the Down Jacket and Sleeping Shawl ..

When I went outside of Chennai Central .. there was an enormous building directly across the street ..

 So I snapped the below photo to inform you what it is ..

WHAT ! .. you can NOT read Tamil .. OK .. OK .. try English ..

This is one ENORMOUS HOSPITAL ! .. and NOT the only one I saw as our bus rolled into Chennai ..

FEB 15, 12 .. KODAIKANAL ..

In the below set of photos .. I am going to show you a few scenes of various shopping districts in KODAIKANAL .. these photos were taken from February 8th through February 11th .. 2012 ..

Let's start out with a real Super Market .. do you see on the third line of its sign the words .. HOME MADE CHOCOLATE .. and on the lower right of the below photo .. the words .. 'Chocolate Factory' .. do you see them ..

 Well I did a DASTARDLY DEED ! .. in I went and to the clerk I said .. "I want one of each of THEM ! " .. CHOCOLATES WITH .. Strawberry .. Orange .. Pineapple .. Rum Raisin .. Mint .. Almonds .. Cashews .. White .. Dark .. Milk .. and there were more I cannot think of .. I think I walked out with fourteen (14) individual pieces .. each different .."Were they good ?" .. OH YES ! .. what did they cost .. about a dollar fifty cents .. maybe two dollars .. my mind blanked out from the effects of eating them .. I DID space them out over three days ..

Below is the main bus stand at the 'Top-Of-The-Hill' .. and that is how they describe it ..

 Going out into the entryway .. and turning back around and shooting from whence I took the above photo you see the below scene .. pretty much a look at an very typical Indian market scene ..

 And his wife appeared with shopping bags on each arm BUT would NOT get aboard with me there taking photos .. the man THANKED me for taking their photo .. how cute is the young man in the front 'steering' the rig ! .. what is it I LOVE SO MUCH ABOUT INDIA .. THIS .. they are pretty happy looks-like-to-me ..

 And .. more shops on the left side of the street and a few of the local taxis on the right side of the street ..

 And just another scene in the main shopping district .. notice the high-tech towers in the background on the top of a building at the 'Top-Of-The-Hill' ..

AND .. WHAT TO MY WONDERING EYES SHOULD APPEAR .. NO .. NOT SANTA CLAUS (well at least NOT to me .. to some people THIS would BE SANTA CLAUS ! ) .. here in the quaint village of KODAIKANAL ..

There you have it .. and I was not kidding .. here in the Hill Station of KODAIKANAL in Tamil Nadu at the 7,200 foot elevation mark .. you have Domino's Pizza .. smiles ..

The time had come the Walrus said .. to talk of many things .. of shoes and ships and sealing wax .. of cabbages and of Kings ..

After a PHENOMENAL visit of only three and one half days .. it was time for me to leave this enchanted place .. KODAIKANAL ..

 I write of the adventure down-the-hill in the Parveen Travel Bus in .. http://babakaps.net .. FWIW .. 117 .. 

 I sure could have easily stayed longer in KODAIKANAL .. but I must be oh-so-thankful for the time I did spent there ..

FEB 4, 12 .. PONDICHERRY ..

As most of you know.. this is a PHOTO web site .. BUT .. from time to time ..  I need to express some thoughts in text form ..


And .. this writing is .. ABOUT PHOTOS here in India ..


It is about the PHOTOS you will NEVER SEE because they were NEVER TAKEN .. because to have taken them would have some negative aspects .. an invasion of a very personal or a very private scene .. Om Pragash's funeral in 1996 as an example .. the sadness that .. to have photographed a certain scene .. would have been just too sad and troubling ..


But ALL OF MY UNTAKEN PHOTOS REMAIN IN MY MIND GOING BACK TO November of 1990 and my first trip here to India .. and MANY OF THEM STILL HAUNT ME ..


Here are a few 'for instance' examples ..


Yesterday .. Friday the 3rd of February .. I was on a one-day .. Pondicherry Government Sponsored Tour .. for 200 rupees (only ! like they love to say here in India) I joined nine others for the day .. 


At one stop on our tour .. I was alone on the bus having opted NOT to join the group for a speed boat ride of ten minutes costing 70 rupees ..


In the door of the bus appeared a small beggar girl .. around her neck hung two small drums affixed to one another (I would call them 'bongo' drums) .. blue in color .. and in her small hands were two drum sticks ..  I would guess her to have been age 9 or 10 .. she looked up at me and began to tenderly 'bang' on her little blue drums .. she did not have any drum-skill so-to-speak .. she just hit at her little blue drums with no real rhythm .. 


I looked down at her and .. making eye-to-eye contact .. (at least I did that !) ..  I gently smiled at her .. and I felt oh-so-very-VERY sad ..


Back now to November of 1990 .. my first days ever in India .. I arrived October 31st of 1990 I think .. 


Almost immediately (well during my first weeks) I was approached by five small beggar children  .. so I purchased five packages of cookies .. each package having five or six cookies ..  and gave one package of cookies to each child .. off they dashed and I continued on my way .. 


Almost INSTANTLY .. let's say in two minutes to be realistic .. I was surrounded by a small crowd of about twenty or so of these children .. so I bought some more packages of cookies .. and opening them up .. I gave one cookie to each child .. and off they dashed and onward I continued and ..


Again .. within a few minutes .. WHAT IS THIS ! .. I was again surrounded by about thirty of these children ..


I smiled and this time I 'waived them all off' .. they were not about to leave and things got a bit ugly with them DEMANDING cookies ..


Let's do a quick mathematics lesson here .. let's say each beggar child weighed forty (40) pounds .. let's say ten beggar children grabbed onto each of my two forearms and wrists .. do you realize that I would then have four hundred (400) pounds holding onto each of my two arms ! and I would be effectively IMMOBILIZED ! 


And in the instant .. others would go into my pockets and with amazing skill search out whatever they could find .. one time one threw sand into my face .. 


Luckily Uncle Sam's United States Marine Corps taught me to 'react instantly' at being touched or grabbed .. and they taught me what to do .. INSTANTLY you make a fist with each hand .. and you draw each fist up to your chest WHILE twisting each wrist bringing them inward toward each other .. left wrist twisting counter clockwise and right wrist twisting clockwise ..


Here then is the REAL problem .. you are now 'marked' by the beggar community and you can NOT go out onto the street without this gang of beggar children accosting you .. one girl (I can 'see' her face to this day!) was the leader of one particular pack of children .. the day I finally laid a knife up against her throat and screamed into her face (another Marine Corps technique.. the voice..) THAT STOPPED HER ACTIVITY COLD ! .. I am POSITIVE God of Abraham was NOT pleased with me that day ! but they wear you down .. 


So sad little girl with your sad little blue bongo drums and your two sad drums sticks .. I wanted to snap a photo of you but to do so would have been too painful and YOU would then have wanted .. no you would have DEMANDED MONEY for the photo .. and I am so SORRY that I could not help you .. I kind of wish I had but had I done so .. given you money and snapped your photo .. that risked setting into motion the above scenario !  more and more children .. 


And I can not be all things to all beggars at all times in all places ..


Once .. at 5AM .. in a dark Calcutta Alley on the way to Mother Teresa's Mission I was confronted  by a very nice looking very elderly beggar man .. a very kind looking man .. so I handed to him a ten (10) rupee note .. he looked me in the eyes and firmly said .. "More" .. and as he said "More" out of the shadows appeared a young threatening man .. I pulled my knife in a New York second and they disappeared into the early morning Calcutta mist ..


This last chokes me up like the girl with her blue drums .. again .. a little girl .. 


Here in 'Pondi' the other evening after-dark a Marriage Procession was going up the street .. a band and the bride up in a chariot of sorts .. every one 'dressed to the nines' ..


I saw a small little beggar girl watching wide-eyed and I thought .. "Oh Honey .. I hope you do not think that one special someday YOU will be that bride up in YOUR chariot .."


Oh these poor small children just work their way into my heart and my soul .. and they have no clue they are so doing .. 


Oh yes .. so very many photos in my mind .. NEVER snapped yet haunting me .. very troubling ..  


Further words simply fail me.. with love.. cap..

Isn't Google just wonderful .. enter a word .. even mis-spelled .. and it will give you the correct spelling and a million hits to tell you about the word .. I captured this lad right in front of the internet cafe here  .. and just now this wonderful Pachyderm said .. "Dad.. slip me into this post .. I will 'lighten it up' a bit for you and some of your readers will smile-a-smile having themselves seen an elephant on their local street just a few hours ago ! " .. This is why I love India in spite of the many troubling spiritual issues present here ..