An Expat In India

Riding On The Train Bound For New Delhi Riding on the train bound for New Delhi Saturday morning, sleep-deprivation blues Vendors hawking through the bleary rail car Man across is stepping on my shoes All throughout the freezing train Babies shriek, my ears do pain Breakfast's an endless stream of junky foo-ood People unceasingly staring at me For no reason I can see I'm sick and in a seriously gru-um-py mood! Good morning, India, how are you? Say, don't you know me, I'm your expat now? I'm on the train that's on the way bound for New Delhi I'll soon be there unless we hit a cow! Off to the toilet for my Delhi belly... Third time now I've had this malady Add to that sore throat and nasty headache,  Ganesha, remove this agony, I do plea! And the bathroom is disgusting,  And the floors, they are a mess But it's India and all just part of the dee-eal! Mother, shut that baby up What I woul...

Cows, dogs, monkeys, pigs, goats...these creatures, even if owned, roam freely. Granted, their diets are not to be believed, but they must have adapted in order to be able to exist on unimaginable--what we would consider--non-food items. The most resilient of all seems to be the cows, who almost always appear to be fat and happy. Not as much so for dogs, and as for the monkeys, who can tell? Those little rascals certainly seem to have amazing energy. In any event, these are just a few of my photos, but are my favorites, either because I have grown fond of this particular neighbor, and/or because it was one of the most entertaining. Enjoy! How could you NOT but love this face!??! A well-fed bovine, he is enjoying the macaroni breakfast I gave to him! This boy was a little reluctant to pet the calf, but I convinced him to for the photo.  As for me, patting, feeding and scritching my bovine friends behind the ears is my favorite past time! Adults, for the mo...

FEB. 21st, Friday, SHIVARATRI! One of the most auspicious days in India...Honoring Shiva AND....MONSOON COMES PREMATURELY TO RISHIKESH?!? I am not kidding.  Rainy season is technically not for another 4 months at least, but then global warming has eliminated all of those long-standing norms, as we all know and experience.  Of course it is said that, on an important holiday honoring any deity, it is considered VERY auspicious if it rains. I am not quite sure WHY this should be the case, but this belief is evidently widespread in India.  I was worried about the neighboring cow lowing all night last night, as it had been doing for most of the afternoon yesterday. I needn’t have worried--either it got milked, had it’s baby (since, as mentioned, calves are unusually prolific in my little neighborhood here), or who-knows-what, but it got quiet. Bless that cow. HOWEVER! No sooner was I drifting off to sleep while listening to yet another entertaining b...