sections are delicious, just like an orange!

section1- loss:
goodbye beloved camera. goodbye 250+ images of india. there are so many little things i should have done differently. damn. damn. dammit.

section 2- math:
a) as mountians get bigger, internet costs raise proportionally. b) as mountians get bigger, internet gets proportionally slower. given a and b, emails get proportionally shorter and fewer. sorry guys.

section 3- krishnam vande jagad garum:
i was walking through the market in shimla. all i wanted was some figs, ok? ok? the rain was pouring, me soaking and cold. all i wanted was some figs. OK!?!?!? then i was intercepted by a bunch of trucks pulling animatronic gods and animals, children dressed in tinsel loincloths and glam rock-style wigs and a sikh bagpipe band. and suddenly shop owners were doling out leaf bowls of food and throwing bananas to an unruly mob. my immediate reaction: "can't this country be normal for one freaking day!?!?!?" turns out it was krishna's birthday celebration. ok, fine.

section 4- a place i love:
manikaran is a town that bubbles. straddling the parbati river, it's not much more than a tiny market stuck between some big green hills. pretty normal, except for the fact that hot water spews randomly out of the rocks, leaching sulfurous fumes into the air and bubbling right through the centre of town. you head over to the shiva temple (everyday!) and RUN down the steps because the ground is scorching from the underground springs. a leaf bowl of tapioca prasad is thrust at you, cooked perfectly in a giant pot floating in a bubbling natural pool. hindus cook themselves some tastey chickpeas by dangling cloth bags into a well. then you scamper across the wooden planks up to the shrine and sit so peacefully on the cool black and white marble while steam rises all around. this is a place that i love.

section 5- aweh guru!:
congratulations, sikhs of the world! you have an amazingly cool religion. thanks for bombarding me with your culture, forcing delcious food upon me, shoving me into your temple, clasping my skull, blessing me, trying to kidnap me to kullu without my chappals or any other belongings and generally treating me like an honoured guest. seriously, good work. can i join? maybe i should go back to amritsar.... quote kerria gray: "i never thought i'd hear myself saying this phrase...but the guy in the pink turban is hot!" hmmm....

section 6- i can hear the fireworks echo echo echoing:
the town is quiet except for its rushing river. the fireworks are only in my head, keeping me from sleep once again. so many thoughts of the past and future, imaginary times that don't exist and yet seem to rule over the present. alone 2.5 months now. and it's independence day.

section 7- numbers numbers numbers:
i've said before that i'm not one for statistics... but here is this from the local newspaper: of indian women, 6 out of 7 are illiterate and 1 out of 3 is underweight. india has worse malnourishment rates than ethiopia. india is home to the world's biggest slum- take half the population of canada and put them into cardboard shanties on the outskirts of bombay. one lakh of farmers have commited suicide due to economic hardship. 40% of food produced in india spoils on its way between farms and consumers. and the numbers march on... that's all i could read before running back to my hotel room to cry...

section eight- the baby piece that hides between the other ones and you save for last because it's so cute:
that's it for now. i'm on my way to leh, feeling good.