to Rishikesh

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Everyone reads the paper in India. Even people you wouldn't expect. In Haridwar, my first proper morning, I watched as a boy delivering papers handed one to a girl selling puja on the pavement. They exchanged a few words, it was obviously a regular occurence, and then he sped off on his bike, and she spread the paper out on the pavement and started to read- perhaps the business pages, the sports news or maybe even just her horoscope.

Neelambar Badoni (or maybe it was one of his associates) was reading the paper in the office on Mussoorie's Upper Mall, when I finally found it after half an hour of dwadling up and down Picture Palace. Poring over the paper at the desk, it looked as though he hadn't moved in hours, although when I'd tried telephoning, ten minutes earlier, to get directions, the line had rung continuously unanswered.

I told him I wanted to get up to Gangotri, and asked if he could help me. He seemed an exciteable sort: "How, Madam,", he shouted "will you do that with all the road blocks? All the roads to Gangotri are blocked. All the pilgrims have been stranded for days. Don't you read the paper?" I had to admit that I didn't, and that I'd only come to him for advice, at which he calmed down a bit. Basically, to cut a long story short, bearing in mind I have to be back behind my desk in W1 two weeks today, I made the decision to cut Gangotri out of what passed as the plan.

The Priest Astrologist at Mussoorie's Radha Krishna temple also reads the paper. Went I got there yesterday afternoon it was closed, but due to be open up about ten minutes, so I sat with the Priest and Astrologist, while we waited for the man with the key. The Priest and Astrologiest spoke very littlle English, and in a very thick accent, but being a polite and well brought up soul, obviously felt it encumbent upon himself to entertain his guest, which he did by pointing out newspaper photographs of local luminaries involved in some civic event/ happening or other: "This, Minister for Transport. This one...Minister of the Interior...This other one, he Minister for Education..."

When the temple eventually opened, he walked me round, identifying the statues in his thick accent and broken English, so I'm still none the wiser as to who or what any of them were. Maybe I should start reading the paper!!

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