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Published: August 12th 2007
Amritsar
Bridge to the Golden Temple
This message is going to be a little different than the others... I will not talk about where I have been this time... For those of you that want to know... In short, Amritsar, with it's Golden Temple, Delhi and Agra, famous for the Taj Mahal...
No I want to talk about something far more interesting... I want to talk about something I call the 'Bubble'....
Just like India the 'Bubble' consists of different casts...
At the bottom are the Indian, they are scorned by all and blamed for everything that is evil... But they are what keep the 'Bubble' running... Without them, nothing would happen and those within would be helpless... They consist of the touts, the beggars, the shopkeepers, hotel owner and restaurant owners and everything else that is needed...
Next come both the first timers and those that have been in India longer and been to the 'Bubble' before but have never been converted... They can be recognized by their western style clothing and attitude... The first timers are preyed on by all, both the upper classes and those accursed Indians try to convert them... One is out for souls, the other group for
Amritsar
More Golden Temple
money... Those that refused to convert will have to leave the 'Bubble' sooner or later...
Just above them are those that either have already converted at home or those that have started to see the light... They have started wearing 'Bubble' clothing, like baggy trousers, colourful shirts and some also the dreadlock hairstyle that typifies the upper echelons in this world... Though none of those attributes necessarily mean that you are a convert, there are those that look like 'Bubblites' but are not... It is not all about looks, with it comes a certain attitude too...
Not quite at the top are those that are fully converted... They wear the full gear, colourful baggy trousers and loose hanging shirts, a head band of some sort or other kind of head wear, perhaps dreadlocks or some facial hear and the inevitable Indian instrument... They ooze confidence within the 'Bubble' knowing that they belong...
Than there is the upper cast, the priestly cast as I call them... This consists of the Gandalf’s and the wise men... Their clothing is more extreme yet, some look like wizards, with pointy hats, other like what they think Indian beggars would look like,
Amritsar
Golden Temple at night except that their rags are infinitely cleaner... And others look like holy men, which in fact they are within the 'Bubble'... Their function is to keep the evil eye of Sauron, or in other words bad outside influences, at bay... They speak in riddles and seek mysticism in every corner... They are the top of the food chain...
But alas for them, with this power comes a terrible price... Because outside the 'Bubble' in the real India, where the real beggars walk around in dirty rags not because they choose so, but because they have no money for anything else... Where there are holy men both good and bad and where the Indians walk around in western style clothing just like everywhere else... In this world they dare not venture, because they would be laughed at and frowned upon for thinking that with there attitude they have stumbled upon the soul of India..
A word of caution... Don't stay in the 'Bubble' to long, after you have seen all that is to be seen, leave... Don't let it suffocate you, go into the real India and breathe the fresh Indian air... And if after some time you want
Delhi
Chowri Bazar in Old Delhi
to escape the insanity of India you can always return to the 'Bubble', it is conveniently located around India... Then you can sit back and relax with a banana pancake and all else that us westerners need and we can only get within the 'Bubble'... And perhaps when you look around at those within, you might realise that India is not that insane after all... The 'Bubble' is good...
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ankur
non-member comment
it depends
ya there are good as well as bad things of this bubble .. in the bubble if someone get huge money , he/she becomes arrogant while those who dont have are soft hearted but there conditions are mercyfull..but i think we r lacking of management ..india can be real golden country if there is distribution of money among poors and spending should be done on social welfare education/health ...as it is , in india 95% peoples are not financially secure . i am sure they would not have money to get treated if caught under some disease..however rest 5% are enjoying life at fullest .. http://ankurindia.blogspot.com