the place where sandals go to die

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Something I noticed from my first day here. There are dozens of sandals, sometimes solitary, sometimes in pairs, scattered around this town. Many many many at the beach (of course) but also a surprising number have been discarded amongst the boulders below the ancient rock-carved temples, and along the main streets. Says something about the relative lack of poverty here. In Kolkata such treasures would be snatched up, refurbished and resold rather quickly. If I am ever really going through hard times in Tamil Nadu, I now have a simple scheme to survive. One man's trash....

In Varanasi I had a conversation or three with a friendly young man from BC on the roof of our guesthouse. The most memorable anecdote he shared with me (he had been traveling in Asia for two years) was his experience at the killing fields of Cambodia. Foolishly, he had ingested a specific psychoactive substance before going on the tour detailing the worst atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime. Looking around at the well-fed Westerners he was with and the rather skinny Cambodians, he suddenly "realized" that the foreigners had been taken to these fields on the outskirts of the city, scene of so much human cruelty and suffering, to be cannibalized by their hosts!

There are are at least two important lessons available in this story, both transparent and opaque. We should be careful with what we put into our bodies.

I just noticed that all the computer monitors here (fastest internet connection I have found in India!) have Tamil-style tilaka marks where their "foreheads" would be. Kinda cool, kinda creepy.

The dogs in this village are well-fed and tough.

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Comments

[Ellen]

the dogs
I know the dogs are approachable, yet have an edge of danger...a blend not unfamiliar to our well-loved correspondent...