Extremes In India
Back in Delhi the next day Bob and I are walking in the middle of the street as usual to a shopping area from the hotel when I noticed that one of the men lying on the sidewalk was dead…large open white emaciated eyes with flies in them…still body…like the dead sheep I used to see on my father’s farm growing up…none of the sellers or other pedestrians seemed to notice…just the western tourist…
The next day on the way to the airport we see miles of male walkers in orange and maroon carrying large triangular forms decorated in shiny fringe on their shoulders. They are making a 270 mile pilgrimage from Hardiwar, through Delhi to a Hindu temple on the border of Rajasthan. They started July 26 and they will reach the temple on August 12. Along the way charities have set up rest and food stations for the pilgrims many of whom are limping with bandaged feet.
For an hour I look through the taxi window and feel tremendous affection for these sincere, earnest and well-meaning people that don’t have a cynical bone in their bodies but probably have every reason to…If we had not visited India we would not have known a land like no other.
Tags: Festivals & Ceremonies, India, New Delhi, Touching Experiences
Zoe