Where are all the women? I have had one interaction with an Indian woman that went beyond a couple of words, and that was at the meditation center in Ladakh. Not that they’re never around, but they’re always cooking or something, and never interacting with travelers. It’s too bad!

Everyone’s life is so hard. I mean, of course, right? But I’m not just talking about the one-armed beggar or the ostracized widow. Everyone! Everyone’s life! You go down the road and there are people literally breaking rocks! Cycle-rickshaw guys pounding it all day in million-degree heat! Construction guys, cooks, army guys just sweating all day, making pennies! And then you take a bus and it breaks down, and some guys fix it. Meanwhile someone else is huddling over a fried snack cart, making 10 rupees at a time. Everyone’s life is so hard!

Some people just want to get out. Signs advertise “New Zealand study visa”, “Make it to Canada in 6-10 months”. Some people I talk to say that they really want to go to the US, just to study, or to work. Working is best; they can send home so much money. I say this with the utmost respect for India: I can’t blame them (see thought #2).