Our family trip down south..

'Been having some problems for uploading pics lately, so i got late telling you about my little family excursion, with my mom and dad..

To escape the Lucknow heat for a few days we decided to head down south, to Bangalore.. "the India silicon valley" they call it.. honestly, had it been for that first cow i ever saw stopping at a red light, it wouldn't have felt so much different than Lucknow!..
except for the temperature of course.. that was awesome!..

So from Bangalore we went to spend two days up in Hampi; a beautiful archeological site about 300km north of Bangalore (of which you could already admire the pricing sign in an earlier post!)
Back to Bangalore we headed west to see two old temples, Halebeed and Belur, and then south to Mysore, just in time to take a good "crowd bath" (i'm not sure this expression translates!) for the huge Dussera festival..
Mysore itself (in spite of the crowd) felt like a more pleasant town.. bit more quiet and green..

So here it is in a few pics..

First i'll take the opportunity to introduce my parents..

..and me desperatly trying to find the right angle in all these steps!

the site of Hampi..

a couple of shots caught as we were driving..

cute Hampi kids..
i found the southern cows much different than in the north.. what do you think?!

the only temple still in use in Hampi..

and my mom receiving a blessing from the temple's elephant!

Now i'll have to quote my dad on this one, for i'll always admire his sense of observation and analysis, and if anything, i whish i could inherit that much from him!
"See my son, this is a true symbol of India: individual excellence subordinated to cheap and brainless commanders!.. the whole compound wall is made of crooked stone blocks exactly adjusted to one another without any cement.. imagine how difficult it was to adjust perfectly all these inclined and curved planes one to another.. instead of making square blocks like anyone else.. all this just to use less stones??"

Talking of extremely fine work, the old and never finished temple of Halebeed is unanimously the one we found the most impressive.. every inch of it is beautifully sculpted..

We reached Belur a bit late, so you'll only get these two stupid night shots.. our embassador in front of the main gate..

and a blurred view of the site..

After that we reached Mysore and got lucky enough to find tickets for the Dussera procession..

these last two definitely belong to the "why-the-hell-did-i-shoot-this-digital" series!

Last but not least (although i agree, this expression has had its time!), there was this funny "vehicle festival in Bangalore.. people (and mostly those who make a living out of their vehicle) do prayers for their vehicle and decorate it with banana tree leaves and flowers.. so the whole city ressembles a funny motorized jungle!

Flower power

It's not so much that India has more pretty girls than other countries -true beauties, like everywhere are difficult to find- but women, of all ages, display so much grace and elegance, such taste and cheerful colors.. it feels like living in a permanent fashion show!

"Government's work is God's work"!

Hinduism part 2..

To understand India it is very important to understand that equality is not part of the game and Indians are incapable of thinking in terms of equality!.. Hinduism is based on the idea that nature is not equalitarian: some trees are bigger, some are smaller, and some are crooked.. and the small crooked ones that grow in the shadow of the bigger ones don't complain!.. If God created nature unequal, why should we think better?

Even corruption finds its roots in this well-thought religion.. One shall pay money to priests and temples for God to reward with good health and good harvest...
Now on the House of Parliement of the state of Karnataka, you find these words carved in the stone in big letters: "Government's work is God's work"!!.... you make the link!

The latest achievement of "God's work" that is all over the newspapers these days is the new "Garib Rath" or "Chariot for the Poor": a new type of 3rd class air conditionned train coach aimed at "making A/C travelling available to the poor"...
Although the idea of making cheaper travels is fine, it all sounds like the government has no idea what "poor" means in this country.. I don't see a rickshaw man, a farmer or a vegetable reseller affording this.. not to mention the countless who don't even have a job..

So for the government of India, "poor" starts with the middle class!

The rest and majority of the population can continue paying for their previous life sins... until the government notices them!

Reincarnation or humanity's most evil plot!

Something like 5000 years ago, Indians have come up with a superbe idea.. magnificient in its simplicity and evil perfection.. pure genius! To such extent that to this day it still drives the Indian minds in spite of any external influence...

This idea is the theory of reincarnation.

How do you secure the leaders place, keep the wealth for a few chosen ones, keep the poor poor and exploit the population.. all this without raising discontent and revolutions? Think about it, it's not easy!
It has been the goal of all leaders of all times, but no one ever succeeded like indians do. Dictators spend loads on military power to keep the population quiet, while democrats compete in hypocrisy and communication skills to make you think you're being taken care off...

In India none of this! Maharajas where no more tender than our european kings.. while today's Indian administration is corrupted to the core and has no regards for the millions of people sleeping in the streets in miserable sanitary conditions.. crippled beggers everywhere are ignored by their fellow citizens... and Indians are happy with the way things are! No one would ever think of a revolution, and when asked where they would whish to be reborn, 89% of Indians accross all layers of the population would do it again.. (against only 36% in China for the comparison)

How do they manage?? So many leaders have been killed for much less!

Hinduism is the magic key..

Hinduism teaches that life is an eternal cycle and you will be reborn after death. And the conditions in which you will reborn depend on your balance of good vs bad actions in your current life. It is a wonderful way of making people responsible and self conscious of their actions. They don't need to refer to a Pope or any other high commander in chief, they just need to make sure that their own individual actions do not harm others, to secure comfort in their next life. The idea makes so much sense i'm about to drop a tear!

Now the real beauty comes in the counterpart of this law of reincarnation: Your current life accounts for your actions in your past
life! If you are poor, crippled, exploited.. it is certainly not the fault of your corrupted leaders: you shouldn't blame anyone but yourself for your past bad actions! And you better keep quiet and docile or your next life will be even worse!
If i see a poor man dying in the street, i know he is paying for his past life and it's only fair! I shall pay the same price if i act bad! So why should i care? You don't spend your days visiting murderers in their cells, do you? And if he's dying it's even better; he's about to be liberated! Good for him!

I don't know what true genius originally came up with this idea, but i would like to pay tribute for the priests and Brahmins who managed to keep it alive for 5000 years and make of India the wonderfully peaceful country it is today!

As the saying goes: "You may survive the bite of a snake, but never that of a Brahmin!"

Gandhigiri.. or not!

(Expression made popular by the recent Bollywood movie "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", meaning "a man acting according to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi")

In the very country where Mahatma Gandi fought against racial discrimination, people still get judged by the color of their skin: In every monument or touristic attraction you will find two different prices on display: one for "Indians" and one for "Foreigners". With the foreigner's fee being of course at least 25 times higher.

Now how does the cashier make out between an "Indian" and a "Foreigner"? In a country where noone is required to go around with an ID proof.. The cashier will never ask dark skin people for their ID, whereas white skin automatically means full price. If someone comes from Bangladesh, Nepal or Pakistan, he'll look Indian enough to get local price, while, say, a chinese looking man from Sikkim could be bothered and required to show a ID proof..

So this is the way the law is implemented.. and I call this straight up racial discrimination!

Now of course, when you argue about it, the official reason is not racial discrimination.. the official reason is that foreigners (understand "not indian looking") have "more money"..
So it is a money problem.. Fine! make the discrimination on money: "10 rupees for the poor and 500 for the rich"... But then the government officials and IAS officiers, who are heavily paid by taxpayer money to come up with these stupid rules should also be charged full price!..

And actually, the few Indians who can afford to travel to France are essentially amongst these, so I would suggest the entrance to the Louvre should be 25 times higher for Indians than it is for the rest of us.