Wedding scene at the 'Naksha' which means breakfast but here was more like a buffet of all foods sold on the street - chaat, bulla, chowmein, and a lot of sweets like halua and even ice cream. The scene is void of all talking or laughter, people focused on squishing in to get more helpings. The trash on the ground is because it is customary for the males to go first and just drop their disposables to the ground once they've had enough. Even if it is a cup of coffee, half full or bowl of noodles. Women go later i guess.
a tourist bus decides he would like to do a U-turn on a divided road, maybe they left something at the Taj and remembered while on the way to mehtab bagh.
in lucknow it takes two guys to squeeze the last out of the juice from the sugar cane for sale on the street in glasses.
After some time in India, I cannot help but feel that at least in agra there is a huge lack of ethics in small business culture, big and small ngo culture, local regional and national politics, and worst of all in general public culture.
So this sign hanging (and torn) along the main road entrance to a local college amused me.
What contrasts in this country--tourist buses and slums! And you've already written that there are slums just adjacent to the Taj.
ReplyDeleteI have to believe that there are a lot of good works going on there in the midst of a lack of ethics, although for the amount of need, that help seems like a drop of water in an ocean! A book, India Calling, helped me better understand some ethical views there. This is very simplified, but one main point is that while Americans may view the "good" as benefitting as many people as possible, regardless of their social status, many Indians view the "good" as benefitting their close associates and family members over other people.