Day 4 of practice. Yet another day waking up tired. LED class this morning and I literally got my butt kicked. My shoulders hurt, my legs and hips were sore and my body wouldn't warm up fast enough. Tomorrow will be a much needed rest day. The shala is closed every Saturday and I'm looking forward to staying up past 9 pm tonight and sleeping in past 4:00 am. These days it's really the little things that make my day.
Earlier this afternoon, Christian and I rode into the city to find a bookstore. After purchasing our books we ventured over to the marketplace to look at the vegetable and fruit stands. As I was walking into the entrance I feel this tug on my pant leg and as I continue to walk the tugging is continuing. I look down and there is this little girl following me around asking for money. I had such an averse reaction that I think it kind of scared her a little bit. Last night Christian and I were watching an episode of "South Park" titled "Night of the Living Homeless". It's about homeless people invading South Park asking for change in a zombie-like manner. The homeless live on change, almost like food. Regardless how much change you give them they ask for more change. Let me make it clear that I'm not comparing the poverty in India to a "South Park" episode. I'm merely stating that it was ironic to see that particular episode and experience something similar the following day.
I shook my head and the little girl eventually went away. Took two steps and there was a hand in my face asking for the same thing. Took another few steps toward the banana stand and now there is mother with her two children following me around. At this point the adventure to the marketplace wasn't fun anymore. I couldn't stand being there and wanted to leave. As we were getting on a scooter another mother with her two children approached us and she had her kid stand right at the back of the scooter making it impossible for me to get on. Christian moved forward and I could not have jumped on the back of that scooter any faster. I've read and heard about people begging in India, but I wasn't quite prepared for what I saw today. The poverty here is worse than the Philippines and I thought that was bad. Too see the elderly and such young children beg breaks my heart. My reason for darting out of the marketplace is not that I'm disgusted with these people. I can't stand to see people living that way and even if I gave them all the money in my pocket the problem would still be there. Giving money to one person also causes the domino effect. If I give one person change, they would multiply like gremlins.
Riding back to Gokulam made me realize that this area is somewhat surrounded by a bubble. The houses here are huge, it doesn't smell as bad and for the most part I can walk around and be safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment