Punjab

First, a disclaimer: the M key on this keyboard is dodgy at best. Please excuse any lack of that letter in the following text. The north is so far decidedly different from any other part of India. As we got off the train, several indicia told us that this place was different. For instance, there was a clean dog. There was art near a train station. We were only approached by two taxi drivers. Most surprisingly of all, there are garbage cans! Still, signs of not being quite like Canada persist. A small beggar boy came up to me to beg. He would not leave me alone no matter what I did. This persisted for several inutes, incuding a few occasions when he grabbed onto my leg for dear life. This was soewhat heart-wrenching, but it was also just a tactic that I can't endorse, to give in to such persistence would only encourage future harrassment for others. I stayed strong. Finally he was deterred by the threat of a smack fro the police, an effective technique, I must say.

We are currently staying in Chandigarh, the capital. Almost everything is clean, and most of it is made out of marble. It is truly nice in some places and so far strikes me as the only place I could live in all of India (my lungs have almost recovered from y time in Delhi). The only downside is that the marble is hard and consequently it hurts my back. Oh well, I'd rather see India than nurse my crippledness.

The other notable thing about Punjab is that it does western style things correctly. I have been eating mostly Indian food, which I love, but not exclusively. Anyway, most of the non-Indian stuff I have had has been a poor-an's version. Not in Punjab though. Great breads, even good hot dogs.

I believe that Punjab is so affluent as a result of separatist mentality. Spiritually, it has never been a part of India and there are strong separatist feelings (think Quebec with turbans). Anyway, for a number of reasons they eigrate ore than ost parts of the Indian population, this is why Punjabis are so apparent in Canada, despite being a smaller fraction of the Indian population. Anyway, Raju explained to me that it is a popular move to get out of Punjab and send money home. This and other differences have contributed to Punjab being a fine exaple of what India could be.

On a final note, we stopped into an air conditioned billiard hall yesterday in order to avoid heat stroke. While there, we met a guy who introduced himself as Deepak (and a last name that none of us caught, but sounded like Chopra). Anyway, I am wary of touts and people who just sidle up to us, he seemed nice but I wanted to keep my distance. Anyway, Raju and Gavin wanted to go to a bar he suggested, so we went with him. The bar was too loud, and too expensive, and too much of a gay bar for our taste. I think Deepak thought we were gay. Also he just wanted us to treat him to drinks. He never really loved us. Anyway, we politely excused ourselves and went home to have a tickle fight. Then Raju and Gavin blamed us as a group, I must object to this ischaracterisation. They fell for it, I didn't. I am the smartest man alive.