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We sat on these ants. After a hot crazy night of tuk-tuk errands, we stopped for a Coke along Bannerghatta Road; exhausted, we sat on this cement bench surrounding some kind of tree. After we sat for a minute, Pam leaped up, grabbed her purse, and yanked me up as well. These little buggers were everywhere. We spent the rest of the night brushing off itchy creatures, real and imagined alike.
By the way, the Canon 5D Mark II does indeed open up a lot of possibility in low light…
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After a crazy trip through the market we went to what we thought was a safer bet: a nearby Hindu temple. One by one, we paid our respects to a large number of the vast array of Hindu gods, and made a small to less-than-small “donation” at each station. The picture above shows one of the holy men at a station belonging to the god in the background. On our way out of the temple, we were approached by a pair of women, who had been making their own worship rituals here, and wanted to speak with us in private. They told us, in very hushed tones: “If you want to give money, please do; there is a box outside the temple for that. But you should not give money to the men in the temple, they just steal from you.” I guess religion is the same all over :)
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I have no idea what these guys are selling; could be soap, candy, wax ? This was in Noida, at the amazing daily outdoor market there. Noida is a tech suburb, home to Adobe and other newcomers to what was, until 10 years ago or so, a rural village. Consequently these guys, and all the other bike-riding, cart-pulling locals, speak no English whatsoever. Not even “Yes,” or “No.” Anyway, I like the picture and especially the lone, gas-powered light bulb thingie; these lanterns are ubiquitous at the market after sundown.
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Routine sight here: vendors and small businesses on the sidewalk everywhere. Shave and a haircut with a wooden chair and a mirror on a tree? Don’t laugh: micro-businesses like this are keeping India insulated, so far, from the larger scale economic downturns that other developed countries are experiencing. Plus, these guys really know how to shave a face.
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Pam dyed her hair dark this week to see if not being blonde would cut down on the incessant staring. It seems to have backfired, though, as she was rather aggressively groped in the market this evening. It’s hard out there for a pretty girl :)
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Roving gangs of wild dogs are everywhere: napping, scrounging through garbage, and rounding on any passers-by that look the slightest bit weak. They wear leather jackets sometimes, slick back their hair, chew gum, pull switchblades and howl at the moon in doo-wop harmony. These are some baaad dogs. And the tiny one is no exception: just before I took this photo, that cute little thing mercilessly attacked a nine-year-old boy over a paltry 500 rupees, which he then went and spent on cheap liquor. So sad.