Message #2: Beggars

(Message sent Sat, 28 Oct 2006 21:48:01 -0700)

Hello everyone. Sorry to inflict this on you, but I've just had a horrible experience and want to get it off my chest. I had a few hours spare before my train left, so I decided to visit a place called the Old Fort. I'm not sure where the driver dropped me off, but I'm sure it wasn't the intended tourist entrance to the fort. It was some kind of religious complex built against the massive walls of the fort. There were dozens and dozens of beggars there, all of them with chopped-off or withered limbs or open sores or missing eyes or skin lesions. As I walked about trying to find a way into the fort, the beggars were all reaching out to me and calling out with wailing cries. Lots of malnourished kids swarmed around me, pawing at my clothes and begging for money. It was so horrible and I was so traumatized that I gave up any idea of finding my way into the fort and fled.

I also saw my first road accident today. I was walking along the Rajpath, a long ceremonial procession way. It being very early on a Sunday morning almost no-one was about, mostly just kids playing. There were a group of boys on bicycles on the street, just pulling wheelies and generally mucking about. Just as I walked past them I heard a dreadful crump, and turned around just in time to see a boy and his bike bounce off the fender of a car. The car sped off while his mates carried the kid - unconscious or worse - to the side of the road. A cry went up, and a couple of nearby men took off on motorbikes after the car. I didn't see what happened next, but I think the driver was in for some street justice.

Take care everyone, and thank whatever gods you don't believe in that you weren't born among India's urban poor.

Joff.