Musings from India on a Sunday Morning

We have been in India for 11 days, so it's time for some random observations:

The toilet paper in the hotels is like sandpaper. I will leave it to your imagination to figure out what that causes.

Truck drivers are a strong, crazy breed of Indian. They dress up their trucks in a fashion that would make a lowrider in LA jealous. Then they barrel down the two lane highways (sometimes only one lane) with reckless abandon, passing other vehicles with virtually no room to spare. The accident rate among truck drivers must be astronomical.

Cow dung is a valuable commodity in India. People pick it up from the streets, form it into patties, and leave it in the sun to dry. It is then used as a source of fuel. The ultimate renewable energy resource. Forget about wind, solar, and biofuel. America needs to use cow dung to wean itself from a dependence on foreign oil. India has lots of cow dung to spare.

Electricity is available all over India, but there are 5-6 power outages a day, even in our hotels. I think the manufacturer of power surge protection equipment must bribe the electic company. Or else the outages are due to people plugging 50 appliances into one outlet.

Many Indians have bad teeth. Dental care is supposedly free (if you can find a dentist and he will work on your teeth without paying him baksheesh). I think the causes for poor teeth are 1) Indians put gobs of sugar into their chai tea, and 2) many people chew paan - betel nut. It is sold in every little village shop (the Indian version of 7-11) in foil packets that look like condoms. You tear off a string of 4-5 packets and pay 1 rupee (two cents) a packet. Paan stains your teeth red/brown.

The Sunday paper in Delhi has an entire section dedicated to matrimonial ads. Men looking for women and vice versa. It's a big business. I think India was the home of internet dating services. I think the primary readers are actually parents looking to make arranged marriages for their children.