Reflecting on India

Looking back at India, I recall many wonderful sights and sounds that will no doubt take years (and return journeys) to process fully, but one morning stands out in my mind.

I was up early after our terror ride into Shimla and as I took in the mountain view, I saw a little bustle of movement coming up the hill.  It was a family of monkeys working their way to the top of the hill before the crush of people descended into the marketplace.  Leading the way was the dominant male, preened and primed for a day of lording over his little team, following him was a gaggle of chatty females and the smaller, meeker males inspecting the steps leading up to the buildings with a sense of purpose, and bringing up the rear were 3 little tiny buggers. 

The first two were taking advantage of all the varied rooflines and obstacles that an Indian marketplace provides to play their floppy, sloppy game of tag.  One would roll down corrigated steel to the telephone lines and then proceed to climb, upside down, toward the next stall, his counterpart close behind.  They jumped up onto countertops and yapped and yelled and laughed at each other.  The third little monkey lagged the farthest behind, getting lost in the wonders of overturned cardboard boxes and mirrors and jets of steam and windows into bedrooms and then, realizing that he was too far back, he would sprint in a mad panic to catch up. The whole procession took their time to goof around and I got to watch them for about 5 minutes.  They rounded the corner out of sight, and my gaze returned to the moutains along the horizon before we set out for a leisurely day of ambling and exploring the city for ourselves.

At the moment I am in Kathmandu, Nepal, after a three day journey and about 22 hours of bus rides.  We got held up at the border because of a strike that was blocking the road northward, but on the whole the political climate here is stable.  We are within 100 miles of Mt. Everest and the top of the world.