Sticky in Chennai

Sorry for missing last week....

This building in the distance is the tomb of Hali Aji, the final resting place of a well known Muslim ‘saint.’  We are not sure what makes him noteworthy, but his tomb is a major holy sight in Mumbai.  The ten minute walk from the road to his tomb is both a fascinating and difficult experience.  The entire walkway is lined with severely disabled, maimed and disfigured beggars providing opportunities for people to demonstrate their benevolence with a few tossed coins on their way to pay homage to Hali Aji.   

During the walk we passed several small circles of beggars with missing, burnt or terribly palsied limbs, gustily yelling out synchronized religious chants to Allah.  To see these people lying down on the concrete half-naked, fully exposed to the sun and intentionally displaying their deformities was a startling sight to say the least.   There is no need for me to describe all the beggars we saw; let’s just say that some of them are best left un-described.  It was not an easy walk.

We also saw some people whose business was to provide small change for large bills so passing pilgrims would have an easier time distributing their charity as far and as wide as possible.

But it was not all bad. As the walkway was right on the sea, we enjoyed a refreshing breeze.  I would like to describe to you Haji Ali’s tomb itself, but for some reason I can’t remember it at all.  Esmerelda says that she most remembers seeing a small boy walking alone in bare feet across the hard, sharp black stones on the sea.  She pointed him out and we laughed that we would be in complete agony from the very first step. 

Here it is: Haji Ali's Tomb

In Mumbai everytime you stop at a crossroad it's a wonderul opportunity for all sorts of industrious people to stroll up to your car for a little commercial activity.  Most of the time you hear a tapping on the window to see a small child asking for a coin.  Or very often it is a young woman displaying a tiny baby.   Other times it is someone selling trinkets, books or fruit.  The boy pictured above came up to our taxi and blew a massive cloud of thick smoke into the car using a small coal burning incense burner and a peice of cardboard.  His efforts left the four of us gasping for breath and laughing in hysterics.  I assumed his plan was to continue to gas us until we paid him to leave.  Turns out he wanted compensation for this valuable social service of an immediate air refreshing. 

This past weekend we were in Mumbai. After learning about Esmerelda’s deep passion for mangoes, a friend of ours insisted on taking us for a visit to Crawford Market. 

Here are cases of the India's alphonso mangos.  E is looking forward to the approaching mango season so she can gorge on these famous mangos.  I hear that in Bush's recent visit he agreed to open the US market to Indian mangos.  Watch out South American farmers!  Indian mangos are going to hit you quite hard!

These kids were very peacefully talking and eating together, but the moment I whipped out my camera all hell broke loose.  This is one of several failed shots I took to capture them sitting nicely.   Oh well.

It was a hot day.  Some of the workers in the market were taking mid-day naps. 

Monster papaya!

There is a truly fascinating article in the NYTimes today about women shopping for sperm donors that should not be missed – especially by those readers who were critical of my early post partly defending arranged marriage. 

The article reminded me of a passage from The Importance of Living.  (That oft quoted volume by Lin Yutang.)  This book was first published in 1937.

It has seemed to me that the final test of any civilization is, what type of husbands and wives and fathers and mothers does it turn out?  Besides the austere simplicity of such a question, every other achievement of civilization – art, philosophy, literature and material living – pales into insignificance. …

The suggestion of such a test as I propose has the strange effect of leveling all mankind by brushing aside all the non-essentials of civilization of culture and brining all under a simple and clear equation.  All the other achievements of civilization are then seen as merely means towards the end of turning out better husbands and wives and fathers and mothers.  Insofar as ninety percent of mankind are husbands and wives and one hundred percent have parents, and insofar as marriage and home constitute the most intimate side of a man’s life, it is clear that the civilization which produces better wives and husbands and fathers and mothers makes for a happier human life, and is therefore a higher type of civilization.  The quality of men and women we live with is much more important than the work they achieve, and every girl ought to be grateful for any civilization that can present her with a better husband.