Sunday Morning Musings

Posted on November 27, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with 5 comments

First time holding a guitar. Priceless

Fingernails. I never realized that I had ten of them.

While typing the other day, I looked down at my hands and was quite surprised to see actual fingernails. How did this happen? Confession. I have been a habitual nail biter.

I have pondered this for days now and I’ve come up with a theory… a few , actually. Retirement is certainly not as stressful as my working days. And not owning a home has been a huge stress reducer. But I have been homeless and jobless for a year and a half and my fingernails only reappeared a few weeks ago so I am going to rule those two items out.

My travel to India hasn’t been without its share of nail biting activity ( more on this later ). I have documented the pollution, the traffic, the noise and the total change of diet.

So, if it’s none of these things that has brought a certain sense of serenity,  then what could it be?

Media.

Over my lifetime , I have been a huge consumer of information through newspapers, radio and television. I am an admitted sports and politics junkie. Prior to coming to India in late October, I spent an inordinate amount of time watching the U.S. Election. And like many of you, I was captivated by watching this train wreck. But from the moment I touched down in Asia, all that changed. There was virtually no coverage of the Presidential race in the U.S. in the newspapers. I can’t get any English language news on television… just Animal Planet. And local radio over here is music all of the time. At least that’s all I hear in my travels.

Of course, I could go looking for news if I really wanted to.

Unshackled from all of the bad news in the world, my fingernails decided to come out of hibernation. I have come to realize just how much negativism that we are exposed to in North America and I’m thinking that this is not good for a person’s health. I’m not suggesting that ignoring the serious problems in the world is desirable, but there are so many things that are way beyond our control. I have taken to listening to NPR radio in the States and CBC in Canada… mainly podcasts . I am also purchasing and reading books on line. Might even get a manicure!

Coming soon, my first “Faces in the Crowd” story in well over a month. It was the most challenging interview that I’ve ever done. I knew going in, that language would be a challenge. My subject spoke no English and my translators spoke very little English. That in itself made things tough. But the interview was conducted in a grade one classroom in the village elementary school. Even though it was lunch period and the children were outdoors, there was a steady stream of kids in and out of the room and as the interview went on, more of them were inside than out! You get the picture.

I had my first ride in an auto rickshaw the other day. Check out the video! I swear to god that the motorcycles come so close that you can smell the breath of the drivers!

I have documented the problems ( serious problems ) with garbage in this city. There is no central garbage pickup. Everything ends up on the sides of the road. I walk to McDonald’s every morning for coffee and often , I end up walking, carrying the coffee. So what do I do when I’m finished? Exactly. I am too well trained to throw the empty cup on the ground so I walk it all of the way back to my residence. It is my silent protest.

You are receiving this a day earlier than usual as I will be on a long train ride Sunday night/Monday  with no way to post this.

Have a great week.

P.S. Turn off the t.v. for a week and watch your toenails grow!!!

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