On a busy weekday afternoon in the city center of Jaipur, a sacred Brahma cow sprawled before the threshold of an Internet cafe. Charlie was prevented from entering until the spirit moved the cow to wander off, allowing the local IT revolution to proceed.
In Jaisalmer Fort, Charlie was talking to a young Rajasthani woman who wore a gold ring in her nose. While a similar type of body piercing is newly popular in America, in India it has complemented feminine beauty for centuries. “It looks beautiful,” Charlie told her. “You think so?” the young woman replied, looking doubtful. “I don’t like it, to be honest, but my mother told me if I didn’t wear one I wouldn’t have a chance finding a husband.”
On a narrow street in Old Delhi, accessible only to bicycle rickshaws, scooters, pedestrians, cows, and the odd ass, we observed from our rickshaw a row of shops with boxes of Oracle 8 programming manuals displayed in the windows. For those who may not know, Oracle 8 is arguably the most complicated and difficult program for any computer professional to master.
Women in the most beautiful saris, some woven with gold threads, pick up garbage in the streets and sweep the refuse from the sidewalks with rustic brooms.
Everything in India works, but nothing works well.
When Indian men wobble their heads in response to a question, it means, it seems to us, yes but also no. It is whatever you want it to be.
