U. S. Soldiers Home, Washington:<\/b> during a century
\nof travel (well 78 years!) both in and out of service I
\nhave travelled to over 150 countries (I count both North
\nand South Dakota as countries) and for some reason have
\njotted signs and happenings that I thought funny at the
\ntime (and now wonder why). So here is the perfect
\nopportunity to share some of my anecdotes.<\/p>\n
In the New Delhi, India YMCA (takes men, women, children
\netc) a group of travellers travelling together from many
\ndifferent countries arrived. They were part of a project to
\nshow different nationalities could travel in peace and work
\nand travel together. There were people from Hawaii, the
\nStates, Europe, Philippines etc. By the time they got to
\nIndia they had formed into cliques and some were not
\ntalking to others, and some wanted to share room only with
\ntheir own nationality etc. None of them trusted the Indian
\npersonnel at the front desk and when they found out I had
\nbeen in India for awhile they came to me with their
\nquestions. They asked me if it was safe to drink the water
\nfrom faucet in courtyard. I had been drinking it with no
\nill effects and there was a contraption on it that I
\nthought purified the water so I foolishly assured them it
\nwas safe. They all got sick. I had been eating with the
\ndining room with them but from them on walked several
\nblocks to the YWCA to avoid their dirty looks!<\/p>\n
A friend of mine at the Soldiers Home used to collect
\nbusiness cards so I would try to collect them from all
\naround the world for him. I went into a gift shop in a
\nhotel in New Delhi, India. They had a particularly nice
\ncard and so I told a white lie and told them I was a
\ndirector of a tour group and could I have more than one to
\ngive to my clients. I forgot I was going to be in that
\nhotel five days. The next day I was asked when is your tour
\ngroup arriving? I said “What tour group” I then recovered
\nmy self and announced that I had been fired.<\/p>\n
An English girl who claimed she had become a Hindu in
\nEngland told me some of the Hindu temples that required you
\nto be a Hindu (not all) would not let her in as they did
\nnot believe her. How do you prove you are a Hindu?<\/p>\n
Armd Reg. In prayer that God may bless the souls of
\nthose who laid down their lives during India Pakistan War
\nDec 1971.<\/p>\n
Mahatma (Soul) Gandhi is one of my heroes. Mother Teresa
\nis another one (she visited the Soldiers Home. She asked
\nthat no collection be taken for her but I think one was.)
\nGandhi is one of the few lawyers I respect. When he
\ntravelled throughout India he often stayed in
\nfriend’s homes. In the one he often stayed in Bombay
\n(now called Mumbai) the house has been made into a museum.
\nAlong with some of his stuff they have a lending library
\nwhere you can check out some of the books he wrote. The
\nsign on the desk reads: “Please return out books after
\nreading. For we observe that though people may be very poor
\naccountants they are very good bookkeepers”. At the
\nJain Temple there was a sign: “Women in menstrual period
\nmay not enter”. Our guide says that Jains wear a
\ngauze mask over face so they will not kill any flies or
\ninsects accidentally. At the hanging garden the guide
\nexplained that Parsees instead of burying dead put them in
\na Tower of Silence and the vultures eat the meat off the
\ncorpse. It takes about twenty minutes. (Unless a fat
\nactor.) Indians like their actors fat so they will look
\nprosperous. (I look very prosperous!) They sometimes make
\nAmerican actors’ pictures on billboards fatter than
\nthey are. Paul Newman in one poster looked more like Orson
\nWells. Back to the Tower of Silence and the vultures. The
\nbones then fall into a pit where lime and charcoal turns
\nthem into ashes. I asked how often they do this and was
\ntold: “Whenever they die” The Indians are so logical. It
\nwas explained to me that there are so few Parsees left that
\nthey had to feed the vultures meat in the meanwhile and she
\nlooked directly at me or they would become a nuisance in
\nthe neighbourhood. There is a water reservoir next door the
\ndroppings from the vultures would fall in the water so they
\ncovered the top of reservoir and made a hanging garden
\nthere. The soil is not deep enough for trees, just bushes
\nand flowers. The Jain religion uses a swastika (a Nazi
\nsymbol, only Indians had it first, and the Nazi reversed
\nthe symbol) and rice in their ceremony. I will now take up
\na collection for the vultures.<\/p>\n
A rickshaw driver is trying to fix me up with a
\nprostitute. He said she is in the untouchable class. An
\nuntouchable prostitute??<\/p>\n
Another time I went into a temple and the people went
\nout of the way to welcome me. I asked what kind of temple
\nis was and was told A temple for untouchables, (although I
\nthink this was outlawed.)<\/p>\n
The other day in India I realized all my coats were
\nmissing. My raincoat, nylon jacket, sweater etc. I thought
\nmaybe I had left them on the airplane. Then when I went to
\nlook for my shoes under the bed and there they all were. My
\nroom was so small that I had put them under my bed to get
\nthem out of the way.<\/p>\n
Some Indians after talking to you when they get ready to
\nleave will say “May I leave now?” I always graciously
\ngive them permission<\/p>\n
Next month, Mac discusses India again.<\/p>\n