Thursday, June 26, 2008

Whose Revenge is it, in India?

My stomach was hurting a bit when I got up for my customary morning run, but I decided to try it anyway. After 1 lap around the track, though, I knew there would be no running for today. I still felt okay to walk, so I headed out behind the junior boys' hostel to the railway tracks and followed those through some villages behind BVB college. I definitely got more stares than usual out there, and I wished I could just blend it, like the dead toad I almost stepped on. The smell of feces was strong along most of the track, and even away from the blaring horns of the busy streets there was a different kind of cacophony: cows mooing, chickens clucking, infants bawling. Every time I have seen the discrepancy between how the poor and rich populations live out their lives, whether here, or in Russia, or in China, or to some degree in the US, I feel a bit of sadness. I am often amazed at how people live, where they eat, where they sleep, how they raise their children and I am grateful for the truly blessed life I've led (I don't necessarily believe in a higher power, but I can't think of a better term for it). Not to say that people of lower socioeconomic status are all unhappy, but I can imagine how we could make life more comfortable and how we could provide more opportunities for all humans, if the values of our societies were different.
Anyway, I'll step off my silly little soapbox now and face reality---the reality of an aching gut. I turned to head back along the track, but as waves of peristalsis-driven pain racked my lower intestines, I realized I would never make it back to the girls' hostel in time. I managed to hold back the dam until I reached the C-lite building (the library and computer center where our office is). It was a slightly unfortunate time to decide I couldn't take another step, because the C-lite building only has Eastern-style pit toilets and NO toilet paper for women (I was silly enough not to bring any with me). Needless to say, I'll spare you the details. I'm not sure what today's agenda holds, but for me, there will be a quest for toilet paper, crackers and Sprite.

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