Welcome to Dharamsala/McCleod Ganj

Greetings from McCleod Ganj, home of the Tibetan government in exile as well as the Dalai Lama. McCleod Ganj has plenty of "M" words-

Mischievous monkeys-


Majestic mountains-


And of course... plenty of monks-



Without a doubt, the monks are some of the friendliest, most open holymen I have ever come across. We had a nice conversation and eventually went into town for a hot cup of butter tea (which incidentally, tastes exactly like how it sounds). The monkeys, however, are nowhere near as hospitable. They're actually downright nasty and completely unafraid of people. Which is why the monk carries around a slingshot (if you look closely you can see them quickly fleeing in terror like the tree rats they are, hah!). I guess "compassion" doesn't exactly extend to monkeys.


Prayer wheel in the town stupda- One is supposed to turn the wheels while walking in a clockwise direction for prayers.


And of course, prayer flags streaming everywhere so that the wind can catch the prayers.

More bikes...

Yeah, I'm obsessed...

Scenes from Rural Bareilly

More village pics...
One of the major crops grown in this village is spice oil. Farmers would drive huge carts full of it to a processing tank.

Donald Duck-ing it on the cart.


So if you're wondering why it's called Donald Duck-ing, Im sure you'll figure it out soon enough, hah!

Loading the spice plant

The cows kept trying to prematurely take off. Amazing how someone holding a stick keeps them inline...


I have yet to figure out which cow is holy and which one is for working...

Rural Healthcare

On the topic of inequities, there is an acute shortage of doctors in India. Nearly 75% of the billion plus live in rural areas, but 75% of doctors live in the cities. Rural postings are not attractive for a variety of reasons, partly because of the low pay and lack of "cultural" outlets. To top it off, in rural India, an estimated 67 percent of government doctors are not actually available when they're supposed to be.

So what to do if you're sick? One option is to go to a rural health provider... they actually call themselves "quacks." And yeah, they may or may not know what they're doing.
Man with fever getting an IV drip from a quack.

Another option is to self-medicate at your local village pharmacy. Or you could just spend a lot of money and time traveling back and forth into town. Even though it may be a 12km (7 mile) trip, public transportation can take all day long. Of course, this is assuming you don't have to take care of children or are too old to travel.

One technology that has great promise for reducing this inequity is telemedicine.

In a nutshell, telemedicine enables realtime audio/video consultation with a doctor someplace else like in New Delhi. The system is even capable of transmitting temperature, EKG, heart rate, and ultrasound images! Furthermore, the technology is already widely available in India has existed on a small scale. For my doctoral dissertation, I'll be researching the implementation of several hundred of these telemedicine clinics as a primary care center in villages in Uttar Pradesh, one of the poorest states in India.

Indian Inequities

Workers scrubbing the pond in front of Humayan's Tomb-


Modern India is a fantastic place to be. The economy is booming, development and the entrepreneurial spirit is everywhere. India also has such a rich, cultural legacy that is one of the best in the world. There is much optimism and large dreams. Despite all of this, huge inequities exist in the country, often side by side. It's not atypical to see modern, high rise apartment complexes surrounded by vast slums.

Or modern stripmalls that feel like you're in the suburbs of the US...

... filled with laborers who make next to nothing a day.


Can modern India reconcile such inequities? How soon before people realize they're being left behind and demand to be included in such progress?

Parked bike with modern magazine covers-

More Scenes from Rural UP

Cooking fuel and drinking water are 2 daily problems in rural areas. For cooking, rural villages in Uttar Pradesh solved that problem by drying and storing cowpies.
Village cowpie storage-

Interior revealed-

Cow chips stacked-

Outdoor cooker-

Unfortunately, burning cowchips can lead to all sorts of health problems. If the cooker is indoors, it leads to issues of asthma especially among kids. If the cows ate straw with arsenic, it could also lead to people inhaling it when the pies are burnt.

Limping goat- definitely a first for me, never seen a sling on a goat. Must have been a special pet.

An awful lot of work...

... to get a drink of water and go home. Definitely a team effort by toddlers.

Climbing up

Salute!

Scenes from Rural Uttar Pradesh

My project in India has taken me to the field quite a bit (more on this later). Of course it's a fantastic time to drag along my camera since I'm usually in places that no "tourists" to India would ever go.

Life can vary between hard work and lots of downtime. It's very shanti ("peaceful") in the villages, and as usual, people are incredibly warm and friendly. You can't tell from the photos though since I'm guessing it's a cultural thing not to smile for the camera (or either that they're really annoyed with me...).

Relaxing at the choupal- old men like to gather, talk about current events, and play cards. The young'uns working the fields during the day usually join later in the evening.



Boy and toy

Against the blue wall


Washed rugs

Fat happy baby


Carting the crops into town

The Hard Lives of Indian Dogs

If life is difficult for the billion or so Indians, you can only imagine what life is like for the street dogs. Even though many have "owners", it's still rough fending for food, territory, and navigating traffic. The other day I even saw a dog get beaten in front of a "prevention of cruelty to animals" collection bin and an upscale pet shop- oh, the all to typical irony of India.

With the summer heat, a lot of time is spent:
Cooling off in the shower-

Indian sewer water + wet dog = "What the hell is that smell???!!!"

Sleeping in the temple-

Sleeping in the gateway-

Under the bed and dreaming-