jaipur

we landed bright and early in new delhi and left straight for jaipur. the five hour drive whizzed by, although i suspect we were asleep for a large part. hey, after a red eye plagued by screaming babies, what else were we to do? catching up on zz did feel like a waste though, because the sights we passed en route were nothing short of fantastical. i fell in love with the striking red turbans the men wore, and the contrast with their white outfit? defo hitting the right sartorial notes.

there were also many "heart pain" moments. i'm probably not the first visitor to be shocked by the chasm between the have and have nots. it was disconcerting and disturbing, when the street children were banging on the car windows for food, we just had to harden our hearts and turn away. of course we'd stockpile buns from the breakfast buffet the next few days to misappropriate on the drive, but it was more to assuage my own conscience than anything else. how do you help every hungry child? i used to be against pri*mark after the mister educated me on appalling child labour practices, but child labour versus begging / languishing in squalor? toughie. what really got to me was how everyone has hopes, dreams and aspirations. but why do some people (like me!) get to pursue and realise that dream, while others, by sheer accident of birth, don't. karma isn't something i believe in personally, but i can see why it's one of the few ways to make sense of the inequality out there. many people in india accept their lot and are motivated to do good works by the promise of being reborn into a better life. i wish i had better developed ideas, and a more sound understanding of philosophy and suffering. thank goodness for the mister who helps me articulate the existential rumblings, and works through one ethical conundrum after another with me.