New Delhi, New Experience, India, 4th Mar 2006

The Customs Department at Indira Gandhi International Airport uses hotmail too! Now I wonder if they go on MSN as well...

This kid is left on her own to learn how high the curbs are in Delhi, while her mother begs.

An Indian police patrol car parked by the road shoulder. Duty denies them the time to catch up with current affairs, so the officer in the driver's seat is taking this opportunity of heavy traffic to look through the day's news in the papers. At the same time he enforces civil order in the adjacent street and ensures the good behaviours of the two grocers in the background with his mere presence.

Peddler balancing his wares on his head. This one here puts a hand beneath the basket to prevent it from toppling. I've seen many locals do it hands free, and not just in Delhi. Useful skill to acquire. Especially if you have exploitative shopaholic girlfriends.

The Red Fort. The entrance at the bottom that leads one to an arcade of shops selling souvenirs and handicraft.

Apparently, Indian independence was declared here, and I did not learn the significance of the whole place till weeks, or even months, later. The guide lost us, or rather, our splintering group lost the guide, and we consequently couldn't make head or tail out of the whole place.

A statue of Hanuman overlooking a junction. Hanuman is the name of their monkey god, and he has similar powers of shapeshifting as the Monkey God in Chinese mythology.

One of the many roadside stalls. This row here is made up of fruitsellers. We were warned against buying from them. No wonder at that, for we don't know how they maintain hygiene setting up shop next to the dusty roads of Delhi.

The Taj Mahal, and Downhill After in Agra, India, 3rd Mar 2006

Our holy man, who is able to fly as high and as far as an ostrich can. Wizened old man who preys on pity and sympathy and showers you with vituperative blessings if you have none.

Agra Fort. Shah Jehan was imprisoned here after he was deposed by his son, Aurangzeb. You can see the Taj from here, and we did. From outside the fort. Poor Shah Jehan, in constant sight of the monument he so lavishly built for his beloved Mumtaz, must have been writhing in agony at being so tantalisingly close to her and yet separated in reality both by a great physical distance and by the impenetrable wall that was Death.

Can you believe I actually wanted to buy this? Beautiful piece of art isn't it? It's Arjuna and Krishna carved out of wood and plated in gold and jewels. Twenty five grands. American dollars, not rupees. Silly me.

I think it is called Taj Street. I may be wrong. Plenty of bargains to pick up here, but we had too little time. I wound up with a kuta - not sure how they spell it - an Indian-style tunic which went down all the way to the knees.

Folks doing yoga in a park in the morning. How they manage it without straining a few tendons is a wonder, for Indian mornings are arctic.

I could have left the Taj Mahal fully content with what I have after taking this picture. Period.

And no, it isn't a postcard.

A local feeding the macaques, who kindly posed for me. I believe if I took any longer to take this picture, the rascal on the left would have jumped at the yellow bag of nuts (presumably nuts).

As Wild As It Gets In Babina Cantonment, India, 18th Feb to 2nd Mar 2006

Goats are dexterous eaters, and can be surprisingly adept and climbing to get to choice clumps of greens. In this case however, the tree is probably too tall for them. The goatherds climb up instead, and throw down branches and leaves to their waiting, hungry charges beneath.

Sheep on a hillside nearing sundown. The shepherd coaxes them on with an urgent utt utt, and hurls a pebble if one or two creatures should stray. The stupid animals then follow the rolling pebble, and go further away from the herd.

An Indian village at the edge of the training area. The obelisk-like slab of stone demarcates the boundary. They seem to want to conserve the greener grass on this side of the boundary and often drive their livestock over into the training area to graze.

A dust devil, born when two winds blowing from opposite directions meet, and where one blows more strongly than the other. We were in the way of this one, and were coated in a fine sprinkle of golden Indian sand.

A herd of buffaloes looking for a place to spend the night. A sturdy, powerful creature is the Indian buffalo, but a peaceable one, unless their temperamental African cousins. Yet in a herd and without a herder, I wouldn't dare to get any closer.

Behind me is as civilised as it gets in the wild where we were abandoned. Civilisation as we know it is a good two hundred kilometres away. Earlier in the day, I had a fleeting vision of a passing herd of beef burgers, substantial portions, ambling along on fours, looking rather succulent.

Clouds are rare occurrences in the azure Indian sky, and make an unforgettable sunset. But they are also rued then, because they might possibly be harbingers of rain. One needs at least three layers of clothing at night, as I learnt on the night of this picture. I shudder to think of rain, because the night isn't the best time to get wet.