SPOKANE
Dear Friends and Family
Thoughts and comments about India.
To stay alive as a pedestrian in India it is very important to remember that: most of the time they drive on the left side of the road. Occasionally someone will drive on the right side of the road.. Finally, the traffic does not stop for pedestrians, they use their horn and you better get out of the way. If we had a cast system for everything that moves in the street, pedestrians would be on the 
bottom, just below the animal group (cows, cats, pigs, goats, etc.). It takes a combination of factors to make the traffic stop for pedestrians. There must be; a pedestrian crossing, a working traffic light, and most importantly, a policeman. Yes there are what would appear to be pedestrian crossings in the form of painted diagonal stripes, but I believe that the reason they exist is to encourage the pedestrians to try to cross there because the crossings are located in areas very accessible to an ambulance to pick up wounded or dead bodies.
There are a few things introduced by the British that are still present in India. As an example, most policeman carry the stick that the British militaries use to carry. The difference is that the stick are made not only from bamboo but also from other materials. The most curious sticks are made from transparent plastic. One would almost expect that, when in use, the stick flashes, in a Star War fashion, colored light beams.
There are three types of rickshaws use in India, The original type, a two-wheeler pulled by human power, the bicycle-type three-wheeler, and the motorized, polluting, rickshaw.. The man-powered two-wheelers are only used in Kolkata. They have not been banned for fear of taking the job away from 3000 people, and also because they are the only one who seem to be able to go thru the flooded street during the monsoon season. The people who pull the two-wheeler are basically street people who have a short life. The are very skinny and undernourished. I have a partial solution to offer to this problem. I noticed that all of the temple attendants’ are obese and overweight In Kolkata there is a temple dedicated to Pavarti, were the 50 attendants get donations for three meals a day. The idea is that the food is really eaten by Pavarti. The statues of Pavarti despict her as a very slim, very beautiful woman, who does not need 150 meals a day. So here is my idea. Most of the food donation from all of the temples in Kolkata should go to the two-wheelers until both the temple attendants and the two-wheelers attendant have reached approximately the same weight. Then an adjustment on the sharing of food can be made to keep the balance.
Right now the economics in India is incapable of providing for all of its people. A long terms solution may be to limit the number of births, maybe the one-child per family like China. I remember some years ago, the government of India offered free vasectomy. In addition, the patient would also get a free portable radio. I do not know if the program still exists.
I hope you have enjoyed the comments and the pictures, and we will see you again on some future trip.
Love and Peace - Henri
bottom, just below the animal group (cows, cats, pigs, goats, etc.). It takes a combination of factors to make the traffic stop for pedestrians. There must be; a pedestrian crossing, a working traffic light, and most importantly, a policeman. Yes there are what would appear to be pedestrian crossings in the form of painted diagonal stripes, but I believe that the reason they exist is to encourage the pedestrians to try to cross there because the crossings are located in areas very accessible to an ambulance to pick up wounded or dead bodies.