D.I.R.T.Y

I have to throw a blurb in about the "sanitation problem" that India seems to be suffering from. Now in all my raves and praise for this incredible country lies the ever-present issue of cleanliness, the elephant in the room that people don't mind talking about and obviously don't hurry to usher outside. This place is... D.I.R.T.Y. I expected it- prepared myself for it- read books and saw pictures of it. I've learned to deal with it- but will I ever be able to ignore it? Who can? It's everywhere. And it's not just trash- which is ubiquitous and has become almost preferable to the alternative. Trash is mindlessly discarded anywhere you could possible imagine. Forget about recycling- i'm still getting used to the act of actually dropping my garbage on the ground on purpose!
But it goes beyond garbage on the streets. There's shit everywhere- cow, dog, human, monkey... it's a constant battle between watching the sites and watching the ground. I actually stepped in shit on the way to the internet cafe tonight... thank God it was dark, or else I might have been really grossed out. And that I was wearing closed-toe shoes.
When I was in Agra, I saw the worst of it so far on this trip. On my way to the Agra Fort, I passed a huge open stadium that had to have once been magnificent, but fallen into complete disrepair. It's grandstands have deteriorated and the field is a dustbowl, used by hordes of kids and bums. When I walked in to see what was happening, I had a small kid yell something incoherent and I looked over to see him, bare-assed, squating on his haunches, taking an enormous dump while causally flipping his pre-pubescent pecker around. I couldn't believe it- and taking a closer look, he was standing in an obviously demarcated, unofficial human shit minefield. It was beyond foul- and completely acceptable. The amount of money coming into Agra from tourists and they can't clean up a huge park arena 100 yards from a World Heritage Site. Like I said, a land of contradiction. Leaving the park was almost as bad as coming in- you have to cross a small stream that has been completely plugged with trash- waste replaces water and garbage grows like trees... an urban river of discard and disease. It's disgusting.
But you take it in stride- it's part of the experience. It's strange how the bad can make the good that much more enjoyable. The overwhelming smell of urine makes the sweet shops irresistable. The hanging smog makes the Taj that much more pure and delicious. It all compliments each other in a very unusual and thrilling way- it's all perfectly Indian. However, I do hope things start changing- it would be hard to imagine what it would be like if it just got worse. It's bad no but manageable. I'm not sure how much longer that will apply.
The best anecdote for the smog is from my trip to the Taj- they have an electronic marquee next to a 600 year old monument that constantly scrolls through the "accepted" and "current" levels of pollution- nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter. The first two were under the limit- "acceptable". The dose of particulate matter we were enjoying, however, was 5 times the level safe for humans... I think that's why they put the marquee in the back corner of the complex. They have done something to remedy this- they do not allow polluting vehicles within a small radius of the Taj. Either they missed the day in class where they talked about "wind" or they think that the tourists are idiots... it obviously is doing no good.