Media in India and stuff.

Well, after 2 months in India I think that I'm getting to understand a bit on what the regulations are here in India. By watching a few Western films on telly and Western sitcoms, I noticed that there were the occasional weird skipping of scenes. And what I realised that it was all bedroom scenes, love scenes and kissing scenes, etc. Then one day on the telly, there was a news cast of police brutality towards a couple who were caught embracing each other in public. Oh my! Looks like PDA (Public Displays of Affection) is taboo in India. Especially if you're not married to each other. Once in a while, I found myself having a bit of difficulty following certain films and telly shows due to the constant cutting of scenes. Oh well...

PDA seems to be frowned upon in India, but there's plenty of crouch grinding Bollywood dancing, skimpy saree wearing actresses whithering about in the rain. Every country has their censorship and it's actually quite fun to find out what they are, and how each country goes about pushing the envelope with regards to the censorship.

Of course, nothing equal or comparable with censorship in India, but just for memorysake, I recall in the past that in the world of art films and pornography in Japan, the display of pubic hair was censored by using a mosaic blur. But I believe that after the debut of the French film,
"La Belle Noiseuse" by Jacques Rivette or something like that, the display of pubic hair was permited. Of course, during the years of public hair censorship, the Japanese porn industry created new techniques of showing filth. Hence I'm believing the act of bukkake was formed. If you don't know what that is... don't bother looking it up. It's totally NOT work-safe.

Violence in the media is also an issue in many countries, how much blood and gore is one allowed to show? I find that North America is much more censored when it comes to actual violence and so-called respect for the dead is reported on the news. When in Thailand I recall watching a report on a drowning incident, and the bloated rigid body was shown on television. In Japan, from a now defunct News magazine, I also recall seeing images of a bomb blast that took place in the middle east and the scattered body parts and internal organs were clearly shown. Just recently in Nepal and in India, there were posters of dead children (victims of the Gaza genocide as it was told) posted on shop windows and telephone poles. Censorship sure works in different ways. Going back to Japan, when one is arrested, in the media the handcuffs are censored with a mosaic blur, just in case the perpetrator is found innocent, so the media is covering their behind so they can't get sued. Even with language, in North America... at certain times certain languages can be used. (after 9pm in Canada I believe) Heck in Canada one could hear expletives such as "beeep-fucker" but in the States it becomes "mother-beeep" interesting.... I think that it was something to do with offending and associating "mothers" to the expletive. Then again, I'm probabaly wrong, as I most often am.

Anyways, I off to cycle to the Chennai airport in a couple of hours. Off to catch a flight to Toulouse, France. Hope that I won't have any problems checking in my bicycle and gear. In anycase, see ya later!

Indian Beaches

As I cycle down the south west coast of India, I've come across a number of beaches. All in all, I've come to a few conclusions about them.

1. They're not actually beaches, but free use toilets for the locals

During the day, many people can be seen enjoying the sun, or splashing in or along the waters of most beaches. Fishermen casting their nets or fishing lines. In the evening, people just chilling out by the water, and the fishermen fixing their nets and hauling in their bounty.

But in the early mornings, as I found out recently by Kollam beach (where during the night, I was surprised to see hundreds of 4-6inch crabs running up and down the beach, also enjoying the coming and going of the waves), there were many man-made dug out holes to be found everywhere. And what do I find? dootie. Morning duty, whatever you call it. Pretty much, holes with sh*t everywhere. Just by the tidal water line. And looking down the beach, I can see number of people down the sandy beach, crouched down flexing their buttocks, releasing their evening meals to sea. Finishing off the job by washing their happy anal sphincter and then walking back home.

2. Only westerners bathe the sun

Not all beaches are for sun bathing, nor for westerners. Sure, there are plenty of beaches around Goa, Varkala, Kovallam, where countless bodies of westerners lie on the beach, slowly cooking themselves under the south-Indian sun like a nice roast. But where are all the locals who enjoy the sun. Most of the time, (beaches where westerners are seen beach bathing) amongst the crowd of pasty white skin, male and female there are groups of fully clothed Indian men who slowly weave their way between all the flesh exposed bodes. Probably imagining some fantasy Bollywood dance sequence where the foreign girls start pawing at them or something like that.

3. It's not just a toilet, but also your rubbish bin

Wherever you go along whatever beach, it's everywhere. Rubbish that is. And if you're ever here, do be surprised to see shop, restaurant owners, walking across the path, to the beach and simply dumping their daily rubbish (oh yeah, for some of you... rubbish also means garbage, trash, crap) by the back of the beach. Not quite sure if they're locals, but many Indians enjoying the beach can also be seen throwing their finished lunch, dinner, picnic, whatever into the water. Sure, I can understand biodegradables being tossing into the water, in hopes that some of the marine life might consume them... but purposely tossing plastic water bottles, plastic bags, aluminium foil, essentially non-burnable rubbish into the water? I just don't understand the environmental education system here. I'm sure that we're not all perfect, but to see this every time I'm at the beach is simply unbelieveable.

But somehow, we all end up at the beach swimming amongst all the trash. Heck, then again... a few weeks ago I bathed and swam in the Ganges up in Varanasi. Talk about toxic.

hot, Hot, HOT...

Jeez, I never knew that writing blogs could be such a chore. Though, reading other people's blogs are much easier. If time was permited, I'd write in details of the places I visited and what I've actually done, but at the moment I won't, so please forgive me.

In anycase, since the last time what has happened? I traveled to Nepal, hike the Annapurna Circuit, Annapurna Sanctuary, Everest Basecamp (Kala Patthar), Gokyo Ri, and the Langtang valley during the months of November and December. After my wee stint with hiking, I hopped back onto my bicycle and cycled from Kathmandu down to Varanasi, India. Along the way, I stopped at the Chitwan National Park in south Nepal, where I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of a Bengal Tiger and unfortunately be charged by an Indian Rhino (I safely got away) while hiking and also visiting Lumbini, Nepal (the birth place of Buddha), Kushinagar, India (where Buddha passed away) and Sarnath, India (where Buddha first taught about his enlightenment).

From Varanasi, I hopped onto a train with my bicycle and headed down to Mumbai where I met up with an old close friend and spent the month of January travelling the southern part of India. Visiting sites such as the Ellora caves, the beaches of Goa, the old Portuguese city of Panaji, the village of Hampi (dedicated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site), Mysore (where I originally thought to do my Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training Certificate, but as the costs were pretty much the same as Europe and N. America... and funds are getting low, I opted not to), Ooty (to ride the Nilgiri Mountain Railway another UNESCO WHS), and Fort Cochin before returning to Mumbai to see my friend off to the airport (also watched Slumdog Millionaire in Mumbai while I was there).

Since then, I took a train down from Mumbai down to Mangalore and have been cycling the south coast of India since. I'm currently in town called Alappuzha (which is also known as the Venice of the East for their canals) recovering from some weird ailment. Been to the local Indian government hospital yesterday (an experience in itself) to get checked up, as I've got some weird swelling on the right side of my neck, very sore, painful to the touch, and unable to move my neck. A quick look, and I'd say that it almost looks like a misplaced goiter, but my thyroid glands feel fine.

Anyways, I'm here in Alappuzha for a few days to see if the drugs I've been given will work. If not, I guess I might have to make a quick return to a different hospital or back to Canada. Unfortunately, this trip around, I seem to be encountering a number of unfortunate events. Anyways, who ever is reading this, I hope that you are well.