The Ugly Side of Beauty

  Today was Sunday so I decided to make a trip into Mysore City Market on the 119 bus which takes you directly from Gokulam to the heart of Mysore.  I walked down to the bus stand by Guru's coconut stand and waited for only around 15 minutes for the bus.  I lucked up and got the decked out A/C bus which is nice considering Mysore is in the climax of their hot season.  Three years ago a ticket one way was 16 rupees and now it's 19 rupees.  Have exact change or get the evil eye and a few curt words with no head bobble from the bus attendant.  The bus ride was awesome because you get to see a lot of what's going on in the streets of Mysore on the way into market.

Kumkum powder is used in Hindi ritual.  

  When you arrive you are in the heart of Mysore City.  The market is right in the center of town and it's got almost everything you could need.  Nothing is a set price.  If you are a Westerner you will have to really bargain to get prices down.  Don't pay full price for anything.  A pineapple started out at 30 rupees and I got him down to 15 rupees.  I later found out if you threaten to kidnap their first born son you can get one for 10 rupees.  The colors in the market are awesome.  The fruit and the flowers and the kumkum powders blow the place up with color.  

Flowers Lady

Homeless boy with infected leg

  In all this beauty you will see a G rated dark side of India.  I say G rated because this is not even the plastic on the surface of what goes on here.  There are homeless and sick and crippled everywhere.  All the diseases we hear about back home in text books and National Geographic are a reality here.  As I was crossing the street through the pedestrian tunnel I saw several people suffering from diseases and infections that could probably be cured with simple and affordable antibiotics.  Here it's a choice between food and medicine.  This is where it's hard not to just hand out money to everyone you see suffering.  If you did this you would be bombarded with people from every direction and set the future people traveling to Mysore up for a potential disaster.  With a pain in my chest and a sympathy pain in my leg I moved on.  

My Grandpa...just kidding...

  The whole scenario reminds me of an art class when an artist will paint or draw a thin line of white next to a dark line to make it pop.  It's like yin and yang, dark and light, night and day, up and down.  The universe has to have both to equal out and find balance.  We still see beauty but it's led or followed by some kind of dark.  It's just the way the world works and sometimes it sucks. It teaches me to try to appreciate everything.  We can all be just a few moments away from having absolutely nothing so be grateful for all those happy moments.  It's work but it's worth a try.

Banana Lady