Small town Bangalore

Yes this is a very poor picture of the horse and wagon but it helps me tell the story. Following Donna's suggestion of posting a picture of the day, I thought this horse cart with its a very typical style in Bangalore would be a good subject. I was coming up behind it on my bicycle when I got this idea. Before I could catch up to him, the driver turned down a side street. My plan was to pass him, stop, and take a picture. This turned out to be difficult for two reasons.

First, we were traveling the wrong way on a narrow one way street, so it was difficult to pass. Second, when I did get ahead of him and stop, I was mobbed by the crew in the second picture. They wanted their picture taken, they wanted to see my strange American bicycle--mostly they justed want to meet the stranger who had come into their little piece of the world.

After I had talked to the boys for a few minutes, several men joined the conversation. (This was a Muslim neighborhood and none of the women came near or even looked at me.) I didn't understand everything they said, but I'm pretty sure they pointed out one man as the neighborhood drunk. Muslims, of course, do not drink alcohol.

Parts of Bangalore are very cosmopolitan and foreign people only attract the attention of beggars and street vendors, who find them easy marks. But some neighborhoods, like this one, feel miles and perhaps years away from M-G road where the tourists hang out.