Chappel showdown in Guntakal!

I've been experiencing extremely slow computers here in south India so I haven't had a chance to update my blog.In the meantime I have posted a poem that I really like and I hope you will enjoy as well.

It's amazing how many times I have found myself lost and have ended up right where I want to be.I spent a week in Hampi,well five days which was brilliant.My rule for traveling is if I come across more than ten pairs of those ugly garden shoes in a day,well...it's time to catch a train.I know it's sounding like I have a vendetta against the ugly garden shoes,it is true,I hate them!Lonely planet should put out a book just for those foreigners that wear ugly garden shoes,and take pictures of beggars and half dead dogs.You know,for those evenings when your sitting around the fire,with nothing better to do than to share your India experience with your friends and loved ones.

Guntakal isn't on the foreigners circus,I arrived here at 12:43 in the afternoon, free of ugly garden shoes,crazy monkeys,symphonic frogs and wild dogs.A lie,there will always be wild dogs,where ever you go in India.I set out on foot to see what Guntakal was all about.After about a half block I noticed I was being followed,actually chased,by a half dozen boys all holding a pen and a piece of paper.They wanted my autograph,it sounds absurd,but this is India and like it or not your part of the never ending circus.There is a beautiful brotherhood among Indian men and boys.A closeness that North Americans don't have,I often see Indian men holding hands with there arms draped over one another.That being said,India men can fly off the handle in a heartbeat.As I was sitting on a bench,rummaging through my man purse desperately looking for a pen.I heard what sounded like the beginnings of a heated argument.Pretty common here in India,so I decided to investigate.Two men dressed in suit and tie,both wearing chappels,hands flailing,were yelling at one another.After some preliminary shouting which led to a shove,which led to angry Indian man number one slapping angry Indian man number two.The chappels came off,well actually only one came off.AIMNO removed his left chappel and started whacking AIMNT,this went on for about a half dozen whacks on both sides.Maybe you really needed to be there,but I found this quite entertaining.Leaving the train station I went looking for a post office,
I had a couple of post-cards that needed mailing to the west coast of Canada.I walk into the post-office and there are three men sitting around drinking tea.They offer me some tea which I happily accept.So I'm at the post-office for the next two hours sitting around drinking tea and chatting with these men. While in Guntakal I went to see a Bollywood movie,there were no sub-titles and I couldn't understand a word,but you don't really need to.The plot very seldom changes,there is always the hero,who saves the girl from either being raped or beaten,than about three quarters in there will be a song and dance number,usually set someplace that makes no sense whatsoever.For example if the movie has been shot in the desert,the song and dance number will take place in the streets of Paris.In India there is a genre called Tandori Westerns,funny!