Monday, January 09, 2006

commies for christ

everywhere i look in kerala i see jesus. no, i haven't been born again. rather this just seems to be a very christian state, and combined with the indian penchant for idolatry, this means lots and lots of jesus images, especially on buses. in fact, jesus was blocking my views of some spectactular scenery as my bus left the hill station of munnar the other day. i forgave him.

kerala is also a big communist stronghold. lots of hammer and sickle flags flying everywhere. makes sense--jesus was essentially a communist as far as i've understood it, rather than the supply-side jesus worshipped back home.

perhaps this combination explains why the locals rarely try to rip me off here. even auto-rickshaw drivers often start me at the correct price. far fewer beggars here as well. the state however has doubled the prices of all things touristy recently. now instead of paying 15 times what the locals pay, i have to pay 30 times. it's a little ridiculous. i even boycotted a few of the national parks.

that what i'm NOT doing here. i'd tell you what i AM doing, but i'm out of time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about some pictures to go with your words?

steyock said...

hmm. how'd i manage that?