Scenes from the Road...

We are driving down the crowded street on our way from Delhi to Agra. Car horns of the most unusual noises are a constant. It is the first time we have left the crowded city. My mind is on overload with images that keep flashing by my window. As I sit safely inside our air conditioned coach bus, chaos surrounds me. A man with crippled legs pedals a bike with his hands. Trash is everywhere and continues to pile in the streets and water. For the first time I am starting to comprehend that, "more than 4 billion people live at the bottom of the pyramid on less than $2.00 per day." My mind is slowly grasphing this concept as I see someone filling empty Fanta bottles with well water, men sleeping on wooden beds near the road, children playing naked except for their shoes, and 10 people piled into a small car. My stomach gets queasy at times on our journey as I continue to see scenes I never even comprehended until this trip. Scenes from the road: someone helping another person clean out their ear, dishes being washed near the street, men walking on top of cars, a camel tied up to the side of a store, little children pounding on our bus hoping for us to donate money or buy their souvenir. As much as my heart breaks from some of these images, I keep seeing so many smiles.