"She said good morning ! Can you imagine? She greeted an auto-rickshaw", laughed the driver, as he drew level, in the morning traffic, with another driver. They both guffawed with laughter in a good natured way, looking in my direction. I reflected on how 'Buon Giorno' was such a part of the morning ritual in Italy, as one walked along Via Faentina in the morning. It would be unheard of not to greet Alberto, next door, Giovanni, the postman, Liugi, who ran the Bar, Stephano who owned the computer shop, etc.
The morning rickshaw ride along Old Padra Road, known locally as 'O.P. Road', is one of those little morning pleasures, as one can observe, in the relative safety of the rickshaw, life on the street waking up and preparing for a new day. It's an opportunity to reflect on things. Everywhere new buildings are being constructed in various stages of completion. Other buildings, older by a few years, are already showing signs of wear and tear, because of the harshness of the climate. Paintwork turns from white to black, dust coats windows, glass panes break. Things are left to rot and decay - how unkempt it looks - as if nobody cares any more. Piles of litter vie for a place on the street, alongside the man putting out his fruit barrow, for the morning's business. Everything is in a constant state of flux - of rebirth and decay. Nothing is preserved. After the initial energy of creation, it is left to mature and rot - they live in the present. Nothing is fixed. This flexibility of the Eastern mind is difficult to understand - so different to the Western love of order, planning, care and preservation. Does our love of the physical world, prevent us from seeing beyond it ? And yet I think not....the quality of a moment is defined by love and surely care is an aspect of that ?...."Hey this is where I want to get off .... Ha...yes...stop - here's your 25 rupees"
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