Dear Friends, Yogis and Yoginis,

Street Signs
A.
While in the taxi back to the airport a few days ago, I was surrounded by more traffic than I had ever seen in my life, even in NYC. Again, cars, buses, mopeds, motorized rickshaws, all straddling the lines on the roadway. Goats, pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for in quick and surprisingly smooth moves! Everywhere there was honking, sometimes accompanied by a playful hand gesture (not like in NYC).

The heat, smell, crowding and noise would have been overwhelming if I had wanted it to be any other way!

In standing traffic, the honking increased, and street posters and billboards were more evident. They revealed a paradox:

     No Honk Please. Reduce Noise. Improve the World.

     When was the last time you heard the birds sing?

And on every taxi, rickshaw and bus: Honk Yes Please!

Clearly there was a major difference of opinion. What strikes me most about this is the desire some people have for silence or stillness while others thrive in noisy, busyness. What makes each of us come alive is a reflection of our basic nature, our constitution, our introvert/extrovert, and probably our Enneagram number! Yet, whether we hear God in the silence between the honks or in the honks themselves, depends most of all on how we’re listening!

B.
Nose Punching. There was a sign on a street corner that read Nose Punching Here.
This was a way of saying you could get your nose pierced at this shop!

C.
Inconvenience Regretted. I saw this sign where the workers were repairing what I would guess was the sewer line, in Mumbai. I mused at the efficiency of language given the seeming and overwhelming inefficiency in every other regard. In America: This Area Under Construction. We apologize for any inconvenience.

D.
Avoid Speed Driving. Avoid Rash Driving.
Speed Thrills, But Also Kills.
Take Heed. Don’t Speed.
Don’t Be Mobile while U R Mobile.

These signs were posted amongst many other advertising signs all along the roadway. Since I had been sitting right behind our driver during our four hours and counting journey, I could confirm with absolute certainty that people were driving rashly, according to my limited American perspective.

I’ve driven in both Mexico and Costa Rica, each time in a rental car. With complete confidence in this opinion never changing, I can tell you: I will never drive in India!

With regards to the speeding, since I never saw a speed limit sign, I can’t comment on the cautions on these signs! However, I did observe the mobile phone suggestion: I never once saw our driver answer his phone or pick it up to call anyone. Even when driving 6 hours at a stretch that was all he did: drive.

E.
In the middle of the night as we were driving on more windy Indian roads with big trucks and buses, we found ourselves stuck behind a particularly slow vehicle. While the other passengers were sleeping, and I was sleep deprived, making me a little more silly, I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud when I read the back of this large, slow vehicle that our driver continually attempted to get around: It was a propane truck and painted in big block letters, professionally done, was a Warning: Propane: Highly Inflammable!

Now, who let that get out of the shop painted like that?

F.
There was a great big billboard (for the ones they do have here, they’re huge!) with few words on it:

     Cardamom will add life to your years!

Though I imagine what they meant was that using cardamom would either make you young or add years to your life, I really enjoyed the notion that it would add Life to the Years you are living!

Namaste,
Sarahjoy