India is filthy...

For every good day in India, there is a bad one. It is a constant roller coaster ride of trying to figure out how to appreciate this land and its people. You love it, you hate it. You wonder how people can live this way; you have the utmost respect for those who decide to live this way. It is a land of constant contradictions. This morning, I find myself sitting on a rooftop restaurant in our haveli, shahi palace, in Jaisalmer India. As I sip on my morning coffee, it would appear as though today will likely be one of those days where I spend the entire day trying to wrap my head around all of the garbage in the streets, the open sewage, the cows which are left to empty themselves anywhere they choose. As I continue to sip on my coffee, I know that essentially, everything that has made its way to my mouth these past two weeks has also had contact with feces. How do I know this? Because as I sit here writing this, I am watching a little boy sit on an opposite roof patio in his bare feet roll colorful sweet balls into candy form. The balls are rolled and then laid on the rooftop. Peiodically, as he rolls, he gets up and walks along the rooftop to collect certain tools he needs to continue the job. These candy balls share a rooftop surface that is a public walkway for his family. In a few minutes we will then witness him walk along the streets in his barefeet. Streets that are full of so much waste and feces. Yesterday, I watched two cows in the middle of the street urinate about 2 liters each. Locals walked by as though it were nothing; a holy water jutting out onto the streets. I further passed what looked like a simple bus stand hit where half a dozen men openly relieved themselves against the wall. When I came home and googled this, I learned that it is one large public urinal... An orange stained hut that will never be washed clean. A fly lands on my coffee cup and i am aware. I am aware that five seconds ago, this same fly was feasting on human waste that is being emptied out into the streets in an open sewage system. I just don't get it. I can't help but wonder what Indians who have never left their country must think when they come to a country like Canada where littering is as punishable as theft. And why doesn't the government take action? In canada, don't we put criminals to the streets to serve their country in a useful way while they rehabilitate? In a country of over a billion people, why have things gotten so out of control? There are good days, there are bad days; but every single day is a day whereby one finds themself looking around them atu the beautiful landscapes, temples, forts, and asking WHY?