welcome to the machine.

ho hum. where to begin? Paul was telling me something interesting the other day about the Parsis. Parsis are one of the many religious groups in india, and one of their beliefs is that nothing should be wasted, so when they die, rather than creating or burying their bodies, they hang them up in a designated area and let the vultures eat them! cool huh! Unfortunately the public aren't allowed to go and watch.... Personally I think they're missing out on an excellent money making opportunity. If it was up to me I'd construct a big viewing tower and rent out binoculars to tourists.. :) Paul's mum was also telling me that in Bombay the Parsi poulation is quickly outgrowing the vulture population, meaning the vultures aren't able to finish off all the bodies! Given that half the population of India are in a state of perpetual hunger, I would of thought the solution should be obvious.... waste not want not! :)

Today me and Paul went on the "Pune Darshan", which basically means "Pune Tour" but with slightly more holy connotations. We got on the bus at 9am and it finished at 5pm. To be honest, I didn't really see anything very interesting! But it was a fun day anyway. I didn't bother to go into a few of the "attractions", cos the price for foreigners is just silly! For example, at the first fort, Paul paid 5 Rupees, while I was expected to pay 100! Then at the museum Paul paid 12 Rupees while i paid 150.... and I'm the unemployed one here!! It was funny being on a bus tour. It felt like I was on a school trip! This effect was enhanced by the fact that the tour guide would give a sever telling off to anyone who returned to the bus even 5 mins late! Oh, and I was the only non-indian on the bus by the way. All the commentary was in Hindi!

We're going to a big trance party at a farm tomorrow. Should be good. It's all trance here! boom boom boom boom.... and all the DJ's play CD's of MP3's that they download of the net!! How unproffesional! hehe. I'm a vinyl snob and proud of it!

I've actually started getting interested in Cricket since being here! Can you believe it! But it's hard not to, everyone is simply obsessed with it, and it IS the world cup after all.... :)

I went for a walk in Pune yesterday and got quite lost. I started off in Buffalo street, which is so named because, yep, you guessed it, it's full of bloody buffalo! The first thing I noticed was that there was loads of rather enormous shits on the road, and then I passed a small side road that has scores of buffalo down it! Apparantly that's just where they keep them, right in the middle of town! If you've never seen a buffalo up close, let me tell you, they are BIG! About twice the size of a cow. And they just wander around on the road as if they own it, which I suppose they do...
After a while I found a park to sit in and read my new book I bought. I chose myself a nice spot in the shade and sat down. After about 30 seconds a man came over and sat next to me and started chatting. He was in his late 30's and had the obligatory uniform of the indian working class man: ironed shirt, ironed trousers, 50 year old flip-flops (slippers). He told me he worked in the ice factory, although he wouldn't explain to me how they make ice despite my genuine interest. All I managed to discover is that apparantly they don't just stick troughs of water in a giant freezer. I need to know now!! We chatted about England and india for a while, and then he wen't to join all the other indian men sleeping on the floor in the shade. That's one thing you see all the time in asia, people sleeping all over the place during the day. I guess if you've got no job and no money, and it's bloody hot, sleeping is probably the best option available. I know sleeping is one of my favourite pastimes... :)

In case you didn't know, Pune is home the the Ashram of Osho the Bagwan, where westerners comes in thir 100's to attain spritual enligtenment through shagging, swimming, saunas and sensual massage. Sounds good to me! In order to enter the ashram, you have to get an HIV test (and pay a wad of cash)! Osho moved his ashram to the states a while back, but was kicked out after the authorities got a bit freaked out by his cultish spiritual shag fest ideas... Anyway, Pune is full of these white folks in white robes spreading their spiritual seed to the needy and greedy...

Right, that's a damn long blog entry if I might say so myself! I hope your all enjoying my ramblings! I say "all", when in fact i only know of about 3 ppl who are actually reading this... If there's more, please raise your hands! :)

adios amigos!