1. The little girls in the snack store - After visiting the Hidimba temple, I sat at a small store to get some breakfast. There were two girls in there, about 8-10 years old, kids of the store owner, who had presumably just woken up. One of them was very pretty, with "Asian" features. The other, her sister, was a lot plainer. The plainer sister was very angry and cranky, she had asked someone to comb her hair for her but the guy had to warn her not to cry, because her hair was very unruly. The prettier sister though, was oiling and combing her own hair. The plainer one kept complaining about the prettier sister, accusing her of being mean or something. The prettier one kept calling the other a "demoness". It was cute to watch at this stage but I couldn't help feeling that this was going to develop into a tragedy because it was obvious the sisters were going to be treated differently by people they meet, based on their looks and that can't be good. But for now, I just took their pictures and moved on.
2. The Jackass on the bus - On the bus to Manali, the guy sitting in front of me had his bag in the shelf above him. Another guy who was sitting in the back, wanted to slide the first guy's bag forward by a few inches to put his own bad behind that. I guess the second guy's logic was that if he put his bag ahead of the second guy's it would be too far ahead for him to keep an eye on it. But in any case, the first guy didn't allow it. The second guy tried to reason with him but nothing came out it. He went so far as to say that if the second guy touched his bag, he'd murder him or something! He clutched the shirt of the first guy and immediately people stopped it from getting any worse. What was neat was how the other passengers calmed the first guy down without getting physical or sounding condescending. They all were smiling, saying something to the effect of "Come on, it's not a big deal" etc. But yeah, that would be the second violent idiot I've met in about two weeks.
3. A Bengali called Lakshmi - At Rohtang Pass I was desperately trying to reach the top of Zero Point, the highest part of the road which crosses over to the other side of the mountains. I was desperately gasping for breath from all the climbing and thin atmosphere. I wasn't even sure I could make it to the top when I saw this guy standing at about the same altitude, looking at me. I walked up to him slowly and he starts off by saying, "Let's do it together". OK! We chatted as we climbed to the top, alternately showing fear and encouraging the other. We made it to the top and took in the beautiful view together. He even bought me coffee up there. After we climbed/slid to the bottom, he wanted to climb up another snow-covered slope. I declined because I already pretty beat by then. I didn't even ask him for his name till we were splitting up.
4. The driver on Day 1 - For my trip to Rohtang Pass, I got a driver/tour guide. Turns out it's the same fare no matter how many are in your party, so I could have saved a ton by going with a group, but what the hell. I was here, and with it being just me on the trip, I could start and stop as many times as I wanted to. The driver confirmed my thoughts as he not to stopped whenever I asked him to, he took plenty of pics for me and in general was a nice guy. He, more than anything else I saw on the trip, made me feel good about the trip in general. I learned some very interesting things from him. For one, cab drivers eat for free in the restaurants outside the city of Manali. The idea being that since any customers these places get are due to the driver making a stop there, restaurants are obliged to feed the driver for free in return for the customers he's bringing. Neat tradition. He is also a fan of old Hindi songs and he popped in a tape of Mukhesh's classic songs. It was great driving home in the pouring rain, listening to the oldies.
5. White guy at the temple - At the Vashisth temple, the hot springs area was an enclosed area for the men, much like the showers in a gym. You walked in, changed into your "swimwear", which for most people meant just their underwear, and either dived into the pool or showered at one of the pipes at the end. This being an Indian temple, the people there were noisy but not anymore than normal. There was a White guy there as well, not American, most probably European. So I was trying to muster courage to get into the really hot water when I suddenly hear the guy shout - "SHUT UP EVERYONE. SHANTI!!!" Everyone was stunned. He was clearly annoyed by the noise everyone was making. But after the initial shock wore off, people started going up to him and scolding him for saying "Shut up", which was perfectly normal. I mean, where the hell does he get off asking people to Shut Up in a country in which he's a guest! (BTW, although I didn't, this would have been the perfect opportunity for me to confront him and pick a fight, because I know that the other Indians wouldn't let a White Guy beat me up!) After enough people had scolded him and he apologized by saying that his English wasn't good, I sat next to him and tried asking him where he was from. In response he looked up and pointed at the sky! What a d*****bag! Eurotrash! I wanted to tell him, "I didn't know they made d*****bags like you up there." Geez!
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