I had some spare time this morning, so I took a stroll through the neighborhood where my hotel is. The highlight of the adventure was the near three-way collision between an autorickshaw, a bicycle carrying about 3 dozen coconuts, and a scooter whose passenger was carrying a 20-inch television. I have a hard time imagining that someone would decide that it’s a great idea to hop on the back of your buddy’s scooter and take your television, let alone in this traffic.

I walked down the main road where my hotel is, and turned left onto a larger road and was amazed at how calm the traffic was at 8 in the morning; I only heard about a 7 honks per second, whereas normal traffic hovers around 35. I went about a block and turned down a side street and headed back towards the hotel.

India is amazing. To a Westerner, there is a lot of noise and commotion, and things seem disorganized and messy. But, if you look closely, there is beauty everywhere: people take care of everything they have; sweeping and cleaning, putting on their best clothes, and making sure their belongings are as tidy as possible. A valuable lesson for anyone.