Early learnings.

When you're on the road, you learn to learn quickly. You also learn to adapt and improvise. Not being a veteran traveler, there's a lot I have to learn, and i'm learning a lot of it fast. Its been about a week, and I've learned that i've already made quite a few mistakes. S of them are easily remedied, some of them not so easily.

1) I've packed too much. In terms of clothes, the only things i needed to be comfortable were : A pair of shorts (or 2), a pair of Jeans (levi's, in honour of good ole' Mr. Jack), two tee shirts, one shirt and plenty of underwear. The only thing I got right was underwear. I have 3 pants, 2 thick shirts, two normal shirt (just in case I have to look decent), 5 or 6 tees, a jacket (for the hills), rain pants and shirt (the monsoons are periliously close). Of all of this, I can, now, only stand by my decision to lug the jacket and rain gear all the way. I have no idea how to get rid of the rest... i could dump it, but I don't really want to, since I'll eventually need it, and then I won't have money to buy new stuff. I think I might wait bit, since I have to eventually stop off at home to sign my income tax returns (of which there really are none, but in an uncharacteristic bit of forward thinking, i'm doing it in case i ever need a visa for anywhere).

2) Wandering aimlessly is good, but you should have some basic idea of where you're going next and where you're going after that.

3) Dont always trust maps. Two places may look like they're in a straight line, and that one is on the way to the other, but the universe and the Indian Railways will have different plans for you.

4) I'll tell you which cell phone operator has the best network in India. BSNL. They have towers where others wouldn't bother going, or aren't allowed yet. This is a lesson I should have learnt from my days in Kashmir, but for now, i'm stuck to being the no. 1 customer at the no. 1 Phone Booth in Bhamragarh.

5) The one thing I CANNOT get rid of, is my laptop. But, if I could, i'd do it in a single shot. Or trade it for one of those smaller, cheaper ones... I've seen an acer thats tiny.

6) Its easy to lose focus. While I am wandering, I also have a definate objective - I want to complete research for a book i've always wanted to write. I have to keep in mind that I shouldn't lose focus.

Thats it for now. I'm going to go visit some tribal villages tomorrow ... I hear they make interesting alcohol from Mohua Trees (madhuca Indica)! It isn't illegal for tribals in India to brew their own alcohol, but its potent stuff. A 6 or 7 year old boy was brought to the hospital today, in a coma. Apparently, he drank too much of the stuff last night, and became unconscious. His fool parents waited a whole day before bringing him, thinking that if they force-fed him tamarind juice, he'd vomit it out. Unfortunately, most of it went into his lungs, and his survival seems bleak.