finally, photos

I am really afraid of technology. This is a bad thing for me to say, since apparently all smart journalists are now supposed to learn Flash and FinalCut and all sorts of other programs that scare me. I'm certain I will end up like one of those ridiculous old people who get their indulgent assistants to print out their email for them. But anyway, I started a blog, which is a big step, and now I am posting pictures, which for some reason feels like another. I begin with one of the most salient facts of life in this city:

Air pollution.



Notice the guy wearing the SARS-style mask. The Economist reported recently that all the new IT wealth in India is allowing more and more people to buy motor scooters, thus clogging the roads and filling the air with plumes of hot diesel exhaust. When I'm sitting in a squat little auto rickshaw and a big public bus is chugging toxic smoke into my face, I have the visceral sensation of being gassed. And I sometimes muse, in a peaceful way, that being here is probably shortening my lifespan in some fashion. Anyway, the locals fondly say that all hours are rush hour these days. Even the bicycles have to travel single-file during peak hours, occupying a corridor about one micron wide. Thus, an appropriately-named restaurant along one of the main roads:



That's all for now - more pictures to come soon.