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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Experiences tell...

The Happy Traveler is a blog that records the travels of a family all over the world. Nicely written personal experiences that help in understanding this huge, complex structure that we live in. She recounts experiences that range from the happy to the frustrating and the terrifying.
I read the latest post in which she narrated her family's harassment at the hands of unscrupulous people who deliberately put their lives at stake merely to extort money from those that they see as wealthy.
It was also very interesting to read the comments that were posted. However it isn't just in India that such incidents are known to happen. Unhappily, human nature is one that doesn't change with time-zones and geo-political boundaries. Haven't Americans in Britain been sold the London Bridge? Haven't the gullible in New York been sold the Brooklyn Bridge?
While we sit here and pontificate, isn't it also human greed that leads to such incidents? There must be an effective action for such a reaction. In the case of the Happy Traveler, I am reasonably sure that some wealthy person, on the way to the temple, may have flung a large sum of money at a very real victim. This would have led to an enterprise being created on the spot and the entire village full of people may have got together to scheme on a new means of livelihood. I can imagine that one of the village is elected to fulfil the duties of the victim each time. I cannot for even one moment think of anyone volunteering for the job. But, I digress, the greed of the village is what has led to this scheme of extortion. I can simmer in rage over such an incident but feel completely impotent in the knowledge that nothing can be done.
It's also heart-warming to note that there are good samaritans too, as an earlier post on the Happy Traveler recounts.
I'm now looking forward to reading Alaskan Adventures from Travelin' Tracy. As a couch potato it is imperative that I derive vicarious pleasure from those who take the trouble to travel.

8 comments:

travel plaza said...

Thank you so much for the write-up and link. You said it so right. Unless someone encouraged the villagers by giving them some money when such an incident occured in the first place, they would probably not have come up with the whole idea for that as a means of livelihood.
I also agree that India is not the only place where such incidents occur. In other countries, I've heard of people deliberately causing accidents to collect insurance money.

Anonymous said...

I'm a happy traveller too... Looking at all these blogs, I too feel like writing a blog of my own :-). But I'm very limited in my communication skills.

You write very well couch potatoe. Keep writing...

Travelin' Tracy said...

Ah, thanks CP! I haven't being reading many other blogs because of my travels. It was nice to come to website and see that you wrote about TP and I. Thanks!

Travelin' Tracy said...

I haven't heard from you in a while? Where you been stranger?

Couch Potato said...

Thank you TP, Tracy, and Anonymous for visiting. Of late, work and my couch have kept me from dropping in and writing. I do hope to have a lot more to write in the coming months, if not in August, definitely in October.
I enjoy writing but, like all Couch Potatoes, I also enjoy lazing.

Curious Servant said...

It was a nice post.

travel plaza said...

CP, you've been tagged! Please visit my blog for details. All you have to do is copy and paste the words that are in bold and then give your answers and publish this as a post on your blog. At the end tag five people:)

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