A State of failure and some very sore toes.

Over the past few weeks, on and off, we've had a TV in our hotel room. Sometimes, we've been able to watch BBC World News. I recently watched their edition of Newsnight, which appears to be a "best of" from the daily Newsnights in the UK (Marianne was over the moon.. not). There was a very interesting debate comparing the Beijing Olympics and the Commonwealth games in Delhi. Mihir Bose, former BBC sports editor, and a respected Chinese author debated the differences between the two games and why Beijing did so well and why Delhi seemingly didn't. The background to this discussion was the fact that India and China are seen as the two booming economies of the world and they are both acutely aware of this fact and keen to be the country which becomes number 1 over the US . Amid current allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the Delhi games some points were made which I think were very poignant and really got me thinking about the way this country works. The main point which seemed to be discussed was that of the State and its interaction with the people. The Beijing games seemed, it was suggested, to unite the whole country and people across China did their bit, not only for the games, but for their country. It was suggested that the state was involved in all aspects of the games, countrywide, and and used it as a tool for unification. This was apparently evidenced by full stadiums right from the beginning of the Beijing games. I have no idea if this was truly the case but the opposite was said about India and I can't help feel this was true. There is no doubt there is a huge gulf between the state and the common man in India. The fireworks and pageantry of the closing ceremony could not be further from the India I have seen everyday in the last few weeks. Within 50 meters of where I sit right now there are people living on the street, piles of rubbish everywhere, children working and obvious poverty. Are these not the responsibility of the State? This booming, rich and modern Indian State?

My perception of how a State works is simple but probably about right. The leaders of a State make rules, these rules trickle down to the people via regional and local governments charged with implementing them. They may tweak them lightly to fit the population, but ultimately the States wishes are communicated in a top-down way. The people get to give their opinion of this in the form of elections, ensuring the bottom -up approach is competing the circle. I have feeling, and this may be just naive, but this is somewhat of a utopian wish in India at present. Take the city of Chandigarh for example. A large city not far from where I am now, famed for beng the first "planned" city in India. Formed only a matter of 60 years ago, it was designed by European architects using the grid system, a bit like the "blocks" you get in the states. The idea was to ensure free flowing traffic and ease of navigation. Chandigarh is now also famous for it's gridlock. I read a piece in the Hindustan Times about it yesterday and it talked about the fact that many communities have popped up around the main part of the city, without planning permission, causing the centre to become clogged with traffic and pollution to engulf the city. It was suggested that these communities would almost always be made "legitimate" just before local elections, indicating political corruption and further confounding the problem. I think this is a classic exmple of how the system, outside Delhi and the halls of Prime Minister Singhs offices, works and proves that the States influence barely touches the people in the towns and cities of India. I think the race for the number 1 economy in the world will be won by the country who's people are with the rule makers, in a majority at least. India, unfortuately from what I can see is nowhere near that yet. We'll be in China in a few weeks so I will be able to see whether there is evidence of the States influence from top to bottom or not, hopefully it will be in a humane way.

So, we are in Mcleod Ganj again after 4 days trekking in the mountains. It was a fabulous few days but it also taught us we are nowhere near as fit as we would like to be! The terrain, although not too high, at a maximum of 3200 metres, was very tough. The first two days were up up up and not on easy trails either. Large, ancient boulder steps seemingly going on for ever and with a 10kg pack on it took it's toll on our legs. We were yearning for a some "down" time then when it came, on day 3, we remembered that going down is as hard, if not harder, on the legs than going up! 9 Hours of traversing rivers, climbing boulders and occasionally not having a trail at all really took it out of us and we have been resting here for the past 2 days trying to get our quads working again and getting the feeling back in our toes. It was so great to be back in the wilderness again though. We stayed in small farming villages on two nights and even a shepherds hut on the side of a mountain by a lake. This was really roughing it, as we ony had straw to lay on and our sleeping bags for warmth. The evening was spent by the lake with an open fire and a clear sky which was lit up with stars like I haven't seen in a very long time, I was transfixed. A few shooting stars and a tod of sweet Indian rum made for a truly magical night. We only saw 2 other westerners during the whole 4 days we were trekking, and the only other humans around were our guide and porter, and the occasional shepherd. Himalayan eagles circled on the morning thermals and the snowy peaks on the horizon made for a truly awe inspiring first trek of the trip, albeit a lesson in how city life does not prepare you for mountains too!

Tonight we return to Delhi, briefly, to get a train to Agra (Taj Mahal), then Varanasi. Then it's onto Darjeeling where we will eventually leave India for Nepal and our Everest adventure. I am starting to love this place again, it's taken a while, but it really is like no where else on earth.