India has won the cricket world cup. Nearly everyone has gathered on the streets, shouting and screaming, honking their horns, lighting fireworks. It’s a crazy place outside. It’s apparently the first significant win since 1983. Very big deal. Hard to ignore, hard to read. But can’t help but smile at their excitement. So much appreciation for a simple game! Now there is drumming going on. I suppose someone made their way home and fetched a huge drum and is now driving down the street banging on it. What a festive mood! Now there is chanting… Tomorrow is the immersion of Ganesh. It will probably be even more crazy!

Pune is a bustling city, especially compared to the cities in the north. However, the poverty is no less startling. Homeless children are taking craps on the street and women with possibly fake prescriptions are begging you for money. Every time a rickshaw stops, they run through traffic and continuously beg. Even the rickshaw drivers think they’re crazy and shout at them to go away. It’s a strange world here. The beggars in the states have at least a bit of meat on their bones. They only sit on street corners and look desperate. People here, however, are much more persistent. They do any number of tricks and turns to squeeze some money out. It is a pitiful yet heartbreaking sight. I don’t know what to do about it.

After visiting Jaipur and Agra, seeing the Amber Fort and the Taj Mahal, it has truly been an eye-opening experience. It has let me to rethink all my conceptions of poverty. Nothing can be done at an individual level, but it is still tempting to wish that the dollar you give to the kid doing cartwheels in the middle of rush hour traffic would have a better life because of it. But of course it doesn’t. The small change might make the difference of a meal, but the main problem exists. Poverty is still rampant in India, no matter how many people claim that it is quickly coming into the new age. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. How to fix this on a grand scale?