ROAD BLOG AHEAD

Continuing on my quest to share with you some of the sights I see around me each day. There are so many colours, so many moods and so many different types of people. Wherever you go in this town, you see life lived on the streets, in full view of all and everything.
There are the young:

This very young woman in her bridal finery does not seem as happy as one would expect on her wedding day. Arranged marriages are absolutely the norm here in traditional Indian families
And the not-so-young but just as beautiful:

There is unashamed grief:

Old friends meeting in the bazaar comfort each other as they share sad news from home
And laughter:

This is one of my favourite pictures of Lena, catching her laughing with abandon!
There are people at work:

And those at play:

A carnival in Mandi, the district capitol brings people from all over the region

The local gambling den is actually on a rooftop

And disreputable-looking characters that could be hanging out on the street corner of just about any city on the planet

You find people doing the absolutely ordinary tasks of daily life:

Then turn a corner and see something utterly inexplicable:

Why is my next door neighbor up a tree?

A wandering holy man dances in the street and flagellates himself with a braided whip while his wife (behind him, carrying a Hindu shrine tied to the top of her head) beats a rhythmic call on her drum.

Perhaps the most inexplicable thing of all - WHY does the electrical system work even part of the time when the wiring, above street level, looks like this?