You can piss in the street, just don't kiss in the street

12 October

So goes a local expression, which encapsulates the contrasts of India, both visual and social. The streets of every town and along the highways are extensively littered with rubbish of all kinds: paper and plastic bags, food scraps, bits of clothing and leather and rubber (from shoe manufacture), and walking passed all of this can be every type of person - beautiful women in beautiful saris, too cool westernized men wearing the latest inspired by Indian GQ and pop videos, shoeless auto rickshaw drivers and street vendors, and beggars (whether crippled or simply destitute). The paradox is such that outside boutique shops and five-star hotel entries, the rubbish can be found.

And then there are the bodily functions! Pissing (as in the title); spitting, here, there and everywhere (though there's generally plenty of warning to get out of the way as they all have the guttural, back of the nasal cavity snort); and the occasional squat that is the tell-tale sign of something more odourous. Compared to the last time I was here (1982), there actually seems to be much less spitting in the streets (and fewer beggars, come to that).

India remains very conservative - public displays of affection are infrequent, though both women and men hold hands or have their arms around each other's shoulders or waists, similar to what you see in the Middle East. So, yeah, no kissing in the street.