Taxi Driver Truths That May (or may not) Be Quite True:
(learned from Bunty on the way to Dehra Dun and back--he's the one who added the authoritatively delivered caveat that these "may be quite true")
1. Man has three best friends, and in this order: First, the Dog; second, the Horse; third, the Elephant. These are the friends of man. I asked about camels, and was told that camels do not make friends. Man also has one enemy: the Bull. If you wrong a bull, he will remember. When he gets the chance, he will take his revenge.
2. Valentine's Day is actually celebrated for an entire week, everywhere in the world. There's a Rose Day and a Propose Day and a Kiss Day, and as so on....When my French co-worker tried to protest that Valentine's Day really only lasts a day in France, Bunty interrupted her with, "No, everywhere in the whole world, Valentine's Day is a week. I learned this."
3. On Shiv Ratri, the festival honoring the marriage of the god Shiva to Parvati, for one day only, marijuana is legal in India. People drink it in thandai (a marijuana smoothie). They also make marijuana pakoras, sort of like hush puppies. Bunty swears this is the most potent way to take marijuana: "You feel like you're tasting the drugs on the inside of your throat." I don't really know what that means, but it seemed like interesting information.
4. When a Tibetan dies, the family calls in a lama. He reads from a secret book and gives them instructions. Sometimes, they are to "sun" the body and just put it outside, high on a ledge. Other times, they are instructed to eat the body. In these cases, the body is cut up into little pieces and each family member is given equal portions. Gruesome. Also untrue.
5. This one was interesting, coming from an Indian: if Hindu fundamentalist groups would like to see fewer low-caste Hindus becoming Christians or Buddhists, then upper-caste Hindus should stop treating them like animals and give them some rights.
Bunty is a veritable encyclopedia of useful information...
(learned from Bunty on the way to Dehra Dun and back--he's the one who added the authoritatively delivered caveat that these "may be quite true")
1. Man has three best friends, and in this order: First, the Dog; second, the Horse; third, the Elephant. These are the friends of man. I asked about camels, and was told that camels do not make friends. Man also has one enemy: the Bull. If you wrong a bull, he will remember. When he gets the chance, he will take his revenge.
2. Valentine's Day is actually celebrated for an entire week, everywhere in the world. There's a Rose Day and a Propose Day and a Kiss Day, and as so on....When my French co-worker tried to protest that Valentine's Day really only lasts a day in France, Bunty interrupted her with, "No, everywhere in the whole world, Valentine's Day is a week. I learned this."
3. On Shiv Ratri, the festival honoring the marriage of the god Shiva to Parvati, for one day only, marijuana is legal in India. People drink it in thandai (a marijuana smoothie). They also make marijuana pakoras, sort of like hush puppies. Bunty swears this is the most potent way to take marijuana: "You feel like you're tasting the drugs on the inside of your throat." I don't really know what that means, but it seemed like interesting information.
4. When a Tibetan dies, the family calls in a lama. He reads from a secret book and gives them instructions. Sometimes, they are to "sun" the body and just put it outside, high on a ledge. Other times, they are instructed to eat the body. In these cases, the body is cut up into little pieces and each family member is given equal portions. Gruesome. Also untrue.
5. This one was interesting, coming from an Indian: if Hindu fundamentalist groups would like to see fewer low-caste Hindus becoming Christians or Buddhists, then upper-caste Hindus should stop treating them like animals and give them some rights.
Bunty is a veritable encyclopedia of useful information...
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