So many optimistic notes

There were many moments in the cities of India where I felt distressed by the impoverishment of so many people, so many animals...and where the weight of heat, odour, refuse and noise was crushing.

One day, I was making my way down a street in Mumbai, looking for a co-operative shop specialized in textiles and clothing that I knew existed in the neighbourhood.  But I couldn't find it, because, like so many businesses, it was hidden behind a protective wall, nestled into a building at a distance from the road, without much in the way of signage.  Perhaps this obscurity is due to the reluctance of paying customers to walk. Their preference is to have their drivers take them there.  Who could blame them?  The heat, the fumes, the dog excrement.  I felt a sense of apathy and futility--why not go back the apartment?

I passed a slender young student waiting for her bus.  All I could see, at first, was her back in a tunic over a white blouse, bisected by a lengthy black braid tied with a wide, starched bow.  She turned and we regarded one another, she a breath-taking, beautiful girl with a steady look and a tentative smile, standing patiently with her knapsack of books and homework in the thick, dirty afternoon air.

All of the thousands of schoolchildren are the future of India.  The transformative potential is there.  Just think of it.