I had to make a thread... wow. Mental.

Billiards.

Billiards.

Active member
So I am currently in Mumbai, India, let me tell you this place is fucking mad. The slums here make the ones in America look so beautiful and rich. I know the "hood" life is tough and all but those kids in America and Canada need to suck it up. The way people live here will change your perspective on life. Sorry if you think this is pointless but its sad to look back to where I live and think about how little people know. There are kids who think there lives are rough in Salt Lake City, and don't get me wrong everyone has their own struggles but the most ghetto place I have seen in SLC would be the best place in the world here. Ive also seen the ghettos in Philly and the upscale neighboorhoods have projects like that here... Sorry for my insight its just absurdly mad out here, though extremely beautiful in the same way.

Oh and the whole thug image in skiing is totally lamme, just where a turban, get muddy, and go skiing naked. Now people will be complaining about kids looking too Indian slum like.
 
Well first of all its way overpopulated. You shouldn't actually go into the slums but from the up close you can see and smell the shit. Literally, there are no bathrooms people just pee and shit all over. There will be an entire family on a dirt floor or carpet or whatever they have. In the nice areas there are beggars galore and though some of the places seem really nice, some look like complete shit even in the nicer areas. You will see tons of naked little pot belleyed kids running around and all anyone wants is your money so don't go trying to make good Indian friends in the slums or anywhere in Mumbai. Oh and there will an entire families on tiny little mopeds going 30-50 mph on the highways with everyone just kind of hanging on. Shits insane.
 
thanks for including this part... it made swallowing the rest of your post a little easier. i'm pretty sure National Geographic did an article about Mumbia in 07 and it was rather startling. i mean, i knew that the slums existed, but the extent of the slums is just mindblowing. i can't imagine seeing it in person. definitely sounds like a pretty sad, depressing place.
 
yeah so many kids dont realize how good we have it in america. people from other countries come here and are blown away at every little house. it seems like a palace to them.
 
Yeah word. Though the thing I find wonderful is the smile everyone has, whether or not their lives seem to suck. You will see these crazy, dirty, snot covered little kids running around the streets happy as can be. It helps you realize how little people need to be happy. It just seems like we live so lavishly in the states. Though some of it really is just culture and if thats how the states and Canada and all that are then so be it.
 
I agree with you completely. When I took a med trip to Mali a year or so ago....I was blown away with seeing the state that people lived in. I mean you see it in magazines and on television, but until you are actually there and part of it you cannot even begin to understand the widespread poverty and daily struggle these people go through. It was a real eye opener, and there is so much we take for granted here. Through it all, the people like the poster said were so happy...almost more happy than the average American, and essentially they had materially nothing. Such a great experience and good to hear you are getting to experience it.
 
I would like you to know, when you see the simple things, To appreciate this life it's not too late to learn

-Iron Maiden

 
Ghandi fought for equal treatment for all in India. He especially fought for the equal treatment of the "untouchables" who were treated like dirt. The feudal system fucked shit up over there and the untouchables were living in the worst conditions possible and still are.
 
yeah dude, i def i agree..i went to Peru two summers ago and it was devasting to see how these people live. tehy have zero money and no food to feed their families. its wicked sad cuz you can only help a certain number of people, when there are thousands suffering in one single town you go to..we need to look out for these people more
 
Yeah this one little kid came asking for money and tried to shake my hand, I felt real bad but he was so dirty it was hard to want to shake it. Though one the positive note it helps you realize that you shouldn't need material wealth to really be happy, the people here are wonderful and there are a surprising amount of gorgeous women. Even my age, dressed just like westerners, crazy shit,
 
And for $5 you could have had 3 of them at the same time.

Thats fucked up, I'm sorry.

Really though, it's mindblowing how fucked a huge portion of the world is. And almost all of it is attributable to greed.

The land in India is owned by such a small group of people, forcing masses of people to live on the streets.

I don't know much about Hindu, but I know it promotes a caste system based on reincarnation. They believe the rich are good souls and have ammassed good karma over the years. The poor are weak, evil souls that have bad karma, and so are born into poor families, creting the rational for the Untouchables.

...Part of the reason I don't like the whole new-age karma thinking so much.
 
you just put a HUGE twist on the whole karma idea for me. it still works in some ways, but wow. I think I'm going to research this more..

it sounds like a completely different world out there, I've never been to such a place. I'll keep that in mind next time I'm complaining about some petty thing.
 
Go to THEBFF newschoolers acount and check the vids. There is one of us skiing powda and a three off a decent sized hit. Im trying to save any footages I got for maybe a movie we are making. Also We will probably ski a ton this summer so more footy to come thanks mate.
 
yea my buddy who did semester at sea said the same thing. and he went all over, brazil, south africa, SE asia. and he definitely said india was the worst by far for poverty.

What's crazy is India's economy is actually pretty solid and is growing quickly. There are a lot of educated software engineers and biotech is growing there. I mean, I work in a biology lab right now and half of the people I work with are from India. I've been learning about India from them

But it looks like their economy is only helping the middle class. I don't think the class system is as prevalent as it used to be though. I'm sure it's still there to a certain degree, but from what I understand its more subtle now. Kind of like racism here, it's an undercurrent.
 
thats just not fair to say. saying how easy the kids have it in newark, camden, philly. although it maybe looks nicer areas ravaged by drugs and organized crimes have a completely different life than slums in india. they dont live under they same conditions but life in the real ghetto is a whole lot tougher than you think, just because you drove through philly or looked down into the ghetto from the freeway doesnt mean you have any idea what its like to grow up there.
 
this is true. these people here might have better "conditions" but they have to deal with drugs gangs etc. the untouchables in india are too poor to even have to deal with drugs. i think i would rather live in philly or something. that sounds crazy though man, but according to their beliefs the extremely poor people deserve the way they are treated...it's sad.
 
I felt the same way when i was in cambodia for a few months last summer. Working and living there especially gave me a way better look at the conditions people live under, and the hardships they faced. the orphanage i was working in was mainly for kids whose parents had died of age, and 5 of the girls had been rescued from brothels, most near the thai border. they'd either been sold by relatives that were caring for them after their parents died, or they'd been living on the street and had been kidnapped. one of the girls had started working in a brothel when she was 11. by the time she was rescued and brought to the orphanage she was 14, and had been living there for a little over a year when i started working with her. Hearing some of these kids stories, going around the city and the countryside and actually seeing how little these people have, and how completely useless the government is in helping them, it made me feel so lucky to have been born in canada. It was such a huge culture shock coming home to canada after living there, and like you said, you can hear all about the poverty and mind numbinglyu brutal conditions that people in countries like that live under, but until you see it first hand, and especially talk with and work with people who have gone through it, you really can't truly imagine it. how long are you in india for? i have to say i'm pretty jealous. and yeah, i do acknowledge that people who live in projects in a few areas in the states have a harder life than I could ever imagine, but the poverty they live under is nothing compared to what people in countries like that have to deal with. They have nothing, and they have no functional government to provide any kind of a helping hand. The only thing they can rely on is their own strength and resourcefullness, and the help of NGOs and foreign aid groups.
 
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