India and Iraq

I haven't been to India.

But former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, a Wyoming native and resident of Cody, recently returned from a trip he took there. It was his first time and he related some of his experiences in a recent telephone conversation we had.

He described the incredible wealth that stands side-by-side and in sharp contrast to abject poverty that is well-documented in the country. I said I'd seen similar scenes in Turkey, Romania and Tunisia.

There had been gypsies on horse-drawn carriages alongside BMWs speeding down the highway, a poor boy with a swollen stomach and out-stretched hands pleading with his eyes for a couple coins or some food, women trudging along roads under a hot sun with baskets balanced on there head.

No, no, no, he said. There was a big difference.

"You never look up in India, you always look down."

It struck me as a bit curious and off-beat. "Why?" I asked.

You'll recall that that cows are sacred and revered by Hindus, SImpson responded, and they are not killed under any circumstance. Awwww... I get it. There were cow pies — everywhere. If you didn't look down, you were liable to step in one — another interesting conversation with the venerable Simpson, a conversation that was more importatnly about Iraq, since Simpson is a member of the Iraq Study Group.