Mysore Part 3

There isn't much to see or do in Mysore, but you can't miss out on the palace.  This is still the home of the Maharaja of Mysore, and most of it is open to the public.

It was best to pay for our own personal guide as it was not expensive and would have been cheaper than paying for two audio guide headphones.  He was quite knowledgeable (admittedly we wouldn't have known otherwise) and quite full of his own importance.  The place was really full of people, but he would just shove them out of the way with both hands to create a space for us to get to the front of everything that was worth seeing.  It helped Jen get away from the average Indian male.

I suppose it is worth mentioning the average Indian male now while we are at this point.  They are really quite lecherous.  While they stare at me as if I had two heads, it doesn't worry me.  I will just stare back at them, and even stop and stare back at them until they look away.  But with white females it is quite different.  They stare so much they almost bury their heads in the chests of any passing target.  It isn't just one or two.  They are all at it.

Jen feels quite un-nerved on her own, and it wasn't great in the crowds in the palace, as some guys would just rub their crotches up against her.  She had to walk with her elbows pointed outwards to fend them off.  Even Indian girls are subjected to this type of sad and pathetic behaviour.  Groups of young guys walk around together trying to look cool.  Actually if they could only see themselves!  

They have their arms around each other, and are frequently seen even holding hands together.  I think they too have been repressed somewhat by this overly conservative society.  They intimidate the girls who have their breasts and genitals grabbed when the opportunity arises.  It happens in crowded places and even when on the buses.  This is why you will always see the women together at the front of the buses, and not near the back.  

While if this happened in the UK, or any other civilised country, the Police would be investigating it as an indecent assault, the perpetrator would be convicted and would be on the sex offenders' register.  Here it is dismissed by the authorities as what they minimisingly term "Eve-teasing" and would never be investigated.  An indicator of how women are viewed in Indian society.

Anyway.  After the palace, it was off to the zoo.  I was quite impressed by Mysore zoo.  It is huge.  It takes at least two hours to walk around it, even if you walk quickly.  The animals have plenty of space, and seem well cared for.  I have seen worse, more depressing zoos.

That was about it for Mysore really.  We headed back to the Shatabdhi for Bangalore without further incident!

Here are some pics I took at the zoo.

That was about it for Mysore really.  We headed back to the Shatabdhi fro Bangalore without further incident!