I pass by this tea and coffee stand when I send messages home. At night it seems really scary but during the day the men are friendly easy to drink tea with. In the jars are different sweets and treats.
I would like to have taken pictures of the sand pit party area, but it is too difficult in a number of ways:
The little kids will come and paw at you asking for money. It tears at a person's soul. There is a part of you that wants to give them every thread on your body and every penny in your purse. But the reality is that if you give one child, one thing you will be swarmed and it opens up a complete bee hive that is more painful than a few tugs on the arm by a rag clothed street urchin. They are persistant and will stay with you for blocks. The whole time you have to avoid eye contact and just keep a steady pace and a steady hand on your valuables. I often wonder if I will crack, I cannot express the damage it does to a person's mental state.
But there is joy in watching the complete innocence of half naked children building sand castles in the middle of the busy sections of Bhubeneswar without ( it would seem) a care in the world.
Another area of the street is the tin box building industrial area and then you will pass into the rooster row. Giant hand-made baskets made from bamboo weaving encase chickens and roosters and are there for sale. A living chicken market that people barter at. It is a mosaic of everything that keeps your senses spinning...
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