20 paisa smile

One of my uncles had a ritual of praying to the lord every friday, and handing out alms to the poor on the streets at a precise time of the day. Hence, the beggars would line up outside his house doors every friday. Sometimes he would ask me to hand out the 10-20 paise coins to the poor as an act of goodwill. As a kid, I didnt think much about it until later, when I sympathized with the poverty stricken who would line up smilingly under the harsh sun for just 20 paise.
Today, 20 years later, I was looking at the forex graph for Rupee Vs Dollar, the dollar had risen 20 paisey (from 39.4 to 39.6) and that fact made me smiling glad (I earn in dollars).

The ironic similarity between my smile and the beggar's struck me numb.

The smiling faces of presidents from coins and notes, suddenly make sense now.

For money, we all are poor.

Texas Renaissance Festival - 2007

Texas Renaissance Festival, is an annual occurance in the otherwise sleepy town of Plantersville, TX. Happens every Oct-Nov, scheduled dates can be found here. If you were traveling from Houston like I was, you will be better off taking I-45 North all the way to Conroe and then driving West on Hwy 105 to Plantersville. Hwy 249 from Houston to Plantersville, plain sucks with the numerous traffic signals until you are out of the city and have crossed Tomball. Plus there is all the traffic going to the Fest, if you are visiting over a weekend. Entry tickets may be purchased for a few dollars less at HEB or Randalls and some other locations listed on the official website. There is plenty of parking and the fair grounds are converted spectacularly with medieval times scenery and the costumes people wear will have an average Joe like myself reaching for that camera.

Jousting Knights at an arena, axe throwing, drench-a-wench (she had a real bad tongue), aiming tomatoes at this fella, dancing gypsies, music from a long lost french era, english/french/european foods and crafts, pirates, women dressed as european upper class from the times of Queen Elizabeth I, can be all seen here. Without wasting anymore words, here are the pictures. Enjoy.