Day 82:

Another day, another train station. I left Agra on a standing room only ticket, since I was so late booking my passage. I managed to upgrade to a seat after a half hour, though.

I'm heading north now. First to the 1950s planned-city of Chandigarh, and then further north, to Shimla, Manali and Leh - back into the Himalayan mountains. I really, really want to get away from this heat.

I finished reading "On the Road." It's a compelling book. Kerouac takes all the madness and depression and loneliness of being jobless, future less and itinerant in the 40s and blends those things with occasional moments of joy and exuberance. In doing this he seems to create a picture of a life that seems to be ultimately unfufilling, but yet so romantic as to be desirable.

There's a wonderful description of Sal's reasons for being on the road that I've scrawled into my notebook... he's "shambled after... all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time..." Well, he goes on for some time, about the people that he loves to be near.

But regardless, maybe life is the same no matter where one is. Kerouac wrote in a diary one time that "all of life is a foreign country."

Hmm.