Lucknow!

Saturday 17th Jan
Up early and down for breakfast then out into the sunlight to start my search. I have a tourist map of the area supplied by Flip & John with the cemetery marked so should be fairly easy to find. (Or so I thought!)
Took one of the cycle rickshaws to the road junction marked and then out to walk.
I must have walked miles, backwards and forwards, criss-crossing the whole area, asking local police and army personnel (that is an experience as they all have rifles or shotguns slung over their shoulders). The English language here is very poor, and my Hindu is less than one word! So no-one seemed to understand what I was looking for. I even mimicked someone lying in state, but all they could do was direct me to a shop making beds!
3 1/2 hours in the morning trudging the dirty streets of Lucknow is no fun, particularly when every person you pass looks on you as something from another planet - people riding past on bikes trikes and cars all look back to grab another image of this white boy.
It becomes even more un-nerving as time goes on, especially as I was passing the same people a number of times on my treks backwards and forwards.
It was no good though, I couldn't find the graveyard anywhere - I did spot three enclosed spaces which may have been it, but the first was filled with railway sleepers and wooden cable drums as they were repairing the local line, the second was a walled/fenced area with a rusty gate and a shiny new padlock on it, but there were only a few shrubs in there, no sign of any headstones. The last was so overgrown I wouldn't have ventured in there had I spotted anything, no knowing what was in the undergrowth - couldn't see anything there either though.
So, the second leg turns out to be fruitless, but I didn't really expect to actually find anything here, Flip & John had the same result, even though they actually found the site.
I did try the local tourist office after lunch, but it was closed so no joy there either.
Another thing I am noticing more and more is the reluctance of local people to have photos taken. It's worse here than anywhere else I've been, with people getting quite aggressive. It's ok to take snaps of old buildings etc, but as soon as you focus on the daily life the shouting and waving starts. I've been forced to delete some from my camera by the police twice!
There has been a lot of media cover over the time I've been here about how Indian poverty is ignored by the rest of the world - this is in the light of the new Indian film sensation "Slumdog Millionaire".
However it's not surprising as they don't allow it to be portrayed! Before I came here I knew there were slums and beggars etc., but nothing prepares for the total depravation you come across all the time. Everywhere there are people there are beggars, and everywhere there are beggars there are slums. And the slums really are slums, in Lucknow the walls are brick - not bricks & mortar, just plain bricks stacked up then either a tin or fabric roof (sacking or woven nylon bag material mostly). The men urinate in the street, and the spitting is foul - most people chew some sort of tobacco and spit on the street, there are red stains everywhere.
This is the last place with internet connection until I get to Singapore (on 21/01) so take care everyone.