Chapter 24: Surprise appearance of T-virus The distance from New Delhi, the capital of India, to Bodhgaya in Bihar is about more than a thousand kilometers, which is about half the distance from Beijing to Shanghai.
If it is on a highway in China, it is estimated that it will take one day and one night at most.
However, on the Indian roads where all kinds of animals and vehicles were running wildly, the luxury bus of the Buddhist pilgrimage tour group that Wang Qiu and others took drove for two and a half days and had just entered the border of Bihar state.
This was because the tour group headed straight to Bodh Gaya from New Delhi and did not spend time visiting the Taj Mahal, the holy city of Varanasi, famous for its floating corpse on the Ganges, and other scenic spots.
The tour group seemed to be planning to wait until the return trip. time, go to the places mentioned above.
From a historical and cultural perspective, Bihar is to India what Henan is to China.
This state is located in the core area of the Ganges plain.
The Ganges, the mother river of the Indian people, the incarnation of the daughter of the Vedas, the river of light, the holy river that opens the door to liberation from the cycle of life and death, rushes through the center of Bihar. , nourishing this land, making the fields here fertile, with three or even four crops a year.
Green rice fields, golden waves of wheat, and clear ponds can be seen everywhere.
The pond was covered with lotus roots and water lilies, and buffaloes stepped on the mud beside the pond, chewing lotus leaves.
Its capital, Patna, was once the largest city in the world, and the capital of King Asoka during the Mauryan Dynasty, Huasheng City, as early as BC.
In 250, there were 700,000 people.
Buddhism and Sikhism both originated in this land, and Hinduism also has countless temples and holy places here.
However, despite having such a splendid civilization history, sitting on the most fertile land on the Ganges River, and having a population of more than 100 million, Bihar today is the poorest state in India.
In the eyes of the Chinese, Now, Indians are already poor enough, but the per capita annual income in Bihar is only a quarter of the per capita income in India.
It is only more than 400 US dollars, which is lower than Eritrea in Africa.
Furthermore, Bihar’s literacy rate and average life expectancy are also among the lowest in India.
Per capita electricity consumption is only one-sixth of the Indian average.
Many towns have no electricity, and it is dark at night.
Moreover, public security is extremely bad, with Naxal-Maoist guerrillas and car bandits and road bullies appearing everywhere.
Even the police chief of Bihar publicly lamented that the place he manages is "a lawless and chaotic land."
Therefore, when the tour bus entered Bihar, not only were there various sandbag bunkers scattered everywhere along the way, with soldiers carrying Lee-Enfield rifles performing "anti-terrorist missions", but the road under the wheels was full of cow dung and animals.
The cement road with hoof prints has further deteriorated into a dirt road that has not even been asphalted and has no street lights.
It was very bumpy at first.
A car full of passengers had sore buttocks.
In the end, they ended up in a deserted country with no village or shop.
Unfortunately, the engine crashed and the car collapsed.
Due to the interruption of air conditioning, the car was quickly burned into an oven by the scorching sun.
In order to avoid being burned by Roasted alive and turned into jerky, all the passengers had no choice but to get off the bus and each looked for shade under the trees to escape the scorching sun, but it was still so hot that they stuck out their tongues like dogs.
"Hey, hey, let me tell you, what on earth do you think you are driving a bus on such a shabby road to organize an international tour?"
While applying cooling oil on his forehead to prevent heatstroke, Wang Qiu complained to the sweaty tour group leader, "Why not let the tour group take the train or find a better road?
Such a bumpy gravel road is simply not suitable for tractors." ah" "This is our first time running this route.
We didn't expect it to be like this.
From the map, this is clearly a newly built highway.
In the newspaper, the Bihar Transport Minister said that the entire highway had been renovated and opened to traffic.
Who would have thought that the photo of the ribbon cutting was actually a scam?”
The team leader showed a sad expression, "Except for the first few kilometers at the toll station, there has been no renovation at all."
Wang Qiu suddenly thought that in Jules Verne's science fiction novel Around the World in Eighty Days, the protagonist seemed to have had a similar experience in India.
The railway announced in the newspaper that it had been open to traffic for a long time was actually a lot shorter due to embezzlement of funds.
It was not repaired at all, but the Indian side still pretended that it had been repaired and sold all the tickets.
As a result, the protagonist had to buy an elephant and ride on it.
"No way, India has always been known as a paradise for great magicians.
In the past, roadside sadhus could make some coins disappear; now, elected members of parliament have made some bridges, roads and dams disappear.
Just like China, we He also maintains his own traditions.”
The beautiful Indian tour guide in a sari also came over, muttered feebly, and then told a joke that is said to be famous in India: an Indian minister visited China and was invited to the Chinese minister's home for a dinner.
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As soon as the Indian minister arrived at the Chinese minister's home, he was surprised to see the luxurious house.
He asked: "How do you manage to maintain such luxury in your home when your salary is not high?"
The Chinese minister took him to the roof and asked: "Do you see the highway over there?"
The Indian minister nodded.
"Well, that highway was originally 12 lanes.
I made it 8 lanes.
The remaining 4 lanes are at my house."
Indian Minister: "" Two years later, the Chinese minister visited India.
The Indian minister invited him to his home for lunch.
Seeing the Indian minister's luxurious home, the Chinese minister was very surprised and asked the Indian minister: "Your monthly salary is only 10,000 rupees, how did you build your home into a palace?"
The Indian minister was very happy and took the Chinese minister to the 18th floor of his home and asked: "Did you see highways, dams and power projects there?"
The Chinese minister saw nothing.
He said: "No."
The Indian minister said: "My friends, they are all in my home."
It's the same as corruption.
In China, you take part of it and still do some business.
In India, you take the whole thing and do nothing.
"Well, you don't have to be too depressed.
In fact, similar things happen in China.
For example, when the country wants to revitalize the animation industry, the central government allocates 100 million to local governments to make cartoons; the local governments withhold 90 million and use 10 million to work for well-known animation The well-known animation studio took 9 million and subcontracted another 1 million to a small animation company; and the small animation company actually A leather bag company withheld 900,000 yuan and gave 100,000 yuan to an animation professor at a certain university.
The professor took the money and turned around and threw the task to the students, saying that this is your summer homework because you have no money and are lazy.
The student simply found an old Japanese anime dubbed by Taiwanese or Hong Kong people, and at most changed the character’s avatar, without even thinking about the plot, and just got on with it.”
Li Wei interrupted and said, "After the whole process, I am very satisfied from top to bottom.
The only ones who are dissatisfied and even slap the table and scold me are the audience.
But Chinese cartoons are never made for the audience, just like the roads in India are not made for people."
To make the car run the same way” Wang Qiu was stunned when he heard this.
Although he also knew that many university professors took on their own private work, which was usually students' final assignments, but it was still a bit weird to do it to such an exaggerated level.
It seemed that his moral integrity was still too high.
It is necessary to continue to learn from advanced experience.
Complaints are complaints, but the journey must continue.
I have to say that there are quite a lot of capable people in this tour group.
Although the air-conditioned bus cannot be repaired for a while, in order not to delay the trip, I don’t know where to go soon.
Where can I find a colonial-style luxury bus as a replacement?
It means that it can be seen that this tourist bus was once very new and great, but that was almost a few decades ago.
This bus is full of Indian style.
The outside is full of colorful reliefs of gods and fine patterns.
The inside is decorated with imitation wood-grain plastic.
There are carved beams and painted beams everywhere.
There is also a small iron fan inlaid above each seat.
The overall style is gorgeous.
It was so strange that all the tourists in the tour group couldn't help but take out their cameras, mobile phones and tablets and take pictures non-stop.
However, there was a problem.
There were originally passengers on this bus.
If Wang Qiu and his group of Chinese tourists were added, it would be too crowded.
However, this problem was easily solved.
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After some bargaining, the tour leader Comrade reluctantly agreed to all the Indian passengers All refunds are free of charge, and each person will be compensated with a compensation package of 500 rupees.
The Indians in the car immediately made room for the Chinese tourists with a smile, and moved their luggage separately: some climbed up to the roof of the car skillfully to enjoy the scenery, and the other with the strength of their arms The best ones are hung directly outside the car window.
Then, this bus had one car of people sitting inside, another car of people hanging outside, and a few sheep standing on the roof.
When it was twice overloaded, it moved slowly at a speed of up to thirty kilometers per hour.
The earth continued to crawl towards Bodh Gaya for the remaining 100 kilometers, which took a full five and a half hours.
Especially when passing several broken bridges that seemed to be hundreds of years old, it was a terrifying soul sublimation again and again.
But the quality of the Indian people is really extraordinary.
Even the Chinese tourists sitting in the car were screaming with fright, and they were still laughing and joking while hanging outside the car.
Some people kept falling off due to lack of arm strength, but soon He trotted again and climbed to the car window again.
By the time the car finally arrived at Bodhgaya, where Buddha attained enlightenment, its passengers had almost reached enlightenment amidst the scorching heat and horror.
Although it is a famous scenic tourist area, Bodh Gaya is so dirty and noisy that it is unimaginable.
At first glance, it does not feel like a pure Buddhist place.
Just like other Indian cities seen along the way, the streets of Bodh Gaya are full of garbage, and it is common for people to stand on the street and turn around to urinate.
It feels like Indians are living in a huge garbage dump.
As soon as everyone got off the bus, groups of beggars came in like a tide, chasing the tourists at a fast speed.
With bright eyes, they stretched out their hands and called softly "10 rupees, 10 rupees, 10 rupees".
If the tourists refused to pay attention, If you walk straight ahead, it will immediately become "5 rupees, 5 rupees, 5 rupees".
If you ignore it again, it will become "1 rupee, 1 rupee, 1 rupee".
The transition was so seamless that it was admirable.
Behind the little beggar, there are various vendors selling tourist souvenirs.
The vendors here are all quick-witted and fluent in English.
They look like they have been trained in actual combat.
They always start with "heo" and then start selling Wang Qiu with great enthusiasm.
As soon as they got rid of the little beggar, they were blocked by a vendor selling Buddha-shaped watches: "Hey, my friend, look at your watch, look at your watch."
Wang Qiu sighed helplessly, raised his left hand and said, "I already have a watch."
The hawker immediately suggested happily: "Change your watch and change your watch."
Wang Qiu, who looked embarrassed and energetic: "" After finally getting rid of these over-enthusiastic vendors, the next thing I saw were religious figures from all over the street.
Among them were Tibetan lamas in red robes, Southeast Asian monks in yellow, and Japanese monks wearing glasses.
Most of them were local ascetics from India.
They were dirty, shirtless, and had dirt of various colors on their faces and hair.
They were entangled by mosquitoes and flies under the trees on the street, and they were motionless in strange postures.
Although this approach is very similar to that of a masochistic performance artist, the Indians are obviously very fond of it.
Not only do they not dislike them as dirty and smelly, they also respectfully respect them as saints.
After all, this is how the original Buddha Sakyamuni attained enlightenment through meditation and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist records, more than 2,500 years ago, Prince Sakyamuni of Nepal saw through the world of mortals, became a monk, and sought the Taoist path.
Initially, he was accompanied by five companions, and he successively learned Taoism from three famous scholars.
But Sakyamuni felt that those scholars had no real way to escape, so he left them.
In order to seek liberation, Sakyamuni and five companions came to the south bank of the Ganges.
They practiced asceticism in a forest in Bodhgaya today, just like the ascetics in modern India, starving themselves in various strange postures.
He practiced asceticism unremittingly for six years with no results, so he felt that asceticism was not the way to seek liberation, so he bathed in the river, and then received milk from a cowherd girl, which restored his strength.
At this time, Sakyamuni's five companions thought that he was discouraged, so they left him and continued their ascetic practices elsewhere.
Sakyamuni came to a Bodhi tree alone and made great ambitions.
If he did not achieve the right path, he would never leave this place.
He spread the auspicious grass, sat cross-legged and faced the east, meditated hard, and finally defeated all kinds of troubles and demonic obstacles in his heart one night, and realized the right path and became a Buddha.
Regrettably, even though as early as 2,500 years ago, Gautama Buddha was lobbying hard from east to west and south to north with bare feet on the land of India, promoting the ideological tenet of "the equality of all living beings".
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But more than two thousand years have passed, and Indians' deep-rooted hierarchical concepts remain unchanged.
In short, the place where the Bodhi tree is located is the birthplace of Buddhism, modern Bodh Gaya.
The first of the four holy places of Buddhism in India, it is also known as the United Nations of Buddhism.
So after entering Bodh Gaya, you can see temples everywhere along the way, almost from China, Japan, South Korea, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
Every Asian country with Buddhist beliefs has collected donations from believers and built temples with their own national style in Bodh Gaya, just like embassies.
Among them, the Japanese temple is the largest.
Compared with the chaos and filth on the streets of Bodh Gaya, every foreign temple here is full of birds and flowers and is spotless.
However, the unpleasant smell that cannot be driven away from the street still drifts into the temple from time to time.
It can be seen that temples in the real society cannot escape the mundane world and truly become a pure place.
However, Wang Qiu and the others did not come to Bodhgaya for tourism and pilgrimage, so they said goodbye to the tourists in the group as soon as they got off the bus, then found a three-wheeled motorcycle, left Bodhgaya, and continued towards the Chandra Shukla The husband's village of Vicha advanced.
After another difficult and bumpy journey, they finally arrived at their destination in the evening with weak legs.
It was a small village that seemed to have the words "poverty and backwardness" engraved on its forehead, with thatched roofs and mud brick walls everywhere. , looks like an African tribe.
The children in the village are all disproportionately thin for their age, and their heads look particularly big; their innocent eyes flicker, as if they are torturing people's consciences.
Just a stone's throw away from this slum, the only decent house in the village, the Shukla family's small foreign-style mansion, is like a king among beggars, standing on a hill surrounded by green trees.
Although it is in Wang Qiu's house, it is like a king among beggars.
In the eyes, this house looks just like a farmer's house in the countryside of southeastern China.
At most, the courtyard is a bit larger, but here it is already like a palace.
So, Wang Qiu and the others went to the door, explained their purpose to the big and round doorman, and asked him to call the owner of the house.
A moment later, a middle-aged housekeeper in khaki uniform rushed over in a hurry, dragging their hands with them eagerly and walking inside.
As he walked, he said incoherently, "You are doctors from China."
Great, the master fell ill the night before yesterday.
His forehead was so hot that he could roast potatoes, but the quack doctors in this rural area couldn't cure it, and many people were also infected."
Upon hearing this, Wang Qiu and others suddenly felt excited, and the alarm bell blared immediately.
When they entered the house and took a closer look, they found that people were coughing everywhere, and there was even a guy lying in the corner vomiting blood.
It was even more terrifying and full of anxiety.
When they were pulled into Mr.
Chandra's bedroom by the housekeeper, the female school nurse Shizuka Marikawa took over and examined Chandra, who was already lying in bed and comatose due to a high fever.
Ms.
Marikawa Shizuka, whose beauty instantly faded, finally came up with the answer she least expected to see: "God, it's really over now.
It's definitely a mutated T-virus and it has spread." oshow7: