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Clarke Scott is a fully ordained Buddhist monk trained in the Tibetan tradition. A student of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Clarke has received personal instructions—direct one-to-one instructions—on Madhyamaka philosophy and meditation from His Holiness. Recently Clarke moved to Tasmania to pursue a Ph.D in Buddhist philosophy from the University of Tasmania.

Delhi Bus Station

Oh my god, not even the Tibetans know which bus to take!

I’m writing this on the bus to Dharamsala but, only after a 4 1/2 hour wait in a Delhi bus station filled with beggers, more people in one location than you can imagine, and the smell of stale urine. To say that the "Indian culture shock" is a myth is just plain WRONG!

For instance, there was a group of Tibetans going to Dharamsala on an earlier bus than me. Although they spoke no English, I soon came to realise that just like me, they also had no idea which bus they were supposed to take.

It was sheer chaos as it seems Indian bus drivers have only one rule: toot your horn to warm others of your location and do so at every opportunity. At one point there were so many buses in the terminal that there was a massive traffic jam. Literally no bus could move. It was the most incredible sight you can imagine. And the noice. Oh my god! It was a symphony of sound like nothing I’ve experienced before. A chorus of tooting bus horns, guys with whistles directing traffic. Although it seemed to me, it was not so much about directing anything, but rather, they were there to make sure the buses didn’t hit anything or anyone.

I knew I was taking an AC Volvo bus to Dharamsala. So as the scheduled departure time approached. I asked a couple of these traffic whistle guys where the AC Volvo…Dharamsala  to which one guy pointed at one bus and another to a different bus.  Likely, a little while later I met a French monk who was also going to Dharamsala and so in the end it turned at well.

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