the iron

if you look closely enough, there is a little lever that allows you to lift the handle of this traditional iron. It opens into a cavity, where you can put hot charcoal into it. This is how my clothes were ironed every week. Once in awhile you'll get a speck of charcoal on your dress shirt...and then that little speck will spread into a full blown spot...because of the spready nature of charcoal on fabric i guess... =) I think this summarises a lot of what India about. Where people actually breakout the barbeque to iron your western clothes.