Date: Sat, 21 Jan 1995 13:59:40 +0100


      COUNTRY: India
        STATE: Karnataka
         TOWN: Bangalore
         NAME: Ramaswamy 
      SEX/AGE: M/22
ACCOMMODATION: Most likely sleeping bag/mattress in house,
               possibly bed.
     LOCATION: Residential area 15 mins by bus to city 'center'.
   MAX GUESTS: 2
   MAX LENGTH: 1 week
     EXPENSES: telephone/email, food, transportation, laundry
 RESTRICTIONS: no smokers or book-haters
 EXPECTATIONS: clean up after yourself, be open and curious,
               bring books to exchange
 PRIOR NOTICE: 15 days
    LANGUAGES: English, Kannada, Tamil (fluent)
               French, Hindi (almost fluent)
               Sanskrit (1-yr academic knowledge)
               Spanish, Amharic (passable)
               Portuguese (learning)
     THE HOST: I am very keen on outdoor activities,
               especially mountain climbing (no ice climbing or
               cave diving though) and backpacking. I would
               consider joining any such ventures. I have
               backpacked and climbed in Alaska and British
               Columbia in addition to some parts of California,
               Mexico, Central America and Haiti; I plan to do a
               lot more in South America, New Zealand, Australia
               and Indonesia over the next few months. I prefer to
               travel, in order of preference, by foot, horse,
               bicycle, train, bus and boat/ship. I appreciate a
               wide variety of sports, especially basketball,
               which, unusually for India, is available close by my
               house. I studied physics but have decided to live
               in India doing 'other' things since I could not
               stomach having to live in the US. I find computers
               remarkably useful and use them accordingly, but also
               debilitating and distracting.
               In no particular order, are some books that have
               influenced me greatly, _Godel, Escher and Bach:
               The eternal golden braid_ by Douglas Hofstadter,
               _Tools for Conviviality_ by Ivan Illich,
               _A House for Mr. Biswas_ by V.S. Naipaul
               and the quartet by Pramoedya Ananta Toer which
               includes _Child of All Nations_,
               _This Earth of Mankind_, _Footsteps_
               and _House of Glass_.
        OTHER: I am willing to provide extensive information about
               travelling in India, especially by train,
               which is THE way to travel in India.