So when I was buying all the rice, sesame seeds, powders, seeds, etc for the shraddh, I remembered how surprised I was the second time I was in India when the young lady I was traveling with and I stopped at a chutney shop and the shop keeper pulled out a piece of newspaper and used it to scoop out a hunk of chutney for her to try. Uh, yuck!

Well newspaper can and does do anything here. The vendor that wrapped up the materials for my ritual is in the middle of wrapping something in this image (he seems a bit surprised I took his photo as you can tell):

He gets the bottle off the shelf behind him, then folds a piece of newspaper with about a 30 degree angle, creating a shallow cone shape. He then fills it with whatever item he needs and begins folding again. With a few short folds like the first and he creates a small packet that is portable and doesn't fall open easily. You can sort of see it in the picture.

Moments ago, in the lobby of the Y, I saw they were using Newspaper to sop up the water dripping from an air-conditioning unit.

But it is not only newspapers. The title "India does not have Tupperware" was inspired by the folks at train stations who pull out their "picnic" lunches (most folks who travel in India bring their own food) usually bring them in plastic bags or some such thing. The roti, bread, is wrapping in newspaper or plain paper, and the alu, potatoes, or other dish is in a plastic bag, like a one quart grocery store bag, which sits open on the cloth they are sitting on and is dipped into to eat.

Now for full disclosure. As I was composing this in my head over the last few days, especially the title, I walked into the YMCA Guest House and saw this sign: