WEBVTT

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I'm going to read a couple
of poems, three or four poems

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now that belong in a
curious way to India.

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At least some of them
belong in a curious way.

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Some of them belong in
an obvious way, actually.

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OK.

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The first one is called "Maya."

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As you all know, Maya is the
vast veil of cosmic illusion

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in which we all live.

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It's for Peter Orlovsky.

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And a word, O, capital
O is slang for opium.

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"White clothes, white skin,
white cows, the dream of India

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and flowers, teeth
stained red, hair silver

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like that old giant jeweler
wouldn't touch meat.

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A little O now and then."

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And that's true, actually.

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Opium is very easy
to get in India,

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and Indian hemp, known
as ganja in Hindi,

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and known in this
country is marijuana,

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is sold in government
stores with government tax

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stamps in India to be
smoked where you please.

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Although they did send
out a government ruling

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two years ago that
civil servants were not

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to smoke marijuana
on their lunch hours.

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[LAUGHTER]

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They thought it made them
inefficient in the afternoon.

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[LAUGHTER]

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Nehru, who was
really trying to make

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India a presentable
country, went

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to promise to make hemp
illegal in 15 years.

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[LAUGHS]