Looks like the "Pope-mobile" is changing from a Mercedes Benz to an Indian rickshaw!

An auto-rickshaw, a black and yellow 3-wheeler that can seat no more than 3 people, is India's most used form of private transport. The Pope has just received a personalized, completely white one with special insignia, that he will be using for public appearances as he commutes around the Vatican.

The Times Of India has hyped this piece of news as a symbolic step in marking India's connection with the spiritual leader.

Definitely unique news and a novel marketing gimmick by Piaggio Ape Calessino, the rickshaw manufacturing company, but not worthy of front page status.

In my opinion, the Pope making use this mode of transport from a developing country is a feather in the cap for India's awesome transportation system, but other than that, no big deal.

The mix of animals, traffic and people in New Delhi is fascinating any day of the week. When I lived there, pulling up alongside an elephant at a traffic light did happen. Avoiding hitting the cows that meandered at the sides of the roads was a daily venture.

Once, our car grazed a cow just as it twitched its hind end towards traffic. When the side-view mirror was snapped off, my husband quipped, "It must have been in a reflective mood."

There was one section where fruit bats the size of dogs hung upside down from trees, and another part where monkeys gathered in large groups. Camels also meandered through the neighborhood. Hiring one for a kid's birthday party was standard.

Recently, New Delhi has become more zoo-like with the heavy rains. As animals are getting flooded out of their natural habitat homes, they've looked for higher ground and have found it at the New Delhi airport on the runways. Lizards, jackals and birds have shown up in large enough numbers that they've been removed to a wildlife sanctuary.

Just another reason for a flight delay. "Monitor lizard in the way. Please be patient; we'll be taking off shortly."

According to the article, this three to four-foot-long creature can create some significant damage to an airplane. I'll say.

Door shots tend to be intriguing, and this one is thanks to Bernard-SD. There is something about photographing the entrance to someone's personal space that can't be seen. I immediately think of what's going on behind the door -- who lives there, what they are doing, etc. It's hard to pull your eyes away from the bright color of this door in Hyderabad, India, but what I really like are the drawings on the doorstep. I wonder what they mean?

Do you have a great shot from your travels? Submit it to the Gadling flickr pool and we'll consider it for Photo of the Day.

Update -- Bernard-SD alerted me to an interesting explanation of the drawings that someone posted on his flickr page. Thanks!

Sex and the City was the hot topic the summer between our two years living in Taiwan and our two years in India. I saw it once at a friend's house when I stopped over in Albuquerque for a few days visit. I liked it, but nothing I couldn't live without. I was jet-lagged anyway. Two years later, I saw one more episode. Friends we were visiting in Pochetello, Idaho had TiVoed it---something else that was new phenomenon in the U.S. cultural scene.

Five years after that, there I was last night with two of my women friends at the opening night Sex and the City event at Drexel East, one of the independent movie theaters in Columbus, Ohio. One friend was wearing a black dress. Since living overseas has made me totally out of tune with what to wear on many occasions, and I don't travel in glamorous circles very often, I wasn't paying attention to my attire. Plus, this was a back to back event--the first event was the end-of -the-year potluck at my son's elementary school. With ten minutes in between the two, I had on a very nice T-shirt, black jeans and a pair of new shoes that fit into casual nice. Ooops.

I was all caught up with the Sex and the City storyline, however, thanks to videos and cable television. It used to be that living overseas meant huge chunks of popular culture were totally gone. It wasn't a terrible loss, but there were movies I hadn't seen, or events that happened in celebrity-ville that I wasn't privy too. There were some conversations at parties I couldn't join in. No loss really, but it was clear who had been living a life out of the American mainstream.

Although this shot by lecercle was taken in Bangalore, India, I see it as a tribute to all the people who rescue people worldwide--some quietly when no one is looking, and others who just happen to be there when the shutter opens, even though they probably don't even know it.

If you've captured a remarkable moment in the world, send it to Gadling's Flickr photo pool and it might be chosen as a Photo of the Day.

According to a Durex global survey, Indians are not sexually satisfied -- only 46% of them manage to orgasm. Not quite what you'd expect from the land of Kamasutra and erotic sculptures.

India today is strongly influenced by Western culture, however it is not yet free from its traditional shell, something that gives rise to much hypocrisy. For example: India wanting to ban cheer leaders in a cricket tournament because they are vulgar, but then Bollywood film songs are provocative enough to be classified as erotica.

Sex is still a taboo subject in the country (it's almost synonymous to porn), there is no sex education in schools (culturally immoral?), and anything to do with the word is suppressed. Not being able to enjoy sex stems from inhibitions and ingrained conservative cultural beliefs, all that rise from tradition and severe lack of openness in society.

Or could all this be rubbish and it really has to do with the fact that the "thingis" of Indian men are too small?

Oh well, at least India has scored higher than the Japanese and Chinese who with only 27% and 24% (respectively) managing to reach orgasm, have been pronounced the countries that have the worst sex. Italians, Spaniards and Mexicans have the best sex lives with 66% of them reaching orgasm.

Read the title of this post again. Now say "what???" As odd as it sounds, Shailendra Roy of eastern India isn't kidding around.

Earlier this week Roy impressed crowds by pulling a train engine and three coaches. The Darjeeling toy train, which weighs about 35 tons, was attached to Roy's ponytail by a metal chain. After pulling the train 10 meters, Roy proudly announced, "I am planning to dangle myself from a helicopter."

How do you maintain such a ponytail? By rubbing it with mustard oil and doing lots of training, like pulling heavy logs and other objects. And apparently the flying thing isn't totally new; last year Roy tied his ponytail from a rope and flew through the air from one building to another in front of television cameras.

Although we here at Gadling do not recommend you try Roy's new way of travel at home, the concept is intriguing. And by intriguing I obviously mean slightly crazy.

When I watched this video, I honestly didn't think they were actually going to throw the baby off the building! They did.

Granted, it was a soft landing, but still.

Muslims in western India have been observing a bizarre ritual - they've been throwing their young children off a tall building to improve their health, writes Reuters.The faithful have been observing the ritual at a shrine in Solapur, in western India's Maharastra, for more than five hundred years. They believe it will make their children strong and say no accidents have ever happened.

I think it's time Islam hired a global PR agency to deal with all their publicity crisis. This one is no crowd pleaser, either.

Location: Delhi, the city with a history that dates back to 1650 A.D. This is where the Mughal Empire once reigned supreme leaving stunning buildings in its wake, and the British tried to recreate into an organized place of roundabouts and more stunning buildings. Common to every part of the city is the sacred cow that wanders throughout. Food truths: milk crosses cultural boundaries, and there's nothing quite like a perfect masala.

Episode Rating: 4 Sheep Testicles (out of 4) using Aaron's system, but trade sheep for goat.

Summary: Oh, rapture! Joy! I thought I missed food in Taiwan until I saw Andrew Zimmern eat his way through Delhi. With the abundance of food options and places to eat, Zimmern and his crew did an admirable job honing in on highlights of the gastronomic variety. If one thinks that Indian food is nothing but yellow curry powder, this episode dispelled that. Another dispelled myth is Delhi belly. I never had it in two years that I recall. If I had it, I'd remember.

This shot taken in Jaisalmer, India by arunchs looks like one of those scenes that might have looked the same 100 years ago--except for the sneakers. Also, notice the exquisite embroidered cloth underneath the saddle on the camel. There is a blue ruffle border to jazz it up. The embroidered household items sold in Rajasthan, where Jaisalmer is located, make shopping here sheer pleasure.

Send your shots that evoke pleasure our way at Gadling's Flickr Photo Pool.