It gets crazier everyday...

10.00 am.
It seemed like any other normal, crappy day. Here I was, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, listening to John Fogerty and Co, and waiting for the traffic to move so that I could get to where ever I wanted to go.

My famous zen-like patience was nearing its breaking point as row after row of cars and damned autos went past me, refusing to give me my God given right of way. And to add insult to grevious injury, the parade continues with a bullock cart slowly ambling its way across, its bells jingling away to glory.

Now, given the right environment, the soothing sound of a cart making its way down the wet roads of a provincial Kerala town, just after an afternoon shower is blissful indeed. But this is a city !! The bullock cart, was closely followed by a Merc (C-class), tailed by an auto and goaded on by a milk man on a cycle, complete with aluminium cans clanging.

As I absorbed the unfolding chaos, I was becoming acutely aware of the growing line of impatience behind me as cars started lining up, horns started honking and tempers started flaring. The time by now was 10.11 am. A full 11 minutes had passed since I got into this seemingly inextricable situation.

I say 'seemingly' because this is something I endure everyday in one form or an other, at one major junction or another, and by now like other Bangaloreans, am used to it. After all, the traffic in Bangalore, like the weather in England , is great fodder for a conversation starter in really awkward social circumstances.

But what I simple cannot, and refuse to make peace with is the fact that all of the above... all the cars, buses, tricycles ( yes even that) had to take place right in front of my building and I was stuck, trying get out of the driveway for a full 15 minutes.

I should have walked... the damn store was half a km away.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

When the music group "War" wrote this song in the 70's, I'm sure they had quite a few things on their mind... communists, racial tensions, rich poor divide and much more. That message still has not changed.

As we go around leading our lives, just trying to get by each day, we face frayed tempers, irritation at every remark directed against us. At this point we get into a vicious tit for tat cycle, trying out do the others and take revenge. This is magnified at the national and the international level with disputes over rivers, a few yards of land and ofcourse, oil.

I came across this clip from an Iranian film from the 70s "Do Rahehal Barayeh Yek Mass" which portrays an everyday situation involving two children with two scenarios with very different out comes.

The clip is very well made and the simple narrative style and the drama captured can happen in any classroom anywhere in the world ( yes..its HAS happened to me!). The end really gets you thinking and puts a smile on your face as you realise that there are two solutions to every problem.. and ALWAYS an easy way out !

Take out 4:11 minutes of your time to watch this gem....
(Link courtesy : The Voice of A)

I miss.....

The gentle Bangalore May sunshine...
The ominous grey clouds and summer rain...
The cool greenness of Nanda road...
The solitude of Jayanagar streets...
The squeaking squirrels at my window sill..
The four rupee tea stall beside the lake...
The chaotic calmness of inner ring road


Yay ! I get back tomorrow!

Ondu Hosa Experience

While searching for good deals for a memory card for my camera, I went to Ezone and came across this absolutely ridiculous poster. In kannada, it reads " Ondu hosa experience". Translated, it means " A new experience"...

WTF ??????? A new experience? Is this a new machine to bathe your kid ? Or is the washing machine so safe that you can put your kid in it and take her for a 'spin' ? or maybe its a new joy ride at an amusement park, " GET WET, GET WILD, GET TUMBLE DRIED!!!"

Bleh ! I wonder who wrote the copy for this ad...

the ironman challenge

This one is courtesy Sharath Bhat at Metroblogging Bangalore . Read the original blog here

Knowing how crowded Bangalore buses are, all you have to do after you get off is peel your wrinkled shirt off, hand over to dhobi, receive ironed shirt and walk into office with crisp sleeves and a warm feeling around your collar

We are truly, like this only

leran kannada.. Ar Els

I wholly agree that if you live in a particular place, you take the pains to learn the local language. Try, atleast try to converse in the local lingo. If not anything, people will appreciate it that you made an effort. keep an open mind

"LEARN KANNADALEAVEIN KARNATAKA AR ELSE F"

But this type of jingoism will not work either...

Kannada rakshana vedike & Vatal Nagaraj..are you listenin to this???

Taxi driver - leran englishes befour yoo complayn!