This and most likely a lot of posts from now on are going to be on homecoming and the ups and downs in my daily life because of it. The weeks are whizzing by so fast that i feel old not being able to recollect what i did a couple of days ago. Bangalore is an amazing place. In my 2 weeks here so far, i have nearly fainted more than a dozen times .The dizziness caused by the traffic . The vehicle drivers almost have an unwritten code to not follow any rule. Its my way n its the only way .of course yes Mr. auto driver.Its best not to interfere.Prash has this i will be the saint follow the rule wait till a pedestrian crosses the road etc rules. I on the other hand dont care about anybody crossing road where they should not be or driving in the wrong lane etc. Its the right way n i wont budge if u have an SUV ( now an SUV in malleswaram is totally inconvenient for the driver as i can see but the owner has to show off no?). I fight with random ppl and shout "ellige manega melakka?" etc. I even get annoyed if Prash does not give a piece of his voice to the wrong-doers (hopelessly wrong I mean driving a truck in the wrong direction on a one way types wrong).
Its annoying every second.ppl dont walk on foootpaths bcoz they r dirty n stinking/cars parked/trees grown/rangoli is drawn??!!. So in order to avoid running over them, the drivers navigate in a random zig-zag path and ur chance to survive depends totally on ur instinct/mathematical genius to calculate the probability of the combination of peds+driver in front+driver bhind always eager to overtake u+(epsilon for random distractions like a dog/cat running into ur wheels etc).
The cargo collection @ the airport is an award-worthy story.We entered the parking lot after being advised by a couple of guys that 2 cartons should take us about 20 mins to clear.We ended up spending more than 8 hours there why? is funny in retrospect but on that i nearly killed myself for having thought transporting my used books+shoes should be a cake walk. The customs inspector cleared the items and was tad disappointed that we dint try to smuggle in dutiable goods as otherwise. Then came the epic. A data entry operator who to me looked like was there was typing training enter the magical Airwaybill (AWB). he asked us to wait in an adjacent room for 15 min. We have bcum super good @ utilizing time. So we called some1 we were meaning to talk to and had a good conversation. we spent close to half an hour talking on the fone n about the call a while after it n reminiscing etc etc. finally realised it was time to return to reality and went to check the collect the clearance form Oh ur AWB is wrong Mr.data entry said. I get annoyed ok ANGRY when some1 says I made this huge mistake so i went up to his computer and took out 3 forms n matched the number n not to my surprise found the magical digits to be the same.
Customes officer : go call ur airlines n ask them to correct it,
us (me/prash) : but its the same num we have from Air NZ. it cant b wrong
CO: arrreyyyy it happens all the time *yawns* . it will take u 2 hours go call now.
before this bloody computer it took us 2 minutes. stamp othida sign haakida hogi anda. Now keep on entering numbers n pray. yappa so much trouble.
us: *confused/helpless* ok.
After this we went back n forth between 3 offices in burning hot sun for close to 2 hours n i was back to my fight n shout @ random ppl. Worst was 1 guy taking majja looking @ us n playing the new superhit "pyaarge aagbittaithe" @ such high volumes that it made listening to the officer over the counter nearly impossible.If prash hadnt realized that i had lost it and stopped me (ok by stop i mean hold my wrist tightly n giving me a hard stare ) i would have snatched his mobile n thrown it away. After paying fees in thousands (no bribes so far so yay!) we managed to get the clearance @ 5 in the evening.
CO: yavery vone has taken their baggage n gone home u ppl paapa
me: thumba maja bartha ide alva nimge ? hahaha
prash: exasperated n annoyed @ me for such comments n throwing up his hands in the air.
To cut a long story short , some1 in Mumbai customs had entered the airline code wrong n to correct it took 5 ppl half a day n 50 Rs.
On the way back prash drove like a maniac n reached the city in 45 min.
I got busy looking @ ads on huge billboards.Most of them for that dream home/car. one of them said "if u want to experience venice in the heart of ....." WTF if u want to experience venice go to venice! no? no apparently u can pay some crores .
When I noticed, i was folding my hands in prayer and couldn't help but agree with upendra " bangalore city what a pity". This city is very different to the bangalore i knew. There is urge to display wealth. EVERYWHERE. in terms of over the top jewelley, houses, home decor,cars. The arrogance of the rich who think they can ask the driver to stop the car on a very busy road for the lady to alight the jaguar she was cocooned in is beyond my comprehension.
This in ur face vulgar display of wealth. The beggars and street vendors. This huge disparity and how every1 thinks its normal to raise ur voice against some1 because they r not rich. why the suppressed accept it?
I am beginning to realize that it will take me a very long time to feel @ home here.
Its annoying every second.ppl dont walk on foootpaths bcoz they r dirty n stinking/cars parked/trees grown/rangoli is drawn??!!. So in order to avoid running over them, the drivers navigate in a random zig-zag path and ur chance to survive depends totally on ur instinct/mathematical genius to calculate the probability of the combination of peds+driver in front+driver bhind always eager to overtake u+(epsilon for random distractions like a dog/cat running into ur wheels etc).
The cargo collection @ the airport is an award-worthy story.We entered the parking lot after being advised by a couple of guys that 2 cartons should take us about 20 mins to clear.We ended up spending more than 8 hours there why? is funny in retrospect but on that i nearly killed myself for having thought transporting my used books+shoes should be a cake walk. The customs inspector cleared the items and was tad disappointed that we dint try to smuggle in dutiable goods as otherwise. Then came the epic. A data entry operator who to me looked like was there was typing training enter the magical Airwaybill (AWB). he asked us to wait in an adjacent room for 15 min. We have bcum super good @ utilizing time. So we called some1 we were meaning to talk to and had a good conversation. we spent close to half an hour talking on the fone n about the call a while after it n reminiscing etc etc. finally realised it was time to return to reality and went to check the collect the clearance form Oh ur AWB is wrong Mr.data entry said. I get annoyed ok ANGRY when some1 says I made this huge mistake so i went up to his computer and took out 3 forms n matched the number n not to my surprise found the magical digits to be the same.
Customes officer : go call ur airlines n ask them to correct it,
us (me/prash) : but its the same num we have from Air NZ. it cant b wrong
CO: arrreyyyy it happens all the time *yawns* . it will take u 2 hours go call now.
before this bloody computer it took us 2 minutes. stamp othida sign haakida hogi anda. Now keep on entering numbers n pray. yappa so much trouble.
us: *confused/helpless* ok.
After this we went back n forth between 3 offices in burning hot sun for close to 2 hours n i was back to my fight n shout @ random ppl. Worst was 1 guy taking majja looking @ us n playing the new superhit "pyaarge aagbittaithe" @ such high volumes that it made listening to the officer over the counter nearly impossible.If prash hadnt realized that i had lost it and stopped me (ok by stop i mean hold my wrist tightly n giving me a hard stare ) i would have snatched his mobile n thrown it away. After paying fees in thousands (no bribes so far so yay!) we managed to get the clearance @ 5 in the evening.
CO: yavery vone has taken their baggage n gone home u ppl paapa
me: thumba maja bartha ide alva nimge ? hahaha
prash: exasperated n annoyed @ me for such comments n throwing up his hands in the air.
To cut a long story short , some1 in Mumbai customs had entered the airline code wrong n to correct it took 5 ppl half a day n 50 Rs.
On the way back prash drove like a maniac n reached the city in 45 min.
I got busy looking @ ads on huge billboards.Most of them for that dream home/car. one of them said "if u want to experience venice in the heart of ....." WTF if u want to experience venice go to venice! no? no apparently u can pay some crores .
When I noticed, i was folding my hands in prayer and couldn't help but agree with upendra " bangalore city what a pity". This city is very different to the bangalore i knew. There is urge to display wealth. EVERYWHERE. in terms of over the top jewelley, houses, home decor,cars. The arrogance of the rich who think they can ask the driver to stop the car on a very busy road for the lady to alight the jaguar she was cocooned in is beyond my comprehension.
This in ur face vulgar display of wealth. The beggars and street vendors. This huge disparity and how every1 thinks its normal to raise ur voice against some1 because they r not rich. why the suppressed accept it?
I am beginning to realize that it will take me a very long time to feel @ home here.
