to heaven and back

Hello..my posting fequency seems to be about once a month..but there is nothing to do about that..so more on that later.

I have been home and am about to leave for the land of plently filled with lonesomeness on monday..and am not looking forward to it..well sort of..sort of not. However this post is more about my time in india. When i come home, a lot of people ask me if I can see any changes in India. I am usually at loss for words. Its so hard for me to describe the changes and the lack of changes I see. I see big shopping malls and chain resteraunt (ruby tuesday anyone? ..manhattan, kansas doesnt have one, but indore does!..prove yet again that i live in Rau of US). In conjunction with the shopping malls I also see the lack of parking and the crazy state of the roads, the ever increasing divide between the have and the have not. The increasing crime and the total lack of respect for the law. These are nothing new, when have we followed traffic rules? they are for the silly..like me..but our newer faster more powerful vehicles just make it more dangerous. When have we worried about parking? We just shove our car where we find space..but the increasing number of bottlenecks and crazy traffic jams should suggest that we shouldnt? But who really cares?

I did some dance refresher this timee, went for a dance workshop which was in the old city, which means, i think, to every Indian, narrow streets, one ways that flow like mazes. I drove there every day, rather cursed my way there and back when I was the only person standing at the red light with the poor hapless person behind me in line honking indignantly as how dare I stop at a red light. He has places to go (the loo) and things to do (pee/poo). I really wondered whether we indori’s actually think we can get there faster if we break all the rules and drive on the wrong side of the road? BTW I dont worry bout driving in india, atleast in indore, driving on either side of the road is ok, and lanes are completely optional. No wonder we don’t need no adventure sports we have our fill of them driving every day. You know what makes me curse even more? When you stand at the red light looking like an utter moron, the light turns grren and you move only to come to a screeching halt in the middle of the road because the people who were supposed to have stopped obviously havent..making you wonder if the whole not stopping is a good idea after all..even more maddening is when there is an indulgent traffic police man, looking on kindly..bacche hai..masti to karenge naa kind of style. Thats not neccesarily India for you, but Indore yes.

Things haven’t changed, but they need to, or we will end up having utter anarchy which has never bothered an Indori..vide the current curfew. Thankfully some of the things I love about Indore haven’t changed either..the food for one..why the hell do I even lose weight before coming to indore? Its always back to square one! I ate and ate and am still eating and will probably be eating till i reach the airport, which is when utter deprivation will set in.  Another funny relief was going to bartan bazaar and kothari market etc..those places havent changed and truly I prefer those small shops with the truly friendly salespeople who dont tell you that it wont fit you to the giant chains where they follow you around till you snap. It is a part of the city unfortunately that the younger rich kids dont understand..they need to..that is what still forms the pulse of the city, not the shopping malls.

Enough of the rant. Can’t help it. Its not that I dont like it, I like driving in that mess, its great brain exercise and great for my reflexes..not so god for the heart..but I am young yet. Rules are something I believe in, may sound very corny but I do. Specially traffic rules..it totally gets to me when those are flouted.

In other news..we have found ourselves a boy. He is a nice boy and no the family has nothing to do with it. He”s just my boy at the moment. So this relationship is what you get when you combine two highly dysfunctional stubborn people who’s last relationship was donkeys years ago, that too with each other, and therefore have no idea how to behave as a couple and therefore end up being quite dysfunctional in even that. To add to the mess, he stays in India while I go out into the wide wide world..oh well..we shall see how it goes. All we know is that inspite of all the insults and accusations we hurled at each other those donkey’s years ago we still like each other, more that we still care to admit, so here we are giving things another go.  I accept your commiserations already and no, am not going sappy..umm..just a little maybe…where’s my love songs CD?

In yet more news..I am contemplating shutting down this blog. When and if I do so I will let you know. I may not…it takes me a while to make decisions…so until later then..if i survive the flight and the food deprivation back..adios and enjoy your summer..be the grasshopper rather than the ant…they have way more fun.

3 Comments

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI