Rediscovery of India?!

1. 3 years is enough time to get dumbed down and forget how to survive here... Took me 2 months to truly get used to the roads again (ie to drive at par with the auto/cab guys)

2. lack of tools.. while putting up a train passenger list, the railway guy was using his bare hands to spread the adhesive on the train... a simple brush would've looked so much more elegant in the artist's hands!

3. garbage ...garbage .... everywhere! just an efficient garbage disposal system will give India a huge facelift.. while travellin from cbe to blr, the bushes right out of the station looked like cotton trees from some distance...when the train pulled closer they were vast fields of dry bushes covered with plastic bags...

4. public transportation.. the lovely and the ugly

the lovely: city buses have recognized market need surprisingly well! along with usual city buses, BMTC has fleets of shining volvo buses that are air-conditioned, have plush seats and play the hip radio channels on lovely speakers! the ticket price is thrice the usual city bus ticket price, but worth every paisa! (here are some pics from one mr.ravikumar's blog)



the ugly: auto-rickshaws of bangalore! the rick drivers have more attitude than any child actor of hollywood/bollywood! they will agree to go from point A to point B only if:
1. point B is en route to their home
2. point B is right on an autostand so they don't have to waste a second of their precious time waiting for passengers..
3. you are willing to go by the 'meter+50' demand...

if none of the above points are met, you may have to ask some 15 autodrivers and see them turning away (without bothering to say "no") before you find one who will say 'yes' and you'd feel blessed!

5. themepark... i've been only to Wonderla since coming here but that one experience has highly impressed me! No individual ride tickets, no impolite park employees, no kachda lying everywhere, no line jumping... the last factor caused the most exhileration in me - there was a long line for the dashing car ride, and a little girl got impatient and jumped the line and wiggle right to the entry spot where a security guy was letting the next batch in.. the security guard sternly told this girl to go out of the line and not come back for this ride!!! even though i felt bad for the little girl, i felt like clapping my hands at the enforcement of discipline!! if only more law enforcers knew the meaning of 'enforcement', india could have its common man less frustrated...

6. vehicles.. the most evident sign of a booming economy - shining cars, are clogging the roads. a new bike (ie the motorcycles) model comes out every two months! and Reva... makes me really proud - the world's cheapest electric vehicle, quite a few of them on Bangalore roads.. only problem is charging it...only parking spots of private houses are equipped with the 15Amps outlet that the battery charger requires..