The waiting game

A few weeks after we arrived in Bangalore almost a year ago, a friend asked me ‘what I did all day’. My answer was that I spent my time waiting… waiting for the gas delivery man, waiting for the telephone company, waiting for the cable company, waiting for the plumber...

I’m staying with my friend Raji and her husband in Chennai for the next two weeks. They had some work done recently in their apartment and were expecting the carpenter to come and finish a job. The day before yesterday he was due at 3pm. By 5pm he still hadn’t arrived so they phoned him on his mobile (who doesn’t have a mobile these days?). He promised to ‘definitely’ come the next morning. I laughed because I remembered all the times I got ‘definitely’ as a promise, only to be kept waiting all day.

By noon the next day there was still no sign of the carpenter. Raji phoned him again and he said he was ‘on the way’ and would be there ‘in a few minutes’. He arrived two hours later.

This is what they call ‘Indian Standard Time’: 3pm could mean 6pm or tomorrow morning or the next day – you just never know!

On the road in Bangalore

Bangalore is India’s fifth largest city and the fastest growing. The city’s infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with this growth. One of the city’s problems (though this is problem for all Indian cities) is traffic congestion. There are 3 million vehicles on Bangalore’s roads but the transportation infrastructure only has the capacity to accommodate 800,000 at present.

Most people get around on scooters or motorcycles (referred to as ‘two-wheelers’ here). There are 2.1 million two-wheelers plying the roads. This is an economical mode of transport and a convenient way of weaving out of traffic jams, but perhaps not the safest way to get around. By contrast there are 476,000 cars. This is a mode of transport reserved only for those who can afford to buy a car. Many people prefer to have someone else negotiate the impossible traffic so they have a personal driver whose job it is to take them from A to B.

Those who don’t have a vehicle have to rely on city taxis, auto rickshaws or the public transportation system. Bangalore doesn’t have the black and yellow taxis common in cities like Bombay or Calcutta that you can hail in the street. If you want to use a taxi service, you have to phone them first and they will come to pick you up at the appointed time and place. Most of these taxis are white Maruti Suzuki Omni minivans or white Tata Indicab cars. Cheaper than taxis are the 94,440 auto rickshaws that ply Bangalore's roads. Drivers must wear a beige uniform, display their permit and use the meter which makes taking an auto rickshaw easier than in other Indian cities where you have to haggle long and hard to get a reasonable fare. There are 5 million commuters who travel by bus every day. Buses are overcrowded during peak times and it's common to see people precariously hanging out of the doorways. Work has begun this year on a metro line which will ease stress on the public transportation system and hopefully alleviate traffic congestion, but Bangaloreans have to wait a few more years to be able to benefit. Another common mode of traffic is the good old bicycle which usually carries at least two and sometimes three passengers!

When it comes to traffic accidents, Bangalore is the third-most dangerous city in India. Every day the paper gives a round-up of traffic accidents. I’ve included a few examples from Tuesday’s paper below:

Four persons were killed in road accidents reported in the city on Saturday. Suraj (24), an employee of ITPL, was killed when he was run over by a water tanker on Saturday. The incident occurred when Suraj, a resident of Dwarakanagar, was walking near Chikabanawara. Suraj died on the spot. The Peenya Traffic police have registered a case.

A Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus ran over two persons near Kadumane Hotel, in the Bidadi Police Station limits on Saturday. The police gave the names of the victims as Rajesh Chowdry (30) and Rakesh (25). They said that the two were heading on a motorcycle to their houses in Bidadi after finishing night shift at a factory nearby when the bus, coming from Mysore, ran over them, killing them on the spot. A case has been registered.

In another accident in the early hours of Sunday, a person died on the spot after a car hit him at Kodigehalli, near Sanjeevaninagar, in the Hebbal Traffic Police Station limits. The victim has been identified as Nagaraj (36), a tea shop owner. The police said that the incident occurred when Nagaraj went to open his tea shop at around 5.30 a.m. and accidentally stepped on a dog that was sleeping near the shop’s entrance. He ran when the dog started chasing him and came right in front of the car, which hit him. He was killed on the spot. A case has been registered.
(The Hindu, Tuesday, 4 December 2007)

This year so far there have been 7079 traffic accidents and 808 deaths due to these accidents registered with the city traffic police. Last year these figures were 7561 and 915 respectively. Inadequate infrastructure and overcrowded roads are put to blame as well as the poor maintenance of roads, a shortage of traffic policemen, reckless driving, disregard for traffic rules and inadequate emergency services. Driving at night is especially dangerous because of poor lighting in some areas, traffic lights which are ‘switched off’ during the night, and some bad habits on the part of motorists, like not turning on headlights (in the case of some two-wheelers and auto rickshaws) and using high beams (in the case of many car drivers).

The monsoon season also takes its toll on Bangalore’s roads. Huge potholes appear virtually out of nowhere, seriously hampering traffic as vehicles are forced to slow down to avoid them. There are so many potential hazards to be on the look out for – potholes, pedestrians, bicycles, cows, hazardous drivers – that it’s seldom necessary to switch to a gear higher than third gear! Now that the weather has become drier and the monsoon rains have ceased, the roads’ potholes have been patched up. There are other measures that are being taken to reduce traffic congestion and improve the circulation of vehicles like the construction of fly-overs and separators, the widening of roads and the introduction of one-way systems but still somehow traffic does not seem to ease up.

Pink winter

Pleasing: The exotic ‘Tabebuia impetiginosa’ heralds the winter with splashes of pink, as it blooms across Bangalore city. Photo: K. Murali Kumar © Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu

In summer, Bangalore is painted red. In winter, it's pink!

Despite it's rapid growth and development, Bangalore remains a green city. I love the huge, mammoth trees which line the streets. What's magical about them is that most of them flower. Each season brings a new colourful surprise.

When I got back after being away for three weeks, I discovered that the city has been painted a brilliant pink! I learned from the paper that this magical tree is called Tabebuia Impetiginosa. There's one on my street.

I've collected some of the flowers to float in my urli.

Winter is here!?

Warm winter sweaters for sale on Thippasandra Main Road.

“It’s official folks, winter is here,” announced yesterday’s paper. I read this while I was sitting in a sunny corner on the terrace in short sleeves and bare feet. I had to laugh. I had just spent three shivering cold weeks in Belgium and had brought back a miserable cold as a souvenir. The day was feeling especially summery to me. By my standards anyway. But having grown up in Canada, my standards are obviously not South Indian standards. Not when it comes to defining winter anyway. For me winter is snow, hats and scarves, hot chocolate, hot water bottles and wind-chill factors. If it really were winter, I wouldn’t be sitting out on the terrace in short sleeves.

I read on to learn that a minimum temperature of 12.7°C had been recorded in Bangalore this month (against a maximum of 25 to 29°C) – which was dangerously close to the record of 12.2°C recorded in November 1991. Reading on, there was worse news: temperatures are expected to dip further!

In order to try to help readers avoid the impending calamity of such low temperatures, some helpful advice was offered:

Avoid venturing out early mornings and late evenings.
Always cover your ears; keep yourself warm.
Consume freshly prepared food and boiled water.
Make it a habit to gargle twice a day.
Use medicated soap for better skin care.
Use lip balm, vaseline and moisturiser at frequent intervals.

During the day, it’s hot enough to get sunburned, but at night the temperature does take a dip of at least 10 degrees so it can feel a little ‘chilly’ at times. Of course India’s many entrepreneurs have seized the opportunity offered by the falling mercury to make a fast buck or two. Sidewalks are lined with vendors selling heavy jackets and sweaters, blankets, woollen hats and a head covering I’ve only seen in India: a strip of woven cloth which goes on the head and down the sides of the face over the ears and tied under the chin. A variation of earmuffs?

Covered in gold

Coming across this ad for wedding jewellery, I remembered my friend Sai telling me how her mother-in-law had a fit when she left the house one day without her thaali, the traditional necklace worn by married women, also called mangalasutra. An Indian woman is expected to always wear this piece of jewellery which is a sign of her married status, much like a wedding ring in other countries. My friend explained that she only wears her thaali when she is outside the house because she is expected to, but at home she takes it off. She doesn’t feel she needs to show her devotion to her husband through a piece of jewellery which is frivolous compared to the bond that unites them (hers is a ‘love marriage’ in case you’re wondering). In a moment of distraction she left the house without it one day. Her mother-in-law was in tears, accusing her of not respecting her son.

For an Indian woman, jewellery is an important possession to have, not only as a fashion accessory but more importantly as a symbol of marital and also social status. The jewellery a new bride receives at her wedding (worth many hundreds of thousands of rupees) is also an investment which can be used as a type of ‘insurance’ if she ever finds herself in a difficult financial situation. Not surprisingly, India is the largest consumer of gold in the world.

Indian couples literally ‘tie the knot’ when the groom ties the mangalasutra around his bride’s neck during the wedding ceremony. You can also tell a woman is married by the tikka on her forehead or line of red sindoor in the part of her hair and toe rings (which are worn only by married women) on the second toes of both feet.

Calcutta Coffee House

In the midst of popular and ever-growing coffee chains like Barista and Café Coffee Day, there are still some veritable Indian institutions which have stood the test of time. One of these is the Calcutta Coffee House. Located close to Calcutta University just off College Street and the bustle of its booksellers, this meeting place for students, writers and intellectuals has been around since 1942.

An unassuming sign above a doorway leads to a rickety staircase which climbs to another time and place filled with clouds of cigarette smoke, wooden colonial-style tables and chairs, ceiling fans suspended from ropes, waiters dressed in white uniforms and tall turbans, and walls of peeling paint.

Many of India’s great thinkers and artists have sat at these tables and sipped coffee while discussing art and politics under the gentle breeze of the ceiling fans. Some of the regulars included Nobel prize winners like writer and poet Rabindranath Tagore and economist Amartya Sen. This was also the hang-out of freedom-fighter Subhash Chandra Bose, filmaker Satyajit Ray, actor Aparna Sen and singer Manna Dey, amongst other famous Bengali personalities.

The simple décor doesn’t seem to have changed much since 1942. There has been resistance to plans to renovate and redecorate this historical café which has fortunately preserved its old-world atmosphere.

Deepavali the festival of lights

Here I am sitting in Café Belga while all of India celebrates Deepavali (Divali in the North), the festival of lights. Deepavali is one of the most important Hindu holidays. Homes are decorated with flowers, lamps and kolams, fireworks are set off to celebrate the victory of good over evil, and gifts and sweets are distributed to family and friends. Hopefully I can witness the celebrations next year.

I'll be back in Bangalore in two weeks time so blogging will be a little slow in the meantime!