Sidebar #2: Random Thoughts and Tidbits

I've got a few good and more meaty entries in progress, but in the mean time here is another smattering of odds and ends to keep ya' entertained; things that cross my busy mind, things I see in the autos, and the little things that just make me shake my head in wonder.

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Since the autos appear to be running on sewing machine engines, why don’t they install actual sewing machines? Doing double duty while they ferry passengers around, they could make extra money producing fine textiles and they have built-in transportation of the completed goods to collection points. Perfect!

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The elderly groundskeeper of our compound at work plays golf in the courtyard. It’s not that big a yard, but he chips the balls around the square and grass, bouncing them off walls. He’s not that good to be honest. Last month he broke a window. When I see him playing I have to make sure he sees me (and stops chipping) before I exit the door. My boss hates it; he keeps threatening to report it to the police. I just think it is funny and harmless. He mostly now plays when he sees my boss is out of the office. We don’t tell on him.

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I really like population names that end in “I”. Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi. They have a nice ring to them. No particularly reason, I just like them. I’ve also always been partial to Canuck over Canadian though maybe that’s because it alliterates better with “Crazy”...

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It is funny the little biases you hold on to. We’re stopped at an intersection on my morning commute. In the traffic column beside me I see a man riding a scooter and another with a bandana over his nose and mouth. Regular sights, nothing remarkable, but despite their obvious practical usefulness, to me I can’t help still thinking:
Man on a scooter = dorky
Man with bandana = bandit
Man with a bandana on a scooter = really needs to be tied down and forced to watch 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' for a few lessons...

Sorry to all the dorky bandits out there. It is nothing personal. I know it is my own bias. Please don’t run me over with your scooter next time I try to cross the street...

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A few months ago the latest Bollywood fluff ‘Dhoom 2’ was dominating every media space in advance of its release. The theme song was playing in all the dance clubs and 15 times hourly on all the commercials. The pure commercials (those that were just for the movie rather than for products like Coke and Speed petrol) showed a guy doing cool stunts flying down the highways on rollerblades. It made me miss rollerblading with memories of gliding down smooth, fresh blacktop on blades (sans impressive stunts involving 18-wheelers), tape walkman blaring (this was well pre-ipod days). I wish I had rollerblades here for the entirely literary hook that the experience of trying to blade down Chennai’s packed and potholed streets would make for a really, really funny story...

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I’ve come to really like SMS. Messaging friends often gets me through the long, boring auto rides home when I’ve got time to kill and it’s too dark to write or read or sightsee. Motorola predictive text sucks ass though.

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One should not text and walk however (I realise this is obvious to just about everyone). I am careful about traffic, but I nearly ran into a low-hanging tree branch the other day while tapping a quick reply. Oops...

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There are quite a few water trucks plying the streets here, partial compensation for the city water system sucking and being completely inadequate. They meander awkwardly down the streets, blocking them like linebackers. All of them, without exception, leak profusely. Now maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t seem to be a good characteristic for water transport trucks to have. But it is so quintessential India. Thar’s a hole in me bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza…