Moving Forward

After 16 years of planning, corruption and construction, the Bangalore Metro started running for the first time this week. As in most cities, a metro system is a source of pride for the people who live there.  Bangalore is no exception and I noticed that Jacob looks for any reason to ride it, even though it does not really go anywhere just yet.  There are currently just five stops and most of the riders where clearly there for a joyride, I felt it was a well-spent 14 rupees (30 cents).  The metro is elevated and gives a different perspective of the city. The trip just took 15 minutes and it would have taken nearly an hour to cover that distance by auto.  After the ride there was local television and media asking riders about the experiance.

In other news:  Last night I sampled some nightlife that was a little bit more becoming of a cosmopolitan city, although not fully.  Ice is a private club where dancing AND drinking is actually permitted (the two have been illegal in Bangalore for almost a decade, city leaders have evidently have not gotten the "Footloose Memo" from Oklahoma).  It was "ladies night" and unlike in the US and most of my college days, there were actually a majority ladies there.  Although I must say that many were not very lady-like.  Women get in for free and drink for free, evidently subsidized by the men affluent enough to pay the $20 cover. Lucky for me I got in for free and drank watered down drinks mostly for free, as I was with the foreign entourage (AKA, USAC students).  The Indian women pushed and shoved in the bar line and abused the bartender in ways that would surely get them cut off in most places in the US. One woman lost her high heal in the pool and I saw two inebriated women being wheeled out in wheelchairs drooling on themselves.  Others were well past control of motor and verbal skills.  I will add that this is obviously not a depiction of all Indian women, or even most who frequent this particular establishment, but clearly a result of the contradictions in a temperant culture (similar paralles to the US), although the pushing and shoving seems endemic to these places in India.  Last call was at 11:30, a full half-hour after the legally mandated cut-off.  I walked out feeling stone-cold sober as I'm pretty sure my screwdrivers were just orange juice.

This week is Diwali, the most celebrated Hindu holiday.  I am not sure what I am doing for Diwali other than buying fireworks, especially since I live next to a bunch of monotheists.  Right now I feel like this is the summer that will not end (the heat is oppressing me), and it is 4th of July all over again.  One thing I know for sure is that Metallica is in one week and I can't wait (although I have yet to receive the tickets I ordered).

Here comes the train! Most notable here is that there are women driving some of the trains.  It is the first time I have seen women involved in anything related to transport in India.  In all, a metro is a huge step forward for a city and it seems to be making other big steps simultaneously.  The stations gave the feel of a modern, cosmopolitan city of the future.

This crazy box reminded me of the computer HAL in "2001:  A Space Odyssey."  Was it really going to trip me in an emergency?  Or was this machine telling me my chakras were out of alignment?

Away we go!  This was the smoothest ride I have had since my Air France flight touched down in Bangalore two months ago.  It gave a totally different perspective of the city, I imagine this cityscape will change shortly as it becomes prime real estate in the not so distant future.  In the background is what I think is the first mosque I've shown in my "Land of a Million Gods," there is always a Hindu temple nearby (to the right).  Despite my fatigue of learning all the gods of India,   I will go to a mosque to hear about Allah and the prophet Mohammed if the opportunity comes up, but so far this is the most elusive of the religions I have encountered in India (not the case in other experiences I have had i.e. Palestine).

Here is a bird's eye of a shanty town adjacent to a working class neighborhood.

It is good to see a smile on Daryn. I need to get her a shirt that says "I beat dysentery"

This is MG (Mohandas Gahndi) Road near the city center of Bangalore.  We ate on the top floor of that high rise for lunch.  Yummy.  

Ok, the only disappointment of this whole day was that Indians did not break out into random and sudden Bollywood dancing at the train station.  I thought this was expected of all Indians?

Katie was interviewed by TV9 about her experience riding the metro.  They clearly wanted a foreigner's opinion and I gave a brief statement.  I wanted to say how I "was so impressed that it did not smell of pee and poop." I say that not as a commentary about India (although that would be factually true), but more as a commentary about metro systems in general.

Ok, I admit that I am not "with it" and can barely grasp the fundamentals of a basic McDonaldized social networking site like Facebook, but this ad just seems wrong on so many levels to me. In my day "poke" meant something totally different than whatever the presumed meaning is here.  And whatever this is about, nobody had better go poking me anything in class.  Lastly and most importantly, and I really hope a Vodafone India executive is reading this:  DO NOT EVER USE VODAFONE IF YOU EVER WANT TO USE THE INTERNET, LET ALONE FACEBOOK!  This is a terrible service, stay the hell away from Vodafone India.

Daryn has her mom and sister visiting this weekend.  Here they are in the auto, perhaps most amazing is that the meter is actually on (this is Jacob's doing).

So I have gotten pretty good at riding on the back of Jacob's "two wheeler," here I am just snapping pictures of the streets, I have to admit it is pretty fun especially on Saturday morning when traffic is relatively light and you can go sorta fast.




So I don't have the best pics ever on the back of the bike, but here is my favorite type of "two wheeler" type:  The typical Indian family of four out for a ride on a bike built for one.

Stay tuned for reports on Diwali and Metallica.