Valley Chai

warning: this post is glum, negative. but it is about capturing the times when you will think man, this sucks.

2 months after arriving, i think i filtered out things that are ‘like that only’ from things that could genuinely be better.

• absolutely atrocious. some some walks are simply not there. where the road ends, the compound wall of the house begins. and in some cases, the side walk is a mere covering for a very ugly open drain, often filled with silts and dirt that makes it overflow once in a while. and in some cases, if the street is lucky, they’ll have some fancy apartment developer or a kind homeowner or a store that takes it upon themselves to rescue the side walk and actually do it up themselves. regardless, they are absolutely un-walkable. some that are, are typically fraught with garbage or urine. so one has to walk on the street, sharing the road with the cars., and i came ->this< - close to getting hit at least 3 times when walking my boys in the evening. god help us.
• how about some sidewalk projects? i’ll pay extra tax. hell i’ll offer to manage the projects.

• the way people get away with atrocious exhaust emission is appalling. i was crossing the road at around 7 pm at the trinity circle and was first hand witness to a bus that literally was spewing out soot. 10-15 traffic cops were marshalling the vehicles a couple of traffic vans standing by and nothing was even attempted to pull the vehicle over. the vehicle passed by a feet next me, and i actually looked at my pants to see if that exhaust might have deposited some suit on them. that thick.
• how about requiring emission testing every year on vehicles?

• is there a place in bangalore where you can escape the traffic noise? the damn thing is so shill and loud it travels quite far. and those musical honks.. kills me every single time. i totally yearn for absolute silence. it’s impossible in india.
• how about a max limit decibel levels and sound frequency?

• the concept of a queue is non-existent. anywhere there is a queue, there is a subtle jostling for position., unless there are specific queue lines (the kind that force a single file). i was at a reasonably upscale store, and i expected some sort of civility, but no luck. people are looking to getaway by somehow cutting in. and personal space is.. what? what personal space? so if you are waiting at the checkout counter to pay for your purchase, don’t assume your turn is granted.
• so how about some public courtesy?

• the interviewer speaks more than the interviewee. and the interviewer has the major urge to yell to cut into the interviewee. the shrillness and the yelling is completely off-putting, and this problem afflicts even the top news guys (karan thapar of devil’s advocate, for example)
• how about some media savvy?

• grocery bags that fall apart. toys that break the next day. plumber that has no clue about his trade, groceries with bugs, movies with junk.
• how about some pride in our products?