Travelling Observations

And so a few observations, local and national..

Like 10 Rupees is the new 2 Rupees on local trains. I have borne witness to the super-charming 2nd class travelling salesmen selling passport covers, plastic pouches, ayurvedic tooth-manjan, chinese ball pens (4 for 10 rupees!!), combs, wallets, and keychains for this magical sum, which currently does not even buy us the minimum Rickshaw fare anymore.

Like everyone is now using backpacks to travel to work. Gone are the pudgy briefcases, those Samsonite and VIP Black and Silver briefcases that held the promise of bundles of 100 rupee notes inside them, but when opened, revealed a comb, a lunch dabba, a hand towel, 2-3 newspapers, and a picture of god. Earphones, MP3 players, "DELL" backpacks that hold the promise of a super-cute gleaming chrome and black laptop computer, but when opened, reveal a comb, a lunch dabba, a hand towel, 2-3 newspapers and a picture of Bipasha Basu / Katrina Kaif / current presiding heroine. Yes, our gods have morphed into Bollywood goddesses.

Like Coimbatore Airport is now gleaming and all shiney. Like Surat actually has an airport where a flight can land from Delhi. Like Tirupur is now a district all on it's own. And you can now travel to Erode on a spanking new expressway without worrying about trucks running into you.

And some of the most interesting people I have met are while I'm travelling.

Like an Excise Collector in Vapi.. or the CEO of a Solar Energy company... or a travelling magician.. or the owner of one of India's oldest diamond companies..

And now my life will be a tale of small(er) cities - Amritsar, Surat, Rajkot, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Tirupur, Ludhiana, Ooty....

And there is much to learn in these cities.. And much more to observe..

utekkare,
Pranay