rang de tu mohe...

ashdoc wrote:*meanwhile in Kanpur*
[size=14]SHE:- "Rang de tu mohe gerua"
*everyone spits ghutka on her*

never understood the meaning of this song... when i heard it for the first time, i was like, why, is he a gamla? why gerua? regardless, woke up with this song playing non stop in my head...

Beatrix Kiddo wrote:lol... thanks and a very happy new year to you as well.

Had a fantastic time back home. I long stopped checking out traffic, disproportionate growth, pollution, etc. I see more of bridging gaps there. Some venues look so posh and international, can't believe you are in India. Same with friends and clothes, can't make out if they came from India or abroad, in terms of their dresses or looks. Food of course, vast difference. Had indianized version of all dishes, but liked it.

Yeah, had some daily struggles, basically being out of comfort zone, but life is still so much more full there. Oh, and I found toilet papers in pretty much every rest room (or washroom as they call it), so no complaints. Great food, partying, reunions, and socializing was the highlight of the trip.

There were a couple of personal disappointments but overall, it was a great trip. Wishing traveling improved time and money wise so that we could go more often. Having usual withdrawals and making it up with sweets brought from back home. Ya I mean, I will go off sugar again, but let's enjoy until this batch finishes hehe.

india is a great place if you only want to hang out in fake recreated america built by the R2Irs and employees of multinationals. if you want to step out and want to experience the cherished places you left behind, prepare to be disgusted and subjected to all manner of torture.  but if all you want to do is hang out in the shiny enclaves built by the R2Irs, why go to india in the first place when you have the original right here?

one week and all i wanted to do was come running back. the only reason to go to india is to visit people. that's pretty much it for me.

bombay is relatively sane; granted i confined myself to powai and the hiranandani complex.

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:

Beatrix Kiddo wrote:lol... thanks and a very happy new year to you as well.

Had a fantastic time back home. I long stopped checking out traffic, disproportionate growth, pollution, etc. I see more of bridging gaps there. Some venues look so posh and international, can't believe you are in India. Same with friends and clothes, can't make out if they came from India or abroad, in terms of their dresses or looks. Food of course, vast difference. Had indianized version of all dishes, but liked it.

Yeah, had some daily struggles, basically being out of comfort zone, but life is still so much more full there. Oh, and I found toilet papers in pretty much every rest room (or washroom as they call it), so no complaints. Great food, partying, reunions, and socializing was the highlight of the trip.

There were a couple of personal disappointments but overall, it was a great trip. Wishing traveling improved time and money wise so that we could go more often. Having usual withdrawals and making it up with sweets brought from back home. Ya I mean, I will go off sugar again, but let's enjoy until this batch finishes hehe.

india is a great place if you only want to hang out in fake recreated america built by the R2Irs and employees of multinationals. if you want to step out and want to experience the cherished places you left behind, prepare to be disgusted and subjected to all manner of torture.  but if all you want to do is hang out in the shiny enclaves built by the R2Irs, why go to india in the first place when you have the original right here?

one week and all i wanted to do was come running back.  the only reason to go to india is to visit people. that's pretty much it for me.

Revisiting cherished places i left behind... sure, there are some markets and areas where the parking has become next to impossible. too much crowding, and dust was always an issue. But on the plus side, more greenery (which mean less dusty), and better sanitation. Compared to previous visits (but not compared to sleepy 80s), it felt a tad cleaner too. Atleast the area around my parent's residence has been cleaned up really well. Can rarely see any open sewage anywhere. Last couple of years I was a bit disenchated by dirt and trash everywhere, but felt better this time. Also, looked like traffic rules were followed slightly better, as cameras are everywhere now (no no overall it's still pretty scary). They now barricade highly visited areas at rush times and don't allow any vehicles in.

But mine was a small city, and coincindentally, there's not much to talk about in terms of history or landmarks or sightseeing. Out and out a commercial city. Still, many old places and palaces have been preserved, or made better. You can still see old landmarks. many (rather, almost all) traditions have been preserved. the food tastes the same. you can definitely see progress, and the growing pains too at the same time. Guess people in my city are still pretty chauvisnistic when it comes to maintaining whatever city pride there is.

good for you. chennai has very little greenery left.  all gone. and the traffic is completely insane!  and i am not entirely sure the floods caused this, but the sewage lines were dug up in too many streets and there was a palpable smell of raw sewage which starts right as soon as the plane lands (you can smell it inside the plane from the air intake) and leaves you only when your return flight is at 30,000 ft.

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:good for you. chennai has very little greenery left.  all gone. and the traffic is completely insane!  and i am not entirely sure the floods caused this, but the sewage lines were dug up in too many streets and there was a palpable smell of raw sewage which starts right as soon as the plane lands (you can smell it inside the plane from the air intake) and leaves you only when your return flight is at 30,000 ft.

there is a pic of me standing on my terrace when i was 17. daughter took a pic at the same spot now that she is 17. same backdrop, same pose, same angle. dusty in my pic, even though that was one of the greener areas of the town at the time, and lush green in her version.

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:

Beatrix Kiddo wrote:lol... thanks and a very happy new year to you as well.

Had a fantastic time back home. I long stopped checking out traffic, disproportionate growth, pollution, etc. I see more of bridging gaps there. Some venues look so posh and international, can't believe you are in India. Same with friends and clothes, can't make out if they came from India or abroad, in terms of their dresses or looks. Food of course, vast difference. Had indianized version of all dishes, but liked it.

Yeah, had some daily struggles, basically being out of comfort zone, but life is still so much more full there. Oh, and I found toilet papers in pretty much every rest room (or washroom as they call it), so no complaints. Great food, partying, reunions, and socializing was the highlight of the trip.

There were a couple of personal disappointments but overall, it was a great trip. Wishing traveling improved time and money wise so that we could go more often. Having usual withdrawals and making it up with sweets brought from back home. Ya I mean, I will go off sugar again, but let's enjoy until this batch finishes hehe.

india is a great place if you only want to hang out in fake recreated america built by the R2Irs and employees of multinationals. if you want to step out and want to experience the cherished places you left behind, prepare to be disgusted and subjected to all manner of torture.  but if all you want to do is hang out in the shiny enclaves built by the R2Irs, why go to india in the first place when you have the original right here?

one week and all i wanted to do was come running back.  the only reason to go to india is to visit people. that's pretty much it for me.

Agree 100%. But, I expect the "difference" these days and not a shock. So I tried to live the 10 days or so in the style of the bottom 50% - which you and I lived in those years.  A mental comparison of place and people - before and after - has become part of my unofficial study. Much as I miss the connections to the old times, this is what it is. It is a shock just for the "sensitive" visitors as it is like a cold blast in your face when you open the front door on a cold wintry blizzard.

One thing I noticed is that even if you live like upper middle class - IT "peepal" - the cost of living is almost 50 to 70% of US prices. The Indian-made products are about 80% price of Multinational products. Say Parle biscuts and Oreo cookies. The old style "Savings" are gone. The housing cost is covered as EMI. Kids college fees - the capitation fee - are annualized and counted as part of regular expense. So in short, it looks like a "comfortable/luxury" life in a more cramped flats. A family's true financial comfort can be guaged by what is inside one's home - furniture, Gadgets, fridge, over, washing machine, etc...their model/age...that is the things that are invisible to the outsiders. Only the truly comfortable can afford to replace models of all gadgets.

Right now, I have 3 cousins who are diverging fast in 3 different angles, are my study subjects. One is at high end in IT, the other is typical middle classy and another low-middle class (but still has an old car). All the comments made by their parents are running like movie dialogue in my mind and I simply smile and watch it like some play. The dirt poor have become rich, the middle class have become super-O-super rich, the rich have become middle class.  If you consider yourself as an observer, it all looks just like Karma and fate.  

Funny...when I attended a super-rich, fat cat wedding, I was introduced as so and so whenever I wore dress pants and was not introduced whenever I was in my jeans. And also, to whom I was introduced.  Nothing is more fascinating than people's behavior.

oh wow, my experience was the complete opposite. guess women are much better in this sense. i met my high school friends. we all stayed at the same hotel, and participated in same activities. about 80 of us. we didnt' judge each other for even weight or looks, you can forget about money. all dressed well, all looked pretty in their own way, and there was hardly any mention of financial status, just like back in school days we didn't care about these things. whatever petty stuff there was back in that age, even that was gone. maybe, the most homogenous group showed up, but honestly, i know how loaded some of us were and some of us aren't. but it didn't really matter. the only things we acknowledged was the achievements in the careers or social lives of some, charity, fitness, etc. (ok, in one case, a perfect body), and all that too had an air of pride and humility (on the person's part).

ashdoc wrote:*meanwhile in Kanpur*
[size=14]SHE:- "Rang de tu mohe gerua"
*everyone spits ghutka on her* [i][u]

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

This is better  Gerua means - Saffron.