Somehow, when the holidays are approaching, I get easily irritated by some of the typical local flavours. It is not that I don't like living there and I am not walking around in a constant state of dislike, but things start to bother me. Things that I usually don't even notice or don't mind as much.
In Australia it was the remote location we were in, in Nigeria it was the confined compound life, in Libya the traffic. Here in Bangalore it is the chaos and noise.
The road just outside Vista has been dug up, AGAIN. It has been so in several places over the last few months to lay new sewage pipes. Huge holes get dug, piles of dirt deposited in the middle of the road and traffic has to find a way through it. It is a small two way street at the best of times, but when work is going on it is reduced to hardly one proper lane. When the work is finished the dirt gets shovelled back into the hole and that's that. No levelling, no resurfacing, just dirt. Bumpy, dusty/muddy dirt, that no one wants to drive on, so traffic keeps pushing each other out of the way to use the small strip of tarmac that is left.
While the road work is going on, there is nobody to organise traffic, nobody to make sure things stay safe for the road workers either. Traffic gets stuck because everybody is pushing to get through instead of taking turns and giving each other some space. One lane, traffic on both sides pushing in or blocking whatever space there could be by standing 2 or 3 wide, so oncoming traffic can't go anywhere. Motorbikes and rickshaws jumping the queue and everybody honking their horns (like that would make the traffic jam magically disappear...).
It always amazes me when I see a closed railway crossing with traffic waiting on both sides standing along the whole width of the road. How do they think this will make things go faster when the booms go up????
If only all road users would play by the rules, if only they would use some logic, if only they would use lane discipline, if only road work would be coordinated and properly announced and traffic guided through detours. If only traffic was more like it is at home it wouldn't take an hour to get through 50 meters of road!!!
India is never, ever, quiet. EVER. Days are filled with traffic noise (the constant honking of horns), people talking at the top of their voice on their cellphones and children screaming at each other while playing in the street. Nights are filled with barking dogs, honking horns, people talking very loudly on their cellphones and children screaming while playing outside.... At home the nights are quiet, honking your car horn is an offence and children are told to keep it down when they get too loud.
This week, while irritated by the noise and chaos around me, and thinking it is so much more organised and peaceful at home, I realised how boring and bland life must be for Indians living in The Netherlands. Everything is overly organised, life is mostly inside the house and you have to stick by the rules. Life for them must be like the Dutch food, bland and colourless.
I am looking forward to our holiday in NL, but I know I will miss India too. When we arrive back the Indian way of live will still be noisy and chaotic, but we will be able to enjoy it again.
O, and the fact that several snakes have been caught on Vista in the last few days, doesn't help make me feel good...... (baby Cobras and Russel Vipers)
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