Its been almost a month since i arrived in Chennai now. Room cleaning is still going on, but room looks a lot better now. Work started in the office. Still i'm learning to adapt both in the office and outside in the city. In office, its definitely weird with all the people around talking in tamil, as i spent most of my working days in Mumbai and USA with people talking in Hindi or English around me. I don't feel like i'm in office, rather feel like in college. It would take few more days to get used to that i guess. And i hate that every time i step out of my cubicle and come back, i have to search for a free chair and push it to my place and adjust the chair to my height and sit.
Outside in the public places, still i'm learning how to behave, what to do and what not to do. In some places like Browsing centers, xerox shops etc., i walked in directly with footwear on and some even had to rudely tell me to leave them outside. So now wherever i go, i first look outside if others left their footwear outside or if people inside wearing their footwear or not. The thing i'm still not able to figure out is where a queue is. Most of the times i go and stand in banks, cafeterias when there is only one person before me talking to officers or ordering food in the counter and i assume 'ok, i need to stand behind and form a queue'. But when i do, after sometime someone else will come and go directly to counter even while they are still dealing with other person and start ordering their food or start discussing their requests, simultaneously giving me a look like 'why is this fellow standing here?' . To save face, i had to start looking at menu in the wall and act like i'm still not decided what to have or look around like waiting for someone.
I went to my hometown 2 weeks back, which i decided i have to go at least 2-3 weeks once to compensate for not being home for 4.5 years. That was also a new experience as i never much traveled in bus from Chennai to hometown often. When i was in Mumbai i used to come to Chennai via flight and reach my hometown via train. And i always came during non-festival times to avoid crowd. Chennai to anywhere in weekends it busy and crowded in buses. So i had booked a semi sleeper to go and sleeper for return. Friday night when i had to go to Koyambedu from my office i took a government bus and it was full crowded and it brought back all the memories of when i used to travel like this and be happy even if i get a proper place to stand first and slowly after few stops will get a seat to sit and i would feel like the luckiest person in the world. Same thing happened this time too, but i realized how people of all financial strata were in that bus and soon after reaching koyambedu, people will split and some will go to take a government bus, some semi sleeper and some sleeper, with A/C and without A/C etc.
I reached Koyambedu and got on the semi sleeper bus which i booked, though i had hard time making sure i got on the right bus, with my Dad and sister kept calling me giving me tips on what to check, how to check with drivers, like the final destination of bus, whether it will go through our home town or not, if not where should i get down and tell the driver to stop at that place and tell conductor to wake me up etc. Then i reached home in the morning and again, my village felt like heaven to live. Same old Prince-treatment in home, my mom's cooking, pillows flying when i lie down in front of TV, neighbors still coming to my home just to meet me and say Hi, playing with neighbor's kids etc. 2 days went by in a jiff and sunday night i boarded a sleeper bus which came via my village itself. As usual my Mom made sweets for me and my friends, this time Rava laddu and Ellu urundai.
I had to get down at Guindy, so i kapt alarm for 4AM and slept soon. But i woke up at 3:30 itself as i had to relieve myself. But the bus will reach Guindy only after an hour. So i decided to hold it, but it started getting difficult and i thought of telling the driver to stop somewhere so i can relieve myself, but i didn't know if that's normal or they will look at me like i'm from another planet(like some of you reading this thinks about me). With that hesitation, i kept holding it and the bus reached Guindy at 5 AM. Now i'm in a hurry and absolutely can't wait, i kept walking here and there to find a lonely place, but everywhere i could see one or two people. There was a subway nearby and i crossed the road through that and found that the railway station is just on the opposite side. For some reason i thought there will be a restroom in railway station, then reminded myself i'm in India. I couldn't stand in one place for few seconds, i kept walking here and there and crossed the road via subway both ways couple of times. But i didn't find any lonely place to relieve and went to nearby petrol bunk and asked them if they have a bathroom and they said no. Meanwhile i kept trying to find an auto/cab via ola and thought i can hold for few minutes and use the bathroom in my room itself. But it kept saying "Sorry all rides are full, try again after sometime". A part of me kept telling me 'come on, this is India, just pee away. No one will mind. You have done it a lot of times before you went to USA. Just turn your back and pee anywhere in the road, don't worry about people behind you.' But another part of me kept telling me 'come on, whatever good habits you developed in USA, keep following that, like keeping the room clean, following rules, don't throw trash in street and don't pee in public. Why should you follow all good things in another country and once you're in your home country, you should start treating it like garbage and then blame the nation'.
While my brain split into two factions and continued this debate about moral conundrum , my bladder was about to burst and if i don't open the gate soon, i'm running into the risk of flooding. While crossing the subway back and forth i noticed there was a place in the middle of subway, steps on the side leading into the middle of the road. But the exit of that stairs was closed with a shutter and it looked like a closed room. I decided that's the only place i can pee with minimum people around. Maximum one or two people walking in subway could see me, but what the hell. So i started walking into subway and went to those stairs near the middle and it was dark and finally i started relieving myself standing in the angle so my back is towards the shutter and subway and i could hear few people walking in subway behind me, but i was too busy to bother about that. Before i could complete, a bus came and stopped exactly in front of the shutter and a bunch of people started getting down and i was standing right in front of them and they could see me through the shutter. It was a good thing i was standing with my back towards shutter, though not entirely. I felt so awkward and embarrassed, but i couldn't do anything, the gates were already open and can't stop the outflow. The bus left immediately and i also completed and finally relieved. Still little embarrassed, i started walking in subway and towards one side of the road and the second i entered the road, there was a man peeing on the side of the road and of course many people were in the road minding their businesses.
I started thinking how much ladies would be facing this issue in our country. There was no public restroom in many places. I don't know if there are restrooms in local railway stations. Remembered how ladies are very careful about not drinking water before long travel, using restrooms before beginning travel etc. After coming from USA, i'm trying to follow few things, like doing physical activities such as badminton, reading books, keeping room clean, washing clothes regularly, not eating fried items much, not using same socks twice etc. But these are all personal things which i believe i can maintain in long term. But when going out and spending time in public places, being in traffic etc, i don't think i can follow rules. Maybe our country become too convoluted for that. After i start driving i will get to know how much traffic rules i have to follow and how much i shouldn't to survive in road.
I have booked an Yamaha Ray ZR and will get this week mostly. Initially i was hesitant to buy a scooter as i thought people would tease me saying it's girly and all. But after seeing the traffic in Chennai and how people drive, its really very scary. So i'm not worried about getting teased now. First let me drive the scooter and get used to our road and people, then i will think about driving bike in Chennai. Next week, would start driving scooter and don't know how many new bad words in Tamil i'm gonna learn in the process.
About continuing reading habits, i just completed one small book "Periyarum Arasiyalum". Not getting the mood or proper time and place to read a book. Still trying to find a way to continue reading. Ordered a couple of Murakami books via amazon and they are waiting in shelf for me.
Book count for the year at 15/30.
Started playing badminton regularly and it's definitely a good physical activity and hoping to continue that and get better in that slowly.
Outside in the public places, still i'm learning how to behave, what to do and what not to do. In some places like Browsing centers, xerox shops etc., i walked in directly with footwear on and some even had to rudely tell me to leave them outside. So now wherever i go, i first look outside if others left their footwear outside or if people inside wearing their footwear or not. The thing i'm still not able to figure out is where a queue is. Most of the times i go and stand in banks, cafeterias when there is only one person before me talking to officers or ordering food in the counter and i assume 'ok, i need to stand behind and form a queue'. But when i do, after sometime someone else will come and go directly to counter even while they are still dealing with other person and start ordering their food or start discussing their requests, simultaneously giving me a look like 'why is this fellow standing here?' . To save face, i had to start looking at menu in the wall and act like i'm still not decided what to have or look around like waiting for someone.
I went to my hometown 2 weeks back, which i decided i have to go at least 2-3 weeks once to compensate for not being home for 4.5 years. That was also a new experience as i never much traveled in bus from Chennai to hometown often. When i was in Mumbai i used to come to Chennai via flight and reach my hometown via train. And i always came during non-festival times to avoid crowd. Chennai to anywhere in weekends it busy and crowded in buses. So i had booked a semi sleeper to go and sleeper for return. Friday night when i had to go to Koyambedu from my office i took a government bus and it was full crowded and it brought back all the memories of when i used to travel like this and be happy even if i get a proper place to stand first and slowly after few stops will get a seat to sit and i would feel like the luckiest person in the world. Same thing happened this time too, but i realized how people of all financial strata were in that bus and soon after reaching koyambedu, people will split and some will go to take a government bus, some semi sleeper and some sleeper, with A/C and without A/C etc.
I reached Koyambedu and got on the semi sleeper bus which i booked, though i had hard time making sure i got on the right bus, with my Dad and sister kept calling me giving me tips on what to check, how to check with drivers, like the final destination of bus, whether it will go through our home town or not, if not where should i get down and tell the driver to stop at that place and tell conductor to wake me up etc. Then i reached home in the morning and again, my village felt like heaven to live. Same old Prince-treatment in home, my mom's cooking, pillows flying when i lie down in front of TV, neighbors still coming to my home just to meet me and say Hi, playing with neighbor's kids etc. 2 days went by in a jiff and sunday night i boarded a sleeper bus which came via my village itself. As usual my Mom made sweets for me and my friends, this time Rava laddu and Ellu urundai.
I had to get down at Guindy, so i kapt alarm for 4AM and slept soon. But i woke up at 3:30 itself as i had to relieve myself. But the bus will reach Guindy only after an hour. So i decided to hold it, but it started getting difficult and i thought of telling the driver to stop somewhere so i can relieve myself, but i didn't know if that's normal or they will look at me like i'm from another planet(like some of you reading this thinks about me). With that hesitation, i kept holding it and the bus reached Guindy at 5 AM. Now i'm in a hurry and absolutely can't wait, i kept walking here and there to find a lonely place, but everywhere i could see one or two people. There was a subway nearby and i crossed the road through that and found that the railway station is just on the opposite side. For some reason i thought there will be a restroom in railway station, then reminded myself i'm in India. I couldn't stand in one place for few seconds, i kept walking here and there and crossed the road via subway both ways couple of times. But i didn't find any lonely place to relieve and went to nearby petrol bunk and asked them if they have a bathroom and they said no. Meanwhile i kept trying to find an auto/cab via ola and thought i can hold for few minutes and use the bathroom in my room itself. But it kept saying "Sorry all rides are full, try again after sometime". A part of me kept telling me 'come on, this is India, just pee away. No one will mind. You have done it a lot of times before you went to USA. Just turn your back and pee anywhere in the road, don't worry about people behind you.' But another part of me kept telling me 'come on, whatever good habits you developed in USA, keep following that, like keeping the room clean, following rules, don't throw trash in street and don't pee in public. Why should you follow all good things in another country and once you're in your home country, you should start treating it like garbage and then blame the nation'.
While my brain split into two factions and continued this debate about moral conundrum , my bladder was about to burst and if i don't open the gate soon, i'm running into the risk of flooding. While crossing the subway back and forth i noticed there was a place in the middle of subway, steps on the side leading into the middle of the road. But the exit of that stairs was closed with a shutter and it looked like a closed room. I decided that's the only place i can pee with minimum people around. Maximum one or two people walking in subway could see me, but what the hell. So i started walking into subway and went to those stairs near the middle and it was dark and finally i started relieving myself standing in the angle so my back is towards the shutter and subway and i could hear few people walking in subway behind me, but i was too busy to bother about that. Before i could complete, a bus came and stopped exactly in front of the shutter and a bunch of people started getting down and i was standing right in front of them and they could see me through the shutter. It was a good thing i was standing with my back towards shutter, though not entirely. I felt so awkward and embarrassed, but i couldn't do anything, the gates were already open and can't stop the outflow. The bus left immediately and i also completed and finally relieved. Still little embarrassed, i started walking in subway and towards one side of the road and the second i entered the road, there was a man peeing on the side of the road and of course many people were in the road minding their businesses.
I started thinking how much ladies would be facing this issue in our country. There was no public restroom in many places. I don't know if there are restrooms in local railway stations. Remembered how ladies are very careful about not drinking water before long travel, using restrooms before beginning travel etc. After coming from USA, i'm trying to follow few things, like doing physical activities such as badminton, reading books, keeping room clean, washing clothes regularly, not eating fried items much, not using same socks twice etc. But these are all personal things which i believe i can maintain in long term. But when going out and spending time in public places, being in traffic etc, i don't think i can follow rules. Maybe our country become too convoluted for that. After i start driving i will get to know how much traffic rules i have to follow and how much i shouldn't to survive in road.
I have booked an Yamaha Ray ZR and will get this week mostly. Initially i was hesitant to buy a scooter as i thought people would tease me saying it's girly and all. But after seeing the traffic in Chennai and how people drive, its really very scary. So i'm not worried about getting teased now. First let me drive the scooter and get used to our road and people, then i will think about driving bike in Chennai. Next week, would start driving scooter and don't know how many new bad words in Tamil i'm gonna learn in the process.
About continuing reading habits, i just completed one small book "Periyarum Arasiyalum". Not getting the mood or proper time and place to read a book. Still trying to find a way to continue reading. Ordered a couple of Murakami books via amazon and they are waiting in shelf for me.
Book count for the year at 15/30.
Started playing badminton regularly and it's definitely a good physical activity and hoping to continue that and get better in that slowly.
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