A Tale of 2 Cities

Actually, one's a city. The other is a village gone bad.

So here's what it's like when you move from Bombay to Bangalore:

In Bombay, my life revolved around train timings.
In Bangalore, it revolves around bus timings.

In Bombay, I traveled an hour to work each day.
In Bangalore, I still travel an hour to work each day.

In Bombay, things work. Autos follow meters, cops help when they try to gyp you, people are uninterfering and genuinely helpful when you ask for assistance.
In Bangalore, nothing - not one thing - works. Autos try to con you constantly, meters are for decoration only, and cops run away when you ask for help - if they're there to begin with.

In Bombay, the flyovers have already been built.
In Bangalore, they're being built... resulting in endless traffic on narrow, crowded roads.

But but but... oh, the weather. Awesome. Windy, cloudy, maximum temperature of only around 28 degrees C, perfect for tea and conversation and perhaps some Scrabble and definitely some cuddling-up-with-a-good-book-and-a-cup-of-steaming-hot-chocolate. You know?


So now that we've covered that bit, here's a quick update:
1. Quit job.
2. Had pleasant day dealing with movers and packers, ending with my throwing a fit at the way they were trying to pack my music, which in turn has probably resulted in their unloading my cartons at top speed (R17) from the maximum possible height.
3. Said tearful-cheerful goodbyes to Bombay - Bandstand in the evening and Colaba any time of day or night, Leopold's for a last chilli beef and coffee, my favourite Tibetan restaurant in Juhu for atmosphere and delectable food, last drinks with friends.
4. Flew around the country - Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore in the span of a month. And tried out Spicejet and Kingfisher - which, added to my earlier experience on Air Deccan, now makes me the country's fore-most expert on which low-cost airline to take. A post on that soon!

And of course, Kraz and Maverick have tagged me for movies and books, and I need to respond to those, so that too will happen soon.

Watch this space!

Packing, Moving, Posting and Pending

Pending posts:
1. how we made a new mastercard commercial in Goa
2. packing it in in Mumbai

Be patient, all shall be revealed.