Well, I made it. It’s exactly 2 years since I arrived in India. And I’m just about to leave Bangalore. My last day at work is tomorrow, and then I have one more day after that to finish sorting things out before I fly back to the UK for a few weeks. The last couple of months have gone by really fast, and inevitably I still have a mental list of “things I never did” while I was in Bangalore. […]
On a dark, busy, Friday evening in Bangalore I stop in the wine shop on my way home from work. It’s spacious and modern, with steel and glass frontage. Several businessmen are eyeing up the 18-year old imported single malt whiskey, which is very expensive. On the counter next to the window are a couple of small Hindu idols with garlands of fresh flowers round their necks, along with a large bunch of bananas, half a coconut, and a couple […]
About 8.30am, and I’m walking to work down a residential side-street. A woman comes out of her house with a large bowl of food scraps. She goes to the corner of the street and calls something out. A huge black and white friesian cow comes waddling up to her, and she puts the bowl down on the ground in front of it. As it starts eating, she touches the cow on its rump, mutters something, and blesses herself.
Eating my breakfast at 8am. The doorbell rings and Kannagi my maid lets herself in with the key I gave her. We exchange pleasantries and as usual she heads straight into the kitchen, puts down her handbag and her phone, and starts chopping and cooking. Once that’s under way, she starts sweeping the floors while the pressure cooker hisses away. “The days are going very fast now, brother”, she says. I agree, and we smile a sad smile at each […]
Only four and a half weeks to go and I’ll be home! For the first time in 2 years. Well I’ll be back in the UK anyway–I’m not really sure where “home” is these days. But it will be great to see my family for Christmas, and after that possibly living the life of an itinerant couch-surfer for 3 weeks, catching up with dear friends, many of whom seem to have participated in the British Baby Boom this year. […]
Saturday lunchtime. It’s about 25 degrees. A boy of around 7 years old nonchalantly wanders about in bare feet, daydreaming and singing to himself, outside a shop on a busy road. He’s wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and a fluorescent, lime green, knitted balaclava.
Time really does seem to be flying by. It’s two years ago today since I set up this blog, just after buying my “one way ticket to India”. Looking back now it’s hard to recall the trepidation of making such a commitment to jumping into the deep end, applying for the visa without understanding how it all worked, wondering about how I would find somewhere to live, and what it would be like to live and work in a […]
It’s another holiday! Today is Gandhi Jayanti, celebrating the mahatma’s birthday. After a very long wait between Good Friday (6th April) and Independence Day (15th August) we’re now into the best season with 3 holidays in October and 2 in November this year. It’s pretty disruptive to the teaching–our 4th term of the year starts in college this week–but very welcome nonetheless. One of the big surprises about moving out to India is that I’ve become a morning person. […]
Today is a big, big holiday in the South and West of India–it’s Ganesh Chaturthi, the festival (and birthday) of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati, who is instantly recognisable as the Hindu deity with the elephant’s head. For the last week or so street vendors have been setting up roadside camps selling Ganesh idols, and temporary outdoor stages, kitchens and shrines have been constructed in random places (often completely obstructing the road) in preparation for this big […]
