Saras India

Traffic. And everything that happens in and around the term traffic.

The first thing;

Back home in Sweden, I put on my seatbelt, it is a habit. I dont even think twice before putting on my seatbelt. Why should I? I need to wear a seatbelt, end of story. So far so good.

In India, I put on my seatbelt, it is a habit. I dont even think twice before putting on my seatbelt. It is for my safety and I love my life to much to risk it by being stupid to not wear a seatbelt in this chaotic traffic. Here comes the difference. People get offended when I put on my seatbelt. They see it like I dont think they are safe drivers. The driver always say,"Why are you putting on your seatbelt? You dont need it, I am a safe driver." If other people are in the car, they usually tend to say "You dont need to wear a seatbelt. X is a very good driver, only one/two/five/zero accidents." I am sure you are a very good driver, I dont doubt that. But you never know! And you are not alone in the traffic, not everyone is a good driver. And there are many accidents in India, and everywhere else, dont try to deny that.

The second thing,

If you have an accident in Sweden, God forbid, or if it might have been close to be an accident, reactions would have been something like, "Oh shit, are you okay?" "Thank God nothing happend, Im glad you are okay.." So far so good.

In India, the reactions is, It wasnt my fault. He came and did this and this and this. It wasnt my fault. Who cares who´s fault it is? Okay, you might, but that is not the first you should think of! I will tell you one example, that happend just a few days back, which explains what I mean.

I was in a car with a friend, he drove on a one way road, but towards traffic (its okay, it happens in India all the time, and it was very slowly). We then take a right turn, and we almost hit a bicycle. The driver says; Crazy man, he needs too look properly before he takes a turn (the bicycles left turn). I told him, he doesnt have to, because no cars are supposed to come from the side we came, it is a one way road! Then he still said, but he should have done it anyway, he should have looked, it is his fault he almost crashed into my car.

Okay in this case it actually was the drivers fault, but I just wanted to show how the thinking goes. Nothing like, Oh shit I almost hit that bicycle! No, it is; Oh shit, he should look properly, it is his fault!

If you are hit, you are hit! If you are injured, you are injured! It doesnt matter if it was the other persons fault or not. You are injured, thats what you should think about. Maybe you should have worn that seatbelt I talked about in the beginning, maybe you would have been less injured, eventhough it was the other persons fault.

I started to do something here since it is very cheap, but it is such a pain in the ass. I hate it, I get like panicy feelings whenever I do it, it is really, really uncomfortable and I cant be still. I twist and twirl and cant wait for it to be over. I take breaks, for something that only takes a few minutes. But I cant handle it, I really, really hate it. It is really painful also, I am almost crying whenever I do it. Still I do it. Why? It is so good, so easy and so fast. And you get a perfect result. Threading is something really, really good, I just wish it was not so hurtful, and uncomfortable. If they ever touch my eyelashes I panic! I hate it! And even touching my eyebrows like that is really uncomfortable. When ever I go to the salon to have my eyebrows done, they need to people for me, haha! I always apologize, but they are used to me now. They now how I behave and that they cant touch my eyelashes for example. I dont think I could ever get makeup done by someone else. People cant touch my face like that. And absolutely not put on mascara or eyeliner.. If someone wants to torture me, I think that would be the best way, by touching my eyes, eyelashes or putting on eye makeup! I would rather die or tell all of my lifes secret...

Not even a police raid that ends in no music, no dancing and no singing can turn a good evening bad. Bangalore city has gone mad now. The cops has to work a lot from now on if they want to keep these rules. Because as soon as they leave, the music, dancing and singing is back on again! If they ever try to ban alcohol, and I will not be surprised if they do, it will be chaos in this city. A few years back Bangalore was actually known for having the best partylife in India, and now, these days, it is just a joke! Lights are switched on at 11pm, 11.30 pm the place has to be empty!

After the party, the party with no music, no dancing and no singing, atleast for some time, I went for an afterparty in my sweet friend Zoe´s house. She had a very nice house with balconies and a huge rooftop terrace. I met some really funny people, like a bunch of weird British men. I made fun of their accent the whole night, I think they hated me when they left, haha! I stayed the night in her house, it was so far to my place. So I took an auto this morning instead.

When I came home last night, there was no power. The house were completely black, not a single light was there, from anywhere. One of my roommates were home, so everything was fine. But then after just a few minutes she left the house. I lid some candles, in my room, but I was still scared. For you people who doesnt know, I am very scared of the dark. So there I was, sitting in my room, trying to think about happy things. I tried calling my rescuer, Sam, but she didnt understand that it was a matter of life and death, so she didnt pick up my call, eventhough I called her around 50 times!

After what felt like a lifetime, she called back, so I atleast had some company.. And then my friend came to pick me up, so I didnt have to be in the house anymore... Im thinking I should do some therapy. To cure my darkness fear.. I am a grownup, but still behaves like a baby if it dark and if I am alone...

It wasnt raining last night, luckily. So I was home in just one hour. Including of waiting time for the buses. I changed my clothes and then went out with a friend. We met a few other friends outside and then went gome for a small party. I had so much fun. We were just sitting in my friends house talking, so nothing special happened, but it was a really nice evening. And tonight is Wednesday, my favourite day of the week. I am going to Loveshack again, like every Wednesday for the last few months. I cant get enough of that place, it is like my second home these days.

Two of my friends has been sick. Now I think it is my turn. Hopefully it is nothing more than a cold, but lets see how it developes. Yesterday I couldnt hold it any longer. I tried for so long, but I just couldnt stop myself. I opend my bag of Grillchips. I was supposed to eat just one or two, but I ended up eating half of the bag. Why is Grillchips so tasty!? And why cant I buy it here in India?! I almost forgot how tasty it was, but when I put the first one in my mouth, I kind of died and came to heaven! Grillchips and milk are the 2 things I miss the most about Sweden..

 

I realised that I have forgotten to post some of the pictures from my birthday. Taken by a very nice photographer that night.. So here they are. I like these pics a lot..


Sweet Anitha

Mr. Himesh Arora himself. The owner of Loveshack

Ernesto

Eric

Sam and me

Ernesto, Sam, me, Sebastian and Gianluca

Okay, I take back what I said about the rain. That I almost wanted it to rain now when I got the boots from Juliya. Today it rained cats and dogs. And I hated it. It took me forever to get home, and I was supposed to meet a friend, but it got to late because my friend also got stuck in traffic! Rain in India, is like snow in some parts of Europe, like Belgium and England for example. The whole country stops. It just cant function. It is chaos in the everywhere. It is just rain/snow! Be prepared, it always comes, its not a surprise! It is a mystery for me how it can become so chaotic!

Well, like I said it took me forever to get home! The last few hundred meters I had to walk. And the street was flooded, so I walked in the middle of the road. Then one stupid car came, drove very fast in a water puddle, and I got soaking wet! I got so angry so I just screamed at him; "What the hell man!" Eventhough he was in the car and couldnt hear me.. And yes, it was a guy!

So many indians love the rain. And I just cant understand how. How is it possible? What do you like about the rain? You like the chaos in traffic? You like that it takes forever to reach anywhere? You like getting completely wet? You like walking in brown, dirty water when the streets are flooded? You like the powercuts that almost always comes when it rains? Oh, I just hate the rain.

I had a lovely evening in Sky bar.. It started off little dull, because it was raining and we had to sit inside, but after some time they opened up the outside bar, so we could enjoy the view and all the fireworks! The music was very good, and we all wanted to dance. Just after a few seconds of dancing, one guy came up to Sam and said that dancing is not allowed. She said, oh she is not dancing, she has epilepsy.. Weirdly, they did let us dance after that. I guess maybe they just have to tell us that dancing is not allowed, if we dont follow it, they cant help it. Atleast they have told us..

Now I think I will just relax til Wednesday´s party. Be home and enjoy my puppies or something.. Last week it was to many parties, with friends, colleagues and guests. So I need to take it little slow now, just hang out at home with friends.. So please dont invite me for parties, because it is so hard to say no!


Food looks yummy, but it wasnt that good

I ate almost the whole cake..




We finished almost the whole cake when the night ended....

And somehow I turned into a muslim, not  a very good one though, I am showing my whole arm...

I went for Elins birthday party tonight, in Skyebar. It was a very, very nice evening and I ate sooooo much cake.. I will show some pictures tomorrow morning.. Now I am so full, I couldnt eat a single thing more, I thinkt I would just burst then...

Goodnight♥

Everyday here in India I see people that has almost nothing. Today when I was on my way to office, I saw several men sleeping next to the road, on the ground, with noting but their broken clothes and shoes. I cant stop thinking that, what do I have to complain about when I have so much in my life already. I complain that my food is not on time, I complain that it takes me so much time in traffic, I complain if my house is not clean enough, I complain that the store doesnt have the brands I want. How can I complain when some people dont even have a house, food, clothes or a place to sleep? I guess it is just how human works. I try to be grateful for the things I do have in life. I try to see the positive side instead of all the negative sides. I know I have a lot to learn from people here in India.

I have seen the poorest of people, people that hardly have any food. Still they offer me their food, and they prepare the best they have to make me happy. And they do it with the biggest smile on their face.

I have seen small children, living on the streets, with open wounds begging for money and food, still they play with each other and with you if you want to and they look like the happiest kids with no worries in the world.

I have met people that live on the street, with no house, no money and they get so happy by seeing you, when you shake their hands, when you try to talk to them, when you take pictures with them, when you acknowledge them, when you see them instead of ignoring. Just because someone has less than you doesnt mean you can just ignore him or her. They are still humans, we are all humans. We should all be treated the same way.

But I am ashamed over myself. Because I have ignored people, I have not given money or food when I easily could, I havent spoken when they wanted to speak to me, I havent shaken their hands, I have pushed kids away, I have felt releived when people havent seen me, I have cursed people that dont leave me alone, when all they are trying to do is try to get money or food for just one more day....

I got a lovely gift from Juliya before she left. She said she didnt need these ones, so she left them with me. Luckily we had the same size. Now I am almost looking forward for some rain..


I tried them on last night and they fit perfectly. The only thing is, I forgot that one of my feet is hurt and swollen. I was little irritated in office last night, so I closed a drawer little to hard. Then one small window fell on my foot! Now it is all red and swollen. And last Wednesday, someone stepped on my toe with high heels, so the toe on the other foot is all red and swollen as well.

Today when I went home from office I started to think how much I hate the buses. If no one can take me on their bike or in their car, there is no other choice for me than taking the bus. And the buses dont take the fly over, they take the long, cheap way (the fly over has a toll). So even when there is very little traffic it takes me around one hour to get home. Which is way to much. So then I thought, maybe I should buy a Vespa as well, like my friend that I mentioned the other day.

Even if the vespas goes in like 40 or 50 km/hour it will save me a lot of time in traffice since it is much easier to get through traffic with a small vespa than with a big bus. Plus you dont need to stop on the way to pick up people. So I asked one of my friends if she could get me a good price on one, she said she would ask her friends, all of her friends are bikers so they should know something..

Me when I drove a scooter for the first time in Goa 2009.

The night ended in The Mickey Mouse house, which is my house. The reason it is called Mickey Mouse house is because there is a kindergarden in the same house, so we have a Mickey Mouse sign outside the gate.. So one girl wanted to use the bathroom, and I showed the others the puppies. 3 big men were sitting on the floor cuddling with the puppies forever! Even I, who love dogs, got tired and left.. Then everyone left and I could sleep, little after 12..

They really like their tequila! I hate tequila. I get bad goosebumps just by hearing the name! These guests of mine are really enjoying their tequila, and they want everyone to like it as well... I usually say thanks, but no thanks.. I stick with the food. Like I mentioned earlier, I wanted a hamburger. I didnt get a burger, but lots of other tasty food, so I am good anyway.. Tomorrow I will show some pictures, tonight I am to tired...

Goodnight ♥

Everyone was very, very friendly in office today. I asked my colleague Roushan if he told people to be nice to me. He said no, turned his head and again said "Do your job!" when I kept looking at him. I think that means he was lying. Of course it is nice that everyone is extra friendly, but it was little weird also. When people are feeling sorry for me, I feel even more sorry for myself. Even our General Manager was very nice and we had a long chat, which we never had before..

Anyway, my shift is over but I am still sitting in office. I am waiting. Waiting for my colleagues to get off their shifts. And waiting for 2 of our guests to get off work. All of us are going to Hard Rock Cafe. I went there once, for a party, but the music was waaaay to loud so I had to leave. I always wanted to go there and eat, they are famous for nice hamburgers. So today is the day, the day I will have my first hamburger in Bangalore. I did have beef once, or maybe twice but it has been a while now. So it will be nice to have some real, proper meat again..