Seemingly Busy

So here I am. After disappearing from the virtual world for more than a couple of days, this feels almost like home... just almost.

OK. I have erased this line three times now... hopefully there will not be a fourth... if there is, you will not be reading about it anyway!

Kolkatta

I've been here four days now... seen the usual tourist sights - Victoria Memorial et. al. The two things that have formed what I presume will be enduring images are the bright yellow taxis and the trams. They are both an integral part of the identity of this city, marking it with a distinctiveness that hits you the minute you step onto the roads of this seemingly busy city.

The Trams are a relic of a time gone by, preserved to date probably only because no other city has trams! They lumber along with the traffic leaving me rather amused. What is even more amusing is the fact that you will probaly risk your life getting onto and off a tram as the tracks are on the right hand corner of the road!

Nevertheless, I took this huge risk and hopped onto one of these contraptions on my very first evening in this city. Then again... one could probably just walk. Then again... there is still a quaint charm... in the old cars, the worn of paint and the huge fans inside the tram cars. There is a charm in the way they weave in and out of the traffic, in the way the traffic steps aside to accomodate them.

And then of course are the bright yellow taxis. Ambassadors painted a yellow that is so bright that you possibly cannot miss even if you were blind. Taxis that will make anyone who comes from Delhi heave a uhge sigh of relief for sparing them the necessity to argue and bargain. Taxis that will soon break your back for they seem to drive without paying heed to ditches and speedbreakers in the road.

Seemingly Busy

The sun here rises before it is 5 in the morning. By 7, it is more like 10am in any other city, cars and buses galore on the roads. The shops however open at 11 (and shut at 1 pm for afternoon siesta), no office starts before 10 am. And yet the roads are abuzz with activity. Activity and Inactivity juxtaposed!