Bangalore Vernacular

I’m a few days into my first trip to Bangalore (Bengaluru), or for that matter: my first trip to India.

A few initial, random observations:

• People are very friendly (but then again: I’m of the philosophy that you find what you’re looking for when you travel).
• Plugs tend to spark a bit when you stick them in an outlet.
• Driving on the road involves extra dimensional spaces that did not exist a moment before your car somehow, wondrously, did not collide with an oncoming auto, motorcycle and pedestrian.
• Vehicles use their horns as a form of echolocation. The regularly send out beeps, testing if the coast is clear and letting others know they are there. Pedestrians, motorist and cyclist do not seem at all perturbed by the regular blasts and few honks seem to be in anger.
• The city is exceedingly vibrant and forever in motion. There is a continues stream of street vignettes: each different from the last.
• Service is top notch.
• There are a lot of street dogs. (A lot more than there are street cows.)
• People tend to be sharp dressers – and women’s outfits are often particularly striking and beautiful. – Makes me wish that we could see some of those fashions take hold in the US.
• Apparently, Indians can’t recognize an American accent when they hear one. Compared to Greece, when every person could identify an American from a block away before ever opening one’s mouth. Indians can have a conversation with you and then ask what country you’re from.
• As we drive on the right side of the road in the US, we also tend to walk down the right side of hallways and rooms. Conversely, in India, everything is reverse. This results in regular confusion and near collisions as I walk down the inappropriate side.