Sidewalks

Of the many infrastructure problems from which Bangalore suffers, sidewalks are on the top of our list. For Jay, a daily walking commuter, navigating the rugged terrain from the apartment to the office is a regular challenge.

Sidewalks in Bangalore are typically made of blocks about the size of bricks, although a bit flatter, that if properly laid will interlock together forming a uniform walking surface. Well, the “if properly laid” is the rub.

Sidewalk laying appears to be subcontracted to an extended family consisting of two men, a woman and children laboring with only hand tools. These folks initially labor to unearth sidewalk blocks that have broken, shifted by tree roots, or been haphazardly re-laid by various utility workers. Unearthed blocks are cleaned by hand. New subsoil or sand is applied via hand-carried, curved metal bowls that look like large Frisbees. The interlocking sidewalk blocks re-laid and tapped into place by heavy metal hammers. No mortar is used in the process. When they run out of blocks the sidewalk ends. The blocks at the edges almost immediately begin shifting out of place. If new rows of interlocking blocks do not align with an existing row of interlocking blocks…well they just don’t align or interlock. Gaps at curbs caused by the need for a half sized block are filled with rubble or dirt.

The newly laid sidewalk is useable but its life’s expectancy is precarious. Inevitably a repair effort will be subcontracted in a year or two to an extended family composed of two men, a woman and children now a year or two older.

Wine Tasting Party

Jay and I went to a wine-tasting party last night at an Italian restaurant sponsored by the Overseas Women's Club of Bangalore. The restaurant is normally closed on Monday nights so our group had the place (one big room) all to ourselves. The man who grows the grapes came and talked at length about his Indian vineyards and the processing of the grapes... way too much information. He talked for about 25 minutes before we got to taste the first wine. It was a white table wine. The next two wines were red. Neither of us liked any of the wines that the grower was so proud of.

Everything and everyone in India is loud, and the restaurant was no exception. At the beginning, as the man who owned the vineyards was talking to our group of about 100 who were all quiet, the person in charge of the kitchen was giving orders to the staff in a loud voice in the same room! We were sitting at tables of eight and as the wine was poured and the food served people began to get acquainted at the table and the volume of the conversation got louder and louder and LOUDER. The floor, walls and ceiling were all hard surfaces so the noise became overwhelming in just a short time. We found we could only understand the people sitting on either side of us. The event was to be from 8-9:30. They were still serving pasta courses at 10:00 when we were the first ones to get up and leave.

We hired a car and driver for the evening (3 hrs./$15). When we got outside Jay called the driver's cell phone number but got no answer. We looked around and couldn't find him. Another driver standing nearby said, "There's your driver." He was inside the car, fast asleep, right in front of the restaurant! The windows of taxis are heavily tinted. Next time we'll write down the license number of the car!

Traffic
One thing that immediately overwhelms a new visitor to Bangalore is the traffic. Bangalore is a city of 9 million people. Prior to the huge influx of Information Technology people five years ago, the roads of this once sleepy retirement town were able to handle the comings and goings of everyday life. Today, crossing a road, with or without a traffic signal, can be hazardous to one’s health. If the vehicles don’t get you the air pollution will.

Traffic is a steady (35-40 mph) soup of cars, buses, trucks, two-wheelers (motor scooters & motorcycles), an occasional ox or horse drawn cart and zillions of autorickshaws, which are a three-wheeled motorcycles with canopies over the top. We suspect only 1 in about 50 vehicles would satisfy any notion of an emission control test. Clouds of smoke pour from exhaust pipes as well as an invisible cocktail of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and other stuff that would make an EPA agent’s skin crawl. It is a shame that the beautiful weather of Bangalore is under such an assault from the combustion engine.

Driving habits take a sharp departure from those we see in the States. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. Lane lines are decorative. Although there are the occasional signs imploring “lane discipline,” such an expectation has only two chances of coming true….slim and none. When entering a busy road from a side street there is no pause to check for oncoming traffic. One simply hits the horn and drives into the flow of traffic.For all its chaos, traffic flows with the understood law that all pavement is fair game, left turn lanes from the right side of road is acceptable, and forward movement is the objective of all. And there is constant HORN honking. It can be used to indicate your approach, your displeasure with someone’s speed or road position or to simply announce that you are coming and all should be alert.

Stand by Your Woman

Here is small item from The Times of India dated September 23, 2005. We are still very new to Indian culture. We read the paper each day absorbing the many things we still need to understand.

Rapist Refuses to Marry Victim
Banka: A rape victim was divorced by her husband in Bihar's Banka district with the approval of a panchayat, which ordered the rapist to marry her but failed to ensure com­pliance.

The young woman was raped allegedly by Sheikh Ejaz at Rehmandih village in the dis­trict on August 24. Her married life lay in tat­ters the moment she revealed this to her husband of five years M D Farooq.

Farooq refused to accept her as wife thereafter and took the matter to the local panchayat, seeking divorce. The panchayat asked him to divorce his wife after paying alimony and ordered Ejaz to marry her.

When the victim's father Sheikh Iqbal went to Ejaz's father Sheikh Sherawat on September 15 to fix the marriage date, the father-son duo refused to abide by the panchayat's verdict and assaulted Iqbal. Sherawat offered to give monetary compen­sation to the victim, but she refused and moved the court of the chief judicial magistrate of Banka on September 16.

Newspapers

We have The Times of India delivered to our door each morning about 7am. Since Jay doesn’t leave for work until about 9:20, we have a lot of time to read the local rag and also read The Atlanta Journal and Constitution and The New York Times online. The Times of India’s front section has a lot of politics and issues dealing with money (their stockmarket). The rest of it is like People magazine. There’s lots of ink on movies and movie stars. Right now there is a big push to improve the infrastructure in B’lore. The roads and sidewalks are in deplorable condition, and the city officials think the IT industry should help pay for the repairs because their influx is what’s causing such heavy usage. Many IT chiefs are willing to put up some money to get the job done as soon as possible. The red tape to get things done here is overwhelming. One of the statistics we read in the paper here recently is that to start a new business, the US is third and India is 155^th in ease and ability to get it started.

Kerosene, Motor Oil and DDT

Kerosene, Motor Oil and DDT

Among our many concerns before coming to India was the dread of contracting malaria. Helen obtained a one-month supply of Malarone. Malarone is taken daily. Another medication called Mefloquine, taken weekly, has the side effect of causing loss of memory. Jay’s doctor shared that some businessmen who appropriately start their Mefloquine regimen one or two weeks prior to departure arrive at their destinations addled and lost. We opted for the Malarone option. Given our waning middle-aged minds, the thought of increasing our forgetfulness was distressing. Now…what was I going to write?

Oh yes…mosquitoes and malaria.

As it turns out, there is an aggressive and apparently successful local campaign to reduce or eliminate the mosquito threat. Newspapers implore people to remove containers with standing water or to simply spray with kerosene, motor oil or DDT. Our apartment complex employs a man with a cloth mask who daily fumigates the exterior of our large complex with billowing clouds of DDT.

So our malaria concerns have been reduced, our prescription of Malarone remains unopened and our health concerns about the traffic air pollution has a competitor in our man with the cloth mask.

Killed or Fatal
On the main street in Bangalore commonly called MG Road (a.k.a. Mahatma Gandhi Road) we came upon this tote board that provided a statistical tally of traffic related incidents. In typical flourish used in the language, an official presence was provided by stating that the data was provided by the Bangalore City Traffic Police. In our short time here we have not seen much traffic police presence. What struck us as odd were the “road accident case particulars.” We understand the meaning of Killed and Fatal. Why there should be two different statistics was a bit strange. Same for Non Fatal and Injured. I guess next time we are in the market for silks and sarees we should check with the kind folks at Vijayalakshumi who provided this great information.

You decide… Here’s an article from The Times in its entirety.
Scooterist dies after hitting stray horse A scooterist died after he hit a stray horse on Thursday night. He has been identified as Anand (22) , a resident of Kumaraswamy Laout and an employee of a medical store. This incident happened when he was returning home around 11 pm. He applied the brakes in a bid to avoid hitting the horse, in vain. After hitting the horse, Anand fell down and sustained severe injuries. Passersby rushed him to nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. The injured horse has been shifted to a veterinary hospital in Hebbal.

The Bathrooms
The bathrooms are quite spacious because there’s nothing in them except the bare necessities! The floors and walls up to about six feet are light-colored ceramic tiles. The sinks are attached to the walls with no cupboard or skirt below them. The toilet flushes by pulling a fob on the top of the tank behind the “seating area.” Each bathroom has a water heater near the ceiling above the toilet to heat water for the shower and the sink. We turn the electricity for it on each morning before we need to use hot water, then turn it off again. On the far side of each bathroom there is a window with frosted glass, both of which are so rusty they don’t shut, but it doesn’t matter. Next to the window there is plumbing to shower, a nozzle below, and a flexible metal hose that the cleaning lady uses to fill a bucket to clean with. When we take a shower water gets all over the bathroom because there’s no shower curtain. There is one towel rack and two small wooden shelves between the sink and the shower that can hold soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Anything other than that has to be stored in the bedrooms or kitchen.

The Kitchen
As you already know, DON’T DRINK THE WATER! There is one faucet in the sink that dispenses water (normally room temp) used to wash dishes and your hands. The dishes are washed under running water; there are no plugs in the kitchen or the bathrooms. We have a large container (15 gals) of water resting on the left side of the sink with a spigot that runs into the sink. That water is ionized and is used to rinse the dishes and cook with. We drink bottled water. There is no cupboard under the sink; you can see the plumbing. Along one wall are four small cupboards that are above the kitchen counter. The counter itself is one long slab of black granite resting atop four more cupboards. We have a microwave oven, but no regular oven. To cook, we have a two-burner cooktop that is fueled by a cylinder of gas. The cylinder sits on the floor at the end of the counter in the corner of the room. There is an ignition key that creates a spark to light it, just like a typical camp stove.

Room with a View...Again

Here, what we call the 1st floor they call the ground floor. According to the Indians we live on the 5th floor, but if you count the way we do in the US, we live on the 6th floor. We have a plain but spacious two-bedroom apartment. It would really fit into 2005 America with its 10’ high ceilings! It’s about 1100 sq ft. We also have two full baths, a large kitchen, an eating area, a living room, a back porch where our washing machine resides (more on that later), and a front balcony off the living room that overlooks our large, beautiful courtyard.

The Apartment Complex
We live on Airport Road, one of the main thoroughfares in Bangalore. The name of our apt. complex is Diamond District. It is a complex of about 18-20 apartment buildings which are built in an oval shape with a large, private courtyard in the middle. The courtyard is full of beautiful palm trees, plants and blooming flowers. It contains two tennis courts, a basketball court, two swimming pools, a playground for children, and lots of benches and sidewalks. There is also an elegant entrance for the lower level reading room, health club, two squash courts and a restaurant that overlooks a goldfish pond. It is a very pleasant, secure area. There are at least two guards at each of the eight entrances 24/7 as well as a guard at the entrance of each building. People who do not live here must show passes to get in.

Air Conditioning
The climate and weather in Bangalore is such that A/C is not required. The weather is pleasantly in the 70's, it's not humid, and there is a slight breeze all the time. We do have A/C units in the bedrooms we can turn on at night if we so desire. The units are above the windows and controlled by remote control. The holders for the controls are on the heads of the beds. Pretty cool, huh? (pun intended)

Raj Pavillion breakfast area at the Windsor Manor. Each morning we had a wonderful breakfast. The both India and western fare was available. The service was equally wonderful.

Helen waits for the morning request from the wait staff, "Coffee or tea?" Note the round dish to Helen's right on the corner of the table. A banana leaf has been cut in a circle to match the dish. Boy if only we had a nickel for every time we were served food in an Atlanta restaurant on a banana leaf!

Room with a View

Our room (#4003) at the Windsor Manor was very comfortable. Like many Asian buildings, the hotel is built around an inner courtyard that allows ventilation. The picture in this blog was taken from our room and shows the beautiful gardens within the courtyard. Each day, a gardener swept the lawn of debris. Built during the British Regency Period, words such as “regal” or “stately” would be appropriate when describing the Windsor Manor.

On Jay’s initial visit to Bangalore in July – Aug 2005, he learned about cricket in the Windsor Manor Irish pub called the Dublin. One must credit the British for bring a part of the Empire to every corner of the earth.

Rooms on the first floor…that would be floor zero in the elevator…are reserved for unescorted women. Women-only staff provides housekeeping service on that floor. On the other floors, a male staff is employed. Helen spoke with Sendhil and discovered that he was recently married and lived in a small apartment for which he paid 2,000 rupees per month (about $46 USD). In comparison, the room rate at the Windsor was typically $300 USD per NIGHT. We had a steal of a deal at only $190 USD. Sendhil added that he had saved and recently purchased a two-wheeler (a.k.a. motor bike) for Rs 12,000 (about $280). Most interestingly, Sendhil made only Rs 3,000 ($70 USD) per month.

Looking down at the front desk in the lobby of the Windsor Manor.

Another view of the lobby looking at Irish pub called the Dublin.

The Windsor

After a very long flight and a six hour wait in the Chennai Airport, we landed in Bangalore. Arrangements had been made for a car service from the Windsor Manor hotel to greet us at the airport. Much like the car services meeting people at major airports, drivers were lined up outside with a variety of signage. “Mr. Harish Vellala”, “Dr. and Mrs. Witlow.” For all the many plans that failed to materialize, sighting the “Mr. Jay Kiskel” held sign moment after we emerged was a very welcomed relief.

Five pieces of luggage miraculously fit into the smallish but comfortable car. We arrived, checked in and felt a sense of relief that we were “home at last.”

We Have Arrived

We arrived in Chennai after a long flight from Atlanta. Chennai was not our first choice when we originally made our travel plans. Those travel arrangements took us via Lufthansa from our home in Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany and then directly to Bangalore. However, all great plans start with arriving at the airport on time! Missing an international flight connection is not the end of the world; it is just the start of journey down a bumpy, unexpected road.

When all was settled, stand-by reservations on the flight out the following day were confirmed. For Helen, that confirmation did not arrive until 4 hours before departing. The very-hard-to-come-by hotel reservations in Bangalore were re-booked, but not before discovering that our original reservations had been cancelled. In keeping with the unexpected becoming the norm, we discovered upon arrival in Chennai at 11:45 PM that our 6:20 AM flight reservations on Jet Airways from Chennai to Bangalore were...that's right...cancelled.

By 8:00am on Saturday, September 10, we checked into the Windsor Manor Hotel on 25, Golf Course Road. We slept for several hours, then were whisked off to look at service apartments. By the end of the afternoon we had been to five different locations. Our final choice, the Diamond District apartments, was determined by two factors: it is a beautiful, secure complex with all the amenities we were looking for, and it is only a ten minute walk for Jay to get to work.

Not bad for our first day in India.

About Us

We both raised our children and decided it was time for new life adventures. We are long time Unitarian Universalists who found one another through our church work. We married in October 2004 and less than a year later moved to India.