West Meets East

The initial confusion associated with our arrival in India five weeks ago has worn off. That is not to say that we are free from bouts of confusion, disbelief or “I didn’t expect that to happen.”

Our latest mystery was how to get our laundry back. (The washing machine broke down.) It took five days, six phone calls and four trips to the basement where the laundry facilities are located for the return of our laundry. Each inquiry Helen made was parried with, “It will be ready at 10 o’clock tomorrow” or “30 minutes, madam,” but those kinds of responses to inquiries are another blog.

One observation is that there is little concern for public space. Litter is ubiquitous in large and small towns. It is common, for example, to see people as they walk the streets to toss wrappers and other unwanted refuse to the ground without hesitation. It makes us uncomfortable. Helen just wants to get in these people’s faces and say in a firm voice, “Hey! Pick that up and don’t do that again!” Of course, we just mind our own business and wince in silence.

Sanitation at the open-air mutton, fish and chicken stands at the Russel Market in the Bangalore city center is equally appalling by US standards, but that’s just the accepted way of doing business here.

We are foreigners in this country and wish to be accepting of the culture we have entered. We have drawn the line, as you might expect, on standards in our own living space in this 15-year old complex. Our apartment is spartan but comfortable, and has a marvelous view. It also had an accumulation of dirt and grease in the kitchen, soap scum on the bathroom walls, a leaky toilet and mildew on the bathroom ceilings from leaking plumbing above us. A letter to our building manager got our leaky toilet fixed. The sounds of industry from the apartment upstairs hopefully will re-direct running water into the plumbing system and not to our bathroom ceiling. We got busy and scrubbed the kitchen floor, removed soap scum from the bathroom walls, cleaned the kitchen cabinets and removed a decade or more of dirt from the inner courtyard porch. We still have floors to clean, but as the saying goes, “Home is where your scrub brush is.”