Time for Goodbye - India trip 2021

 A Math question for today. The first few lines of an Odia duet I overheard the other day.

Boy - TO SEXY SEXY ANTA DEKHI

           MO DIL FIDA HELA.

Girl -  TO STRONG STRONG BODY DEKHI

           MO NAZAR LAKHI GALA.

Calculate how many English, Hindi and Odia words are there in this so called Odia song loaded with tons of vulgarity. It is high time for the legendary Odia singer Akshay Mohanty to take a rebirth to save Odia music from adulteration, cataclysmic alteration and eventual extinction. 

This isn't the sole example. At a local sweet shop I saw a purely Odia looking girl talking in pure Odia with someone on phone suddenly taking a pause and asking another pure Odia shop owner - "BHAYA JALEBI DENA". Bhai has become Bhaya and Jilapi has turned into Jalebi. Dhantera has replaced Akshi Trutiya. We celebrate Lori. Nothing wrong in imbibing North Indian culture, but how many of them celebrate Raja or Kumar Purnima ! North Indian invasion is not just limited to festivals. Nani and Apa have become Didi. Bhinei has become fashionable Jiju and so on.

A lady who I used to address as APA (elder sister) now insists on being addressed as DIDI (as they address elder sister in Hindi). "APA, NA KADALI CHOPA (Banana peel), MOTE DIDI DAAKE (call me Didi)" - she retorted back as I addressed her as APA. I got the message loud and clear. Ekta Kapoor's serials are clearly having their effect. First time I heard the word "bro" was in Hollywood movies and after coming to America. Now bros are roaming rampant in Bhubaneswar, many address one another with "Hi bro". 

For someone from current generation of middle class in Bhubaneswar being closer to Hindi and English sounds "Hef" (the word used for being cool here). The Forest Park dwellers, Netflix and Amazon Prime watchers are one step ahead of them in "Hef" category, as they chew "Phew, Oops, Shit" in English - for them Hindi is so passe.

In the United States most places open for breakfast quite early, between 5 AM to 6.30 AM. Then open for lunch from 10.30 and dinner at 6 PM. Here breakfast stalls open after 8 AM, most restaurants around 9AM. Lunch is eaten not before 2 PM and dinner often after 10 PM. With such late dinner one can imagine eating a late breakfast. But at our home here we don't eat that late and it keeps me sane. I prefer to have my cuppa tea early in the morning, but lunch at 2 PM and dinner at 10 PM isn't my cuppa tea.

There is a severe shortage of Rs.2000 notes (Bills) though Rs.500 notes are in plentiful. I hate to have a bulging out pocket filled with lower denomination notes in it, so carrying Rs.2000 bills is my preferred option. Yet couple of banks I checked out couldn't provide me with any 2000 rupees note. Someone told me his reasoning behind this shortage - that Rs.2000 notes are mostly used for black money transactions and hence much sought after, eventually becoming elusive for commoners. Conspiracy theory or otherwise, it made sense.

Overall trip went well. My RT-PCR test, a requirement to take within 72 hours of boarding an international flight came clean. Though bitten by mosquitos multiple times so far no symptom of Dengue. Ran lot of errands, did some charity work which includes helping a poor family clear their medical bill and paying an academically bright but needy student buy a laptop. The feeling was more satisfying than visiting a temple.

When I loaded some Airtel minutes to my local mobile (cell) phone, I was prompted to speak out my phone no. Speaking "96688" as nine-six-six-eight-eight" is often frowned upon and not properly understood. You need to pronounce 66 as "Double 6", 88 as "double 8" and so on. Being out of touch with the milieu for a while, it took me a while to figure this out.

This eminent writer R K Laxman sited this reason for him to stay back in India when he had the option to settle abroad - "Where on earth you will find so many variety of characters to write about !!!" He wasn't far from truth. No place under sun can match India in the richness of flora, fauna, chaos and characters to write about. Often chaos and disorder brings the fun and frolic out of life rather than orderly tidiness.

What's the similarities between a vacation, a consulting assignment and life ? All have a start date and an end date. Like all good things in life a vacation has to come to an end. Before vacation one is rejuvenated and filled with energy. Towards the end of the trip one is jaded, somewhat depressed. There is always an inherently internal wish you had a few more days to spent. Three, four or five weeks, however long you stay it is never enough.

In the wee hours of the trip it's always the endless cycle of last minute shopping, meeting friends and relatives, run errands, packing, weighing, repacking and re-weighing of luggages.  Now the time has arrived to bid adieu to my motherland. Good Bye India. See you later...

Day XXI and XXII in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 During my initial days in Odisha, the incessant honking and zigzag traffic felt little irritating and occasionally annoying. But it is nothing compared to the "Auto-cracy" I see in Bhubaneswar. The 3 -wheeler vehicles called "Auto", a short form for Autorickshaw try to outsmart and outrun each other in the rat race of catching the next BHADAA, the Odia term meaning rental passengers, akin to the rat race of news channels for higher ratings (TRP).

As there were hardly any Zebra crossing here, it took me a good 5 minutes exhibiting my ass swinging skills to cross a 20 feet wide road. Road crossing is an art in Odisha and one needs to be a trapeze artist to cross roads at most crossroads of Bhubaneswar. You not only have to deal with the incoming traffic, you have to deal with stray dogs, cows and bulls competing for their space on the road. It took above and beyond my normal hip swaying skills to cross the road which would have made any danseuse proud.

After a bout of morning showers due to a tropical storm, I drove to the nearby Samantaraipur Chhak to get some ALU CHOP (potato cutlet) - one of my favorite snacks. Alu Chop tastes better in Odisha as French fries taste better in America. The area is full of street vendors on both side of the road selling vegetables. The place reminded me of an incident from one of my trips to India a few summers ago. Visits to India is always memorable. Incredible India, full of sights and sounds with wonderful imagery you will find nowhere.

One fine morning I came to this vegetable market to do some shopping and catch a glimpse of the milieu. No sooner I finished my purchase from a vendor than I heard someone shouting MAHADEB MUNDIA (Salute, O Lord  Shiva. The venerable Bull is the ride of our Hindu God Lord Siva). I turned my head to notice a huge Bull sniffing vegetables hardly couple of feet from me. The mountain sized bovine acknowledged my neighbor's greetings by nodding its head while happily munching the veggies fed to him.

A man suddenly arrives at the scene clad in LUNGI (A loincloth wrapped around the waist), scratching his private parts in public (blame the hot and humid weather for that) and asked the lady vendor "ALO BAIGANA KETE NEKHA meaning "Hey, how much is the Brinjal ( Eggplant ) ?" Then from nowhere comes another woman in rags shouting explicit at someone who refused to part her with vegetables. 

She started cursing the vendor's whole family to die from BAADI (cholera, a killer disease from yesteryears, now defunct). She could have cursed her to die from Covid which was the scourge here. One has a better chance to perish these days than Cholera. She also went on accusing the lady vendor of soliciting illicit relationship with her mothers and sisters. I couldn't understand why she didn't direct her anger towards her father and brother rather than mother and sister. Apparently we are still a male dominated society.

After being content from covering all the 14 generations with all her curses she finally relented. The lady selling the vegetables ignored her and went on shouting BAIGANA BAIGANA (eggplant eggplant). I asked the lady vendor the reason behind the other woman's sudden outburst. Before she could answer my query a man in loin cloth and unkempt hair told me "She is a mad woman. Nobody takes her seriously". 

As he walked away the vegetable vendor started giggling. I asked her what's so funny ? She said "Babu (Sir ), this man just told you that the abusive woman is PAGELI ( she-mad), right ? " "Yes, I think I heard him loud and clear", I replied. She continued giggling "Hee hee. He is no different. He is a PAGALA (he-mad) too."

Now trying to make sense of the madness surrounding me I swept off the beads of sweat from my forehead as the tropical sun was peaking right over my head. It was time to rush back home, far from the madding crowd. More later...

Day XIX and XX in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 Yesterday afternoon as I came out a Shoe Store, saw couple of guys passing comments (local lingo for catcalls) directed at a girl passing by.

"EMITI SUNDARI KEMITI HELA

KOU PANI RE GADHAU THILA".

Roughly transliterated 

How could you turn out such a beauty,

In what water you bathed to be so pretty.

The girl didn't appear to be insulted as she stepped inside a Autorickshaw. Either she didn't care or took it as a compliment.

Two Babus are wrestling for the topmost post of the President of Bhubaneswar Club - A popular watering and networking hole in the capital located in the heart of the city. The lesser mortals are fighting for the lesser important positions. Last year's contest between Trump and Biden will pale in comparison to the aggressiveness in vote soliciting going around for these cherished posts. The campaign reminds me of BJB College Student Union Election. There is an African proverb - When two elephants make love or war it's the grass which suffers. Many Club members are irritated by way too much campaign solicitations in form of personal calls, emails and Whatsapp messages. Some freeloaders are taking advantage of campaign parties held at Bhubaneswar's premium hotels.

I went to do some marketing in Market Building - the Times Square of Bhubaneswar (Shopping is called marketing in local parlance, not to be confused with selling any product). The place wasn't too crowded. I made purchases from UTKALIKA, a Government owned enterprise which sells gift items related to the state's culture and tradition. Then from a nearby shop bought a few snack items including my favorite "Cuttuck Mixture" and "Badam Pakoda (Spicy peanut fritters)", which tastes far better compared to their counterpart Indian groceries in US.

My next stop was a store nextdoor selling cooking utentils and sundry items. Buyers clustered around it with masks perfectly covering their chins, barely a feet from each other. From a safe distance I shouted at top of my voice asking for the price of a Tea Kettle - "E KETTLE RA DAAM KETE (What's the price of the Kettle) ? He could not understand my pronunciation of "Kettle" and after me repeating the word couple more times he could finally make out - "OH KETILEE" (Oh, you need a Kettle) ? KETILEE vs Kettle, the meaning was lost in pronunciation. Didn't stick around too long in the Market Building as I thought it's prudent to stay away as much as possible from public gatherings during this pandemic period.

HAR EK MAAL (Street vendors) sellers come often to our locality selling their products, from trinkets to cloths and utensils. They come on bicycles and motorbikes. Over the years they have improvised. One I saw this morning had a recorded voice playing time and again in high decibel - DEKCHI 200 TANKA (Container 200 Rupees), KAREI 250 TANKA (Frying pan 250 Rupees), DANKI 100 TANKA (Spatula 100 Rupees). A few minutes later came another guy on a nondescript bicycle shouting at top of his voice "DABA TINA BIKRI KARIBE (Wanna sale Containers, Tins)". His dusty bicycle with a hanging, perforated leather seat, its two wheels with multiple patches on the tyres barely able to hold enough air, the tube almost touching the ground.

I have an account at the local State Bank of India from 18th Century. This Thursday when I visited the Bank, it was conspicuously less crowded. Then I realized that Thursday is the day of MAA LAXMI, Hindu Goddess of wealth - so a monetary transaction is best avoided on that day, lest one wants to attract the wrath of the Goddess which will leave you in penury. I was glad that I was there on a Thursday facing less crowd, especially during this pandemic time.

At Kalpana Square right in front of the Fire Brigade office there is a big bill board proclaiming NUAKHAI BHET BHAT (Meet and greet on the occasion of Nuakhai). Nuakhai is a major festival of Western Odisha is now conspicuously celebrated in Bhubaneswar, a place not native to this festival. At several places I haven't failed to notice the prevalent Sambalpuri dialect, popularly spoken in Western part of Odisha. 

It says one thing - Bhubaneswar is getting more and more cosmopolitan. During my growing up days Nuakhai was unheard of in the capital city of Odisha. Now big billboards in Bhubaneswar announce its arrival along the arrival of immigrants. The migrants to the state capital are not just limited to folks from other parts of Odisha. There is a sizable Bihari population, vindicated by the visible celebration of "CHHAT PUJA" in Bhubaneswar.

On the other side at the same location in Kalpana Chhaka there is another billboard advertising an Odia movie PHULEI GHARANI (Attention seeking wife). Every wife is attention seeking. It is enacted in everyone's home. One doesn't have to visit a movie theater to see its reincarnation. More later...

Day XVII and XVIII in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 Still stuck to my promise of not eating any Pizza, KFC, burger or ice cream during my stay in India. Here I prefer Piazi (Onion fritters) to Pizza, BARA to Burger, Chicken Egg Roll to KFC, RASAGOLA to Ice cream and CHHENA PODA to Cake or Pastry. Some one suggested me to visit a Burger King located a few miles from here. I have half a dozen Burger Kings within couple of miles of radius from where I live in the United States. So here I would prefer a freshly fried BARA right in front of my eyes which cost me 3 cents a piece to a $3 Sandwich at local Burger King. I believe - Eat BARA in Bhubaneswar, eat Burger in Boston. Be Roman in Rome.

I love to speak my mother tongue in Odisha, an opportunity I rarely get in United States. Because I rarely speak the language beyond the boundary of my home. Talking in Odia is restricted over phone and "meet & greet" rendezvous with NROs (Non Resident Odias). 

But more and more NROs from my generation now a days speak less and less Odia among themselves - They drink PHEPSI (Pepsi in American accent), drive THOYOTHA (Toyota), and punch their Odia sentences with a liberal dosage of "Oh Boy, Oh Gosh, O man" and so on. The more you pronounce "P" as "Ph", "T" as "Th", the more American you are. So as long as I am on "Jagannath Land", I take opportunity to converse in Odia with the commoners here before I return back to the "Jesus Land".

The other day at a local store I overheard a guy speaking on cellphone twitching his 2 inch long ear hair and chewing full Pakhala Khia Hindi (Hindi spoken by Odias after eating a stomach full of water soaked rice, a staple food of the state) :

"MUJHE BAHUT JOR SE JHAADA MAAD RAHA THA. AB MEIN USKO CHAAP DIYA - "I got enormous urge to use the loo, but force controlled it". It took me back on a time machine to one related incident a few years ago.

It was during one of my trips years ago shortly after I arrived in Bhubaneswar, I was pulled into visiting Puri Jagannath Temple on a special occasion. I wasn't very keen on going as I was still tired after a long trip from the otherwise of the world and my body clock hasn't adjusted to the new time zone. After a lot of persuasion I reluctantly agreed.

Severely jet lagged and constipated, I had ate a late lunch of MAHAPRASAD (The great offering) inside the Jagannath temple. The meal was a high fiber diet  consisting of concentrated DAALI (lentil), BESARA & MAHURA (Temple curry of variety of mixed veggies) and SAAGA (Leafy greens) - all fiber rich food.

It was late afternoon when we drove back home. My constipated stomach started gurgling as the high fibre content had its effect, now ready to burst itself out like the Hirakud Dam which can't hold any longer after a heavy monsoon downpour. The floodgates were ready to open any moment but I was confident that with about 20 miles or so to go, I can hold on.

Soon I discovered that I was at wrong place at wrong time. Wrong place - every minute countdown to those twenty miles seemed eternal, each miles passing looked like an hour. If Einstein ever went through this he could have replaced his simple explanation of his Theory of  Relativity by - "Time stops when the urge to shit doesn't stop".

Wrong time - My watch procalimed it was 4.30 PM in afternoon, that would be early morning in America. My body clock not yet used to Indian time was still US mode and hardly helped me by adding fuel to food, further triggering the bowel movement which was in no mood to relent.

I instructed the driver of the vehicle to stop at a relatively secluded spot, grabbed his Red GAMUCHA (loin cloth) and ran behind one of the bushes. I ran so fast that I could have beaten Ussain Bolt to a seconds behind me. As a sqatted, I found couple of mosquitoes sitting happily on my particular body part where I dare not slap. 

The Chinese philosopher's saying - "When a Mosquito seats on your balls then you consider peace as an option". It also reminded me of my teenage days when I was hit by a cricket ball down under. So rather than swatting them away or clapping them to death, I let the mosquitoes feast on my private part in public. I suddenly discovered myself as the most tolerant person on earth.

Meanwhile I attracted the attention of a stray dog sleeping nearby who gaped at me with a look filled with surprise and suspicion, giving me a scare for a moment. The mongrel now stood up, extending the legs looked up and yawned "Yeeeeeooooo", shook itself of dirt, scratched it's ears using its hind legs. 

Thankfully he decided not to chase me. He turned in a different direction and strolled away. Otherwise, what a sight it would have been !!! Me running through the paddy fields, chased by the canine, with the GAMUCHA slowly slipping away from my waist. If caught on video, it would gone viral with a million pus hit in no time.

Moments later I was back in the car, a much relieved and relaxed person after relieving myself. Nature's call can take you back to nature - exposing our helplessness. How helpless are we in front of nature. An innocuous meal of simple, vegetarian temple food almost made me shit in my pants. Nature is the world's best leveller. More later...

Day XV and XVI in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 This is some real bullshit. With the increasing use of tractors for tilling lands for cultivation, oxens aren't needed anymore. As sometimes an unwanted female child is known to be left at God's mercy on river Ganga GHAT (bank of the river), similar fate awaits the cow's male offsprings these days. Many leave their young, male calves at mercy of Lord Shiva to take care of his BAHANA (rider) Bulls. The old town, known as the city of Saivite temples bear the brunt of these stray bulls. The area where I live has a Lord Shiva temple every other kilometer, hence a good number of bulls and bullshit peddled around. There are at least a dozen of them roaming free in our locality - big and small, of different hues and colors. 

They sleep around on the middle of road. You can see them non chalantly ruminating as vehicles pass by. They graze and feast around trash near dumpsters. On occasions they're known to goad unsuspecting bystanders and their parked vehicles. They are also the cause of many traffic accidents, especially when they get excited at the sight of nubile cows and chase them around, inspecting to impregnate them. 

There are stacks of old newspapers lying in our house. Because of the Covid pandemic the prospective buyers who come looking for the newspapers yelling at top of their voice "KAGAZA, KAGAZA" (Paper, Paper) aren't seen anymore. We want to sell them off or send them out for recycling ♻️. But so far no success.

A different type of paper, the famous Paper Masala Dosa of Venus Inn located in Bapuji Nagar isn't what it once used to be. It's no more thin and crispy, I ended up chewing it like a Tandoori Roti. The Sambar and Chutney no longer taste the same. Recommended by someone I bought Dosa from a road side kiosk which tasted far better, not to mention a whole lot cheaper. It's not just the old restaurants with reputation like Venus Inn have lost their mojo. Most of the newly opened stores belong to the category of "well begun is half done". No sooner they become popular and their popularity gets amplified by coverage on social media than they start taking their customers for granted and their quality goes for a toss.

Already two weeks past my stay, I have managed to meet and interact with folks from different folds of life. I don't let an opportunity pass to have a chit with  local folks from all echelons of the society to get a hang of the political vive of the millieu. Here are my 5 take aways based on conversations and subsequent analysis.

1. Naveen Patnaik led BJD will stay in power in the state until the party supremo dies. I hardly found anyone who dislikes the man. His social policies work like magic in a state where the majority of the population are known to have low aspiration and are ledback in nature (the usual disclaimers apply).

2. BJP in Odisha is equally inept and corrupt. It has no other option but to wait for its turn to be at the helm of affairs of the state. There is not a single leader from the national party to match the stature of Naveen Patnaik in the state. Their two high profile central ministers from Odisha have zero political base. Forget getting elected to Assembly or Lok Sabha (where Lok or people vote their representatives), these two gentlemen aren't even capable of winning a Municipality election where real people vote.

3. Most Odias supporting BJP are upper caste Hindus and from middle class. They are invariably government servants, businessmen and retirees with a stable source of income. It also includes some hypocrites of highest order who earlier benefited from the largesse of the previous corrupt Congress regimes and now turned into BJP supporters. They are examples of what we call in Odia the perfect CHHATA (Umbrella) party, avid practitioners of the principle of "BARSHA JUADE CHHATA SIADE (Wherever is the direction of the rain, so goes the Umbrella). It is attributed to the fair weather folks. Not all supporters are "Chhata party" type. I encountered some MUNDA (Bull headed) supporters with Cowdung stuffed inside their head. If Sri Modi says shoot your mother, they will shoot without blinking their eyes. I wasn't surprised, having encountered a bunch of them on social media.

4. Forget the minorities, the lower caste still looks at BJP with suspicion. Invariably all the Autorickshaw, OLA - UBERAY (as Uber is pronounced here) drivers I have interacted aren't happy with the high gas (Petrol/Diesel) price and inflation. The common man who feels the pinch squarely blames the BJP led Central Government for that.

5. Modi and BJP are now synonymous as the Nationalist party is no more a cadre based party. It may well be chistened  - Modi Janata Party. Like it or not, Modi (BJP towed to his tail) will continue winning most if not all future elections including 2024 Lok Sabha. Though divisive his carefully crafted cult status has grown in stature a la Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. There is simmering discontent at the Modi's government, but there is no one to capitalize on it. It took a national leader like JP (Jayprakash Narayan) to oust Indira, but I don't see any modern day JP in sight to replicate the same. It's the hard truth.

My father, who like me though anti-Congress through out his life with an independent mindset has of late become a supporter of BJP, although he is far from being Bhakt (devotee) type. When I queried him if he sees any tangible results on the ground he couldn't list any. Yet he supports the party as he doesn't see any future in Congress and any other party. I am sure he is not alone. More later...

Day XIII and XIV in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 More than half way through my India trip I have realized that time flies faster than the speed of light. A vacation week passes much faster than a work week, vindicating "The Theory of Relativity". Explaining his famous theory Albert Einstein said "time flies slowly when you listen to a boring lecture, but it flies fast when you talk to a pretty girl". He stands vindicated.

In the initial days of the trip I didn't mind about spending money. Never bargained while buying from street vendors, gave them hefty tips to their ecstacy and in return got appreciations in form of bewildered looks to subtle chickles. But now I am starting to think - Am I spending more ? Do I pay more for the price of the commodity ? Can I get a cheaper bargain somewhere else ? May be from a visitor mindset I am slowly graduating to the mind of local resident.

During my school and college days I was a voracious reader of Odia and English books, varieties of newspapers and magazines. One of them was the SATHI (Friend) pocket series books - a series of Odia novels containing sagas of thrill and mystery, many of them detective stories. As the name indicated, the books were pocket friendly, thin and tiny enough to fit into one's pockets.

Remembered reading one such pocket series book - PATIA JANGALA RA SAAPA (The snake of the Patia forest). Patia on the outskirts of the capital city of Odisha was a rocky, red soil hamlet filled with rocks and ant hills notorious for harboring venomous snakes. Now the location has turned into a jungle of another kind - concrete jungle. The snakes living there now belong to a different species in form of real estate sharks of dubious characters. A friend just told me if you see a snake and a real estate guy in Patia, kill the real estate guy. Because the snake may leave you alone, but the real estate agent is guaranteed to ruin you. Anyway I hate concrete jungles and visit that part of the city only when it's absolutely needed.

Today I happened to be in Patia, located diametrically opposite to where I live. A long drive, not distance wise but due to the time taken to maneuver extremely unruly traffic. There is no traffic rule here in Bhubaneswar, every one from pedestrian to those driving vehicles, from bovine to stray dogs - each one makes his or her own rule. Yet every nook and corner you can see hoardings proudly proclaiming the state capital as a Smart city. Strings of multicolor underwears, Salwars (women's costume), Lungis (loincloth worn by many in India) adore the skylines of tall apartment buildings, fluttering in the wind as they dry out.

In the Webster's dictionary smart means "clever, witty, brainy" etc. But in local Bhubaneswar parlance a guy on a bike wearing shining shoes and chasing girls in the process of acquiring a girlfriend is considered a smart guy. The name "Smart city" tag given to Bhubaneswar speaks for itself.

Home sweet home - Our home is full of sweets, some bought by me and rest gifted by good samaritans, friends and relatives. My sweet blood attracts the Mosquitoes who apparently love sucking it using their straw like tentacles. Covid is not the only disease around here, as Dengue fever caused by mosquito bite is lurking in nook and corner of each home. These are highly resilient creatures. If they can survive Alaska and Minnesota, insecticides like DDT etc, they can survive anything.

I have been told to stay away from this murmuring species, but in spite of best efforts they still manage to feast on my blood sweetened by all these sugary stuff I am eating. No sooner a mosquito bites me than I get red boils and itching. Not that I hadn't been bitten by mosquitos before, but by staying away from them for quarter of a century I have lost my immunity from insect bite. By the time I start getting some immunity, my trip will be over. More later...

Day XI and XII in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 In spite of all the rain our locality in Bhubaneswar wasn't impacted by flooding. The basic Law of Physics still holds good - Water always looks to the lowest level of elevation and flows towards it. Luckily our home and the surrounding streets are located on a higher elevation and water logging is not an issue.

Now that rain is gone, it feels muggy as the air is thick with humidity which can make you feel like a melting man if you stand outside for 5 minutes in the afternoon. After a break of couple of days I had to crank on the AC to keep me cool and cozy.

There is no concept of making a queue (standing in line) at most places. The other day I was at Nimapada Sweets, a popular sweet store in Bapuji Nagar. Instead of making a line half a dozen or so folks were standing in a cluster, all shouting in unison "ADHA KILE (1/2 Kg) CHHENA PODA, KILE (1 Kg) SANDESH, DASA TA (10 count) RASAGOLA - all trying to outbid each other creating the miasma of a mini fish market.

I waited for my turn standing somewhere in that cluster but it took me nowhere. Neither the customer nor the server or the cashier cared for my etiquette. Soon I realized that I will be in all probability spend the entire day standing at the same spot. After waiting for 5 minutes I spoke up - "ETHI KANA LINE NAHI (Don't we stand in a line here) ? Being Roman in Rome, I wanted to enter wrestle my way to make a purchase if my query was unanswered. Thankfully for me the cashier who all along noticed this said - "ARRE, BABU NKU DEIDE (Hey, take this gentleman's order)". My order was ready.

Last evening I went to the Park right in front of the Arts block of BJB College for a walk with my friend Amit. We drove  past D-33, BJP flats and took a nostalgic peek at it. D-33 is that middle floor 3 bedroom quarters where we lived. (In local lingo government provided houses are called quarters here where the employees are quartered. Larger the quarter, bigger is the status of the person). I lived in that quarter for 15 years of the prime time of my childhood and youth. Took a nostalgic peek as I passed by it.

While making rounds inside the park I saw a young girl standing under lights posing as a model and her friend was shooting her on cell phone camera. The photo session continued for a while, with the model-in-motion bending left and right with hand on her hips, catwalking back and forth. It was walk in the park for her. When we passed by her again I could hear her complaining - "EITA BHALA HEINI. AU THARE NE (This shot wasn't good, do a retake". 

Saw a bunch of middle age ladies huffing and puffing their way on the narrow trail,  their chit chat indicated all talking and none listening, probably inspired by the discussion panels on local TV Channels where everybody talks but no one bothers to listen. I could overhear them talking about the necessity of staying fit to avoid any future ailments and subsequent dependency on their children. At least one of them was doing character assassination of her mother-in-law and maid - MO SASHU KA MUNDA KHARAP HEI JAICHI. MAID RA DUI DINA HELA DEKHA DARSHANA NAHI (My mother-in-law has gone crazy. The house maid hasn't turned for duty for last couple of days). Interestingly 80% of those walking in the park were females. Glad to see the fitness trend is going up amongst the fairer sex.

Oberhearing conversation can be interesting. Another time I heard a girl on phone speaking in a soft but audible voice following the recent fad of speaking in a hydrid of Odia, Hindi and English - "TU JANICHU NA, MO BOYFRIEND TA EBE BEWAFA HEI JAICHI (You know, my boyfriend has turned untrustworthy recently)". Good luck young lady on your "Bewafa Boyfriend" and thanks for enriching the Odia language by adding some news words to it. More later....