Cultural Mangalore

Mangalore is always celebrating. I see song and dance every day from my window. It is a city that is always partying culturally. God bless Mangalore.

Delhi Traffic Police

The Delhi Traffic police do a great job. No other city's traffic police compares to the Delhi traffic police. The great wide roads of Delhi - a city that seems to be infinite is a pleasure to traverse. Delhi traffic control provides hope for the country. The excuse that this is India and it is like that here fails and Delhi is sound proof of this fact. There is no need to risk lives and limbs of loved ones. Mangalore, please take lessons from Delhi.

My bus trips

The bus conductors are in a great hurry to get passengers off the bus in Mangalore. Some times they ride off before the passengers have disembarked completely. There are many cases where people have fallen off buses and died. Traffic safety has a long way to go in Mangalore. I wonder who cares!!!

Dangerous Crossings

Every time I have to cross a road in Mangalore, I am scared to
death. There are no signals, Zebra crossings, or traffic police on
most roads. Literally, you are playing with your life every time you
cross a road. My heart swells with pride when I see the new wide roads
build all across the city. It is a commendable job indeed but the city
seem to have completely missed the point that pedestrians use the
roads too. I seriously would like to see more facilities for
pedestrians on Mangalore roads.

People of Mangalore and other cities of India have taken the road
crossing hazards as part and parcel of daily life. It sounds to many
that my living overseas has made me particularly sensitive to the
dangers of crossing roads in Mangalore. But I remember, as a child
growing up in Mumbai, traffic was more regulated. We always crossed
roads at designated corners. It was considered bad manners if we did
otherwise. But Zebra crossings have reduced considerably in Mumbai. In
Mangalore, I doubt there ever was good regulated road crossings.

Traffic has grown many times over, but traffic control has not caught
up with the times. Mangalore is a budding city with big dreams. It is
still small enough to repair some faults. So, let us begin work on
making Mangalore roads safe for pedestrians.

Identity crisis for NRIs

NRI (non resident Indian) are faced with an identity crisis in India. To get a cell phone, drivers license etc, you need address proof. In other words an identity card showing your picture and address. Your passport is not good enough if it does not carry the current address. Address proof without picture is not accepted either. Only two items are widely accepted: a ration card and a voter's card. Now being an NRI you cannot vote so the voter's card is out. You have not been buying rations for years so the ration card is not current either. So here we are in Mangalore without solid identity. One of these days the ration card will get cleared and then we will become regular people again. Cheers!

Windows in a storm

Sadly, the windows of my high rise apartment can hardly be left open. The strong wind currents lead to way too much banging. This made me notice that all the high rise apts in America have sliding windows. No traditional windows. The challenge of functional windows is what I am faced with now.

Ants in the pantry

I watch the ants in my kitchen feeling kind of sorry that they risk their lives for the meager crumbs. So food of humans must be delicious. I have noticed that animals thrive in human presence. The plants, the clearings, etc that man likes are also preferred by other animals. Something to take note of when thinking of nature preservation. Most nature preservation today means keeping man away.