Observations & Experiences of an Expat in India

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Or, in our case, a journey of a single mile begins with a thousand steps.

I certainly do not want to dissuade anyone from travelling. My life would be different and, I think, worse if I had never done two things that I have done in the past but have now stopped doing:

1) Reading fiction. In high school, I read Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco at about the same time that I watched the television program The Prisoner starring Patrick McGoohan. Both of these made powerful impacts on me. In college, I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which changed my political and economic viewpoints virtually overnight. I continued to read literature including--about ten years ago--the unabridged version of The Mahabharata (and which took me a year to complete). Since then, however, I prefer non-fiction.

2) Travelling. I wrote a post entitled About Me which describes my adventures. I have also written Favourite Places which describes the places that I would like to visit. Moreover, I continue to travel. However, that is primarily because I must, in order to maintain my visa. Also, travelling is often a chore.

This journey to Hyderabad seemed to be especially so. I think that we were supposed to go in September. However, due to issues relating to her mother's home and/or to her being unprepared, Caroline kept on postponing our departure, and kept on exchanging the train tickets for new ones. I lost track of the exact number of times, but I think that we went to Fairlie Place to exchange the tickets about five times.

Finally, in early December, we left our apartment to go to the Howrah Station. Unfortunately, we left at 11:40am for a train that was scheduled to depart at 11:45am. It is true that trains sometimes depart late. In fact, on our return, the train left Hyderabad about 20 minutes late. Moreover, trains usually (not rarely or sometimes, but usually) arrive late. My train to the relatively close-by city of Raxaul arrived in Raxaul more than two hours late. However, trains usually do depart on time; in any case, it is unwise to depend on a train being late. Needless to say, this train was on time and we were not.

Caroline again exchanged the tickets for mid-late December. This time, we seemed to be going; Caroline had a well-thought-out plan to arrive at the train station on time. However, I truly did not want to go.

1) As I believe I have written in other posts, travelling is an interruption of my daily routine. My trips have been, and will be, brief so I can pack very easily and quickly. However, the planning for it prevents me from writing on this blog and doing other things that I need to do. Moreover, going to and being at my destination often prevents me from doing those things. In Birganj, I did not see any Internet Cafes (although, since I was there for just 24 hours, this was not cumbersome). In Hyderabad, there was an Internet Cafe close to our hotel but I never had the opportunity to go inside to find out the cost.

2) The expense, especially of the hotel. I shall repeat and elaborate upon this in my next post, but here I shall state that I still do not know why many, if not most, hotels do not rent to foreigners. I do know that hotels that do allow me to be a guest tend to be more expensive. Regardless, it is always expensive to pay for a hotel when you are already renting another place. Moreover, because of Hyderabad's wide, heavily-congested roads and especially because of Caroline's arthritic knee, we frequently took auto-rickshaws. In Hyderabad (and especially in Chennai) the drivers seemed to take great delight in over-charging.

3) As I believe that I have written in another post, my camera was not working. I did manage to get it repaired (apparently, a part needed to be replaced and which--of course--was very costly). However, it worked for only two days. I have not gone back to get it repaired again.

4) I was feeling extremely sick. In my recent Medicine in India post, I wrote that I was taking Lemolate. However, it did not have the desired effect this time, and I began to feel much worse before I eventually became better.

For better or for worse, we were on time at Howrah and we did board the train. For worse, we did not have similar seats. Usually, we get the side seats; this time, she got a side seat and I got an inside-middle seat. This meant that I could not sleep without disturbing several people, and I did need to rest because of my illness (which included a slight fever). Fortunately, arrangements were made for me to sleep on the upper seat during the day.
Another good thing (for Caroline, who almost always attracts good and helpful people on the train) was that someone offered to place Caroline's large green bucket on his bed. She took this along with her, to give to a poor person, but she had not yet seen a deserving one so it was still on her train seat/bed. Because of its size and because she had her own suitcase, it would have been extremely cumbersome for her to sleep. I was just about to sleep for the night, so I moved it to my bed and curled up. A young man saw this and offered to put it on his bed. Because he was on the upper seat, the bucket could be kept standing up and because of his smaller size, his legs could go behind it. Thus, everyone was able to sleep comfortably.
Again, I was ill so I rested most of the time and did not see much. Eventually, the two of us got out in Hyderabad. There were a few others who left with us, but not many. We have always found this peculiar. Hyderabad is the fourth largest city in India--and about 35 times more populated than Secunderabad--but everyone seems to get off and on the train in Secunderabad. My best guess is that Secunderabad is a transfer station and/or the local train is stationed there.

In returning home, I was feeling much better and we both had the side seats. I still did rest a lot, though; the rocking of the train seems to lull me to sleep. However, I did see and experience some things that I had not seen nor experienced on other train journeys.
At Vijayadwala, I saw a great many people with shaved heads. After seeing a few of them, I realized that someone must have died. However, I saw so many of them that I was confused; perhaps, though, the train station was near the ghats. I was confused also because I thought that it was a cultural practice of the Bengalis. I had first learned of this practice by watching the film The Namesake starring Irrfan Khan and Tabu (acting as husband and wife, which they did also in the film Life of Pi) and Kal Penn. However, Caroline told me that it was a religious practice observed by all (or almost all) Hindus.
On the morning of the second day, the train passed by an enormous flat-topped mound with some people (appearing small in the distance) standing next to a fire. Again, it was in the morning so it was cold, but they were not standing close enough to stay warm. Moreover, the area of the fire appeared to be somewhat large. I concluded that they were Hindus and that they were cremating someone. It was morning, so Caroline was still resting, and she was in the upper bed. If it were later then she might have gone to the lower seat, seen it and been reminded of her sister.
A short time later, a boy boarded the train, selling newspapers. I bought the Times of India, which appeared to be a rural edition. It was six rupees and much slimmer than the Kolkata edition which is priced at three rupees. It seems to me that the rural editions subsidize those of the cities. (The newspapers in Hyderabad were also three rupees.)
My phone has a radio (sadly, though, it does not have a camera which surprised me as I had thought that cameras were standard on phones). A few times, as we approached or left large cities, I decided to play it. One time, I heard "Life in the Fast Lane" by the Eagles, and "Grease (is the Word)" by the Bee Gees. These were songs that I had not heard on the radio for a very, very, very long time, and the disc jockey spoke flawless English.
I did see the hijra once again; it was somewhat comforting that they have not yet been rounded up and given life imprisonments.At the same time, they can be a nuisance. Their claps bring about a state of anxiety, and they are always well-dressed and made-up so they are quite well off so it is somewhat frustrating when they come to you requesting money. This time, I even saw a young boy become anxious when he heard a clap. However, unlike their portrayal on TV, they are not overly aggressive, I have never had a bad encounter with one and the only time when I saw them become rude and aggressive.was when a passenger misbehaved with one. However, I still prefer to give alms to the elderly, to people who have obvious physical handicaps or to people providing a service, such as sweeping the train floor or entertaining us with a song-and-dance routine.

In arriving at Howrah, we went to the place which we had discovered the last time that we were there (about three weeks previously). At Howrah, there is not only a pre-paid taxi stand but also a post-paid (metered) taxi stand. For our purposes, the post-paid is always cheaper. There are also hawkers who will offer to take you for 300 rupees. These taxis are, I believe, air-conditioned and you do not have to wait in the very long line (which was made extra long--and the taxi-ride extra slow--by the fact that it was office hours/rush hour). However, the line was a relatively fast-moving one, so we were happy to wait.

I predict that this will be my last Predictions post. I prefer to not repeat the previous predictions, unless they are worthy and still relevant. Unfortunately, fewer of my previous predictions are worthy and relevant, and it is becoming more difficult to think of and to write new predictions.

I predict that Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi will be shown on Indian television on 26 January, 15 August and 2 October.

I predict that there will be more rapes in the Rape Capital of the World, and more people acting as judge, jury and executioner in the Gulag Archipelago.

I predict that Narendra Modi will or will not become the Prime Minister. He certainly is getting a lot of media attention, and everyone seems to love a Nazi (Hitler in Germany, and Bushama in the U.S.). Even Caroline, who normally detests politics and who has never voted, likes him because he is a strong ruler and because he has worked hard for the post. (What, if anything, that has to do with being an acceptable politician I do not know, but she does contrast him with Rahul Gandhi who, she feels, has done little.)
My ambivalence has to do with the reaction of the human feces (I'm sorry, I meant to say "CIA") in the United States. It is well-known that the human feces (see above) attempts to de-stabilize even their nominal friends (see here and here, and just ask Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, both of whom the U.S. government supported for many years).

It is well-known that the U.S. government dislikes Modi (they have yet to issue him a visa). However, this could very well be the reason for their support of him in the elections. As the U.S. government begins to move away from Afghanistan, they will need another source of conflict. Conflict, killing and theft are their opiates. However, it is usually difficult to predict the behaviour of a drug addict so I do not know what will be their response. I do know that it will have a significant impact on the upcoming election, though.

I predict that the United States election of 2016 will see the fifth term of Bushama.
As I was growing up, it was expected--and logical--for the Vice President to become President when the President left office. However, in the last 60 years, that has rarely been the case. Richard Nixon (Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower) did become President, but only after another eight years. Lyndon Baines Johnson became President only after the assassination of John F. Kennedy; Gerald Ford became President only after the resignation of Richard Nixon; it was only George Bush (the one who was not a full-fledged Nazi) who was elevated to the Presidency. Thus, Joe Biden probably will not be the next incarnation. Moreover, he first ran for the office a quarter-of-a-century ago so it is unlikely that he will have more success now. Thus, the most likely candidate for Nazi Fuhrer is Hillary Clinton, who fits the role quite nicely.
Of course, there will be a Republocrat challenger but stupid people are incapable of seeing options (and thus are called "voters") and think that because socialized medical insurance has been thrust upon them by their all-wise "leaders" that it is now a necessity. They will want this to be "fixed", and believe that another Socialist can accomplish this, not realizing that ObamaCare can notbe and was never meant to be a solution. It was meant to be yet another problem so that their "solutions" can result in more problems thus extending the life and finances of government, but not of you. (Tell me again: why are you supporting this?)

I predict that the world will be a worse place but that, personally, it will be better. Or, at least, that is my hope. Caroline and I have experienced many and significant challenges in 2013, and we hope that the worst is behind us. Caroline is slightly superstitious and dislikes odd numbers. I am rational, but she could very well be right: her father died in 1997; her mother died in 2011; and my father died in 2003.

Regardless, Happy New Year! .

1 Dec In last month's post (at 3 Nov), I provided an article about Sikkim. In this blog, I am limited in my description of places by the number of places I visit. Thus, I was happy to provide an article that could describe it.

The linked article is a review of a book about the history of Sikkim--and apparently not very flattering to the Indian government.

2 Dec Kolkata as it was 130 years ago.

3 Dec I linked this article in this month's Government as Criminals post (because of the judiciary's inability to come to a decision until 29 years; I suppose that the inmates at Guantanamo Bay Prison will suffer a similar fate) so I normally would not link it elsewhere, but I am doing so now because Caroline and I often talk about the Indian judiciary's inability to render a decision, and to have that decision realized, within a realistic timeframe. This article is certainly an example of that.

3 Dec This truly is news because it flies in the face of every other article I have read about Indians. Of course, what I have read about Indian "workers" is of the unproductive and counter-productive kind (i.e., government employees). The article does acknowledge them but says that in the productive sector, tardiness is frowned upon.

3 Dec In reading voraciously, I am aware of most of the words and topics mentioned in this article of the most-searched topics of 2013. However, I never heard of "cronuts" and I was unaware that there is a new USD100 bill

4 Dec As I have said and done in a previous News: Other post, I enjoy the puzzles, and the articles by Stephen Hugh-Jones, in the Telegraph (although I prefer the actual news articles in the Times). In this column, he explains the jargon of cricket. In India, I have come to enjoy watching this sport, but the jargon (like the jargon of every field of endeavour) can be mysterious and confusing.

4 Dec This article surprised me, not because it is intrinsically surprising but because, using the search box at my blog (in the upper right-hand corner of the screen) I found out that although I have alluded to Edward Snowden twice, I have never written about him. This article, about him being in the Rape Capital of India, is then especially pertinent to this post.

5 Dec Everyone has heard of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Tenzing Norgay and Amitabh Bachchan, but people rarely, if ever, hear of their children. (Oh wait, maybe some people have heard of Amitabh's son--although they have, more likely, heard of his daughter-in-law). This article is about Tenzing's son and how he, too, climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest.

5 Dec This is a surprising article; it is surprising because I saw it in the 5 December print edition of the Times of India, but when I looked for the online version, I saw that it was published 3 December! I have seen many online versions of articles published one day before the print version, but never two days.
Regardless, I want to make two comments: 1) It describes The Attacks of 26/11 as having bombed (figuratively, not literally, although the actual events were the latter) at the box office. Perhaps that is true, but I still found it to be a very powerful film. 2) This article is about "Bollywood" (or, to use a non-derogatory term. HiFI--Hindi Film Industry) films (although one Bengali film is mentioned). Here, I simply want to mention two South films Bombay which is set against the backdrop of the 1992-3 riots and Roja (?). I place a question mark here because I read once or twice somewhere at some time that Roja was based on an actual kidnapping of an Indian government official. However, I can not find verification of that now.

5 Dec Talk about unintended consequences! If a chimpanzee (and perhaps all primates) were legally "human" would it have to get a Socialist Insecurity Number, enroll in ObamaCare and be grilled about its sex life, register for the draft (for a male chimp), pay taxes, be sexually abused at airports, and vote for Republocrats?

7 Dec The death of Nelson Mandela. In the print edition of the Telegraph, it comprised the first five pages, and even a page in the sports section. MAHATMA OF OUR TIME was the sole article on the front page. Other articles were An improbable fustion (the sole article on the second page); Mourning superpower in a trip fix; Funeral set for Diana parallel; Missed Goggles; At first show on life, news of death; Squabble joke to battle for millions; Buddha brolly's missed chance; A long walk with Nehru; Firm handshake, a winning smile;

7 Dec Flurys, a Kolkata landmark, is expanding into Mumbai

8 Dec I read these two articles, and found them to be very inspirational and intriguing. Y ossi Ghinsburg and Chhavi Rajawat

8 Dec The government owning a hotel? I am sure that will work out well. After all, the Great Eastern Hotel became a virtual slum when the West Bengal government took it over. , and it was not restored until it was sold to "private enterprise" (if such a thing still exists under fascism).

8 Dec The lesson to be learned from this is to find out where Mark Weingard is staying and then stay away from him!

8 Dec Caroline has always said that it is very cheap to live in Kolkata, and I believe her. Hotel and transportation costs always seem to be more expensive in other cities. Moreover, you can find very many, very cheap roadside food stalls. However, this article says otherwise.

9 Dec Everywhere, for better or for worse (usually worse) elections (or selections) make news. The world's largest republic (no, not"democracy": in a democracy, you choose what you want; in a republic--such as Unlimited Socialism--you choose the people who will decide what they want) is going through the voting process. There have been articles about this ad nauseum. The linked article, and this (which appeared next to it in the print edition), are two of the more insightful ones.

9 Dec Over the years, I have heard or read several theories of the theme of the TV show The Simpsons. This article discusses them, but propounds that it is actually based on mathematics. I think that I was aware of this theory before I red the article. Upon reading it, however, I went to Wikipedia and saw no evidence that the Executive Producers and the more prolific writers are well versed in higher mathematics. I think that it is simply the accumulation of episodes during the last nearly quarter-of-a-century.
I think that it is much like my blog. I certainly have not been writing for an extraordinarily-long time, but I have written over 300 posts having, I am certain, at least five lakh/500,000 words. In other words, I have written a lot about a lot of things. Just now, I have searched for the word "Antarctica", using the search box, and found that I have written two posts that include this word. This certainly does not mean that my blog is about"Antarctica"; it simply means that this is one item of it.

10 Dec I am including this article about the death of Sakthivel Kuaravelu because he is Indian, because it occurred in Singapore and more specifically, happened in the Little India district where I always stayed in Singapore. A follow-up article.

10 Dec In San Francisco, weather was always the news: it was always patchy fog, clearing by afternoon. In Kolkata, weather is always the news: it is always hot weather in March-June; monsoon in July-October; and cold weather in December-January. In the U.S., the icy weather is now the news.

11 Dec I am beginning to question the wisdom of these articles. I understand that birding (looking for and photographing birds) is a common and enjoyable activity for many. I know that it is very common in the U.S. and that my mother enjoys it. However, is it news-worthy? I do not think that I ever saw an article about it in the print newspapers in the U.S., and if it is news-worthy then why do I see it only in the Telegraph, never in the Times?
Moreover, wheat may be important to a large number of farmers but I never see a news article about the growing of wheat.
Yet another article about birding

11 Dec Yes, this article is from neither the Times of India nor the Telegraph; it is not even a news article. It is an article from Wikipedia. I am linking it, however, because it was on this day that I found out that my good friend Billie Davies, whom I have know for a quarter-of-a-century has her own Wikipedia article! I admire Stefan Molyneux and I follow him on Google+--and he does have his own Wikipedia article--but I do not know him personally. Thus, I highly congratulate Billie. You, too, can follow her at Google+
I ought to add at this time that Guy Fong, whom I have known for three decades, is on Imdb.

12 Dec News is news when it is good news. Here is another article, about Rezzak Sikh. Unfortunately, I could not find the previous day's print article which describes his rescue of another boy.

13 Dec In the morning, I read this article about the meteor shower and thought that I should watch it. In the evening, I re-read this article and thought that I should watch it. In the end, though, I did not watch it. It is too cold outside, especially at night. I am Benjamin Franklin ("Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise--although I am not sure about the "wealthy" part). Also, it may have been impractical to return home late at night from being outside. Maybe at some other place and time.

15 Dec An article about a minority in Kolkata--not the Jews, but the Anglo-Indians

15 Dec I could have--and perhaps should have--linked this in my Government as Criminals post. but I wanted to compare and contrast India with Pakistan, especially in this month.
The linked article relates how a 13 year old Pakistani boy was sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment for committing murder. Of course, we all know that an Indian boy--not much older than the Pakistani--was rewarded and pampered for brutally and horrifically raping and killing a young woman last year.
There was another article--which apparently has been deleted--that stated that 388 life convicts from the state of Andhra Pradesh, some of whom served just five years in prison, were released. I wonder how their victims, and families of their victims, feel.

15 Dec Every week, the t2 section of the Telegraph provides the most popular and/or most interesting Youtube videos. They are always interesting, and this seems to be the most popular, relevant and enjoyable.

16 Dec Yes, there is such a thing as inflation and yes, the stars are probably demanding a larger salary, but I would think that there would be significant cost savings to shooting the three Avatar films at one time. Thus, I am somewhat perplexed to read that they will still cost USD1 billion to produce. Regardless, I am sure that it will be highly profitable.

Regardless, I hope that I will be able to watch it in 3D and in English the next time. (We watched the 2D, Hindi-dubbed version of Avatar.)

22 Dec There may be a lot of finger-pointing now, and more talk that The Lunchbox ought to have been India's entry. Regardless, it is sad that an Indian film has yet to win the Best Foreign Language Film category.

25 Dec An inspirational story of Christmas in typhoon-ravaged Philippines.

26 Dec India has 1.2 billion people and, strangely enough, they were all on and around Park Street in Kolkata on Christmas. The linked article was a full-page article on the front page of The Telegraph. Here are similar articles 1, 2,

1 Dec (FCM, GI) RCW
1 Dec (FCM) Germany
2 Dec (Pati) RCW
2 Dec (OC) RCW
2 Dec (OC) U.K.
2 Dec (OC) G.A.
2 Dec (OC) RCW
2 Dec (FCM) G.A.
2 Dec (FCM) G.A.
2 Dec (FCM) South Africa
3 Dec (Judiciary) RCW
3 Dec (FCM) G.A.
3 Dec (FCM) G.A.
3 Dec (FCM) G.A. (Who are the cops and who are the goons, and how can you tell the difference?)
3 Dec (FCM) Namibia
3 Dec RCW (ObamaCare in the G.A. and Aadhaar in the RCW: Two panaceas that produce more problems than solutions--the very definition of government.)
3 Dec RCW
3 Dec (FCM) Fiji
3 Dec (Thieves & Sexual Abusers) G.A.
3 Dec (Irresponsible Rotten Scum) G.A.
4 Dec (OC) RCW
5 Dec (FCM) G.A.
5 Dec (FCM, SPM) G.A.
5 Dec (FCM, SPM) G.A.
5 Dec (FCM) Argentina, Spain
6 Dec (FCM) Canada
6 Dec (Pati, $) RCW (Our political rulers busy in bettering the lives of the aam admi/common man.)

6 Dec (Judiciary) RCW (The priorities of government: In India, there are as many rapes as there are women, but no one does anything to lessen this harm on human beings. However, if you break a government regulation regarding water in milk then BAM! You will never see your family again.)
6 Dec (FCM) Canada (Mr. Venables ought to have become a politician; there are far more criminals in that field.)
6 Dec (Pti, OC) (Russia, G.A.) (Socialism is always attractive when you do not have to pay for it.)
6 Dec (THIEVES & Sexual Abusers) G.A.
8 Dec RCW
9 Dec (FCM) G.A.
9 Dec (FCM) Canada (Ouch! That slap on the wrist hurt!)
9 Dec (Thieves & Sexual Abusers) G.A. ("But at some point doesn't common sense prevail?" If it did then there would be no such thing as Thieves & Sesual Abusers.)
10 Dec (FCM) Kyrgyzstan
10 Dec (FCM) G.A. (I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down! As children, we never liked the big bad wolf. Why do so many adults like the police?)
11 Dec (Pati) G.A. (Does Bushama not listen to what he is saying? "Around the world today..." refers to both Guantanamo Bay Prison and to Edward Snowden.
11 Dec (Media) China (Government: protecting people by killing them.)
11 Dec (FCM) G.A.
11 Dec (FCM) RCW
11 Dec (OC) Greece
11 Dec (Pati) G.A., Denmark, U.K. (Children! Children! Behave yourselves!)

12 Dec (OC) RCW
12 Dec (OC) RCW
12 Dec (OC) RCW
12 Dec (FCM) G.A.
12 Dec (GRMRCY) G.A. (Boys can hit others but GOD FORBID that they show compassion!)
12 Dec (Judiciary) RCW (My views can be found in In India, Rape is Legal but Sex is Not) This is simply another good article.
12 Dec (Pati) G.A.
12 Dec (FCM) Canada
13 Dec (Pati) World (I have some Nigerian friends who can send these rulers money. I hope that they will accept.)
13 Dec (Pati) RCW
13 Dec (FCM) South Africa
13 Dec RCW (Further evidence that governments and government agencies do not care what happens to OPM--other people's money)
13 Dec (OC) Lebanon
14 Dec (FCM) RCW
14 Dec (Pati) RCW (In my post about this topic, I said that it may be another 14 years, longer, or never, before Section 377 is repealed. This is further evidence of that)
15 Dec (Pati) G.A./RCW (U.S. diplomats can murder people--Richard Allen Davis--but Indian diplomats have to adhere to every edict of the U.S. government.)
15 Dec (OC) RCW
15 Dec (Pati) RCW (Have I not said that governments create problems just so that they could then be seen as "saviours" providing a "solution"?)
15 Dec (Military) China (OMG! Gvernment agents who want to harm people are harming people! And people are shocked?)
16 Dec (Judiciary) RCW
17 Dec (FCM, Judiciary) Italy
17 Dec RCW
20 Dec (FCM) RCW
20 Dec (Pati) G.A. (Two things about this article: 1) The U.S. will not apologize; they are not sorry for what they have done. If Bushama can kill women and children and not apologize then why should anyone thing that he will apologize for the mistreatment of a diplomat? 2) Even if the U.S. government does apologize then they will simply repeat the act in the future. Thus, they will not be truly sorry; if they were then they would not repeat their errors.)
21 Dec (FCM) RCW (In the U.S., if you contact the police by calling 911 then you, or a loved one, are killed. In India, if you go to the police then you, if you are female, are raped.)
22 Dec (FCM) RCW
22 Dec France (Under government--especially Socialist governments--no good deed goes unpunished.)
23 Dec (Pati) G.A.
24 Dec (GI) RCW (Every "solution" must create new problems)
24 Dec (OC) RCW
24 Dec (Pati) RCW
24 Dec (FCM) Brazil
25 Dec (OC) RCW
25 Dec (Juduiciary) RCW (Jagat Sarkar spent 10 years in jail for a murder he did not commit. More than 11 years ago, Salman Khan did kill a man, but has yet to spend a day in jail for it.)
25 Dec (GRMRCY) RCW
25 Dec (OC) England
25 Dec (FCM) RCW (To err is human; to really screw up requires government.)
25 Dec RCW (To err is human; to really screw up requires apathetic passengers in the face of a monstrous government agent--yes, a redundancy.)
26 Dec (Pati) G.A.
26 Dec (Pati) G.A. ("Americans say U.S. Congress is worst ever"...until the next survey.)
26 Dec (Pati) Bahrain
26 Dec G.A. ("[A]nd now when I need my government it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten" Well, DUH! Now you figure it out?!)
27 Dec (GI) RCW
28 Dec (Nazi Scum of America) G.A. (In the RCW, rape is lawful but does that make the act right, good and ethical?)
28 Dec (Pati) RCW (And this is the type of person you support over and over and over again with your votes. Why?!!)

When we arrived at the Nampally Train Station, I did not want to go to the Hotel Royal Grand. I did want to stay there because I had written a somewhat negative review of it; because I wanted to review another hotel; and because I wanted to find a cheaper hotel.

It is difficult to know and describe the directions but the HRG seems to be "in front of" the train station; it certainly is across a wide and busy road. On previous visits, I thought that there would be more, and possibly cheaper, hotels to the "side of" the train station. From my search on Google+ prior to our leaving, I saw some confirmation. In front of the station, I told Caroline that I would walk ahead in that direction to find the hotels.

I first saw Asian Rest Home, which I had seen on my previous visit. I took a closer look and it appeared to be dormitory style, so I did not make inquiries. I also found Famous Lodge and Kalpana Lodge which I had found through Google+ and which (I believe) Caroline had called to make inquiries. I went back to tell her that there were indeed several hotels within a short distance. However, because of our luggage and because Caroline prefers not to walk (because of her arthritic knee) we took an auto-rickshaw.

We stopped at Famous Lodge. I went inside, and the employees snapped to attention, which was heartening. He opened the log-book, indicated that there were rooms available, and I asked him for the cost. It soon dawned on him or another employee, however, that I was a foreigner and he then said that there were no rooms available. This made him a lying sack of sh*t. Moreover, it made him stupid because he was a businessman who did not want to earn money. Thus, I urge Indians to not stay at Famous Lodge and other hotels that do not accept foreigners because stupid, lying sacks of sh*t with foreigners will be stupid, lying sacks of sh*t with you as well, and you will not like that.

The auto driver said that the Kalpana Lodge was similar.

He then took us to Hotel Meredian Comfort Inn which, it now seems, does not exist as I can not find it at Google+, Sulekha or Facebook. From the outside, it appeared expensive and from the inside, it appeared expensive. The reception area was nicer-than-average and there was even a large aquarium built into the wall. The manager said that it was 850 rupees and that there was hot water from 6-10am. I took a look at the room, and it appeared nice with a large bathroom and a Western-style toilet (important to me). There were even large mirrors on the doors to the rooms, which was a nice touch, and floor-to-ceiling windows. I went back out to report my findings to Caroline who was somewhat reticent at the cost. The auto driver then came back with me and they negotiated a price of 700 rupees per night--the same price as the Hotel Royal Grand. Everyone seemed to be happy.

However, flaws soon emerged. I had been shown two rooms. While I was downstairs signing in, Caroline took the room that had a broken window. The window had been completely smashed, and was covered simply with newspapers taped to a frame. The newspapers were dated 11 December 2013. A conclusion is that that was when the window was broken but another conclusion is that is when the newspapers were replaced. It was unknown exactly how low the window was broken. Regardless, if you fell through the newspaper then you would have a long fall, resulting in life-threatening injuries.

In addition, the toilet always leaked (but was still functional), the bidet nozzle was broken (but still functional), the lights were very dim, there was no wastebasket, and the plumbing pipe in the bathroom was very ugly. This is the bane of buildings in India. Buildings are made from bricks so instead of putting pipes and electrical wires between the walls, these have to be put outside or inside the building. The walls themselves were very dirty. All of the employees were males. It may be a stereotype (and/or it may be true), but I think that if at least some of the servants were females then the walls might have been clean.

Perhaps the worst, or best--and certainly the most noteworthy--feature of the hotel was the lift/elevator. It was very slow. It reminded me of that in the Sport Hotel in Moscow when I visited that city as part of a tour group about 24 years ago. The lift in Moscow was so slow that I often took the stairs, even though my room was on the 18th floor. At the Hotel Meredian, many of the other guests took the stairs as well. Compounding this problem was the sound it made. It was, in a way, fascinating because it made me realize how wondrous it is that the human mind can create order out of chaos. From this, people often see and hear what they want to see and hear. Two famous examples are 1) the beautiful young woman/ugly old hag. When I first came across this as a child, I could see only the beautiful young woman. Now, I realize that it is both.

2) the face on Mars. From this, I learned that there is even a word for this phenomenon: pareidolia.

The lift had a recorded voice that said (or so I thought) "Pittsburg" (a city not far from San Francisco), and then there was a loud strumming of an electric guitar. More likely, it was trying to say a floor number ("fifth floor") but it sounded more like "fits flur" and it said this no matter which floor it was on. Perhaps, I thought, it was a broken recording. It then said "Tell me you're ready" or "Here is your penny" or perhaps it alternated between them. There was then another loud strumming of an electric guitar. In summary, it sounded like "Pittsburg [loud strumming], tell me you're ready [loud strumming]. Pittsburg [loud strumming], here is your penny [loud strumming]". More logically, I concluded that it was speaking Hindi or Telegu, although I had never thought that such a thing could exist. When we returned home, Caroline did tell me that it was indeed Hindi and that the words (translated) were roughly, "Step in, open the gate. Step out, close the gate". However, I still prefer my version. In this, I was very much like "Buffalax" when he uploaded "Benny Lava".

Caroline prefers that hotel employees be very proactive in providing service. At first, she was happy with the effort made by an employee named Sidiq but then felt that he was not consistent. I was unhappy with the management who held on to my passport. He had said that he would return it the next morning but twelve hours after that, he still had my passport. I was able to get it back after promising to give him a photocopy (which he ought to have done, himself). This is not something that hotel guests should be expected to do, but I advise anyone travelling to India photocopy the relevant pages of the passport and then hand those to the manager. It is better than having them hold on to your passport for an inordinate amount of time. Lastly, I was under the impression (or maybe I was simply hoping) that there would be no tax payable. Unfortunately, we learned that there would be tax due. I do not understand why business owners are willing to debase themselves to being unpaid tax-collectors, and I do not know why the tax is even imposed. It is apparently a "luxury" tax. Although the Hotel Royal Grand and Hotel Meredian Comfort Inn may be above average in appearance, they certainly are not luxurious.

I was happy, however, that they had made a concession in price. Also, there was one employee who always saluted and said "Good morning" to me each day. As I have written in my recent Journey post, I was feeling unwell most of the time. Thus, I often rested on the vinyl sofa (which was provided on each floor of the hotel, although the one on the first floor had a large hole in it). One time, as I was resting, I heard someone say "Hello, hello". I thought that he was going to tell me that I could not rest there and shoo me away. I opened my eyes and then saw that he was providing me with a pillow! I was very much pleased with the service.

In general, I was happier here than at Hotel Royal Grand. If you also want to stay at the Hotel Meredian Comfort Inn then just do not take room 204 (the one that has a broken window and leaking toilet).

Two nights before we were to return home, Caroline wanted some fruit juice. Someone said that there was a stand on a lane further up the street. When we got to the lane, I walked ahead to confirm that. There was such a fruit juice stand. Caroline had a grape juice and I had some sweets. Afterwards, in returning back to our hotel, we walked past the A.P. Lodge. Caroline went inside, was given a business card that indicated that a room was 850 rupees, but the manager said that he would charge us just 600 rupees. I do not know whether or not they normally allow foreigners, but this issue was never raised so it did not seem to be a concern. Thus, this is most likely where we will be staying the next time we go to Hyderabad.

In short, it was chilly.

As with my recent Journey post in which I mentioned some experiences on the train that I had not experienced before, we had some new observations and experiences in Hyderabad. (Of course, if they were old observations and experiences then they might not be worth retelling.)

Perhaps first and foremost was that I saw an enormous poster proclaiming Hyderabad as a city of lakes, with 2,857 lakes in the city. I knew that the state of Minnesota in the United States is also known for its lakes. There, there are 11,842 lakes over 40,000 square metres in area. Hyderabad is far, far smaller than the state of Minnesota so it is quite impressive that there are that many lakes. Later, however, I found out that these lakes are man-made. I suppose that it is quite impressive to create a few thousand lakes, but I suspect that most of them would be more accurately described as "ponds".

The largest (actually, the only) lake we saw was in front of NTR Gardens. There, we saw a parachutist being pulled by a speedboat (another new observation).

A photo of the lake near NTR Gardens, taken on a previous trip.

At NTR Gardens, Caroline told the auto-rickshaw driver to stop. This seemed to be far before our usual stop. However, she wanted to see what the footpath-merchants were selling. We then saw an entrance that I had not seen before, but Caroline (who was ahead of me) was told to take of her shoes. I was already confused, and this confused her. We then learned that it was the entrance to the NTR Memorial, not the Gardens.

We then left and walked further to the appropriate entrance. At NTR Gardens, we had seen virtually everything that was available. However, Caroline always did like the gardens and the benches in which to sit down. We found out that the 3D Cinema was still showing the same dinosaur film. It is a very good film, but we have already watched it twice, and we expected them to offer other films. Caroline said that we should ride on the SkyLift, but we never did.

While she was sitting, I decided to go to the pagoda. I had always seen it from a distance, but never up-close. Around the pagoda is a moat, in which you can take a ride by a boat which is pedal-powered.

As at the Gardens, we had already seen a lot at the Zoo. We both decided not to take the Safari Tour. I suppose that it is good to see it once for the experience, but not for a second time. We again saw the turtles, but one of them appeared to be either not real, or dead; it certainly was not moving. (Perhaps it was simply sleeping with its head out of the shell.) Caroline was again fascinated by the Jurassic Park and amazed that it was created before the film came out. On our way out, I did see a sign indicating the birds in the area, two of which were of the Little Egret (and I wondered if it was related to the Big Regret) and the Common Coot (and I wondered if it was related to the Old Coot). (Ha ha.)
We found that there was a Children's Park within the Zoo. We saw that there were a few see-saws/teeter-totters. (The latter term is popular in the Western U.S., where I was born and raised.) I had not ridden one in several decades, but Caroline did not seem to have any inclination to do so. Perhaps I shall have to wait a few more decades. We also saw something that I believe is called a merry-go-round (although it is manually powered, and does not have horses). (Again, it has been several decades, so I can not recall what we called it when I was a child.) However, this one was much smaller, and it had a concrete base so it could not be moved. I do not know what it was for, or why it was in a playground.

At the Zoo, I think that my lingering cold became worse and I felt very weak and listless. However, I did tell Caroline that I wanted to ride in the toy train (which I had not done on our previous visit). There were many school-children at the Zoo and the train was filled with them. We were afraid that the next train would be equally filled, but we waited 20 minutes and the train was somewhat empty. As we were about to leave the "station", I asked the TC/Ticket-Checker-cum-conductor when we would arrive at VT (Victoria Terminus, the former name of CST--Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus--which was a location used in Slumdog Millionaire,Ra.One, The Attacks of 26/11, and other films). He said "Twenty minutes". Both Caroline and I laughed and I said, "Wow! This is a super-fast train!" It was obvious that he did not understand what I had asked.
As with NTR Gardens and the Zoo, we always go to St. Joseph's Cathedral when we are in Hyderabad. On previous visits, I never had a clear understanding of its location in relation to our hotel. Now, I think that I could find my way there. We went there on 20 December, and Caroline paid for Special Intentions to be made by the Father on the second anniversary of her death. We went there also on the evening before we were to return to Kolkata. After Mass, we were treated to an impromptu(?) concert consisting of five groups of five singers of church members. The singers sang well, but the Father was annoying. I do not know what it is about rulers--whether they be political or religious--but they always seem to want to have and show control over the activity or situation, usually to the detriment of the activity, as in this case.

As with Kolkata, I found that in Hyderabad, every man spits, and women do not exist. I think that the only women I saw on the streets were ones wearing burqas.
In our previous residence in Kolkata, I started to collect five-rupee coins (the older ones, the ones that can stand on their sides). After awhile, though, it was more and more difficult to find them; I might have drained the neighbourhood of this coin. In Hyderabad (and in our new residence), I have been able to get them somewhat frequently.

Something that I have not seen (or even heard about) before was a pigeon mating ritual(?). A male(?) pigeon flew to a perch on a building where there was a female(?) pigeon. The male pigeon danced clockwise and counter-clockwise a few times. The female, however, was not impressed and flew off. In India, reincarnation is a widely-held belief. If it is true then the pigeon might want to become a dog; I have seen several successful matings by dogs.
As I mentioned in my Hotel Meredian Comfort Inn review, I searched for a fruit-juice stand. On my there, I saw a store-front with the sign "Bombay Brass Band"! I have often mentioned that India, with a population of over 1.2 billion people, ought to have everything. With this, it just might!

This is my film review of Dhoom 3: we did not watch it.

We went to Hyderabad planning to watch the film, among other things. I felt some trepidation; after all, we were going to watch it on the second day of its release. However, it was being released in 18 multiplexes (most of which were showing the film more than a dozen times a day)--including Prasads, where we went--and 29 cinema halls. However, it was still housefull/sold out for each of its screenings that day.
It is perhaps just as well that we did not watch it. Earlier that day, I saw this review in the Deccan Chronicle and while we were waiting for Pacific Rim, a Prasad's employee told Caroline that Dhoom 3 was a bad film.

This is my review of Gravity: we did not watch it.

After learning that we could not watch Dhoom 3, we looked for other films. My eye caught Gravity. I admire George Clooney as an actor, and wanted to watch this in Kolkata. However, we were always immersed in other things. Unfortunately, at Prasads, it was being shown only at 9:00pm, seven hours away and too long for us to wait.

When we returned to Kolkata, I saw that it was still being shown in Kolkata. However, circumstances still make it difficult for me to watch it at the multiplex. It is possible that I may watch and review it if and when it comes to Youtube. However, since it is a 3D film it ought to be seen in the cinema hall.

Thus, we decided to watch Pacific Rim. After paying for it, I became concerned about the cost; I thought that I might have been cheated. However, I soon learned that it was being shown in the 3D Imax theatre. Then I became concerned about the 3D. Caroline does not like wearing the spectacles/eyeglasses--she finds it uncomfortable--and I find that many, if not most, 3D films are not really enhanced by the 3D effects.
Seeing a giant poster of it, I learned that it was released in July. I do not remember being aware of the film at that time. In any case, it seems that Imax versions do usually release a few months after the standard version.

I prefer to not mention the length of a film because it is rarely an issue and rarely significant or important. Having watched Pacific Rim, however, it did seem longer than its stated time of two hours twelve minutes. I do not know if this was because there was not an interval or because I could not get emotionally involved in the story or characters.

The special effects, though, were special. As with Life of Pi, there was a blurring of reality and made-up. In very many scenes, there were a great number of people. Many years ago, these would have been extras/junior artistes and/or film crew members. In Pacific Rim, I suspect that they were computer-generated, although they looked very real and human. Similarly, I wondered about the bulldog that was shown in two scenes. I would think that it would be cheaper, quicker and easier to simply get a real dog, but I could be wrong. Perhaps it was simply computer-enhanced. As with Jurassic Park, the sound effects were very good and made me feel as being part of the movie.
The 3D effects were awe-inspiring. As soon as the production credits began, I excitedly told Caroline that things were falling on top of me. She then put on the glasses and enjoyed the film in 3D. In a later scene, the camera pans up a building under construction and it felt as if I were really going up, just as we felt when we watched the short film at the 3D Cinema at NTR Gardens. The 3D effects also gave great depth to the inside of the Jaegers (enormous humanoid war machines).

The fight scenes between Jaegers and the equally massive Kaijus (the evil aliens) are what you would expect from entities measuring about 100 metres in height. I appreciated the martial arts scene of the people much more, however, and wish that this could have been lengthened and made even better and even more professional.

I greatly enjoy writing about the actors in a film. I have accumulated a lot of trivia about a lot of them, and I enjoy sharing them. However, as with Battleship, it seems that big-budget, special-effects-laden action films can not afford big-name stars. I did not recognize any of the actors. Perhaps it was because I have been away from the United States for five years, or because I have not been paying attention. Idris Elba (as Stacker Pentecost--a military General(?) in charge of the mission) does have 65 credits as an actor over a 20-year career! I was not aware of that.
The lead actor was Charlie Hunnam, as Raleigh Becket. In seeing his name, Caroline thought that he was a Muslim. I thought that would be highly unlikely; and she did ask me to find out more about him. There is no mention of his religious beliefs or upbringing at Wikipedia and Imdb, but I did find out that he was born not in the United States but in England, as were Idris Elba and Robert Kazinsky (while Rinko Kikuchi was born in Japan and Diego Klattenhoff was born in Canada)!
The one actor whom I did recognize was Ron Perlman (as the black-marketer Hannibal Chau) who has 202 credits as an actor over a 34-year career (on a par with many Indian actors)! However, his role is relatively small, and toward the end of the film.
In at least a few of my earlier film reviews, I wrote that the supporting actors often outshone the lead actors. I think that this is true of Pacific Rim in which I enjoyed the performances of Charlie Day (as Dr. Martin Geiszler) and Burn Gorman (as Dr. Hermann Gottleib), the two scientists studying the Kaijus.

In watching 3 Idiots, I learned that the ending of a film (to wrap up any loose ends and to clarify things) and its beginning (to set up the tone and characters) are very important. Pacific Rim certainly grabbed my attention when the first scene was that of the Golden Gate Bridge! It was then that I realized that I knew that many films have been shot in San Francisco; according to Imdb, there have been 4,208 films! I have not looked beyond the first page but I do know that the Hindi film My Name is Khan was extensively filmed there and that Biwi No. 1 had a song-and-dance routine filmed there.
As with Battleship, big-budget, special-effects-laden action films sometime seem to be an amalgamation of other films. In Pacific Rim, the Kaijus (the evil aliens) seemed to be like the Borg in the Star Trek series; Idris Elba seemed to be like the Bruce Willis character in Armageddon; the ending seemed to be like the end of every Jame Bond film; and the "demise" of Ron Perlman's character seemed to be similar to that of Jon Voight in Anaconda (although, be sure to watch the scene after the end-credits roll)!
As I wrote earlier, I could not get emotionally involved in the film. The story seemed to be about aliens who enter Earth through a portal in the Mariana Trench and that the governments respond by building equally humongous entities. There was also some slight character development to show the relationships amongst them. Were either, or both of these sufficient for the story of a film? For me, it was somewhat lacking.

As with Battleship, big-budget, special-effects-laden action films sometime seem to have hokey dialogues. Idris Elba tells Charlie Hunnam, "Where would you rather die: here or in a Jaeger?" This was supposed to be inspirational. He also tells Rinko Kikuchi (as Mako Mori), "I need you to protect me. Can you do that?" and she sheds a tear. Lastly, he tells her, "You can always find me in the drift".

For a big-budget, special-effects-laden action film, I dd enjoy it. I did not watch the standard version of this film, but I would think that the 3D and the Imax aspects did enhance it greatly, and I recommend that you watch it in this way, as well.

A work in progress

I want to emphasize and define some abbreviations that I use: JJE=Judge, Jury & Executioner (aka police); FCM=Fee-Collecting Murderers (aka police); HF/HS=Human Feces/Human Scum (a variety of killers, usually police); BSK=Border Security Kills; CD=Custody Death; KWB=Killed While Black; KWN=Killed While Naked; KBSK=Killed By Serial Killers (usually FCM) TD=Taser Death; UM=Unarmed Man; WoC=War on Civilians; WoPB=War on Pit Bulls; DBOC=Death by ObamaCare; DBO=Death by Obama (aka drone strikes); GI=Government Inaction/Incompetence; Cannibalism=Killing of a government agent by another government agent; RCW=Rape Capital of the World (formerly called India); G.A.=Gulag Archipelago (formerly called United States)

17 Sept 2006 Shane Hayes 40 (Suicide-by-FCM) (Santee, San Diego county, California, G.A.)
19 Jan 2007 Hrant Dink (FCM, GI) (Istanbul, Turkey)
27 July 2007 Jason Audette 34 (JJE) (Pawtucket, Providence county, Rhode Island, G.A.)
13 Apr 2011 Casey Babovec 30 (CD) (Saline county, Arkansas, G.A.)
10 June 2011 Corwin Peeace (Suicide-by-FCM) (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
18 Sept 2011 Diane Patt 34 (DBOC, Female, Cannibalism) (Colchester, Essex, England)
21 Sept 2011 Kelly Thomas 37 (JJE) (Fullerton, Orange county, California, G.A.)
21 Dec 2011 Samuel Vanettes 36 (FCM) (Murrieta, Riverside county, California, G.A.)
19 Apr 2012 Edward E. Creed 77 (DBOC) (Seattle, King county, Washington, G.A.)
25 July 2012 Martyn Rogers 66 (DBOC) (Newport, Gwent county, Wales)
15 Aug 2012 Victoria Harrison 17 (DBO, Female, Youth) (Kettering, Northamptonshire, England)
2 Sept 2012 parakeet (Animal--is there anything the FCM won't kill?) (St. George, Staten Island, NYC, New York, G.A.--the home for Nazi Stormtroopers)
25 Dec 2012 Rhianna Rawding 9 (DBOC, Female, Youth) (Rochester, Kent, England)
29 Dec 2012 Nirbhaya 23 (GI, Female) (Rape Capital of India, RCW) (Government did nothing before, and they are doing nothing now.) (Other articles about her during this anniversary of her rape and murder: 1, 2, 3, )
29 Dec 2012 Sardar Ali (CD) (Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)
8 June 2013 Sucha Singh (Cannibalism) (Chandigarh, RCW)
1 July 2013 Nadir Khan (CD) (Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)
15 July 2013 Ricky L. Cadavero & Wilfredo D. Panogalinga, Jr. (FCM) (near Camp Vicente Lim, Laguna, Philippines)
26 Oct 2013 Christopher Chase 35 (JJE) (Albuquerque, Bernalillo county, New Mexico, G.A.)
20 Nov 2013 7 civilians (DBO, Female, Children) (Nuristan province, Afghanistan/G.A.)
23 Nov 2013 unnamed man (CD) (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada)
28 Nov 2013 Liz Riordan 53 years, 1 day (DBOC, Female) (Tralee, County Kerry, Munster, Ireland)
29 Nov 2013 Timothy W. Burns 51 (CD) (Durham county, North Carolina, G.A.)
29 Nov 2013 Philip Derks 32 (WoC, CD) (Ramsey county, Minnesota, G.A.)
1 Dec 2013 2 men & 2 women (Female) (Bronx, NYC, New York, G.A.)
2 Dec 2013 Sigrid Oscar Jonasdottur 59 (JJE) (Reykjavik, Iceland)
2 Dec 2013 David Greenwood 49 (JJE) (Etowah, McMinn county, Tennessee, G.A.)
2 Dec 2013 pit bull (Animal, WoPB) (Roselle, Union county, New Jersey, G.A.)
2 Dec 2013 Jonathan D. Rodgers 22 (JJE) (Columbus, Ohio, G.A.)
2 Dec 2013 Scott Mitchell 46 (Suicide-by-FCM) (Pima county, Arizona, G.A.) (Stop calling 911; you will only get yourself--or a loved one--killed!)
3 Dec 2013 4 suspects (JJE) (Benin, Edo state, Nigeria)
3 Dec 2013 Satyanarayana 55 (CD) (Chaderghat, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, RCW)
3 Dec 2013 3 pit bulls (Animal, WoPB) (Fort Worth, Texas, G.A.)
3 Dec 2013 moose (Animal) (Matanuska-Susitna Valley, near Anchorage, Alaska, G.A.)
4 Dec 2013 Dixon Rodriguez 32 (JJE) (Perth Amboy, Middlesex county, New Jersey, G.A.) (Stop calling 911; you will only get yourself--or a loved one--killed!)
4 Dec 2013 Mohammad Anves Mohammad Arif Saiyed 6 (DBOC, Youth) (Ramol, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, RCW)
5 Dec 2013 George D. Reynolds 49 (JJE) (Independence, Missouri, G.A.)
6 Dec 2013 "Lexie" (Animal) (St. Clair Shores, Macomb county, Michigan, G.A.)
6 Dec 2013 dog (Animal, KBSK) (Fort Worth, Texas, G.A.)
6 Dec 2013 Isaac Lankisch 42 (JJE) (Phoenix, Maricopa county, Arizona, G.A.)
7 Dec 2013 Patrick Unger 26 (Suicide-by-FCM) (Las Vegas, Clark county, Nevada, G.A.) (Stop calling 911; you will only get yourself--or a loved one--killed!)
7 Dec 2013 Darryl Dookhran 20 (JJE) (Boston, Suffolk county, Massachusetts, G.A.)
8 Dec 2013 Jared Brown Garnham 21 (JJE) (Brentwood, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, G.A.) (Killed for not listening to Nazi Stormtroopers)
8 Dec 2013 Andy Snider 37 (JJE) (Albuquerque, Bernalillo county, New Mexico, G.A.)
9 Dec 2013 K. Karthick 16 (Youth) (Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, RCW)
9 Dec 2013 Ricardo Martinez 39 (JJE) (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, G.A.)
10 Dec 2013 Corsini Valdes 50 & Adrian Montesano 27 (JJE) (Little Havana, Miami, Florida, G.A.)
11 Dec 2013 Abdul Rahman Dar 60 (Handwara, Kupwara district, Jammu & Kashmir, RCW)
11 Dec 2013 Jery Narzary 16 & Pranjit Narzary 14 (WoC, Youth) (Salbari, Chirang district, Assam, RCW)
12 Dec 2013 15 individuls (DBO) (Radda, Rayda province, Yemen) (Don't people know that turtles crossing the road have also been mistaken for an al-Qaeda convoy?)
12 Dec 2013 Akhilesh Sahu (CD) (Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, RCW)
12 Dec 2013 Gregory Bendas 43 (JJE) (Farmington, Hartford county, Connecticut, G.A.) (Stop calling 911; you will only get yourself--or a loved one--killed!)
12 Dec 2013 Kenneth Herring 50 (JJE) (Columbus, Ohio, G.A.)
12 Dec 2013 unnamed man 43 (WoC) (Wenatchee, Chelan county, Washington, G.A.)
13 Dec 2013 Nakeem Ahmed Siddiqui (FCM) (Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, RCW)
13 Dec 2013 Aashiq Hussain (Torture Death) (Jaranwala, Faisalabad district, Punjab, Pakistan)
14 Dec 2013 4 people (FCM) (Compton, Los Angeles county, California, G.A.)
15 Dec 2013 Yar Mohammad (JJE) (Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan)
20 Dec 2013 T Yugandhar Reddy 35 (CD) (Dornala, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, RCW) (The date of death is simply an educated guess on my part; it is the day before the article appeared in the print edition. There is no other mention of the deceased on the Internet, and therefore no verification.)

http://articles.philly.com/2013-12-08/news/44908818_1_officer-involved-shootings-police-involved-shootings-police-shootings

Now, for five years I have been on my own and moss grows fat on a rolling stone, but that's not how it used to be...

No, it is an anniversary not of my marriage but of my arrival here in India.
It is difficult for me to believe that it has been five years. I remember virtually nothing of the first five years of my life, so these past five years represent about 12% of the life that I do remember.
Even though the other 88% was spent in the United States, I have forgotten very many things of the U.S. I enjoyed watching English Vinglish partly because it reminded me of life in an American cosmopolitan city (although the film was shot not in San Francisco but in New York City). During Durga Puja, Caroline told me that she had once seen a statue made completely from matchsticks! I then related to her that in the United States, there was a "float" in which vehicles were made from "flowers" and that this happened in or around Los Angeles. I used these words because they were the words that came to my mind, but which I knew were not completely accurate. It was only after I did a Google search that I realized I ought to have told her about the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. For my birthday, Caroline took me to a bar and restaurant on Park Street. (Unfortunately, because it was also Durga Puja, it was a dry day.) While there, three young American women came in. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask them, but I did not want to intrude. I do read the news and I participate in the social networking site of Google+, but it is difficult to discern people's reactions to events unless I am face-to-face with a person.

Strangely--or perhaps frighteningly--enough, I do remember Wells Fargo. I worked for Wells Fargo Bank for over half my life, so it should not be strange that I remember it, but it is strange that I remember it in my dreams. When I was a young child, I had lucid dreams almost every night. As I grew slightly older, I had control over them in that whenever I sensed that I would soon have a dream, I would envision it appearing on a drive-in cinema screen, as those existed in my youth. (Wikipedia does say that there are 357 drive-in cinemas, and that two of them are in San Francisco and Novato, California! It also provides the names and locations of two in India!) When I entered puberty, I almost never remembered my dreams upon waking up, and that continued for about a quarter-of-a-century. I did begin to remember my dreams again about ten years ago, and since my arrival in India they have almost always been of my time at Wells Fargo (and I often wonder why, and why other things usually do not come to me in my dreams). I did enjoy my time there, but toward the end it became very stressful. Even while working for them, I thought that banking was done best by younger people.
I remember the small street on which we grew up. I remember often playing baseball (a sport similar to cricket) on the street during the summer with the other children in the neighbourhood. It was a somewhat wide street (certainly wider than most streets in Kolkata) and there were front yards so it was almost impossible to have a broken window by a hit ball. Also, there was virtually no traffic. In Kolkata, I watch the youths play cricket on Sundays and holidays, but the lanes are extremely narrow, and there is frequent traffic, forcing constant interruptions in their play. I have told my mother that if that street were transplanted in Kolkata then it would be a four-lane road (with one more for motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians); that there would be rickshaws (pulled, cycle and auto) parked on the street; that there would be cobblers, road-side food-stands, fruit and vegetable sellers and many other merchants on the foot-paths and most likely on the lawns, as well; and that there would be hundreds of people walking and sleeping on the street at all hours of the day. In short, it would be a far cry from the very quiet street that it is now.
I remember Diablo Avenue, the nearby "wide" street that I had to cross to get to the school bus stop. I remember that if there were a car twenty metres way, then I would wait for it to go by. As I grew slightly older, I would run across the street when the car was twenty metres away. Now, I see small children crossing the street even when the vehicles are inches away from them.

There are some things that I can not get used to. I can not get used to the things that I mentioned in my Annoying Habits post and I believe that Caroline feels the same way on most, if not all of them.
I do not fully understand the buildings and streets. Throughout India, and especially in Kolkata, buildings--even modern ones--are walled with bricks. This causes two problems: 1) plumbing pipes and electrical wires have nowhere to go, so they are usually placed on the outsides of the buildings, making them aesthetically displeasing; 2) although the bricks are usually covered up with mortar, when the building settles, small cracks are created. Into these cracks, seeds of trees are placed by the wind. When these trees grow and mature, the bricks are displaced, possibly causing structural weaknesses in the buildings. However, I think that this may not be a fully complete or accurate observation. Buildings in Mumbai and Hyderabad are also walled with bricks, but I saw almost no buildings there that had trees growing out of them.
I can not get used to Indian (or, perhaps more accurately, South Asian as I have seen them in Nepal) style toilets. As a man, I do not object to urinating in one, as it can be viewed as being a urinal on the floor. However, defecating in one is not a tolerable experience. In the five years that I have been here, I have had to do so three times (I believe). Fortunately, none of those times have been on a train. Indian toilets are bad enough, but the rocking-and-rolling of the train would make it even worse, and I always do everything I can to prevent such an occurence. Trains do have a few Western-style toilets but since they are simply a commode over a hole, with no flush system, that is also not a palatable option.
I can not get used to drinking water. Perhaps I should complete that sentence by writing in the way Indians drink water. Americans (and perhaps all non-South Asians) drink water by placing the mouth of the bottle to the lips and swallow. Indians, on the other hand, hold the bottles above the mouth, tilt their heads back and tilt the bottle until the water pours into the mouth. Caroline once helped me to attempt this feat. I think that my objection to this and to that in the previous paragraph is that it requires the use of muscles in ways that I am not used to.
The streets are dirty. I do not remember the streets of San Francisco having layers of dirt on them. It is true that there are vehicles that help the streets become clean, and it is true--as I have mentioned at least once in this blog--that almost all of the streets in Kolkata are too narrow to have large vehicles traverse them. But where does all this dirt come from? Kolkata, like most other large, metropolitan cities throughout the world, is predominantly covered in concrete. I do notice that the streets are especially filthy after the receding of the monsoon floods, but there are several months in which there are no floods, and time in which the street could become clean, but they do not.
Most of all, I can not get used to the crowds. As I elaborate below, I always knew that Kolkata was crowded, but it is crowded no matter where and no matter when.It is crowded in the central districts and it is crowded in the outer districts. I often wake up very early and when I do, I am amazed at how many people are up and about even at 6:00am. In Novato, I often jogged to school at this time (Benjamin Franklin was one of my school teachers) and I almost never saw anyone--either walking or in vehicles--at this time.
I can not get used to the crowds because I am a brisk walker. Everywhere, people travel by speedy vehicles--planes, trains, cars, motorcycles, etc.--but when they walk then it is rarely faster than a shuffle; they never seem to put one foot in front of the other. Moreover, they walk side-by-side rather than in single file, making it difficult to overtake them on the narrow lanes. This is not a problem in a small city like San Francisco (except for its Chinatown during weekends and along Market Street in the Financial District) where there are few pedestrians and where the footpaths are wide. In Kolkata, Mumbai and other Indian cities, it is very frustrating.

A lot has happened in these past five years. Five years ago, Justin Bieber and Jackie Evancho were unknown, Miley Cyrus was still a normal human being, and no one knew that there would be four(+) terms of Bushama. Michael Jackson, David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, Elizabeth Taylor, Walter Cronkite, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Pran, Yash Chopra, Nelson Mandela and many, many others were still alive. The San Francisco Giants won the World Series (of American baseball) in 2010 and in 2012, and in that same season, the San Francisco 49ers played in the Super Bowl (of American football) but made its only loss.
I try to capture some of these events and changes in my recent monthly News: Other posts. Navin Mathew does an excellent job in his monthly While you were gone blog posts.
Another thing that has happened is that I am blogging. Especially as a blogger, I come across very many blogs and blog posts. Three of these posts, by Elise Collins, Amelia Grace, and Kay in India refer to "reverse culture shock". I was unaware of the concept, but I think that I have experienced it. Before my first visit to Calcutta, I was told by a diplomat at the Consulate General of India, San Francisco that Calcutta was an extremely crowded city. Because that is exactly what I experienced, I did not have culture shock. When I returned to San Francisco, however, I was aghast at how small and empty the City seemed to be.
A few years before that, I had a friend who went to Columbia University in New York City. During the Winter break, he came back and said that he had always thought that San Francisco was a large city but now thought of it as being small. I was mortified. I knew that it was a large city, and I had been to even larger cities, like Los Angeles and Moscow (when it was in the Soviet Union), and still thought of San Francisco as being large. (In hindsight, though, those two cities are very spread out and do not seem so large.) Now, I knew how he felt.

I do not have any plans on returning to the United States. Sometimes I think that it would be nice to visit it once before I die (provided that my things are not stolen and that I am not sexually abused at the airport). It has already been five years since I left, and many more years before my possible return, but I do not think that I would get culture shock.
There are two types of expats: those who are quizzical/challenging and those who are accepting/embracing. The latter--like the former--may find government "services" to be unwanted, unneeded and a burden, but they do embrace the culture of the people. I am of the former and, especially after five years, find the ubiquitous question, "Which country are you from?" to be extremely annoying. It is often asked by young Indian males to young foreign females. It is the equivalent of the equally annoying, "What's your sign?" asked in bars/pubs. I can understand and appreciate that people are trying to get to know someone of the opposite sex, but I am not of the opposite sex. I can understand and appreciate small talk, but there must be a better way to begin it. Regardless, I believe that it is that it is the latter type of expat who is more prone to reverse culture shock.
Moreover, I have been to the more developed and Westernized places of Singapore and Cebu, Philippines and did not get reverse culture shock there. However, I have decided that when I do need to leave the country then I shall go to the less-developed and less-Westernized place of Nepal. Thus, my memories of alternative places may fade.

Having said all this, I wonder if I would get culture shock. I wonder if it would be strange to not see all the things that I have seen these past five years. Would it be strange to see women being allowed to go where they want? (See the second section of Annoying Habits) Would it be strange to see a large number of women not wearing burkhas? Would it be strange to not see every man in the country spitting on the road or footpaths? Would it be strange to walk on the right-hand side of the footpath?
(I have observed that people walk on the same side as people drive. Thus, in the United States, where people drive on the right-hand side of the road, people tend to walk on the right-hand side of footpaths/sidewalks and stairs; and in India, where people drive on the left-hand side of the road, people tend to walk on the left-hand side of footpaths and stairs. Of course, there is the riddle, Q: Do people in India drive on the right-hand side of the road or on the left-hand side of the road? A: Yes.)

On the other hand, perhaps all these differences will actually help me re-adjust to being in the United States. After all, being in a place where English is usually not spoken at home and where--when it is spoken--is spoken not very well is just like being back in San Francisco.

In my recent Travelling post, I wrote that, in contradistinction to beginning a thousand-mile journey simply by making a first step, there are often many hurdles to overcome. In our more recent journey to Mumbai, I learned something else: always have a back-up plan.

This realization came about because Caroline was hungry. There seemed to be little, if any, palatable food available from the hawkers so at a somewhat big train station (it might have even been a junction--at which trains usually stop for at least five minutes), I got off the train to look for a food stand where I could buy Bourbon biscuits. (The chocolate always seems to fill Caroline's stomach for the immediate future.) I walked a ways, saw what appeared to be a food stand, but then heard the train whistle and saw the train slowly moving forward. I hurried toward the entrance, got on, but I was five-six bogies/coaches behind where I needed to be. Moreover, the aisles were narrow and often congested with passengers. Thus it was slow-going to make it back to my seat. Of course, Caroline did not know any of this; she did not know that I did board the train, which was now moving swiftly. Needless to say, she had been worried and was relieved to see me.
The obvious lesson here is to never get off the train. Even if you carry everything (debit/credit cards, cash, mobile, travel documents, copy of train ticket, clothes, etc.) with you, never get off the train. In a best-case scenario, you will most likely have to wait at least another 24 hours before you get another train to your destination. You may be stuck on a train platform by a village, with no one understanding English. Even if you are Indian, you may be stuck on a train platform by a village in a State of which you do not know the language. You may be stuck on a train platform during the cold months and you may not have adequate clothing for sleeping outside. Furthermore, the fewer things you have with you the fewer options you will have. In short, never get off the train.
Having said that, if you do find yourself stranded then there are two (perhaps more) options. You can agree that your travelling companion(s) will pull the chain, signalling that the train should stop. There is, I believe, a INR500 fee for doing this but this is supposedly assessed only if you pull the chain falsely (but you may be charged anyway--although I do not really know as I have absolutely no first or second-hand information about this in practice). Another option is to have a travelling companion come back to get you (although this may take more time and effort to arrange) after alighting at the next stop. Either (or another option) should be agreed upon before embarking. If you are travelling alone then never get off the train.
In short, though, never get off the train. It is better to be hungry and on the train than to be hungry and stranded.

In one of my earliest Travelling posts, I wrote that no matter how many times I board a train and no matter how much I write about it, there are always new things to be learnt and new things to be written about. This journey was no different.
Caroline often says that the trains to Hyderabad have no respect and those to Mumbai do have that. I do not know whether or not this is true to the Indian Railways employees, but I did see a few things on this journey to Mumbai that were better than that to Hyderabad.
Primarily, we saw a few IR employees cleaning the toilets, sweeping the aisles, and then pouring phenol on the floor. This made for a more pleasant ride--at least, for a few hours longer.
On this journey, I became more aware of the "General Compartment". Passengers still have to pay to ride in this but it is much cheaper. There are (according to Caroline) ten seats (which may, or may not, convert to beds) and the rest of the carriage is empty. I do not know how many passengers it can contain but I would think that not much more 100 can fit comfortably. The "Sleeper Class" compartments can fit 72 passengers; it can contain this many because the beds are on top of each other.

In the General Compartment, passengers would have to sleep next to each other. I suspect that far more than 100 passengers fit into the bogie/carriage as there are always very long queues/lines to it, and it seems to be a first come-first serve policy toward obtaining seats as there is always a mad rush when the carriage opens up.
As always, there are hawkers (although not many selling enough edible food, as Caroline became hungry--see above). Especially at the beginning of the journey, there is usually at least one person selling chains. This leads to yet another good lesson: buy a chain (and have purchased a small lock--I suspect that the hawkers charge far more for the lock than you can buy elsewhere). You can then lock your luggage, usually to the underside of the first seat. As in life, people on the trains are generally honest but if even just 1% are dishonest then that 1% could very well come to your compartment and attempt to steal your things. If you do not have it locked then you will need to sleep with it (usually as a pillow, and with your hand/arm wrapped around the handle) and you will need to carry your luggage with you when you need to go to the toilet. I have never had an experience of theft on the train but it is best to take adequate precautions and the chain is only ten rupees (I believe).
The trains to and from Mumbai may or may not have more "respect" than those of Hyderabad, but the views from the train to Mumbai were slightly more disappointing. To and from Hyderabad, I often see interesting hills and rock formations. To and from Mumbai, however, the land was overwhelmingly flat.
As always, I saw a great deal of evidence of the growth of the railway system. There are the tracks themselves, the concrete blocks that keep them in place, and enormous piles of rock to place between the concrete blocks. I am not certain if this is ideal, though. It is true that a population equivalent to that of the United States now will be added to India by the year 2045. In other words, it is like adding the third-largest country in the world to India's already huge population. They will, of course, require a greater infrastructure. However, although 70% of India's population live in rural areas, cities are growing faster and I believe that this will only accelarate in the future. Thus, I believe that an emphasis on airports is required. It is true that those of Mumbai, Kolkata and the Rape Capital of India have been expanded, but I think that there ought to be more airports in relatively small cities but which are growing. (A more recent news article about an option for the growth of airports.) Having said that, it is nice to see growth at both railways and airports.
The night was extremely chilly (this trip was taken in early January--another good lesson is to bring a good blanket) but the next day was much warmer.
Growing up in the U.S., I often flew kites with my father. The "season" for it always seemed to be in March. In India, it seems to be a year-round activity. Regardless, toward the end of our first day to Mumbai, I saw very many kites stuck in very many trees near the city of Nagpur.

Our return trip was special for two noteworthy items.
1) In at least one other post, I wrote that I was aware that foreigners took trains but that I never saw them. On this trip, I saw not only a foreigner on the platform, and not only did he enter our train, and not only did he enter our bogie/coach/car but also he was in the compartment next to us! Whereas I rarely communicate other than by writing, Caroline is very talkative. She spent her time, however, talking to a young Indian woman (in English) because she wanted to know about the housing situation in the young woman's town (as Caroline is wont to do on the trains). However, she did find out that the foreigner was Scottish.
I suspect that he was an expat. I believe that it is fairly easy and quick to get tickets to relatively close destinations (e.g. Howrah to Darjeeling) but that you need to book tickets at least three weeks in advance for further and more populated destinations. Thus, the Scot must have been in Mumbai at least three weeks before boarding the train to Howrah. Moreover, he seemed to be comfortable in travelling alone so he must have been in India for a long time. If he was an expat then I would have liked to ask him if he was a blogger.
When I began this blog (and certainly five years ago, when I arrived in India), I thought that I was unique. I had never thought of India as being a land of immigrants. Especially through Expat-Blog.com, I learnt that there were very many expats in India and all of them seemed to have her/his own blog! I still like to think of myself as being unique as I try to provide a more global approach in my blog.
2) We had to smuggle Special Head (a small kitten, about whom I shall elaborate in a future post). After we rescued him, Caroline was told that we would need a cage for him so that we could take him on the train. We went to the nearby Crawford Market but the cages were too big and/or too expensive. We decided to take a chance on hiding him and keeping him quiet on the train. This may have been misplaced logic because what attracted Caroline to him was his cries for help.
It may, or may not, have been misplaced logic to expect him to be able to sleep on the train (especially with its rocking and rolling). Stereotypically, cats sleep a great deal but Caroline's former kitten/cat, Tummy Boy was awake almost 24 hours each day; we almost never saw him sleeping. Special Head, we soon found out, loved being underneath a blanket or a dark shirt. The darkness and the warmth seemed to keep him sleeping. For the next 48 hours or so, this approach was successful. Shortly before we arrived at Howrah, however, he woke up and cried incessantly, no matter how much I comforted him. His cries were heard by a few other passengers but, perhaps because of the noise of the train itself, his cries were not too loud and no one seemed to really object. Thus, we were able to bring back a kitten from the other side of the country.

Kolkata has a pre-paid taxi service at not only the airport but also Howrah train station. At the airport, the pre-paid taxis are less expensive than the post-paid taxis but at Howrah, they are more expensive! In the past, Caroline and I would walk further to get taxis that were leaving the area. Oftentimes, they would go by meter; other times they would demand slightly more; and a few times they would demand slightly more than that of the pre-paid taxis (but which was somewhat acceptable in that we did not have to wait in the usually very long queue/line for the pre-paid taxis). One time, as I was travelling by myself, the driver demanded 150 rupees but I told him that I would not pay him more than 100 rupees (especially as that was all I had in my pocket). At my destination, I got out, paid him the 100 rupees, and left.

In the past few months, however, a post-paid service seems to have developed at Howrah. I had horrible experiences with taking a post-paid taxi by myself (to and from the Nepal Consulate in Kolkata). There may have been legitimate and rational explanations for this, but it is also possible that the drivers took a longer route just to increase the metered fare. At Howrah, though, there does seem to be a system in place to make sure that only honest taxi drivers are allowed to pick up passengers there.

You may still want to protect yourself further, though. If you are not completely familiar with your destination and journey then I would suggest that you take the pre-paid taxi. Again, it is usually more expensive but you pay the same amount regardless of whether or not the driver gets lost or hopelessly stuck in traffic. However, if you are familiar (either with the roads or with certain landmarks) then I would suggest taking the cheaper post-paid taxis.

Arriving at C.S.T. (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus--formerly V.T. or Victoria Terminus--featured in Slumdog Millionaire and virtually every other movie filmed in Mumbai), Caroline told me about a Waiting Room where showers are available, and even a hotel. I thought, "Wow! Just like Changi (Singapore) Airport!" Then we found these places and I thought, "Wow! Nothing like Changi Airport!"
To get to the Waiting Room, we walked through the same corridor that Ajmal Kasab* walked through slightly more than five years previously. I think that both Caroline and I were under the impression that the Waiting Room was associated with the hotel (which, we had learned, charged 150 rupees for 12 hours and 250 rupees for 24 hours). Caroline asked the attendant how much would be the charge (as I needed to have a shave and a shower) and he replied that it would be 50 rupees (although I now have the impression--which may or may not be actually correct--that it is free to take a shower). Regardless, I paid it and went to the area.
For an area that had a shower, the floor was literally dirty. You need to take a shower after walking on the floor, and then after leaving the shower, you need to have a shower again to wash your feet! Later, Caroline needed to go to the toilet in the Women's Waiting Room and said that they were very clean. This seems to verify my theory that women clean rooms and things better than men do. Also, I was confused. Everyone was at the left-hand side of the room but there were three stalls on the right-hand side. I soon found out, however, that those were shut. Thus, there were just two stalls on the left-hand side and one of them was for an Indian-style toilet. Thus, I continued to wait for the one shower. When it was my turn for the shower, I saw that there was no shower! There was just a tap! Many Indians may be used to this (in Kolkata, I see many men sitting down near water pumps, pouring water over their heads and bodies) but as a Westerner, I expected more. In addition, because it was a tap there was no hot water, there was just tap water. It is true that it is very warm-to-hot for ten months of the year in India, but we arrived during the other two months.
We then went to find the hotel at CST. It was difficult not only to find but also to stay. It was made even more difficult to find because of inaccurate information provided by employees of CST who seemed to have no idea that it even existed! Nevertheless, we did find it after a long search and were asked for a ticket. Caroline rightly assumed that he meant the train ticket but he meant a ticket at the Enquiry counter which was on the ground floor. We went there and found out that no beds would be available for about twelve hours. It is a good thing that we did not need a room; we were going just for informational purposes (although the price is attractive). We did see that the room was actually a dormitory-style room having many beds. I do not know, however, whether it has its own bathroom and showers.
Changi Airport has large, multiple and clean showers with hot water, and has single and double hotel rooms at each Terminal.

After leaving CST, we went to our usual haunt, the Grant Road district. Caroline went to Hotel National which did not accept foreigners (with an emphasis now on the past tense). She found out that they now do accept foreigners! More amazingly, it had been remodeled in the past year or so to now include a lift/elevator!
However, the large room with large windows that she had always liked, and which was about INR700-800 was now twice the price.
More than the rooms and the amenities, she truly had valued the service. She appreciated the owner who was virtually the only one who was willing to rent a room to a single female. She also greatly appreciated the courteous, eager and prompt service of the employees. Unfortunately, the ownership had completely changed and everyone she had known was now gone.

Since her heart was broken by this change, and since we were in the area, we crossed the street to Hotel Anukool. They seemed somewhat amenable to letting a foreigner stay and the room rate was 600 rupees.
As usual, though, deficiencies appeared and seemed to grow. The room was on the first floor, making it difficult for Caroline--with her arthritic knee--to get to, and it was small. In addition, it did not have an attached bath, making it cumbersome and inconvenient to lock one door and then to unlock the bathroom.
Most horrifically, was the stench of the hotel. In the morning, I woke up before Caroline did and went down to the small lobby. There, I smelled a great deal of excrement (no, not Kolkata police but human waste). It seemed to be coming from outside as it seemed to be stronger near an open window, and I knew that I had not shat in my pants but was beginning to wonder if I had cleaned up properly after myself. Moreover, I was fearful that the employees and guests would think that I was the source of the odour. Even Caroline, when she came down, took me aside and asked me if I had shat in my pants. I assured her that the smell was outside (although I could not tell from where). Returning from breakfast, we found the source: a large pile of what appeared to be organic waste (which may or may not have been excrement), very close to the hotel, which seemed to be decomposing and giving off a horrid and strong smell.
The service was equally sh*tty. They demanded the key each time we exited, and were very rude when Caroline checked out.

Getting tired of Hotel Anukool, we went to search for other hotels near Md. Ali Road. Wandering in and out of hotels, the manager of Hotel al-Ahad beckoned us in. He did accept foreigners, made a seeming concession by offering us a room for 800 rupees, said that there was hot water and showed us the room. Caroline liked it, said that it was "compact" and promised to be there the next morning (after we had checked out from Hotel Anukool).
The next day, another manger was also present and who chimed in by saying that foreigners were not allowed. However, the other manager told him that he had already promised us the room, so he prevailed. Unfortunately, Caroline said that the room was "compact" (i.e., it was very small). There was little room for luggage; I did see an overhead, built-in storage area, but the hotel staff seemed to have that place to store their own items. There were no wastebaskets, either in the rooms or in the lobby! We were instructed to toss any garbage outside. There were no windows, no hangers and no regulator on the fan. Thus, the fan was either off or full-speed. Moreover, the hot water was never sufficient to give more than a two-minute hot shower before turning cold. In addition, the entire hotel was "compact", having only seven rooms.
Caroline did appreciate that the cleaning lady came by each day but I found the service cold and aloof. I always felt unwanted and ridiculed (for not understanding Hindi sufficiently)..

One evening, we investigated Hotel Super. We had to climb a flight of stairs to get to it (a minus for Caroline) and were told that the rooms began at 2000 rupees (which was certainly out of our price range). However, the manager wanted to show us what such a room would look like. I thought that it was nice, but not luxurious, and for 2000 I would expect luxury.
Caroline did find him to be extremely courteous, so the service was very good.

Throughout our stay, I found out two things.
Whereas in Kolkata, where very many hotels can be obtained for fewer than 500 rupees, we found none in Mumbai. At one forgettable hotel, we saw a tiny room with tiny beds that seemed to be for small children or even to be used as baby cribs, with a separate bath, going for 700 rupees. If they paid us 700 rupees per night only then would we have considered staying there.
I still do not know why very many hotels do not allow foreigners. The very first rule for any and all businesses is to get money. In the United States, you will never find a used-car dealership in which a dealer says, "No, I will not sell any cars to you". They know how to earn money. Of course, all businesses ought to use good and ethical means, and it should be a win-win situation, but businesses do need to get money. Hotel owners in India do not seem to comprehend that. I asked the direct question, "Do you want money?" to one person at a hotel and he said "No". Another hotel manager confessed that he was stupid. It is for this reason why I recommend that even Indians avoid hotels that do not allow foreigners to stay. An Indian could get such a room, but he will be served by morons so he will surely encounter many other problems.

* I find it strange, but perhaps not surprising, that the names of the perpetrators have more or less vanished from the national consciousness. Only Kasab is remembered and that is only because he was the lone survivor. Events such as those on 26/11 and 9/11 were certainly horrific and ought to be remembered, but why this ignorance of the people involved? Perhaps removing the humanity from the events makes it easier for rulers like Bushama to go after women and children in lands that Americans will never visit and to treat every single American as a terrorist.

30 Dec This was front-age news in the Telegraph. It discusses something that I have mentioned at least once in my blog: the undesirability of India's current time system. It advocates shifting clocks up by half-an-hour, but it does mention that a better solution--and one with which I agree--is to have two time zones.

30 Dec 2010, all over again. In that year, there were numerous news articles describing the many acts of violence inflicted on Indians (often students) residing in Australia. To be fair, there are also many articles (and it is now known throughout the world) that there are many acts of violence inflicted upon women--both Indian and foreign--in India. However, Australians do seem to have a special penchant for violence against Indians. Australia is a relatively small country in terms of population; it is the sixth largest country in the world in terms of area, and yet it has not much more than the metropolitan population of the city of Mumbai. Moreover, I have never seen nor read any reports of violence against Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Americans, Canadians, Africans or others in Australia.

31 Dec A review of world events in 2013

2 Jan News of San Francisco in an Indian newspaper. (I found the article in the print edition of the Times of India but could not find the online equivalent; thus, I am linking another newspaper.) I do find it hard to believe because there was always tight security around the compound because of every rational person's hatred of China for what they had done in Tianamen Square.

3 Jan Chinese in Kolkata? Mooo. To find out more about the Chinese in Kolkata, you can visit this excellent blog devoted to them.

8 Jan It seems that everywhere, at every time, weather is the news. This seems to be especially note-worthy, though. A similar article. At the other extreme is this article about Australia, which is having temperatures of 50º C. However, "extremes" can be relative sometimes. This article says that Mumbaikars are "suffering" from 15.8º C temperatures. I know that many millions of people want to experience this "suffering".

8 Jan Perhaps because of its rarity, it is always nice to provide good news. This article is of an Indian pilot who saved many lives.

9 Jan Each day, I would see articles about this woman; it seemed to be developing into a serial/soap opera. This article seems to be its denouement.

10 Jan Wikipedia, like the linked news article, does mention the London Credit Exchange Company but does not mention any antecedents.

11 Jan Alok Nath, the new Rajnikanth

11 Jan Do not believe everything that you read. I read that somewhere but I did not believe it, but someone told me that it is true! (I heard also that you should not believe everything you hear, but I read that it is true!) Regardless, "The case against zero Income Tax" is not a case against zero income tax; it is a case against a proposed alternative. The author, himself, writes "So income tax rate can be zero as long as the government has other legitimate sources".

13 Jan Buddhists in Bengal? Mooo. Actually, this is history of Buddhism in West Bengal.

18 Jan The Telegraph provided a 12-page section devoted to the life of Suchitra Sen, who passed away on 17 Jan. I think that they were able to provide so many articles because she had been in failing health for about 10 days in a hospital. The linked article was the lead article.

18 Jan Another feel-good story. I do think, however, that Gajrajsinh Jadeja may have gone overboard; I would have left at least some of it to worthy charities.

23 Jan Arvind Kejriwal, the new Alok Nath

24 Jan I did provide this on Google+ but I thought that I should provide it here, as well. This is bad for Facebook, but good for Google+(?)

26 Jan In at least a few posts, I have mentioned or provided links for Indians who go to other countries, and mostly they refer to the mistreatment that they encounter there. Recently, Indians have been brutalized in Australia and the U.S.
In a few other posts, I have mentioned minorities in India, usually of those who have been here for centuries, such as Jews, Parsis and Chinese (in Kolkata).
In this link, I provide an article about recent immigrants (specifically, Africans) and how Indians, themselves, brutalize them. (Whatever happened to "We must be the change we wish to see in the world"? An the same day that this linked article appeared in the Telegraph, this article appeared in the Times of India.

26 Jan In at least a few posts, I have mentioned the uglification (this may sound like a made-up word but it does exist, according to dictionary.reference.com) of Kolkata by electrical wires which could probably reach the moon and back. Now, there is a newspaper article about it.

26 Jan Yes, I sat on the fence regarding Narendra Modi in my Predictions post (because I had incomplete information) but from this article, it now seems that he will indeed become Prime Minister.

28 Jan Write to me; you will feel better

29 Jan No, not from the Times or the Telegraph, nor even a news article but I thought that this was too pertinent and relevant to overlook. Walking along Sudder Street in Kolkata, I often saw a young, mentally retarded young man wandering the street (along with a person known to him). According to the Facebook entry, he has been missing for almost three weeks. The nights have been very chilly, and he was often under-dressed so it is possible that he is suffering from hypothermia. However, I also hope that he is safe and warm and will return to his loved ones.

30 Jan First Prince William, now David Cameron, have ancestral links to India (the latter, specifically to Kolkata).

30 Jan I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Holiday Inn since a friend and former colleague became a bartender at one of their hotels in San Francisco. I always enjoyed the drinks, good food and warm atmosphere there. When I first visited Mumbai, my wife and I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Juhu, where we met the famous Indian actor, Jeetendra (see my Google+ profile). Now, I am happy that they are coming to Kolkata.

1 Jan (GI) RCW
1 Jan U.A.E.
1 Jan (Military) RCW
1 Jan (FCM) RCW
1 Jan (FCM, GI) RCW
2 Jan (Judiciary) G.A. (In other words, it is okay to trample on the rights of the minority.)
2 Jan (Pati, $) G.A.
2 Jan (OC) China

4 Jan (Judiciary, GI) RCW (Rape and murder are legally and constitutionally permissible in the RCW; that is the only logical conclusion a person can make. A rape in Delhi? Wow! That is news!. Actually, it would be news if an hour went by in which there was not a rape in the Rape Capital of India.)

5 Jan (Pati) China
5 Jan (Military) RCW

5 Jan (Judiciary) RCW (Since when do people get their ethics from child molesters--as is evident in the Catholic Church; an irrational belief in numerology--as is evident in Hinduism; and from people eager to wage jihad--as is evident among many Muslims? The backward judges in the RCI are, apparently, in cahoots with the cockroach who defended some of the four other cockroaches.)

6 Jan (GRMRCY) RCW
8 Jan (OC) RCW
8 Jan (Judiciary) RCW (Repeat after me, "Rape and murder are legal in the Rape Capital of the World".)
9 Jan (FCM) Singapore
9 Jan G.A. (Literally, pigs at the public trough.)

10 Jan (Pati) France ("[H]e [French President Francois Hollande] was considering legal action over what he called an 'attack' on his right to privacy". Wow! Does that mean that every individual on Earth can sue the Nazi Scum of America (NSA)?)
10 Jan (Nazi Scum of America, Pati) G.A. ("Bushama ponders limiting NSA access to phone records". Oops. Those two seconds have already passed.)
11 Jan (FCM, GI) RCW (The shoe is now on the other foot.)
11 Jan RCW
11 Jan G.A. (This usually happens under fascism.)
14 Jan (FCM, GI) RCW (Cop inaction? Wow! That is news!)
14 Jan RCW (That's funny; he does not look like a cop.)
14 Jan (Fascism) RCW
15 Jan (Nazi Scum of America) G.A.
15 Jan RCW
15 Jan G.A. (A Nazi society tends to do that.)
15 Jan (Military) G.A. (Hail Bushama!)
15 Jan G.A.
16 Jan (FCM, SPM) G.A.
16 Jan (RCI) RCW ("Sourcs said Ganja [the accused] was involved in two murder cases in the past". And yet, he was not in prison. How much more evidence do you need to see that rape and murder are legal in the RCI?)
16 Jan (Judiciary) RCW (Well, DUH! But then again, how can rape be considered a juvenile offence when it is legal for them?)
17 Jan G.A. (The U.S. government--now an equal-opportunity harasser!)
18 Jan (Judiciary, Journalists, Pathological Liars) G.A. (The sub-headline of the print edition of the article said that "Court approval required before tapping into American's phone data". ??????? Since when is court approval a "scaling back" of a pogrom--I mean, program? U.S. courts are simply a rubber stamp of what pathological liars--I mean, elected officials--want. They are not much better than the kangaroo courts in North Korea.)
23 Jan (Judiciary) RCW (The Rape Capital of the World is not a developing country; it is a Stone-Age country.)
25 Jan (FCM, SPM) G.A.
25 Jan (FCM) RCW
26 Jan If government agents can ignore other government agents in this way then do you really think that they will pay attention to the welfare and well-being of human beings?
28 Jan (Pati) G.A.
28 Jan (FCM) RCW
28 Jan (Military) RCW
28 Jan (OC) U.K.
28 Jan ($) U.K.
29 Jan (GI) RCW
30 Jan (Pathological Liar) G.A. (Meet your dictator-in-chief)
30 Jan Pakistan (Imitating the RCW)

As I was growing up, Time magazine's "Man of the Year" (before it became "Person of the Year") issue was always eagerly awaited. U.S. News & World Report and other weekly news magazines had similar issues, but they seemed to be pale imitations.
At the beginning of this millennium, I decided to read a few books about the people whom I considered to be "Man of the Century" and "Woman of the Century", the people who made the biggest impact upon the largest number of people, for the longest period of time, namely Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Mother Theresa. I certainly did not and do not admire Lenin, but as Time had done with Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Ayatollah Khomeini, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, I thought that he had affected most of the world's population from the beginning of the twentieth century to the fall of the Soviet Union.
A few years ago, I contemplated who might be considered "Person of the Decade" but I never concluded anything about that. A few times during the life of this blog, I sometimes had fleeting thoughts that I should have a "Person of the Year" post, but they never developed beyond this.Then, I read this article in which the Times of India named Arvind Kejriwal as Person of the Year. I had two issues with this: 1) I thought that Narendra Modi (who was runner-up for the title) made a bigger impact on more people for a greater portion of the year. Admittedly, though, I did not follow Kejriwal closely, so I could be wrong; 2) I thought that another Indian ought to have been named PotY.
Here then, are the people whom I consider to be "Persons of the Year".

Indian: The Deceased

This Person of theYear was not even alive during 2013, yet her presence continues to be felt. This person, of course, is Nirbhaya. For me, the impact is: Why? Why did this occur? Why is India the Rape Capital of the World?
I posted a message at Google+ stating that India is the Rape Capital of the World. Someone posted a follow-up message stating that Haiti has that title. I did a cursory search an found that there are indeed many rapes in Haiti. Stefan Molyneux, whom I admire greatly, has said in one of his videos that South Africa is the Rape Capital of the World. I have no additional information indicating whether that is true or not. I wanted to find out the country with the highest number of rapes per-capita and found this article which indicates that the U.S. is number 1, India is number 2, and that only 16% of rapes are reported in the U.S. I doubt greatly this last "fact"; Rape, although horrible, does not have the same stigma in the U.S. as it does in India. Even if the percentage is accurate, then the percentage of reported rapes in India will have to be far, far, far smaller. This is supported by the fact that I saw a graph in a newspaper article that indicated that about 400 rapes were reported in the Rape Capital of India (i.e., Delhi) in 2012, and that it was about three times as much in 2013. It could very well be three times higher in 2014, three times more high in 2015, and even that may be only a third of the number of rapes reported in the RCI. Moreover, I dispute that other countries are rape capitals (after all, there are lies, damned lies and statistics). I still aver that India is the RCW.
Again: Why? Why is India unique in the brutality of rapes?
I believe that what makes India unique is what is unique to India: the system of dowry. (Yes, dowry is not unique to India but because of India's size, every other place is insignificant in comparison.) With dowry, women are considered to be a "burden" and "inferior". This exposes an ignorance; people confuse the result with the cause. Furthermore, (lack of adequate--what is that?) dowry is the proximate cause of many rapes and murders of wives and daughters-in-law.
South Africa had the similarly horrific practice of apartheid which was eventually abolished through boycott. The intrinsic contradictions of statists in India (and everywhere) may object to a boycott of India (even though India gained independence from the U.K. based largely upon the former's use of boycotting) as they may feel that it encroaches upon their religious freedom.
But if you agree with this then you are saying that your religion is harmful (and that you are ignorant that "there is no scriptural basis for the dowry system in Hinduism); that you are harmful; that you are a potential or actual rapist and/or murderer. In a comment to a post at The Way of Slow Travel, I wrote that Mallick (the owner of the Sudder Street Cafe in Kolkata) is, among many other things, quite a philosopher. He once told a Japanese tourist that he should meditate upon the question, "Who am I?" Who are you?
Do not endorse rape. Do not participate in the subjugation of women. Do not engage in the dowry system.

Non-Indian: The Escaped Prisoners

In the introduction to one of the PT (Perpetual Traveller; Permanent Tourist; Passing Through, etc.) books that I read (I think that it may have been PT2: The Practice) the author gives examples of people who ought to escape the confines of their present lives. In 2013, there were many real-life examples of this; most of them need little or no introduction or comment.
Julian Assange His troubles began before 2013, and he has not yet quite escaped but he has found some respite at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Garry Davis who passed away on 24 July 2013. I am somewhat ambivalent in naming him here. He did not escape, as he was born, lived and died in the Gulag Archipelago, and he was very political raising a fear (in my mind) that he may have advocated for one World government (which simply replaces 200 owners with one owner) as opposed to no government. However, he did relinquish his G.A. citizenship (thus, he no longer belonged to any government) and he might be considered the first PT.
Gerard Depardieu It was on 3 January 2013 that he was granted Russian citizenship, escaping the Socialist Hell (yes, a redundancy) of France.
John Galt Relocated to Galt's Gulch in 2012; should return in 2014
Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was pardoned on 20 December 2013. Another person who has (not yet) escaped but I have the impression that he may do so in the near future, perhaps to Israel (as his father is Jewish) or to Switzerland, "where his wife Inna and two of his children reside". Perhaps even France might give him citizenship as they may be smarting from Gerard Depardieu's defection to Russia and may want to retaliate (although this is mere supposition on my part).
Chelsea Manning (nee Bradley Edward Manning) Sentenced to 35 years in prison on 21 August 2013; thus, not escaped, but perhaps of the same temperament. Perhaps she thought that she would not be caught; perhaps she thought that she (unlike does Eric Snowden think) could get a fair trial in the kangaroo courts that have become the U.S. judicial system. (In the U.S., the Judicial, Legislative and Executive branches of government are not a separation but a conglomeration of power.) If she had escaped then she might have been an Edward Snowden before Edward Snowden was.
Eduardo Saverin Co-founder of Facebook, who has resided in Singapore since 2009 and who continues to be in the news. His Wikipedia article is somewhat ambiguous. It states that he was born in Brazil and has Brazilian citizenship, but that he renounced his U.S. citizenship in September 2011. (Perhaps he held dual citizenship or perhaps he regained his Brazilian citizenship.) Regardless, he seems to be a true PT and has escaped the clutches of the G.A.
Edward Snowden Recently, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Who has not heard of him? It is nice that he has a temporary(?) haven in Russia; I hope that a permanent solution will arise soon.
What does all of this portend for the future?I do not know. I would like to think that the worst of the War on Civilians is over and that the future will provide a "kinder, gentler" Nazi regime. Yes, people will continue to vote for politically fascist, economically socialist pathological liars (otherwise known as "politicians"). When you vote, you vote for government. When you vote for government you get government; you get something that is anathema to human beings. Please do not vote for more Edward Snowdens; please do not vote for having more people in fear of their governments.
"When people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty."

Almost as soon as I wrote In India, Rape is Legal but Sex is Not, I was slightly disappointed in it. I was happy with my reaction to the news articles, but unhappy with my conclusion. I felt that it was incomplete.

Shortly after I wrote my post, I read Bhagwad Jal Park's post in which he stated that he wanted to find a copy of the Supreme Court (SC) decision. Through a quick search on Google, I found this. I thought that I should read it and then comment on it.

I also read additional and newer news articles about the Supreme Court decision. I thought that I should mention and discuss them.

With these three things, I hope to write if not a better then another and informative post about this important topic.

Needless to say, there were many newspaper articles that came out after the decision was made. Some of them focused on the act (What is "unnatural"? What is "against the order of nature"?); others focused on the individuals (Being gay was now illegal; and everybody was now a criminal). Some of the best articles were Supreme Court leaves door open for LGBTs Section 377: A 19th century law at odds with ground reality Judge who decriminalized gay sex disappointed with SC order Oral or anal sex too makes you a criminal. Perhaps the most erudite and authoritative was A mother and a judge speaks out on section 377.

I then read the decision of the SC. It was a summary of the arguments of the Respondents (NAZ Foundation and others) and Appellants (Suresh Kumar Koushal and another). I discerned that there were some weak arguments (primarily made by the Appellants--perhaps counter-intuitively, as they were the winning side) and some strong arguments (primarily made by the Respondents--perhaps counter-intuitively, as they were the losing side).
The Appellants said that HIV prevalence was higher among homosexual men and that it is a small minority. ???????????????? If the prevalence of crime is higher among poor people then would the SC outlaw poor people? Victims of attempted murder are a small minority. Would the SC obliterate the rights of these victims simply because they are a small minority? It is hard to believe that such things are believed and written by purportedly intelligent people.
They also stated that "What is pre-ordained by nature has to be protected". ?????????????? What is "pre-ordained"? If having five toes on each foot were "pre-ordained" then would people having six toes on each foot not be protected? If it is "pre-ordained" that we travel using our own energy and effort then would airplanes be outlawed?
It was also stated that "So long as the law stands on the statute book there was a constitutional presumtion in its favour". ???????????????? The perpetuation of ignorance. Furthermore, that is not at all really true. In the United States, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol with the U.S. was repealed barely 15 years after its enactment.
The decision seemed to return to this topic frequently. They always averred that there was a presumption of constitutionality in section 377. This was scary to me. Sodomy was a crime, so should it continue to be a crime? In the United States, slavery used to be legal. Does that mean it should continue to be legal? The respondents seemed to be saying that you can't throw out the baby with the bath water.

The Respondents did say that section 377 took away the self-respect and dignity of people. This seemed a somewhat weak argument. Later on in the decision, it seemed as if they had backed up their assertion with legal cases. However, I felt that this issue was not really germane to this case.
In terms of strong arguments, the Respondents said that section 377 is ambiguous and vague, which it certainly is. The whole of it is the following:

377. Unnatural offences--Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten year, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanantion-Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section.

which can be found here on page 168.
They went on to say that the section was "based on traditional Judeo-Christian moral and ethical standards that are not justified in contemporary Indian society and do not resonate with the historically held values in Indian society concerning sexual relations".
The Appellants did bring up several legal cases, including Lawrence v. Texas in the United States, stating that "promotion of majoritarian sexual morality was a legitimate state interest". But just because the U.S. SC are morons should not mean that the Indian SC be the same. I do not think that this was necessarily a strong argument, although I do concede that "What is good for the goose is good for the gander". Moreover, the idea of "majoritarian sexual morality" was reiterated.

I now confess that I am an idiot.
Or maybe I am not. Or maybe I am too stupid to realize that I am stupid.
Regardless, I had great difficulty in following the decision. Again, it was a summary of the arguments of the Respondents and Appellants. I expected to read the decision and rationale of the judgement at the end, but it never seemed to come.
If I had written the decision then I would have written it in one of two ways: 1) the arguments for the Respondents, and then those for the Appellants (or perhaps vice versa) and then the final decision; 2) an argument for the for the Respondent, then the counter-argument of the Appellant, then the SC views on that issue, until all the issues had been discussed.
Unfortunately, neither of these options was followed or, at least, not followed well. I then wrote to Bhagwad (see link above) to tell him of my situation. He apparently was able to discern the decision far better than I could, and he told me that he had even written another post about it. The SC decision now seems to have been written in a third manner: that of interspersing arguments and decisions here and there. I still do not fully grasp everything that was written in the decision but I am now relying on Bhagwad's rendering of the decision.
It seems that the SC swallowed many of the weak arguments of the Appellants. (Is this act, itself, "against the order of nature"?) In addition to mentioning some things that I have alluded to here, Bhagwad provides a passage in which the SC states that

It is relevant to mention here that the Section 377 IPC [Indian Penal Code] does not criminalize a particular people or identity or orientation. It merely identifies certain acts which if committed would constitute an offence. Such a prohibition regulates sexual conduct regardless of gender identity and orientation.

??????????????? Does this mean that eating meat can be a crime, but being non-vegetarian is not a crime? More pertinent to the issue: Does this mean that homosexual sex (purportedly "against the law of nature") can be a crime but being homosexual is not? But then, who commits homosexual sex?
Ever since I was aware of this case, I wondered about the conflict between section 377 and the Indian Constitution (especially Articles 14, 15 and 21) and what rationale would be used for the promotion of one over the other.
Bhagwad indicates that the SC did touch upon this topic in this passage

43. While reading down Section 377 IPC, the Division Bench of the High Court overlooked that a miniscule fraction of the country's population constitute lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and in last more than 150 years less than 200 persons have been prosecuted (as per the reported orders) for committing offence under Section 377 IPC and this cannot be made sound basis for declaring that section ultra vires the provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.

The proposition may be correct, but it can not be accepted. Even if it is accepted then the conclusion does not necessarily follow from it as there are many reasons why the section contravenes the Consititution, and many reasons why the Constitution should be upheld in this case.

I think that what I wanted to state in (or simply add to) my earlier post is that I do not believe in LGBT rights. I do not believe in rights for those with disabilities. I do not believe in women's rights. I do not believe in patient's rights. I do not believe in rights to education. I do not believe in minority rights. I believe in human rights. If you treat humans as humans then everything else will be taken care of.
I only wish that the SC believed this, and it is my hope that the government will believe in this sometime during my lifetime.

1 Feb The Chinese New Year in Kolkata--not quite that of San Francisco, though. As always, to find out more about the Chinese in Kolkata, read Dhapa.com

2 Feb News of San Francisco in the Times of India.

2 Feb Indian vs. Indian. I predict that the Indian will become the CEO of Microsoft A few days later, this article appeared.

3 Feb It is always sad to see people younger than you dying, and surprising to see people die of things that you were not aware that they were involved in. Philip Seymour was such a respected actor, and not one that you would expect to take a drug overdose.at age 46.

5 Feb This news about the Deols and the Devgns suffering from the result of a sewage leak is ironic in that Hema Malini is well-known as the spokesperson for Kent Water Filters.

6 Feb The declining status of Hollywood films in India (although I was aware that Gravity did last for a long time in Kolkata.

7 Feb I love news; I love history; and I especially love news about history. This article is about the history of Darjeeling tea in India.

9 Feb As I have written a few times before, I enjoy reading the biweekly columns of Stephen Hugh-Jones in the Telegraph. I enjoyed reading this article, as well. (Or: I enjoyed reading this article as well.)

14 Feb Caroline is very happy with this development. She feels that Modi has worked very hard in camaigning, admires him for his strong beliefs and forceful personality, and feels that he would be a very good Prime Minister. I do not think that these qualities necessarily make for a good PM. He does seem, however, to be the least of threee-four (or more) evils.
However, the issue of his visa is still unresolved.

15 Feb Arvind Kejriwal resigned on principle; that proves that he was not a politician

15 Feb 1 in 4 in U.S. not aware Earth circles Sun (article originally found in print edition of the Telegraph). These people are called "voters".

16 Feb Next episode of "slow television": "Watching Grass Grow".

16 Feb About one year ago, we needed to go to the Ballygunge district. While there, we treated ourselves to a small lunch at the Haldiram's building. (Haldiram's is a famous food chain in India, known especially for its confectioneries.) Now, it looks as if we can not go for another few months.

16 Feb Was "separate but equal" desirable, and did it succeed in the U.S. and South Africa?

17 Feb The belief in this non sequitur seems to be endemic among a great many Indians. Politicians and people seem to attribute being able to do great things to being single. You are great because no one wants to be around you for long? It does not make sense to me.

18 Feb I wish that Obama would stop complaining about aging; he is only a few months older than I am.

19 Feb First, the Korean Psy made a splash on the Ellen Degeneres Show; now, it is the Indian Akshat Singh. It is a shame that he represents the growing harm of obesity in India, especially of young children.

22 Feb Knowing news and California as I do, I suspect that this article is making a mountain out of a molehill. I am surprised, however, that there is a discussion of dividing California into six states. Growing up, I heard some animosity between just Northern and Southern California.

22 Feb Living in India, I thought that I was unique. After joining expat-blog.com, however, I came to know that there are very many expats in India, many of whom are women who married Indians.
This specific event is sad, but I suppose that it is not surprising that it happened close to Delhi.

22 Feb Lately, I have found several articles about Indians in the United States; here is one of Neeraj Arora of WhatApp.

23 Feb I always try to link articles of famous people (primarily Americans) visiting Kolkata. This article is of Jesse Jackson. A few days later, there was this follow-up article.

23 Feb Yet another article about racism in India. A few years ago, it disturbed me that several Indians were brutally beaten and even killed in Australia simply because they were Indian. However, it is now obvious that this should not have surprised Indians because they, themselves, are so racist.

25 Feb Especially since so many children of Indian descent win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, I have been fascinated by it. This article is especially interesting.

26 Feb The mystery of history. I love history; I love Kolkata; and I especially love the hostory of Kolkata. This news article is about photographs taken by an Unknown American soldier in West Bengal in the mid-late 1940s.

27 Feb I thought that it was a shame that the Chaplin (Cinema) Hall was torn down--perhaps it was a result of more multiplexes, and the continued competition from other single single-screen theatres in the area. There are still five such halls within walking distance, and two others have been converted to shopping centers.
I suppose that it is not surprising that a government building is coming up in its place. Before I left San Francisco, I noticed a lot of productive land and buildings being turned over to unproductive and counter-productive individuals.

2 Feb (Pathological Liars) RCW
2 Feb (Pathological Liars) RCW (And he is still unethical!)
2 Feb (RCI) RCW
3 Feb (FCM) RCW
3 Feb (Pathological Liars) RCW (This is good news! After all, rapists and murderers are productive when they are raping and killing, but then why would you want them to be productive?)
5 Feb ($) RCW
5 Feb ($) England
6 Feb (Pathological Liars, $) RCW
6 Feb (Pathological Liars, $) RCW (And yet they keep spending OPM--other people's money)
7 Feb (Pathological Liars) RCW (What is that I am hearing? It is Her Royal Highness, Mamata Banerjee saying that this is a conspiracy against her regime.)
8 Feb (FCM) England
8 Feb (RCI) RCW
8 Feb (Patholoigical Liars) G.A.
9 Feb (Military) G.A. (Ouch! That slap on the wrist hurt!)
9 Feb (OC) RCW
10 Feb (RCI) RCW
10 Feb (DBO) G.A. (It will be legal when Pathological Liars declare that it is legal; in other words, it is already legal.)
10 Feb (Thieves and Sexual Abusers) G.A. (The TSA, on the other hand, can not be humiliated because they already know that they are worth less than the shit on the ground.)
13 Feb (GI) RCW
13 Feb (GI) RCW
14 Feb (Pathological Liars) RCW
15 Feb (RCI) RCW
16 Feb (Judiciary) RCW
16 Feb (FCM) RCW
17 Feb ($) England (Humans in England can live in homes that are 200+ years old but ravens need the latest in accommodation?)
18 Feb (FCM) RCW (An obvious lie, as Kolkata cops are incapable of doing anything.)
18 Feb ($) RCW
19 Feb (Pathological Liars, GI) RCW
20 Feb (Pathological Liars) RCW
21 Feb (FCM, Judiciary) G.A.
21 Feb (FCM) RCW
22 Feb (FCM) RCW
22 Feb ($) RCW
23 Feb (Military, $) G.A.
24 Feb RCW
24 Feb (FCM) RCW
24 Feb (OC) RCW
25 Feb (Miltary) RCW
25 Feb (Judiciary) RCW (Where else but in RCW?)
25 Feb (Thieves & Sexual Abusers) RCW (In the near future, no airport anywhere on Earth will be safe from the Nazi scum.)
26 Feb (FCM, GI) RCW
26 Feb RCW/G.A. (Are Bushama and his kangaroo courts reading this?)
27 Feb (OC) RCW
27 Feb (FCM) RCW

Bal Thackeray's grandfather gave his son (Bal's father) the surname "Thakre". Bal's father later decided to alter it to "Thackeray" in admiration and emulation of William Makepeace Thackeray

Bal grew up to become a strongman who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing Marathi ethnocentric political party. Bal died on 17 November 2012, was accorded a state funeral, and virtually all of Mumbai shut down for three days in admiration of him (and in fear of retaliation and violence if they kept their shops open).

Regardless, many people thought that life was better under the protectorship of him. I think that it is actually scary to think that one man (although in league with vocal followers) could have a causal effect on the quality of life in a state or city. However, I did observe and experience some things that were not quite as good as they were the last time that I visited Mumbai. I do not think that there is a causal connection between Bal Thackeray's death and these events, but there is some correlation.

Caroline lived in Mumbai for a year, about ten years ago. Throughout, she was very happy because people always addressed her as Madam or Memsaab. On previous visits, I experienced similar encounters, with people calling me Sir.

In West Bengal, however, people routinely call others--even people younger than themselves--as Aunty or Uncle. These uncouth people "justify" it by saying that in their belief it is a form of respect. Objectively, though, it is often a form of derision or disrespect. It is a form of making the unfamiliar unnecessarily familiar. At the very least, it is not nearly as respectful as is Madam or Sir.

On this visit to Mumbai, unfortunately, we encountered many instances of being addressed as Aunty and Uncle, the first being from the taxi driver who took us from the train station.

It is probably not surprising that some decline of values came from a government entity, after all, that is their raison d'etre.Such an entity is the Mumbai Zoo in Byculla.

Caroline had been to the Zoo before. This time, she came primarily to rest on the benches (which are quite numerous, especially given that it is a small zoo) to pass away the time. However, she (and I) did notice some things that were not desirable.

There were two food stands outside, but food and even water was prohibited inside the zoo. There were many abandoned cages. Many others were extremely rusted, even in its support beams. There were probably more identified trees (including Flamboyant Tree--delonix regia--named after Liberace?) at the zoo than there were animals. There were few signs indicating in which direction the animals could be found. There was one very large cage housing two relatively small monkeys, but one much smaller cage housing three much larger emus. There were two (perhaps three) elephants but they stayed inside their structure far away from the footpath, and thus were not much of an attraction. Only Dorothy would have been happy, as there were no lions, or tigers or bears (oh my!).

It was here that I was reminded of my father-in-law. From what Caroline frequently relates to me, he had gone to the Calcutta Zoo. While there, and at one enclosure, he encountered a Bengali son and his father. The son pointed to something and asked, "What is that?" The father answered, "That is a beer [bear]". Caroline's father, under his breath, said "And that is whiskey".

We also encountered some peculiar or note-worthy things at the zoo, although these came not from the zoo itself but from the visitors. Ever since I arrived, I have been of the belief that that Indians are trilingual: They know Hindi, their state language, and English. When we lived in the tourist district, almost everybody did know English. Since then, though, I have become aware that most Indians know as much English as I know Hindi (in other words, very little). However, Muslims also know Urdu. Thus many are still trilingual. This time, however, Caroline came across a woman who spoke Marathi, but very little Hindi. This made it very difficult to communicate. Caroline also talked to another woman who thought that Kolkata was reachable only by plane, while you could take a train to the United States. Geography is the Achilles' heel of people. I realized that if someone asked me to point out French Guyana on a map then I might fail. Later, I learned that it is indeed in the same vicinity of South America that I thought that it was, although it is spelt French Guiana.

As I mentioned in another post (and will elaborate on in my next post), we "kidnapped" a kitten that was apparently abandoned by his (as I found out) mother. We had no other place to keep him so I carried him in my jacket. Occasionally he would try to peer outside. When other visitors saw him, they would come excitedly to me and snap photos of the kitten who, at that time, was temporarily named (by me) Special Head. They would often say things to the effect of, "Look at the mow!" Language is indeed a peculiar thing. In the United States, we would say that a cow goes "Moo", a pig goes, "Oink oink" and a cat goes, "Meow". In India, it apparently is "Mow" and that this applies not to the sound but seemingly to the animal itself. Even I found this strange because even I, who knows little Hindi, know that the Hindi word for cat is actually billi. Thus, I do not know the reason for "Mow".

Another attraction--of the zoo, in this case--was the crocodiles. In their enclosure, there was a rock island. Every time that I saw the crocodiles, they were on the rock island and because they were of the same colour as the rock, they were well camouflaged. However, the entrance to it was up some steep steps, preventing Caroline, with her arthritis, from seeing them. Many others, though, always crowded around the enclosure. I also saw a rather large statue of the Prince of Wales on horseback. It was obviously not of Prince Charles, though. In preparing this post, I learned that the Mumbai Zoo was begun in 1861. From this, and from researching the Prince of Wales, I conclude that it was a statue of Edward VII. For some reason unknown to even myself, I found the greatest delight in seeing the storks at the zoo. I still wonder what the admission fee was. Golconda Fort in Hyderabad (especially) and the San Francisco Zoo charge more for people visiting the area than they do for residents. With this in mind, I had Caroline buy the tickets. She said that they were only five rupees each, and did not see any sign indicating that it is more for foreigners.

The condition of the zoo was perhaps summed up best by another visitor to the zoo. He said that the government is thinking of selling the zoo, and that things in Mumbai had indeed gone down since the death of Bal Thackeray.

It is perhaps surprising that some private businesses have also shown a drop-off in terms of service. When we first visited the Grant Road area (Caroline had been there earlier; I came with her at a later date), there were many cats at the Shaan Restaurant. This was a great attraction because we would see very many of them, and with many generations of child, parents, grand-parents, aunts, uncles, great-grand parents, etc. More recently, though, they seem to have been rusticated (expelled). Also, the waiters were eager to provide Caroline with milk and bananas, even though these were not on the menu. Now, there seems to be some reluctance on their part to provide this. Also, there are no more double-yolked eggs. On a previous trip, we ordered boiled eggs. When we cut them in half, we saw that we each had double-yolked eggs! The next day, this happened again! Of course, this is outside of the restaurant's control, but we still longed to have the double-yolked eggs again.

There may also have been too much of a good thing. I found that when we drank a glass of water, a waiter would quickly give us two more glasses of water! This would multiply until there was little room for our food because there were so many glasses of water on the table!

When we went to the Md. Ali district, we went to the Jai Hind Restaurant. There, the waiters were generally unresponsive.

There were also some good or, at least, not bad things that I observed and experienced. I shall relate these things in my next post.

The title, of course, refers to the famous (or, at least, famous in the San Francisco Bay Area) commercial, "Farms in Berkeley? Mooo!" (and the actual commercials here).

We walked along Md. Ali Road one evening because Caroline said that I needed to find a woman named Mrs. Khan and that she would be wearing a burqa (ha ha). Caroline stopped in front of a hawker who was selling female tops for just 30 rupees. Clothes, everywhere, are cheaper when they are not in showrooms, and everything (except technological products) is cheaper in India, but this seemed to be surprisingly low. I thought that it might have been a five-finger discount. Regardless, I soon saw some animals flittering about in and around a tree, and asked the hawker if they were bats. He replied that they were.

In India (but never in the United States), I had seen some bats flying about a tree at a village train station but never saw that I would see so many, so close to me in an urban environment. We had other noteworthy experiences along Grant Road, Md. Ali Road, walking between those two areas, and in other parts of Mumbai.

Along Grant Road, I saw some foreign tourists getting into a cab. The population of the metropolitan area of Mumbai approaches the population of the entire country of Australia, so there is a lot to see and do in Mumbai. However, we usually see foreigners only in Colaba. Moreover, unlike in Kolkata (where there is Sudder Street), there really are no similar tourist districts in other cities. Perhaps Hyderabad is worst in this respect as I can not recall seeing foreigners anywhere there. Also, other cities (and Kolkata to a more limited degree) make it difficult to find an adequate hotel. Thus, it is often surprising to see foreigners in a city, other than in some specific areas.

It was along Grant Road that I found out that I can use the Internet in India! Actually, I am (obviously) using the Internet here in Kolkata, but in Kolkata (and perhaps all of West Bengal) there are hurdles to it. Apparently the government mandates that all users of Cyber Cafes register. At Grant Road (and in Hyderabad), I simply went to the Cyber Cafe and started using the computer! To err is human; to make things more difficult requires government.

It was also along Grant Road that I had the opportunity, late one night, to look up at the night-sky and see stars--perhaps more than I ever see in Kolkata. It certainly is not nearly as many stars that I saw while growing up in a suburb of San Francisco, but it was nice to see. Caroline sometimes talks about shifting/moving to a small town. If that happens, I hope to enjoy seeing so many stars at night, once again.
The most intriguing thing was an old building very close to our hotel. It had what I thought was an Ancient Egyptian symbol on it (very similar to that shown below and also found here). For a long time, I thought that the building might have housed the Theosophical Society. (In my ignorance, I could not come to any other conclusion.) A few days ago, I happened to come across some information that confirms that it is actually a Parsi building. This makes sense as Parsis used to be much more numerous in India, and their characteristics are often represented in Hindi films. Now, however, it is somewhat easy to count them by hand.

After experiencing numerous difficulties at the hotel, we decided to shift to Md. Ali Road. Having lived in India for awhile, I have become acclimated to crowds. However, there seemed to be a tsunami of people along one road one day. This overwhelming crowd did not re-appear, but I shall always associate that road with the tsunami of people.
I frequently saw Africans. Caroline told me that when she lived in Mumbai, she often encountered them in the same area. After we returned to Kolkata, I saw an article that stated that Indians tend to be racists (the article of which is from 26 Jan in this post). I suspect that the Africans were Muslims, and that they may have encountered less racism in a Muslim neighbourhood.

In between the two areas, we walked passed a few cinema halls which were showing some relatively old films. One cinema hall had a poster of a film starring Ajay Devgn which seemed to be twenty years old. I saw the Moti cinema hall and thought that it was the Fat Woman cinema hall, but Caroline told me that it also means bead. We frequently walked through the Red Light district, the rooms of which were often open along the footpath and which appeared to be not much bigger than a bed.
One day, as we were waiting for a bus to take us back, we saw a bus driving along the road perpendicular to us, and then turning onto the road that we were on. However, it overshot the turn, so it had to back up. It is not easy for a bus to back up, and it was made even more difficult because it was office hours/rush hour. Needless to say, a traffic jam occurred in which all traffic was stopped. Eventually, a traffic police officer came by to assist, but it was still difficult for the bus to back up, turn and drive for about one metre, back up, turn and drive for about one metre, back up, etc. In all, it took at least fifteen minutes (perhaps even half-an-hour--neither of us had watches) for traffic to begin to resume again.

Throughout Mumbai, we saw many interesting things.The routes of the buses were written in Devanagari on the front of the buses, but in Roman numerals on their sides. In Kolkata, the routes are in Roman numerals. As always, there were double-decker buses (although just in the southern-most areas of the city. I have heard and read that Kolkata had double-decker buses, but were gone in the early '90s; they must have been gone by the time I first visited the city as I do not remember seeing any of them. As I wrote in an update to my Taxi post, it costs just 19 rupees to get into a taxi in Mumbai; in Kolkata, it is 25 rupees. Caroline views motorcycles to be a problem, whereas I view them as a solution. If the motorcyclists drove in larger cars instead, then traffic would be even more horrific. I do agree with her, however, that motorcycles can be a great danger to not only the riders (most of whom do not wear helmets) but also pedestrians.
I also became re-acquainted with indigenous and regional drinks. In Chennai, I came across a few such drinks, and in Mumbai, I found Duke's drink. In hindsight, I should have tried it, but I did not. In general, I was almost always hungry in Mumbai. It was not as if there was mouth-watering food (as we ate in average restaurants); perhaps it was as a result of walking so much. One thing that I did not see was trees growing out of buildings (as I see everywhere in Kolkata). The only place where I did see a tree growing out of a building was at the Zoo.
Throughout not only Mumbai but also the railway system and also India itself were blind Muslim men singing for alms. It seems that many professions have a genetic basis. Short-statured and light-weight men can become professional horse jockeys; very tall men can become professional basketball players; and blind Muslim men sing for alms. I do not know the reasoning of this last one, nor why there are so many blind Muslim men in India.

Our most memorable and longest-lasting experience was after Caroline heard a sound. A few moments later, I heard it too. It was of a kitten meowing. We looked, and found a kitten--apparently abandoned by his (as I found out a little bit later) mother--behind a Coke machine. Caroline told me to get him. I had some qualms about this because Caroline let go of Tummy Boy a few months previously, and I was fearful that she might resent keeping another cat, after awhile. Nevertheless, I did so and he was surprisingly tame.
Caroline then had to go to a bank to ensure that some documents were in order, and I waited on a chair on the footpath/sidewalk. While waiting for her, my mind began to wander and I started to think of the TV show, America's Got Talent and of the contestant, Special Head. When Caroline came out from the bank, I asked her to name him Special Head. However, the name did not really stick, and he became more-or-less nameless.
There were a lot of hurdles in keeping him. Taking him in the taxi and keeping him in the hotel were two of them. At the hotel, we came back from dinner and could not find him, at first. Then, we found him bundled in the blanket. It seems that he greatly desired warmth (even in Mumbai, it can be chilly in January). I often slept with him in my jacket. I was always fearful of rolling over in my sleep and crushing him, but that never occurred.
Caroline desired to bring him back to Kolkata, and said that the train ride would be his final test. If he slept during the journey then she would keep him; if not then she would abandon him. In preparation for the train ride, we learned that he would have to be in a cage. We went to Crawford Market (where we saw a few more foreign tourists). We did see a few small bird cages which seemed to be an appropriate size, but which were still out of our budget range. We decided to just take him on the train, and that Caroline would plead with the TC/TTE (ticket-checker/train-ticket examiner) if need be.
Caroline fed him a lot of warm milk (which always seemed to bring him to sleep), and he slept with me in my jacket. He did not wake up until a few hours before our arrival! When he did wake up, however, he meowed constantly. By that time, there were fewer passengers so he was not as much of a concern. Thus, he was deemed to have passed the test.
Getting him to, and letting him stay at, our residence was also a challenge because of neighbours who might object. Our biggest concern, however, came a few days later when we realized that he was not going to the bathroom. On the day that we decided to see a veterinarian, he did go to the bathroom. This was a great relief because, although there were a handful of veterinarians in Central Kolkata, they all seemed to be closed that day.
Even after this incident, though, he meowed frequently. Caroline contrasted him with Timmy Boy who always seemed to be quiet. However, we did not know what to make of this.
A few weeks later, Caroline decided to start feeding him food. (She had always given him just warm milk previous to this.) I was glad because I thought that he should have been given food much earlier. For two days, he was given liver. On the second day, he seemed to really enjoy it, and ate a great amount. Caroline then gave him the name Johnny Liver (in imitation of the film comedian, Johnny Lever).
In the very early morning of the following day (4 February), Johnny Liver made an unusual-sounding meow. We did not know exactly what to make of it, and went back to sleep. When I awoke again, I had to get something from my backpack. (In addition to loving my jacket, he loved sleeping inside my small backpack). I got it, but something seemed amiss, and I did not want to investigate. I went to the Cyber Cafe. An hour or so later, Caroline came to me, with tears in her eyes, saying that Johnny Liver had indeed passed away.
We then went to the cemetery and buried him next to Ganesh (another kitten who died) in Caroline's parents' burial plot.
Perhaps the saddest thing was that my camera is seemingly irreparable, and I have not purchased another one, so I was never able to take photos of him. Nevertheless, I think that we will always remember him.

It was time, once again, to depart from India. I am happy that the "David Headley Rule" (which mandated that people with tourist visas had to stay away for two months) was rescinded about a year ago, but unhappy with the FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office) in Kolkata. I frequently read and hear that the employees of the Foreigners Offices actually hate foreigners! (And I may elaborate on my experiences in a future post.) The solution to this is to bring an Indian with you to the FRRO. I have always brought Caroline, but they still have made everything extremely difficult and cumbersome for me. Until a mutually-agreeable solution can be found, I have to leave India every 180 days.

As before, my journey began before the journey.

It began with the train tickets through my travel agent. This time, I brought up something that I had observed from my previous train ticket. There is a commission of 100 rupees for each train ticket (going and coming). I understand and accept that people will get commissions for services that they provide. He went on to say that it is a flat rate, and gave me the impression (although I may have inferred wrongly) that it may be lower at travel agencies that sell a high volume of tickets. Regardless, the 100 rupees hurt when the fares, themselves, were so low; it hurt when it was a high percentage of the train fare.

A few days before my journey, I went to a foreign exchange place to get NPR800 (800 Nepal Rupees). At Xe.com, I learned that this amount was virtually the same as INR500. However, the foreign exchange place charged me INR508. It is not a significant difference but it was disappointing. In coming back from Nepal (elaborated upon further on in this post), I was reminded of something that I came across on my previous trip: there are people on the roadside (on the Indian side of the border) who exchange Indian and Nepali rupees. They have no overhead because their stalls are just like that of Lucy, so they may offer attractive rates.

However, I suspect that they tend to cheat people, and most likely have counterfeit (420--false, and referring to a section in the Indian Penal Code) currency. I have read a recent news article that did state that there is a lot of counterfeit currency in Nepal, and I believe that is why Indian notes larger than INR100 are not allowed in Nepal. My recommendation is to get NPR before you travel (in this way, you have some legitimate money to take with you) and then, if you still have NPR after your stay then go to the stalls and inquire about the rates, and exchange it there only if it is similar or better than the rate given at Xe.com.

Then I had to go to the Nepal Consulate in Kolkata to get the required visa. At my previous visit, it seemed--at first--that there was no one available to attend me. I wanted to preclude that so I sent an email to them telling them I would be there at a specific date and time, and wanted to know if that was aggreable to them, as well. However, the email may have been old or inaccurate; in any case, I never received a confirmation. I still had to go to the Consulate, though.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I believe that Nepal does offer a VOA (Visa-on-Arrival). If this is true then it may be good if you are flying to Kathmandu. However, from my observation of the Immigration offices in Raxaul (India) and Birganj (Nepal), I am not sure if they have the knowledge, experience or authority to issue a VOA. My recommendation is: If you need to have a visa then get it before you departure. An exception is the Philippines. There, U.S. citizens (and perhaps most others) can stay there 21 days without a visa, and it is very easy to extend it there (provided you are in the larger cities of Cebu, Manila/National Capital Region, and 1-2 other cities where there is an Immigration office; if you are elsewhere then travelling--or perhaps the help of an immigration lawyer--is required).
Regardless, I had to go to the Nepal Consulate. Because I did not want to pay the additional cost, and because of my previous, undesirable experience with taking taxis to and from the Consulate, I decided to take the public bus. There could very well be bus routes in our neighbourhood to the Consulate, although the only routes that even Caroline is familiar with are the ones along Meyo Road in the Maidan. To get there, it is a journey of a few kilometres, so it is quite a hike. However, it is not as far as is the Consulate, and because I am very familiar with the area, it is a pleasant walk.
Caroline told me to the the number 37 bus. However, I was there for a very long time and never came across that bus number. I had the feeling that the number 12 bus went to the location I wanted. I asked a few fare collectors (on each bus, there are two employees: the driver, and the fare collector who collects fares and who stands at the entrance-way, announcing the destination. I asked a few, "Ekbalpore?" (the district where the Consulate is located) but they indicated that they didn't go there. Finally, one fare collector (who actually had to ask a passenger) of a 12 bus said that they did go there. From that, and from another, similar experience I had that day, I concluded that I know more about Kolkata (especially in terms of geography) than the Kolkatans who ought to know about Kolkata.
When I alighted, I became confused. (I think that it may have been because the taxi had dropped me off on one end of the road, and the bus dropped me off at the other end.) I walked to the other end of the road (about 100 metres) but could not find the Consulate. I then walked back, and found it.
I went inside, and was attended to more quickly. My only complaint (which I had forgotten from the previous time) was that they wanted the fee before giving the visa. Everything considered, though, this second visit was better than the first.

Finally, I arranged for a taxi to take me to Howrah at the appointed date and time. I went to the taxi drivers at one end of Sudder Street because they seem honest and because I took one to the Airport about a year previous to that time. We did not discuss the fare because I was willing to pay 120 rupees, and I felt that this was a fair price.
On that date, I went back to the driver and he told me that it was 150 rupees! I felt that this was exorbitant. Caroline was with me, and we walked a little ways before she found one who charged 100 rupees.
Earlier that day, I realized that I probably should have taken the bus to Howrah train station. However, because I had arranged for a taxi (and did not want to renege on it) and because Caroline was with me (and who should not walk to Mayo Road because of her arthritis), I did not. If and when I do need to go to Nepal again, I shall simply walk to the Mayo Road bus stand to catch a bus to Howrah.
While in the taxi, I realized that I had forgotten to ask my travel agent for the platform number. However, I felt that the electronic signs would provide that information. Regardless, I felt that it was in Terminal One. (I did not pay much attention on my previous trip, but I still retained the feeling that the platform was in Terminal 1.) In front of the train station, the driver and/or Caroline received information that the train to Raxaul (on the Indian side of the border) was in Terminal 3. We alighted, and Caroline asked around and found that the train would appear on platform 8...in Terminal 1! This was confirmed by a visit to an office.
The train was somewhat late in arriving, but it did depart just a few minutes late.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

New Year's "Predictions" and Predictions (2014)

News: Other (Dec 2013)

Government as Criminals (Dec 2013)

Hotel Meredian Comfort Inn

Hyderabad in the Winter

Film Review of Pacific Rim

Government as Murderers (Dec 2013)

My Fifth-Year Anniversary

Another Lesson

Mumbai Hotels

News: Other (Jan 2014)

Government as Criminals (Jan 2014)

Persons of the Year

In India, Rape is Legal but Sex is Not, Revisited

News: Other (Feb 2014)

Government as Criminals (Feb 2013)

Bombay Bina [Without] Bal

Bats in Bombay? Boooo!

The Journey Before the Journey