The not-so-secret diary

Jaywalking is an essential skill to cope with most Indian cities and Mumbai is no exception. Indians are genetically geared to excel in this. No one ever teaches anyone. From childhood, youngsters observe the adults, newcomers to cities observe the veterans and together all of them learn and evolve the best strategies to navigate the onslaught of heterogeneous traffic and the odd slow-moving bovine creatures. (Incidentally the more we in 'modern' India try to vehemently deny the presence of the aforesaid peace-loving bovine creatures on urban roads, the more they pop up at the most annoying places, in full view of camera-happy foreigners). Back to jaywalking. It is not just an art. On further thought, I believe it involves quite a bit of a complex science, an understanding of human behavioural responses, the experience of animal behavioural responses and a small belief in kismat.  So here are some starter’s tips. As you hit the metalled surface, first spend half a second t...

Indians are religious. Or maybe a bit superstitious and somewhat spiritual. Or maybe we just believe in kismat. Why take a chance and let the shortcomings of the current or past lives ruin our day today ? Surely there can be no harm in asking a small favour of the gods as we go about our daily life. That is the conclusion I have reached after seeing the surprisingly large display of religious deities around my current workplace in Delhi. They are mostly small, printed pictures or calendars. Some are of Laxmi and Ganesha representing prosperity and wealth (pictures and cards from last Diwali?). There are also images of Shree Krishna and Saraswati. Saraswati is the goddess for education and learning so that makes sense. Shree Krishna..... hmmm - case for providing butter, ghee and cheese at work perhaps, a staple diet of baby Krishna. Can't see it being a signal to encourage flirting with the ladies although enough romances seem to brew in the typical Indian w...

Clickety-click, clickety-clack. Do I want to be the cat with the bell? Do I want to announce my arrival at each floor? Will I eventually get used to heads popping up as I head for the printer? A strange and unexpected dilemma faces me in my new workplace - my company's India office in Delhi.  Should I wear high heels to work or not? Actually they are not even that high. They aren't stilettos or tall block heels mainly because I can't even walk properly on a carpet in stilettos. They are just a pair of mid-heel, smart shoes. The kind that I always wanted to wear but couldn't in my erstwhile life in the land-of-good-public-transport-to which-one-must-constantly-sprint, i.e. London. (I'm still rooting for good public transport btw!) But coming back to heels, its surprising how much noise they make on a non-carpeted office floor. Even more surprising is the medley of men on the floor who turn around from their screens to see who's approaching. This happens eve...