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February 01, 2009
A day of an American in India
This following is a guest post, authored by Dave Prager, a New Yorker who lives Delhi with Jenny and who blogs at Our Delhi Struggle. Thank you, Dave! (All previous co-bloggers archived here.) If other creative types are interested to share the forum here on any other topic, please contact me for details
The noise of the morning gets us up at eight: the cars honking and the Muslim call to prayer and the guys biking by, shouting in Hindi that they’ll take your garbage or sharpen your knives.
We look across the street - an orange-clad sadhu has parked his painted sacred cow in front of the house across the street, and won’t leave until he gets some money. He does this every day. I get into my taxi. Jenny gets into her autorickshaw. And off we go to work, fighting traffic and pollution (ha!) and, in my case, construction of Delhi’s above-ground metro as I pass the ruins of former shopping malls.
At work, we don’t make our own photocopies or get our own water; there are guys who are hired to do that for us. They’re called "peons". Seriously.
After lunch, me and Dipankar get tea from a sidewalk chai wallah. He crunches spices and ginger with a rock, and throws it in the boiling milk. Then it’s back to work. When I get frustrated, I rely on the magic phrase: “Do one thing.” It works - try it!
Then I fight the traffic and the tollbooth back home. If our maid has come, I eat food like you could only dream. If she hasn’t, then we’re off for south Indian food, or heading to our market , or just patronizing the sidewalk omelette maker.
As the night cools off, we switch on our electric heaters - Delhi is cold this time of year. The horns stop honking, replaced by the comforting sound of the night: the chowkidar blowing his whistle, letting you know that everything’s OK.
Wonderful! Thanks again, Dave.
A Huge Depository of Unusual Links about India And About Japan Here
February 1, 2009 in Co-blogged with, Traveling Places - India | Permalink
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Comments
Nice Blog man, funny and interesting
Posted by: 88 India at Apr 28, 2009 2:19:17 AM