Day 5

Day 5 11:14 PM Bangalore
My toilet roll fell in the wash basin. It was a beautiful full Bounty roll. Fortunately I have two more rolls, one full and one half over, but still it’s a damned shame. Another damned shame: I left my iPod running for about a day and a half. Other news. I moved to Bangalore.
Getting to Bangalore was kind of hazardous. This is of course, a dramatic overstatement. The scary part was having my bag be overweight and having to pay about 1050 rupees (24 dollars) to appease the airline. Unfortunately, I momentarily forgot how to do math and tried to pay with my debit card before realizing I had enough cash to take care of it. I wasn’t sure how the airport was set up because it didn’t say which gate to go to on my ticket, but luckily enough I ended up in the correct location. On the flight, I was anxious about some old guy who kept on asking me how I was, first rescuing my water bottle that fell off of my table during take-off and then asking me if I was sick when I sneezed, and then asking whether I was tired or bored when I stopped reading my magazine. I’m sure he was just being friendly, but my parents have grilled me enough to make me super paranoid about any men who talk to me especially when I’m alone.
After getting off the plane, I met my driver who took me to Bangalore whose name I’ve forgotten. He was really jovial and talkative. He didn’t speak a lot of English, so our communication was very stilted. I think he said I was of the same stature and size as his wife but more beautiful, but I prefer to think he didn’t say that and blame my interpretation on the language barrier, because I don’t think that people should say things like that. . He almost got into a head on collision with another car because he was facing me while driving…. You can’t be sure about everyone all the time, unfortunately. I’m sad that my newfound mistrust makes me afraid of people, especially men, when I’m by myself, but perhaps it is better this way.
When we got to Akshay’s apartment, no one was there. We were just about finished becoming frantic and using the cell phone when Akshay appeared. Akshay has grown a lot more hairy in the years I haven’t seen him, which is mostly because he avoids shaving. He has also adopted a few more bad habits In his quasi-adulthood. After arriving, I met two of his friends from work who I saw again today: Malvika and Divya, who are both very upfront and self-sufficient, indeed having very interesting details to add to any conversation. They had lots of fun pulling my leg.
We sat on the roof of Akshay’s building. After seeing that I was frightened of them falling to what seemed like oblivion while sitting on the ledge, Malvika and Akshay acted like they were jumping off the roof when really there was a platform just underneath the one we were standing on. We made jokes that were funny, and afterwards Divya, Akshay and I went to some restaurant called Shanghai something and ate Chinjabi food as Divya calls Indian inspired Chinese food. I had hot and sour soup and Divya had some really spicy chicken. It was much better than the food at Chinese restaurants in America. But everything is tastier in India.
Akshay’s roommates are also very kind and open. One of them is the editor of the Indian Express, where I am interning, Samrat; he has this quiet sense of humor about him. Another is just visiting; a teacher in New York for half of the year in Creative Writing.
Today we went to a derby or horserace or “darrrby” as everyone here pronounces it. Basically, it was a big spectator event as Indians gambled rampantly and got really excited when they won their bets. Divya’s dad won all of the races in a jackpot situation.
Malvika and I sat together, due to the fact that she was wearing heels and basically unable to walk. We talked to this guy named Rocky, who later became the focus for Malvika’s part of the story. He was this really friendly guy who sat with us, he wore a pink t-shirt and tight jeans. He told us that his mother would whip him if she knew he was at the races, but nevertheless he had been betting on races for 10 years already; he told us very emphatically that you can leave your wife, but you can’t leave races. I myself, do not seem to share this sentiment.
After the race, Malvika and I went to McDonalds and the office while Akshay remained to take photos. We went and got McAloo Tikki and ice cream. I really enjoy hanging out with Malvika, and we took cute pictures in the rickshaw and at the office.
I became further acquainted with the office , which is full of very kind people. I met Shubham and automatically liked her. She wears glasses, like me, and always wears salwar kamises to work. She was so open to me, and she told me, “If I can make one person look at things differently than I feel I have done my job.” I find the newspaper office to be a very inspiring place, despite its lack of clean bathrooms and tissues. Everyone there is fast at work to spread knowledge and information, some of the things I prize above all else.
After work, I went home, while Akshay was out on some hang-out/date/meeting thing, and watched Penelope, a surprisingly poignant movie about a girl who is born with a pig-nose because of a family curse. I cried twice during her journey to self-acceptance that was unaided by her pushy and terrifying mother. When I told Akshay and Samrat about the movie, they laughed at me.