Musings of an Idiot

Hot!!!!

1.5 KG in 20 days - that's my achievement so far. I'm loving home cooked food and I guess I'll just have to hit the gym extra hard as soon as I get back to Auckland. :-)

Vijayawada is hot. It is 35 degrees right now and that's been the consistent temperature ever since I've been here and it is end of October when it is getting cooler. It's hard going out during the day and the best time to check out the city is in the evenings but then it is just traffic and chaos as usual. Traffic is not as bad as Hyderabad because Vijayawada is a smaller city but the driving across the country still remains the same. Being a smaller city also means that things are more affordable - like a pair of jandals costs about NZ$2 instead of NZ$12 and upwards like in Auckland.


Yesterday all of us went to visit the small factory unit that my aunt is setting up and it was a fascinating trip - not just because of the factory unit. There was so much about rural India that I started noticing just now, it is true that when you are within a system you don't notice anything or see anything different since you are living it. But once you are away from something for a while - things start standing out. Like one of the things I noticed was the slabs in front of houses in rural areas - it is an odd design for a house but it serves a very functional purpose - people sit in front of their houses to see the world go by and it becomes their social interaction point. We live privileged lives in cities while the 'real country' lives in villages and that balance has been changing rapidly everywhere - not necessarily for the good. The imbalance is going to hit us all sooner rather than later.


Nothing much going on right now except the marriage thing as usual and it is a fascinating experience just going through it. Lots of fodder for analysis of the Indian society and social systems but that'll be some other time. Oh and I managed to bruise my right thumb pretty bad when I slipped and fell while rushing across a few stairs. It should come right soon.

That's me for now. Time to enjoy some more awesome food.
Amit

Labels: Travel, Vijayawada

posted by Amit @ 4:20 AM