Good Eatin'

Real talk. I've tended to find Western vegan and vegetarian cuisine a little too easy on the palette (i.e bland). But I gotta tell thee, India's been good to me so far on the vegetarian front, and I'm finding it really easy to not require meat flavours in my meals. This isn't to say that I've gone vegetarian, just that things as they are have facilitated a significant reduction in my consumption of flesh.

I Am Nothing

Goodness me. I had particularly bad episode last night. As I tried to sleep this almost overwhelming sense of hurt and anger engulfed me, in response to what I perceive as the injustices and ill luck that are in large part the cause of hole in my heart.

I'm continuing to lose sleep over someone whose actions impact me in such a way as to make me wonder at times whether they even consider me a human being, and make me feel as though I'm being punished for having the temerity to be born into a certain socio-economic class.

I have to laugh at the absurdity of my emotional state.

Seitei Souther for the win!

Nickles and Dimes

One thing I think I’m noticing is how protective people in Bangalore seem to be of their small notes, especially 10s and 20s. Basically, most items will only require you to pay in the tens of rupees. This means that unless you find a way to break up your bigger notes, you’ll always run out and have the inglorious task of looking round for a kindly soul willing to provide the change you need, or attempting to force some shopkeeper to come to your aid by providing change when you pay for the 20 rupee packet of crisps with a 500 rupee note. It’s a wonderful little dance.

Class Warfare

The office was out of toilet roll today, so I ended up using newspaper. Had the pleasure of cleaning up with Lloyd Blankfein’s face.

…

Don't give me that look.

A Taste of Home

I found a Japanese restaurant! I wouldn't be surprised if it's the only Japanese place in the entire city. I was like a kid in a candy store as I perused the menu (how about, "like a fushinsha at a school sports day practice"? - since we're doing the whole Japan thing - ed.)  All the good shit was there. It was like these dastardly fucks knew just what a fellow would miss the most. 

Yes lawd, I dined well. Edamame so nice I had to order it twice, kara-age like my nights out in Dasai-tama, excellent pickled cucumber served with a superb pureed umeboshi, and agedashi tofu, one of my favourites. It was clear that sacrifices had to be made due to Indian infrastructure, and the distance between Bangalore and the sea, which meant the okonomiyaki wasn’t quite my okonomi.

Bite Prevention

Summer is coming. I have already begun my defense against a variety of annoying little bastitches:

Day Biter

Night Biter

Delbiter

Hunger or death, ladies!

The Swing of Things

Things are super hectic these days as I’ve had a lot on my plate: draft development plans for the two programmes I’m to design and run, analysis of the monitoring and evaluation strategy for a programme of facilitated dialogues and design of new surveys, design of an exercise for use in the facilitation, drafting a letter to peeps at the UN. I love the pace and the energy of my office. My only concern is that I suffer from bouts of extreme loneliness. 

The people I love are all so far away from me.

Job Creation

“The wheels turn slower in India, you’ll have to take the time to get used to this.” – Rahu 

When you have a population of over a billy, how do you keep as much of it as you can in employment? Some will point to India’s vast informal economy. Fools! After nearly two weeks in the country I am supremely qualified to ask that we consider the Indian civil service – To the peeps at the shiyakusho: all is forgiven! 

Every foreigner who will be residing in India for 180 days or longer has to register at their local Foreign Residents Registry Office within 14 days of their arrival. Without a foreigner registry card you can’t do much of anything that requires some kind of contract: bank accounts, phone lines, home internet, and the like. Needless to say that without these it would be very difficult to do my thing. 

My experience of Indian bureaucracy to date has convinced me – for the moment – that the whole thing is one giant middle-class growing perpetunator™. Lawd knows what use there was, apart from the salaries, for the layers that stood between me and my foreigner card.