Day Twenty: Bangalore to Chennai

Monday, August 30, 2010
On the train from Bangalore to Chennai.

Well, a little sleep was right. It was likely not enough to make everything better, as we were both cranky this morning, too.  Darn Mercury Retrograde. We woke up before 4 a.m. in order to be at the station before our train left at 6. Everyone was still asleep at the B&B, and no one had given us the wake-up call we had asked for. All the guys woke up as we walked downstairs. I felt bad for them having to get up for us (even tough that’s their job.) Raja called our car to make sure he was on the way. He showed up a little before 5, and we were on our way. We almost got hit by a bus and another car on the way, another reminder of why I will never drive in India, as my instinct would be to screech to a halt like a deer in the headlights, wherein I would most definitely be instantly killed: as flat as that dog I saw in the roadway.

Raja asked if I had any money for a porter, and I took it out. I tried to give it to him, but he said “just keep it handy.” I got a bit cranky because Indian women’s clothes don’t tend to have pockets, and I didn’t want to put it back in my bag where I’d have to dig for it, nor did I want to just hold it in my hand, so I made him take it. Perhaps I spoke a bit sharply (I was frustrated, but not at him) but he responded by being miffed at me, which made him seem less than nice to me (at least to my perception.) I hate early mornings: neither of us are our best, but like grouchy lions, ready to roar, claw, and bite.

On the train there are signs all over with big letters that say DONATE EYES. People can donate their eyes after they die for transplants to help people see. However it just looks funny, as if some guy is going to walk up to a counter with a box and say, “Hello, I’d like to donate these eyes.” The sign does point out that you need to be dead, but it does ask you to donate the eyes of your loved ones. Hopefully you wait until they’re dead, too.

I’m just not myself right now, so I’ll be taking a nap soon, and probably one at home as well, between furious bouts of packing. We head home on Wednesday, and although this has been the time of my life, I am ready for my own bed, my bunny, and to be back at school. Okay, maybe not that last part.

On the train they were playing this really long and repetitive song, perhaps Shri Venkateshwara Suprabhatam (Click to hear it on You Tube) or one a lot like it. At first I thought it was someone playing with his or her phone, but it went on for soooo long. Raja said it was a bajan (hymn) to wake up Vishnu and that it was usually played at 2:30 a.m. I was wondering if the song was sort of like his alarm clock, and if he ever got sick of it, and flailed out an arm or three to try to get it to stop. I know I just might, if I were Vishnu.

I want to call my mom, so I’ll try to do that tonight, too. Also, I need to arrange with Aunty and Uncle when and where they would like to go out to dinner. My computer was able to access the Internet at the B&B although I would have had to pay for it, and it wasn’t worth it for the amount of time I would have had to post. Maybe I can try again in Chennai. I can always hope.

I’m going to upload some of my photos here, and the ones from the other camera (as I forgot the USB  cable) when I get back to Aunty and Uncle’s house. Then a cat nap until I get home.

I’ll post again soon. Until then, be good.