Why we Indians are winners?

Hey all. My first week in Bangalore... sorry Bengaluru has just come to an end. And it was nothing short of monumental. Of course, after 6 months in Singapura, at the beginning it was like one of those scenes where I just stand there confounded while everything else around me is in fast forward. Within 2 hours of reaching here, I saw at least 37 Singaporean laws broken! :)

Also let me make a point here, there is no order in this chaos! None whatsoever. I am not going to be one of those over-optimistic, over-enthued, neck-deep in patriotism, cricket-loving, not-knowing-shit-about-politics-but-still-commenting-like-Barkha-Dutt, independence-day-flag-bearing Indians. Don't get me wrong, I love India, it's my home. But I am not blind to reality. I don't call an educated unemployed young man, an opportunity. As long as he is unemployed and can't feed himself, he is useless to the country and more importantly the country is useless to him. No harm admitting it.

OK, so that finishes my quota of serious talk for this month! This is the frustration over the bus conductors coming out in words. Crazzy bastards!!

Now I am a funny blogger. Or so I believe. My sarcasm may be a little misplaced sometimes... okay many times, but admit it, it's funny :) So what makes us Indians winners, despite all this crap. I believe this is a wrong question, the thing is Indians are winners because of all this crap, I mean seriously, where else do you find rickshaw drivers so helpful, that they go out of their way, literally, to tap another rickshaw driver on the back, so that poor-old you can reach home in time. Oh, and I forgot to mention, all this while both the rickshaws are running parallelly on a two-way street, swerving dangerously through Bangalore traffic. They risk their life, to get you home. How selfless is that!

Then there are these awesome bus drivers. You see in many so called developed countries, engineers and mathematicians, sit long hours, drawing up bus routes, keeping in mind one-way streets, working out most efficient way and stops. Here, the bus stops everywhere, seriously. And for efficiency and safety(the truck behind is just 20 feet away), the bus doesn't even stop, it just slows down and you climb in. How cool is that!!

Then there are the rickshaw drivers' love for cleanliness. They so want to see their city clean, that while they're driving, if they see a spot of dirt on the road, they will spit on it, literally change their route and spit on it, to keep the road clean.

Another observation is the dexterity and entrepreneurial spirit of the rickshaw drivers. Rigging an analog fare meter is understandable, but here even the digital meters are rigged. I am an electronics engineer and I haven't a clue how you do that!!

Then again the hunger for perfection. We will not go forward unless everything is in place. Bangalore has planned a Metro, but no work has been seen done since last October. The engineers are adamant, unless everything is in place and there's no chance of failure, they won't continue. What noble thoughts!!

And even after all this Indians are extremely helpful to their fellows. You ask them, on the bus, where to get down, they will never tell you, lest they misguide you. Bad advice is much worse than no advice na. Also as you can expect we have the perfect number of buses here, how they calculate it is a secret. All buses are completely filled, about 2.5 times the number of seats. This ensures no fuel is wasted! Also buses are perfectly maintained, how else do you explain that the same ones are running since a decade after independence!

Another thing abut passengers in buses. Whenever someone sitting gets up, everybody jumps toward him, because they can't see him standing for even a minute. He's got the seat and as good manners, we should ensure that he sits for as long as he can, he deserves it!!

I guess that's enough back-thumping for today. Don't take me too seriosuly guys! :)