we are what we say we are (part 3)

Same title I know. I should be creative, but i'm finding it hard to find new ones.

Continuing from where I left off, I would like to start with my feelings about the way things are run back in the 'motherland'. I love it ! But I think thats because I only see one of many sides of the story. Having almost all of 'Maslow's needs' satisfied, I am in a place (while in India) where I see the better (which is very tiny) side of my country. From bribing cops, to consuming alcohol, to being safe from all the flooding that takes place in the 'rougher' regions of the city, I find myself pretty well protected.
When my cousin called up his friend, we knew that we were getting out of the mess 'VIP style!' I can't even mean that as a joke because the police will try and butter you up.
The people that didn't get through, however, face the darker side of a worked up policeman who has maybe had a fight with his wife, or had a strenuous day, and suddenly may decide to take it all out on the people who are stranded. Sucks big time! I know. Their stress can and has turned into verbal abuse and physical violence. I have seen it, so I'm saying it. Its horrible! Something that you don't want to see. But at the same time its real and its probably happening somewhere as we speak. Now I'm not coming to the conclusion that all policemen/law enforcers in India are bad, corrupt or extremely violent, but so far I have seen a lot more than for it to be something thats a 'once in a while' thing. It has started to become a nasty trend, that spreads throughout the country.
What worries me even more is that I really have no idea who to trust. Lets say if I ever fall into any sort of trouble, I don't think I could count on them to do what they are paid to do. The cause I feel, lies mostly in the education these people have received and the growth that takes place in the country which is soooooo unevenly spread out. The standard of living sometimes does cause people in power to take advantage of their positions, sometimes just to enjoy the simple luxuries in life.

we are what we say we are (part 2)

We went to the bus stop and waited for the bus that goes till Spiti (the place we were headed to) to arrive. I was pretty disappointed about the fact that it was going to be a 36 hour bus journey, but I didn't even know that the actual distance was only, lets say, about 250 miles.

I should have expected that. There was about only a hundred miles or so of actual road. The rest was just rocks. Rocks! (and sure a little stream here and there). They weren't even arranged in a way that looked somewhat like a path. And the best part is, that when the car would get stuck, the driver would jump out of his seat, smoke a cigarette and after about 20 minutes, he'd chuckle and say "this car is just not meant for these roads." I don't think he ever realized that there is barely any sort of route even around what he referred to as a road. Well, anyway, going on with the story...

We were on our way up to one of the highest motor-able passes in the world when we say a car that had slipped off the road (there had to be some amount of infrastructure there because its a tourist sight) and was stuck in a wedge between two mountains. At fist i thought that everyone had stopped because this incident had just taken place, but then we found out that it was the tow truck that had come to the sight (five months to the date the car actually fell in) to 'try' and pull the chunk of metal back up, also blocking the one way ahead. 

The drive was eventful. I don't think i remember everything but I do remember when the cops, at one point,  stopped our car and a few other cars on the way up. They were vague about the reasons for not letting us pass and kept saying the way is shut. My cousin did call his friend who knew a friend who knew some one high up in the police department which got us out of that road (dust) block immediately but I wonder what happened to the other cars who were waiting to get up there... =(

(this blog is turning out to be a boring book... not my intention guys, sorry if it comes across that way)

we are what we say we are (part 1)

Hello again.
This is my first formal entry and im going to get right to it.

Two weeks before leaving New Delhi, India for college in the United States, I saw myself sitting on my bed, watching a movie, thinking about the 'year-off' that was coming to an end.
I remember, before even starting the year about how i wanted some form of adventure and i didnt have a place to go. Just the same old working and golfin' in the day, and bribing one cop or another to get into a club that played horrid music with a crowd that barely mingled. YES! Of course i love that, because all it was about was what you are wearing or who you are with or to show the other person that your having a great time, but inside you know that neither you nor the other people are actually having such a 'good time'.    Having a whole year go by in that way made me a bit lazy and uninterested in anything.
There was nothing new here. Nothing new back home that i could explore. At least that is what I was forced to think. So, going back to my story, while watching that movie, I got a call from my cousins who had supposedly flown down to Delhi that morning from Bombay.

These guys were fun. One of them is actually getting married this november in India. I wonder if college will let me go down there (we don't like to miss weddings). Anyway... I picked up the phone and my cousins said, "hey we are in your town, headed up to the mountains in a bit so we thought we would meet you before you left for the US." Though it was late it struck me that I have been waiting to go backpacking with these two for god knows how many years. Finally! I had a chance to go, two weeks before college started. I stopped caring about everything ( which is very unlike me) and packed up my bags. I called them back and asked if i could come with, and that I would return home on my own so that they could carry on even after I left. They were more than happy to have me with them. Little did we know that the weather was going to get worse and there would be cloud bursts all around the area which we planned on going to...

So! This is a blog about my experiences with people I have encountered in my journey through time and space. This blog is not meant to attack any one person or any groups of people, it is simply about my thoughts on the people i have met over the past few years, both in real life and on Youtube (LOL ??? ;) ). 

Before i go on to talking about other people, let me tell you something about myself.

lets do bullets:

• I come from India (born in India, brought up in India, family is Indian)
• I am 'trying' to get my undergraduate degree from a college on the east coast in the United States of America.
• therefore, I have an american accent.
• which doesnt count for much because im writing and not talking.
• I love eating. 
• I like to meet people who come from different places, with different attitudes towards their lives, with different ideas and someone who enjoys a good laugh (? is that how you use that phrase?)
• I have one dog, one sister, one mother, and one father (only one of each).
• I think I get along with people.
• I would like to warn you that sometimes I will be harsh in my descriptions, and I may judge a certain type of people, but then again I am allowed to write anything I like in the United States right ? 
• Free Country! (unlike mine, where you can get shot for kissing a girl on the cheek)

Well you will find out more about me as I continue writing my blog in the days to come.

Thank you.

have a nice day.

-glow-