U9O.net: You and I Know.

A big thanks to the great dentists at Apolo Clinnic, in Koramangala, Bangalore. They fixed a slight gap in in my front teeth (caused by not wearing a retainer after braces) without using crowns or changing any part of my natural teeth (US dentists told me that it would require a cap). This procedure was much less invasive and was really inexpensive. What they did was widen and extend my incisor using fillings– so in the future, another dentist can just chip it away and fill it again, if necessary. Very professional! Total cost was 1500 rupees (around $30 US). If I did it in the US, the dentists probably would have drilled down my tooth and put a porcelin cap over it. A much more invasive procedure (and more expensive, probably around $400 US).

Last Friday we formed a little group for some river rafting action at Cauvery/Kalvery about 80 kilometers south-west from Bangalore. Much like anything else in India, it’s the officials that are the most problematic. And the monkeys.

After an hour or drive, we stopped by some villages for some firewood. Don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, as firewood can be found at the various camping sites near the river. For the foreigner and anyone else, bring a lot of cash so that you can bribe the various officials who will demand permission slips that don’t exist or otherwise hard to find. Also, various villages will attempt to block your path in order to exact a toll.

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Be sure to ask whether a specific camp ground has a temple nearby, as the cooking of non-veg products is frowned upon and impetus for more fines. Do bargain and haggle, and don’t be afraid, but as we learned, too much of that can lead to bigger fines (although a few negotiating tactics including europeans and americans along with our indian friends acting confused and frightened helped it a little bit) On the whole, it should not be more than 1000 in fees and such (this is a high end estimate, if you bargain, as we also had transportation across the river to a nice secluded island of sorts).

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Yesturday was a good day for me in terms of exposure. Desipundut.com very courteously linked my site on their site. Quickly following that, blogger Sudha, and blogging site Bangalore Bytes both made some positive comments.

Sudha’s recent article is a thoughtful piece on the subject of skin color– something that I’ve come to realize is a reality wherever you go. In the USA, South America, Mexico, Korea, China, Japan, Phillipines, Africa, — heck whereever you go, the “fairer” colored are favored. How much of that is western influence I do not know, but I do know that this prejudice has deep roots.

Bangalore Bytes remarks with skepticism on the recent hoopla over the pesticide content in soft drinks. As an avid addict to Coke (no, not the drug, silly), of the diet kind, it’s been a struggle for me to decide whether to continue drinking the stuff here. In the end, anyway, I’m an addict, and I think I’ll stick with my daily routine of 2-3 (or more) soft drinks a day.

The general demographics of bloggers seem to be mostly people in the IT and tech industries. I’m perhaps not the best person to convince others of the fallacies of that notion, but it seems to follow the trends I remember in the early 2000s. Pretty soon, you’ll have the likes of webcam girls (in the Bollywood style) with hordes of male bloggers vying for attention. Then you’ll have the general subversion of mass media by the growing power of Indian bloggers. Prediction: Expect to see major political scandals revealed exclusively through blogs, if it hasn’t happened already.

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We hung up a little swing next to our office over a big tree. We had a crowd of dozens watching our every move, and afterwards, everyone wanted to join in on the fun. An elderly man walked by with his grandchildren and his face brimmed with pride as he plopped them on top of the swing.

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Certainly a hit!

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A fruit wagon. Cheap and ripe fruit.

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I thought the coloring of this apartment complex looked interesting. 100 feet away is the slums. Another 100 feet away is an amazing gated complex.

The gated complex.

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This is a few minutes walk from the gated complex. They were happy to take multiple photos and were thrilled and posed for many shots.

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This is right outside of a church. Notice the nails serving as a make shift barbed wire. The church is heavily protected and enclosed with thick stone walls. Around the corner is what appears to be a beggars den, and just a bit further is where people urinate and defacate.

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So I was eating at this sandwhich roll place (pretty good actually), when I noticed a scrawny kid peering through the window. As I stepped out, he gave the usual beggar hand pose. Knowing that many just want money (it’s quite a racket here, with people renting babies that cry so that people will feel more inclined to give them money or buy a trinket from them, and it’s run by various criminal organizations), I kindly said no, and offered to buy him food.

Uncharacteristically for beggars, and much of a change from the usual, and quite a shock to me, he actually said yes. So we walked to a near by store, and I did what every American does when he sees a scrawny kid asking for food. I offered to buy a nice expensive Snickers bar. He actually said no, and pointed to orange juice, which was a lot cheaper. I paid for the orange juice, one of those little paper cartons that juices used to come in, and I have to say, I’ve never seen anyone suck juice out of a box so quickly. He actually crunched up the box to get all of it out. He made a double bicep guesture in a show of bravado, and put the box in his pants, smiled, and waved good bye. I walked away shaking my head.