Of Beaches, Babes and Beer - GOA!!!

Finally!!! After years of thirst and longing, on 8th April, via Kingfisher Red's wobbly ATR Flight Number 26 -sumthin-sumthin, we landed in the bloody hot paradise of Goa.

The Best part about Goa is, that the moment you land, you feel like drinking beer. Which is good of course, considering that you can buy beer/liquor at cheap prices in any place that has 2 shelves and a roof. That's what this place is all about, and that's what all the teenagers keep hoping to do in Goa.

The moment you land in the Airport, apart from the Cops and the Taxis wala's, everyone is dressed

Am better than you

In between the busy schedule of life (wait, is that an ad line?Shit!) I notice that we suffer from "One Upmanship". For some reason, we don't seem to be able to digest another person getting the better of us.

Lose a race? Well I was tired.

Your Best bud got better grades? They copied.

The new guy got promoted? The guys a ass kisser.... etc etc

I see day in and day out, that people who are on the receiving end of life (the good side of course) cannot stand the lesser fortunate ones getting even a shred of good fortune. They have to strip them and downplay their effort, if not in public forums, then at least in private spaces that are convenient enough for other to overhear. Thereby keeping their "I am perfect" image intact.

Its sad side of human nature, that in all our glory, we not only are unhappy with what we have, but are also interested in stealing from others and when we fail, to show others in bad light.

This incessant need to justify our failures and weaknesses by showing it as a product/fault of someone elses actions is the difference between good and bad , right and wrong, and happy and sad people.

At the end of the day, its all about "Am better than you".

I don't know if this is apt here, but I wanna quote :

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge amid controversy."- Martin Luther King Jr.


M

The Tale of the Happy Day Driver

In my 4 years in Bangalore, I haven't once heard anyone praise the infamous autos that
terrorize the bumpy, metro stricken, Volvo clashing roads of the city. Being a patronizer of the few decent auto walas now and then, even I wouldn't expect good treatment from them.

It's a simple as being robbed. They over charge, won't drop you were you want to be dropped and keep cribbing all the way. If you don't know Kannada, then God save you.

I have also written about finding the right auto which will suggest that I have had my share of bad experiences.

However, on one fine day, walking the streets I found an alien driver. He not only got off his seat to usher me in, he smiled and wished me "happy day sir". Now my warning bells went off, naturally, that this chap is going to fleece me with the little English that he knew. It was also April 1st, so I kept looking over my shoulder for any suspicious looking vehicles following us around with the camera crew of MTV bakra.

Surprisingly, not only did he take me by the shortest route, his meter was perfect and he returned me every rupee of change. No awkward shuffling in his pocket and all the standard " no change sir" strategy. He also wished me "happy day" when I was getting off.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I corrected him saying that it was good morning and not happy day. He then proceeded to tell me that he was attending a leadership program (albeit a small one conducted by social welfare groups) where they taught English. His reason for saying happy day was that happy day was better than just good morning. If out of 10 passengers, 2 spoke to him about this "happy day" it made him happy and reduced his stress of having to drive from 9 to 9.






Think about that!!!

M



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