It happens only in India 2

Its a rat race out here. And you are a part of it whether you want to accept it or not.

If you are a small electronics shop owner by the street, with no big brand backing you, you'd probably relate to this incident. But it simply left me speechless.

I walk into a store marked Nokia Priority Dealer, to replace my almost dead phone batteries. The man at the counter certainly knew his business and one look at my phone and he says "Battery badalna padega!!", confirming my suspicion. The Original Nokia battery replacement would come to Rs 750 he said. So then i asked for the cheapest, most basic handset that i could get and apparently i could get handsets for nearly Rs 1200.

Following my line of thought, the man said "Saab yeh handset kaafi accha hai! Aap Battery badal lo". I could get local batteries that would do the job, just for Rs 200, he said. He also went on to point me to the shop next door, where i could get the local batteries.

Thanking him for his help, I proceeded to the shop next door to see if that indeed was an option. A boy sat at the counter, and once i explained my problem to him, he said he'll be right back. A few minutes later, the man from the first store (the Nokia priority dealer, who had redirected me here) walked in. In one swift motion he slid across the counter. Without batting an eyelid, in the most solemn tone asked me "kya Problem hai sir". I was speechless. He did not even pretend that he had seen me a few minutes earlier. In his now familiar solemn voice, he went to explain that i needed a battery replacement!!.

Well!! You have to do what you have to do to survive. But this was the best i have seen. Certainly an "it happens only in india moment!!"

It Happens Only In India

India.. the land of mystics, the land of yoga, the land of meditation..

If this is the india you have read about and find intriguing, all you need to do is step onto one of our roads. In that single act you will have thrown yourself into the depths of indian mysticism, yoga and meditation...

After all after being thrown into the deep end of a pool, you have no choice but to learn how to swim.

Step onto an indian road and you would have learnt your first few lessons in Yoga. Ofcourse if you had bigger plans, it requires knowledge of extreme asanas and flexibility to navigate through the traffic on foot or a two wheeler. It is not surprising then that Yoga is given such importance in our country. Ofcourse the art of meditation and breath control are extremely essential to survive on a long term basis.

During one such session of yoga and meditation, stuck in an autorickshaw at a signal in Bangalore, I witnessed an act of extreme creativity and brilliance.
Ater about ten minutes of meditation at the signal, my auto walla got his turn to cross the road. To my dismay however, the signal did not seem to apply to anyone else on the road and vehicles kept coming in all directions. This is when it all happened. I saw my autorickshaw walla slip his hand into his pocket. A couple of seconds later i heard a shrill whistle, that caused the traffic on all sides to pause for a sec thinking it was a cop. My autorickshaw ofcourse continued and managed to cross the signal. And then i saw my auto walla pocket the whistle very calmly and continue as if nothing had happened. He must have slipped back to his meditation.
But he had me in splits for the rest of my journey. I am sure he had no clue why i was laughing.

Well, I suppose this is why we love this place so much, despite all the problems we have. This happens only in India!!