Dimitris reporting from Bangalore

I'm very-very-very glad I included Bangalore in my itinerary, as I am given the chance to see a whole new India, really... Came to Bangalore this morning, found a decent room, and took a city bus to come to the MG Road area, the centre, in a way, of the city. I had read that Bangalore is the most 'westernized' city of India, the city where girls dress much like in the west, where couples are not afraid to hold hands in the streets, where several malls make you feel that you are in the centre of a western city... All these, and much more, are true, and it's a very-very interesting change for me, after nine days in the country. So, since this is my first day in India's most 'westernized' city, I 'allowed' myself to taste some western food, and when I saw some incredible offer the local Ruby Tuesday (I llllllove it) had, I didn't have to think twice. For about 4.5 euros I had my delicious chicken fajitas, a chicken soup and a 'mocktail' (no alcohol) with the very... tropical name, "Tropical Treasure" (something with water melon and honey). It feels west here, indeed... As for my last two days at Mysore, my main comment is that after spending six days in huge cities like Hyderabad and Chennai, wandering around Mysore's streets was a pleasure, felt like being in a village (be fooled NOT though, as Mysore has almost 800,000 people, which though is far less than the 6+ millions of Hyderabad and Chennai). Well, you already know what I liked about Mysore, that it felt small, that it was easily walkable, that it had some fantastic eateries where I tried a bunch of things for practically nothing (the prices are really too-too low). What I didn't like about Mysore, was that all the locals who approached me, unlike in Hyderabad and Chennai, were after dragging me, eventually, to their store, to buy some incense. Also, I got more than ten proposals to buy marijuana, so, at some point I asked a guy how come so many people offer marijuana to westerners. He said that many-many of those who visit Mysore from the west, ask for marijuana, so... it makes sense... When there is demand, there is also supply, even to those who are not interested... It was funny telling them that I don't even smoke normal cigarettes and that I can't stand the smoke... Mysore... Another reason why I will never forget it... I arrived there early in the morning, after a night spent on the train from Chennai. I didn't get much sleep, I was a little cranky, the auto-rickshaw drivers who jumped on me when I exited the railways building got on my nerves a little, I already knew at which place I wanted to check in, it was about 500 metres from the station, so I didn't mean to hire a rickshaw, but a guy told me "only ten rupees" (keep in mind that one euro is 55+ rupees), so I said... oh well, why not... I cleared out though, to him, that I wanted to go to a hotel called "Gayathri" and not to "The New Gayathri Bhavan" which is right next door. He said sure, no problem sir, he drove me to the door of the hotel, checked in, paid for the first night, went upstairs to my room and only then, only then, I realized that the son of a bitch had taken me to the hotel I had told him NOT to take me... For two seconds I got pissed, but then I smiled, because I saw it as a lesson... I was so tired and non suspicious that I didn't even check the hotel name at the door, I didn't even notice the hotel name on the receipt when I paid for the first night... I only realized what had happened, in the room, when I saw the name of the hotel on the pillow covers... Of course, next day I checked out and went next door. The room the first night cost 400 rupees (some 100 of those went to the pocket of the rickshaw driver of course, his commission), while the room the second night cost me only (are you sitting?), 100 rupees. I kid you not... 100 rupees, less than two euros, for the (I swear) cutest and sweetest room I have stayed up to now in India... Honestly.
A little something from the train ride this morning: first of all, I traveled second class, which I loved, because I saw the simplest possible class of the Indian trains. Boys were passing all the time repeating "coffee-coffee, chai-chai", which was... funny, because they seemed to compete each other who would get more customers... One scene took me out of my clothes, though. A young woman came in, there was no seat available, we were some... half an hour away from Bangalore, I was sitting right next to her while she was standing, so... the knight in me (well, actually I was just embarrassed to be sitting while a woman was standing next to me), got up and gave her my seat, seeing that no Indian thought about doing the same. The woman looked surprised, didn't even say thank you, sat, took her little breakfast on her laps, ate it, and when she got up to put something on the shelf of the luggage atop the seats, a guy pushed me and stole her seat. Just like that. The woman turned around, saw that this guy had taken her seat, and... and.. and... did nothing!!! He looked at her with a stupid numb look, no guilt, she looked at him expression-less, and she just stood there, still, not asking for her seat back... I didn't know what to do... If I was in Greece I know what I would have done, but here... no one said anything to this guy, none of the locals, so... I don't know... I just went with the flow, even though this guy really pissed me off. I don't mean to generalize things, but this little incident gave me a little idea of woman's position in this society. Any Indians reading these lines, feeling like arguing with me, I'm all ears...
Oh, one last thing, from Chennai... The last day I was strolling around Marina Beach, and at some point I saw two tourist buses with westerners. Right next to the buses, I saw, first and last time, cleaners working for the municipality, with those yellow jackets that glow in the dark, 'cleaning' the area right and left of the buses. 'Cleaning' it, meaning they used some brooms to gather the sand (more sand, from the beach, rather than dust), from the cement street, only it was slightly windy, so the moment they pushed the sand to one side, it went back to the place where it was earlier. To make a long story short, no real job could be done, but it was hilarious, ridiculous as well, seeing ONLY there, at the place were tourist buses park, people in 'official' cleaners' outfits, working, supposedly, their butts out to keep the city clean, the moment the rest of the city is an endless dustbin... Aaaah, those Indians...
Last one for today... Feels like something happens on midnight, someone pusses some button and turns everything off... On midnight, cars stop beeping, babies stop crying, cows stop mewing, and generally a strange quite settles in... It has been the same case all my nights in India... Most of the eateries close at 11pm, internet cafes stay open until 11:30 maximum, so... I'm trying to say that it makes sense, seems like everyone is at home just before midnight, but still, it feels strange, as if someone is pulling the plug and everything turns silent (as silent as things can get in India...). As for this morning, I walked to the train station a little after 6, and it was the first time these last nine days I saw the streets empty. U n b e l i e v a b l e... It reminded me of 'Devil's Advocate', when, in one scene, Reeves walks all alone in the middle of a street which normally is packed with cars... Oh, talking about films (this is getting too long, but it just came to me), my first day at Mysore I went for a stroll in the afternoon to St Philomena's cathedral, after having a little afternoon nap. I had read about the cathedral in my travel guide just before falling asleep... Guess which actress I saw in my dream... Sofia Lauren, because SHE played Filumena in some old Italian movie with Marcello Mastoyanni... :-)) Amazing little thing the human mind... :-))
Talk to you soon, maybe with some new photos...