In Vacant or in Pensive Mood

TN 11 AD 0*1*. It's been almost a month since the incident. The memory is fading, but I still find myself discreetly scanning number plates during my 22-km ride to work and back every day. I'm not afraid of bumping into him anymore, I just don't want to be taken by surprise if he should appear again. The occasional starer is someone I deal with easily - a death glare and a "what's your problem?" does it. The passerby with the passing comment is exactly that. I don't even give half a ear to it. The fellow motorist with the lewd singing lasts but a brief moment; a slight move of the wrist, a little acceleration on my two-wheeler, and he's left behind eating the dust I raised. Then what made Mr. TN 11 AD 0*1* so different? It was his persistence. I don't know when it really began. I was in an exceptionally good mood that day. It had just rained about an hour ago, the first rain in a long time! The Pluviophile in me was admiring the beauty of ...

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to meet and interact with a few students from the USA who were taking classes at my department as part of a study abroad programme. These students made many observations during their time here and would discuss them with us - sometimes asking us questions about things they saw, sometimes pointing out to stark differences in practices they saw between their country and ours. And as it turns out, India and USA are worlds apart in many ways. One of the things these students pointed out to was the fact that motorists, in India, honked a lot. And guess what? Apparently, in the USA, it's considered "rude" if someone uses the horn - unless in an emergency situation! Oh Indians and Americans - how different we are! If you've stayed in India, even for a day, you would have noticed that here, even the rowdiest of motor vehicles - the lorries/trucks - politely ask you to "Horn OK Please".  In most other commercial use ...