Today, on my way back from the shop around the corner, I noticed a cow eating the grass just in front of my house. I didn't think anything of it, said hi to the cow, thought briefly about naming her Cathy, and came on upstairs. After a few moments, I realized that only in India is it normal to just have cows camped out in front of your house. Partly because of the time I spent in India growing up, but mostly from having lived here for three and a half years, I'm never fazed by traffic being stalled because a cow is camped out in the middle of Mysore Road. Do I find it annoying? Yes, of course, but if I'm honest, cows are not the main nuisance contributing to the traffic, and we all know it. But have I gotten used to it? Yes. Which scares me a bit.
I started thinking about other things I don't really notice anymore, and the first thing that popped into my head was the monkeys. Whenever we take groups to Lalbagh or to Mysore, they always freak out when they see monkeys everywhere, and I always find it amusing that they go so crazy. But then I remember that you don't often see monkeys while walking down the street in London, while I see them pretty much on a bi-weekly basis walking from the Boys' Home to the main road.
I've also gotten entirely too used to traveling on the left side of the road. Last year when Dorothy and I were in Istanbul for the World Youth Congress, we kept forgetting that Turkey drives on the right, and we would continually look the wrong way before attempting to cross the street, being pulled back at the last minute by Koudi, Georgie or Gugi. We kept getting confused in Belgium and Amsterdam as well, and it was scary how much better I felt once I reached London and the traffic made sense again. I somehow manage to be fine when I'm driving - I guess because until last November, I had never attempted driving here so had never really thought about it. But whenever I'm walking, I still look to my right first when trying to cross a street.
I'm sure there are other things as well, but these are what come to mind. Let's see what I say once I'm back State-side for longer than a month.
xx
I started thinking about other things I don't really notice anymore, and the first thing that popped into my head was the monkeys. Whenever we take groups to Lalbagh or to Mysore, they always freak out when they see monkeys everywhere, and I always find it amusing that they go so crazy. But then I remember that you don't often see monkeys while walking down the street in London, while I see them pretty much on a bi-weekly basis walking from the Boys' Home to the main road.
I've also gotten entirely too used to traveling on the left side of the road. Last year when Dorothy and I were in Istanbul for the World Youth Congress, we kept forgetting that Turkey drives on the right, and we would continually look the wrong way before attempting to cross the street, being pulled back at the last minute by Koudi, Georgie or Gugi. We kept getting confused in Belgium and Amsterdam as well, and it was scary how much better I felt once I reached London and the traffic made sense again. I somehow manage to be fine when I'm driving - I guess because until last November, I had never attempted driving here so had never really thought about it. But whenever I'm walking, I still look to my right first when trying to cross a street.
I'm sure there are other things as well, but these are what come to mind. Let's see what I say once I'm back State-side for longer than a month.
xx
Who do the cows belong to? Are they just "stray?"
ReplyDeleteMost of them have owners, but it is cheaper for them to leave them out on the streets to fend for themselves. I'll be sure to get a picture next time there's one on the road or in front of my house.
ReplyDeleteand p.s. I hope you guys are ok with all the flooding and everything that's going on. You are all in my thoughts.