Visual Communication

I nod, he nods back , i nod more vehemently adding the side to side motion now sticking four fingers up , he nods slowly almost in slow motion eyes crinkled up in disgust at my linguistic shortcomings or entreaty ..not quite sure which as he motions with 6 fingers now. Quick calculation 6 kms - 60 bucks ...not bad considering my core body temperature is rising at almost 0.5 degrees per minute .. gives me approximately 8 minutes to a sunstroke. Resigned shrug hunch shoulders .. climb in. Another triumph for the CADU.. Chennai Auto Drivers Union.

Bombay

No explanation really why it took me a year to get back here except maybe that in the past year Bombay happened . Bombay is a phenomenon that needs to be lived and experienced to be understood. Its way beyond what Raghu Rais coffee table books would have us understand.. way beyound but not exclusive of the causeway.. the trains .. the taj..bandra .. the sea link .siddhi vinayak .. the street children .. the posh set.. Its essence is a sense of inevitability about actions and how they unfold. Like the inevitability of a journey between andheri and bandra taking atleast an hour.. nothing in the world can change that,or the ubiquitious dour taste of the humble vada pao being almost inevitably the same ..everywhere ..everytime, or the complete and utter exhaustion that a day in this megapolis leaves you with as you drop to bed . Survival , excel sheets of credit and debit, the inevitable drinking binge to forget all, the occasional impulse purchase the horror of which will come back to haunt you in the aforementioned excel sheets. The tiny moments that you would have to snatch from the citys hands like a shrill scream to pierce the drone of humdrum life . A stolen moment here , the quiet daze of ones living room floor there , the perfect fried rice and beer dinner which you have no one to share with. The pain of being away most of the times the liberty of the same sometimes. The joy of watching a new life cry,writhe, blink, smile ,burp, grow. A companionship so strong woth someone with whome you hardly spoke more than twice a day like fellow surfers negotiating the same waves with different surfboards. Bombay like i said is not one story its 1.25 crore different stories living breathing everyday in unison in their routine.. disparate in their content