Indians come with natural earplugs, I'd bet on it! How can you not be overwhelmed with the sounds and noises of traffic in India? On one of A.'s trips to Brazil, after missing his connection out of Atlanta and having to stick around the airport for 24 hours waiting (to see if any flight to Brazil would have an empty seat for him), he finally arrived in Fortaleza a day and a half later than expected. We stayed at a little hotel in the city and as it was a Sunday, the neighbors were having the usual loud barbecue in their backyard. This meant VERY loud music. As A. installed himself in the hammock in the porch of our hotel to sleep a bit he said:
"Could you give me something to cover my eyes? This light is bothering me...."
"Sure, but what about the blaring music??"
"What music? ... Oh, no, it's ok."
That's when my theory of earplugs and Indians came into being and it has still to find a situation in which it does not hold... Until...
This morning I was walking to the train station and rushing, as is usual, since I refuse to set the alarm even a few minutes earlier than is extremely necessary for me to jump out of bed. I cross a street without looking twice to see if there are cars coming (in Oslo they always stop for pedestrians and there was even a 1 block traffic jam, so cars were already slow) and then, just as I reach the other side I hear it It makes me turn my head in the direction of a familiar though long forgotten sound: a honk! Some cab driver, unaware of unwritten rules of noiseless traffic actually honked to make the car in front of him move ahead a few meters! I instantly remembered the story of the Indian guy and smiled: in most other places on Earth I would have ignored a honk but this is indeed a different world...
"Could you give me something to cover my eyes? This light is bothering me...."
"Sure, but what about the blaring music??"
"What music? ... Oh, no, it's ok."
That's when my theory of earplugs and Indians came into being and it has still to find a situation in which it does not hold... Until...
Only in India. (more great pics from the same blog here)
When I first arrived in Norway an Indian guy I met told me a story of how he jumped when he heard a honk in Oslo. This lead to much laughing as Indians and honking seem to go together. Many months later...
This morning I was walking to the train station and rushing, as is usual, since I refuse to set the alarm even a few minutes earlier than is extremely necessary for me to jump out of bed. I cross a street without looking twice to see if there are cars coming (in Oslo they always stop for pedestrians and there was even a 1 block traffic jam, so cars were already slow) and then, just as I reach the other side I hear it It makes me turn my head in the direction of a familiar though long forgotten sound: a honk! Some cab driver, unaware of unwritten rules of noiseless traffic actually honked to make the car in front of him move ahead a few meters! I instantly remembered the story of the Indian guy and smiled: in most other places on Earth I would have ignored a honk but this is indeed a different world...
In India you
ReplyDeleteHonk if you are sad
honk if you are mad
honk if you are glad
doesn't matter if you are a stressed-out student grad
or a mild-mannered dad
whatever's the fad
it just ain't bad
to honk like a cad.
Hi DsylexicHippo,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the poem... I can see you have potential! :P
Hi there
ReplyDeleteI have been quite interested in Norway as a potential place for immigration due to its high per-capital income and standard of living, but I'm unsure about how easy or difficult it would be for me to find a job in Norway without knowing the language (at least initially).
I read that your husband is Indian, and so am I. Therefore, if it isn't too much trouble, I'd really love any/all advice you can give me.
Nice post btw :) I love blogging too and my blog URL is mentioned here so feel free to take a look when you have the time.