26 March 2013

Escape velocity

One for the road:
What you get from a car ride with my brother at the wheel is something that thrill park operators can only dream of! He was hitting 140 kmph on Durgapur Expressway – that is a speed illegal in any highway in most states in America. And in most states in America, on any highway, you don’t have to deal with occasional animals, a vehicle driving on the wrong side or drivers making sudden turns without any notice.
My brother was weaving so much thru that traffic that I am convinced on our (essentially) east west highway, he spent most of the time driving north south πŸ™‚ In all fairness, he kept his horn on permanent honk mode to give fair warning to all about his impending presence. There were times he was nearly approaching escape velocity! From the other side !! πŸ™‚ I think all he needed was a road with a gentle slope upwards πŸ™‚
Eventually we took a tea break so we could all relax our muscles from the collective grabbing of our seats πŸ™‚ During the tea break, I sarcastically asked him how many lanes did he reckon were there on the highway that we just left. Not to be outdone, he smiled as asked “How many do you want?” πŸ™‚
That, above all, explained lane discipline in India. So, I went back to sipping my tongue-scalding hot tea from the traditional earthen cups!!

26 March 2013

Houses that built a home

The houses that built a home: this morning before leaving Durgapur, my brother and I put in a run down memory lane. We ran to all the three houses that we grew up in during our childhood and took pictures. Of course, the houses look a little different now – but they evoked a lot of powerful memories.

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