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Is it time for middle class India to vote?
I’m absolutely fascinated by the Indian general elections, there is so much controversy, so much colour, so much hatred and so much passion from all sides. Unlike the UK, where the major parties have sort of morphed in to one giant bubble that is either marginally centre-left or centre-right but basically the same, India has… Continue reading
Life in Chennai is Now Uber
Taxi services. Little has changed in the last 50 years. You call up the taxi company, ask for a taxi to pick you up and you wait patiently for them to arrive. Only it’s not always that simple in Chennai, especially for a foreigner (although I consider myself more of an almost-PIO nowadays). You call… Continue reading
That Devil Called Inflation
To my utter surprise, I’m coming up to completing five years of living in India. Being an expat usually means you are paid more than the local workers, and India’s strict foreigner employment laws almost guarantees that. One of the things about living in a developing country is that there is incessant, non-stop, almost frantic,… Continue reading
Crumpled Up T-Shirt Day
I have almost reached the age now where doing the ‘smell test’ to see if a t-shirt is still wearable is frowned upon. If I wear a t-shirt, it should be fresh out of the cupboard and neatly pressed. Which is what happens most days. Last night saw quite a big storm hit Chennai in… Continue reading
Chennai’s Concrete Super Highway In The Sky
Every morning I have to take the train to south Chennai. The Mass Rapid Transit System, or MRTS as it’s known, is a marvel in concrete. Soviet Russia style concrete monolithic stations are dotted every few KM and are so brutal in design, it would make Joseph Stalin himself give a nod of approval. Rather… Continue reading
They Call Him King of the Golden Nuggets
In my apartment we have a cat. King of the Golden Nuggets is his name. A fearless predator, an alert hunter, a father to half the local feline population, stalking through the night for his next victim, he answers to no man…unless of course you have some delicious curd to give him. The relationship between… Continue reading
Smile: Global Catastrophe Is Imminent
Makes for depressing, unhappy reading. But smile: We’re all doomed in the end. BBC News – Resource depletion: Opportunity or looming catastrophe?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16391040For many living in the world today, this nightmare scenario is already a reality. Even for the well-off living in developed economies, it is becoming all too familiar.
Bus Anxiety
I’ve discovered a time investment fear disorder during my daily commute too and from work. My new office is actually closer to the south pole than it is to my apartment so the daily journey is one of the toughest aspects of my job (16 hour days are a cinch by comparison). The commute has… Continue reading
Sums Up Politicians Quite Nicely
A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the M25. Nothing was moving. Suddenly, a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down the window and asks, “What’s going on?” “Terrorists have kidnapped all of our MP’s during a sitting of parliament and they’re demanding a £100 million ransom otherwise they are going… Continue reading