Two months gone by in a flash

In August I went to the Ajanta and Ellora caves around Aurangabad, about 600 km east of Bombay. The Ajanta caves, which I found the most inspiring and breathtaking, were discovered in the early 19th century by a British army soldier hunting for tigers. The caves have been carved out of solid rock in the course of many years by patient - very patient - Buddhist monks.

From an article in the NY Times: "Each one of these enormous caverns was hollowed from the flint-hard rock by hand. Every single pillar, statue, elephant, Buddha and griffon inside is the original rock, previously undisturbed deep within the cliff: the three-dimensionality of each object was fashioned by ancient stonemasons working their way painstakingly around and beside and beneath each imagined sculpture-to-be, creating space from rock, and leaving these magnificent subterranean monuments behind as they chipped the caves away."

I can imagine that at one point, perhaps 10 years into his individual effort, chipping away at the rocks in Ajanta, one monk must have looked at his calender and wondered, where has the time gone? I'm not saying that my stay here is as laborious or as tedious as that of a random monk in a cave, but merely that time has seemed to accelerate. My daily commutes to the office in South Mumbai have become ordinary in-between moments where I read a book or a paper, listen to music or sleep, barely noticing the sweating, highly compressed mass of bodies around me.

In September we had to make long hours working towards a crucial deadline at the end of the month. To give you a sense of how those days passed, here's a brief impression: Getting up early in the morning, I usually take about 15 minutes to get up, shower, get dressed and leave. I go to the office in a T-shirt and sandals (I have NEVER worn sandals before in my life, and I doubt if I ever will after I leave India. But somehow, they are the most natural footwear to wear over here). When I arrive at the office I order a sandwich and an orange juice (from the restaurant at the corner) and I get a bottle of water and a strong black coffee from the office boy. This keeps me going until lunch, which we usually eat in front of our computers. I mainly do rewrites and send emails to people in other departments that have to provide data, input or confirmations of what we want to put in the report. Nobody leaves the office before six. In September that was usually seven, sometimes eight. Sometimes I stayed even after that as the Internet in our apartment is not working properly. Then I would go back to Andheri, get out of the station and walk to restaurant Alpha, order a cocktail juice and a vegetable biryani to go (for about 1.5 Euro in total) I drink the juice while I'm waiting for the food, then get a rickshaw from the corner and go home where I have my dinner at around 10pm. Everyone's home at that point so after a loud "Helllloooo!!!!" from everyone I sit in the living room and eat, talk a bit and then go to bed, read a bit, or sometimes watch a movie.

Whoof! Another week gone! Of course, there are also the weekends. That's when the whole trainee group (or a good part of it) assembles and queues up at one of the Mumbai clubs that we can always get guestlist access to. Usually it is "couples entry only" so we need to pair up before we go in. The clubs itself are just like any other club, but the music they play is often a curious mix of American hip-hop, European dance and Bollywood movie songs. Hands go up in the air just as often for trippy House music intermezzos as for typical indian dance moves (one hand on the hip, many pelvic rotations and a half open hand changing an imaginary lightbulb in the air). The prices are often out of this world. While an avarage government wage is around 3,500 rupees a month, a single glass of wine in Poison, one of the popular clubs in Bandra, is 600 rupees, around 11 euros (which is more than you would pay in any club in Amsterdam). So what we do is take 'friends' with us on our way to the club (the expression is Peter's, a Polish trainee and friend of mine). We buy half-litres bottles of Coke or 7-Up and mix these with liquor which we drink in the rickshaw and while waiting outside for the other trainees to arrive.

The next day starts late, of course. We hang around, maybe go to a shopping mall, watch a movie, drink a coffee. Then order food, or perhaps someone makes noodles or pasta, and the day is practically over. Next week is already there...

This is, in short, my explanation of why it took my two month for my next post. Now, considering the length of this one, I guess I can say it is less hectic now then before. And I have more time on my hands. Why this is so will be the topic of my next post.