April Showers

Well, the rains have come early this year, but none too soon for us! Just as it was beginning to get unbearably hot, the "pre-monsoon" began and brought us some welcome relief. I've been slow about updating the blog because we haven't been doing that much. Bangalore has become old hat for us, and we haven't had much time to travel lately. Gilles just gave a talk at the IISc, which went well, and now he is preparing for his talk in Vienna and the CNRS competition. Unfortunately, his computer took this fortuitous opportunity, near the end of its life, to commit suicide. Gilles had been planning to buy a new laptop soon but this one was supposed to work until we left for Europe. However, the screen stopped functioning so he took it down to our friends at SP Road, the electronics market. There, he left it with a jovial young man named Alex who seems to have more experience fixing air conditioners than computers. He called a few days later to say that he had a replacement part that wasn't exactly right, so could he take out the modem. As we have DSL, Gilles said OK. He picked up the "repaired" computer a few days later, brought it home, and began to insert the PCMCIA ethernet card. Lo and behold, the port was missing. Alex couldn't tell the difference between a modem and a PCMCIA port. I think all outsourcers should make a mental note. Perhaps the hardware work should stay in China.

Anyway, my Mac hasn't needed repairs for at least 4 months now, so I'm happy. We're working on a record. (Where is Mac making its hardware? Probably should send that work to China too.)

We both forgot to mention a fun encounter in Ooty - we met our favorite rickshaw driver yet. In Ooty, the rickshaw drivers have a syndicate going. They all charge exorbitant prices, but they have these prices painted on the walls and laminated on cards, so there's no negotiation. After being elsewhere in India it feels strange to pay four times the going rate, but at the same time we appreciate their initiative. Anyway, as we were leaving a restaurant one evening to go to our hotel, a driver asked if we wanted a ride. We said okay, but he started off in the wrong direction - we realized he was going to the gas station. He asked for the money in advance to pay for the gas, so we obliged, but after filling his tank he set off rather haphazardy down the road. "Praise the Lord!" he shouted. "Watch the road!" we shouted back. We had to point out a few motorcycles without headlights coming in the other direction, as he was quite occupied by shouting "Praise the Lord!" over and over again.

While we're on the subject of religion, we met a nice Indian researcher the other day (well, I met him - Gilles has known him for some time) who is engaged to a French girl. But the French girl has to convert to Catholicism before she can marry the Indian guy, since his family is Christian! So she's getting baptized in India in a couple of months. Apparently it's a lot quicker to become Catholic here than in France. I guess supply and demand makes a difference. In France they make you study catechism for two years - it's like becoming Jewish for God's sake. Gilles and I will just have to convert to something else.

I haven't found the right moment to mention the chicken we find here in Bangalore. It's called "Real Good." The bag boasts "No Beak." Occasionally we do find feathers, though.