4 may-motorbike philosophy

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful candid snapshot gracing the top of the page! It may be temporary, I haven't decided yet, but Jo's face was too priceless not to share with the world.

This morning, Azathmullah told me he would need more money from now on if he was to continue to be my regular auto driver. It's not that he is asking for a lot more, but the principle of the thing really troubles me, as I'm already paying him more than the meter. So I came up with an alternative, and am hoping tomorrow I can explain to him in a smooth way that I won't be driving with him anymore...

Today at work, the team was discussing whether reorganizing the workspace could bolster collaboration and productivity. You know those spatial experiments, the ones where college laundry rooms are placed on the first floor to increase conversation or where all office chairs come with wheels so colleagues can whizz over to collaborate with more people by exerting less effort? The proposition was to move the Grants Team desks (currently in two rows facing opposite walls) so that they filled the center of the room and faced one another.

Karthik, who brings chai and runs very useful errands around the office, came upstairs to help with the grunt work. The men moved two of these large desks back to back, observed the complete loss of central space, and then sat for a while discussing. No one wanted to look at the wall, but the new arrangement meant a more claustrophobic room. It was decided that with the old arrangement, chairs could swivel around into this open space, making group meetings and collaboration actually easier. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Srikanta gave me a ride home from work on the back of his motorbike. It was a bit of a balancing act with my lunchbag and messenger bag, but totally worth it. He explained that he takes small side streets instead of main roads because they are faster, quieter and allow you to peek into corners of Bangalore life that you are not otherwise exposed to. He was so right.

I am still finding it difficult to describe exactly why I felt so much beauty on that ride, or what exactly that beauty was. I'll try. We were riding through alleys where traffic sounds were just nonexistent and little boys laughed and we dodged cricket wickets. Homes were in those faded bright colours of green and pink and blue, and there was a man outside ironing clothes and a woman outside pumping water from a tap. It was just obscenely gorgeous, all of it so serene and alive.

We did have to zoom back on to the main road to actually get anywhere though, but then the great conversation began. He told me, for instance, that Koramangala used to be a slum! This is Rohini Nilekani's neighborhood with the lush gardens and luxurious everything. Apparently the city just dedicated itself to the development of that run-down area and did fantastic things with it, to where it is now one of the richest neighborhoods in Bangalore. I couldn't help wondering what exactly they did with the slum people who lived there though. That part is sadder.

We talked about Tagore and Plato, about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (a very appropriate bike conversation), Indian construction and so much more. Srikanta was very blown away by the idea that I was studying exactly what I was interested in. This is, as you might have gathered by now, a novel concept still in India.

I suggested that the Indian obsession with doctor/engineer jobs might be a necessity, every parent wanting the best way for their child to access the glory of the world. I said that before people reached for political and social freedoms, it made sense that they sought economic security. Srikanta held an impassioned  and elegant defense against this point. He said first, that it all depended on what you thought  the best life was. And he talked about the balance necessary in society, and how harmony is wrought from different disciplines, and about dharma and artha and kama and moksha, the four purushartas (aims of human life) according to Hinduism. Dharma is righteousness, artha is wealth, kama desire and moksha salvation or liberation. Srikanta was saying that to focus only on artha, or economic gain, always desiring wealth for your children as the appropriate form of their advancement, you forgot to equally weigh the other three aims.

His defense spun a web between Sanskrit thought and Buddhism and economics and the nature of happiness. These quiet alleys of Bangalore evening were the perfect backdrop to the tapestry of thoughts. The ride took an hour and was definitely the most enjoyable part of my day and I am happy to have his friendship. Actually, this is soon to be a regular part of my day, as I've decided to stop traveling by auto.

Thus my Indian progression, from the air-conditioned taxi cab to the randomly chosen auto drivers and different routes daily, to the regular friendly auto driver, to riding pillion on my new friend's motorbike...

Am I becoming more adventurous? More Indian? Or just cheaper...