So what happened next…
After leaving India in July 2011, I returned to England and established Coast Copywriting. I now work full-time as a professional copywriter and occasional journalist. I’m still at my computer, still writing – but no longer enjoying the sweet and spicy smells of India, the sounds of distant traffic, the monsoon, the mangoes (oh, the … Read more
For the Love of Rickshaws
Anyone visiting India quickly discovers it would take a lifetime (probably several, although I believe that can be arranged) to fully understand the endless intricacies that make up the country’s social hierarchies. But there is one social group you quickly learn to place at the lowest of the low. At least, you do if your … Read more
10 Things You’ve Got to Love About Bangalore
As every hack writer knows, there’s no easier way to knock up 1,000 words than by writing a nice long list. So here’s my ten reasons to love Bangalore. However, just in case this brings out a nasty case of regional pride in any Bangalorean, rest assured I’ll be following up with ten reasons to … Read more
Security Guard Wanted: Bangalore.
MUST HAVE HIGH BOREDOM THRESHOLD AND ENTHUSIASM FOR SUBORDINACY In a tall, silver building in the IT Corridor of Bangalore, a young man sits at the end of a long, dark corridor. Next to him is a fire door, and his single duty is to ensure no one uses this door unless there is a … Read more
Driving in India – the Insanity and the Ecstacy
I’ve started driving. For several weeks, I watched Kaveri at the wheel as she negotiated potholes, rickshaws, motorbikes, zombie pedestrians, herds of goats and, of course, cows. It always amazed me that she could find a route through this madness and we could come away unscathed. Then I watched her tailgating one day, her hand … Read more
Bangalore – Behind the Neon
You do not need to visit the deserts, plains or Western Ghats to see the full romance and diversity of India. Sometime you can take just as great a journey by seeking not the wide empty spaces, but those inner spaces, the narrow streets and alleyways of the urban scene. Kaveri is away. She is … Read more
Pressure Cookers and Elvis Presley
Evoking the sights, sounds and smells of India has always caused me anxiety, because as soon as I begin to describe the cocktail of piss and incense, the rattle of rickshaws or the man with the cart sky high with colourful plastic pots, I get the creeping sense of cliche that takes every sensual epiphany … Read more
Brighton Craniosacral Therapy
Thanks a lot to Andy Cleave, from Brighton Craniosacral Therapy.
Great Encounters with Indian Bureaucracy: Phone and Internet (Part 3)
But, to be honest, despite all the adventures, my work was suffering. And Airtel were no nearer to fixing the connection. Finally, we heard from Airtel that their service was not currently available in our building. This news was delivered with an emphaticness matched only by their earlier assurances that the Internet connection would be … Read more
Great Encounters with Indian Bureaucracy: Phone and Internet (Part 2)
The funny thing is, when I wasn’t telling Kaveri about how incompetent her fellow countrymen and women were, I was having a wonderful time. And, I have to admit, this was partly down to our lack of phone and internet connection. Every day I hurried down the beautifully landscaped gardens of our apartment complex and … Read more
