Money is More Valuable Than Time?

With regards to what I named this travel blog of mine, it's basically me summing up the gist of my first post. But spending time alone travelling to different parts of India, I'm reluctant to say that maybe I am wrong to state such a thing. We are very dependent on money; without some we cannot eat, drink nor sleep in a comfortable sheltered bed. Everything else is just wants and luxuries - advertised to tempt people to spend, spend, spend or be bored and unfulfilled. It's very sad to see many people here in India without having the aforementioned necessities because they do not have a rupee on them. Therefore, currency is much more important to them than time is, for they require the necessary evil to live. We all do. It's naive and idyllic of me to say the contrary - time is more valuable. Sure, I do agree with the sentiments of which I meant by it, but realistically, let's face it, it's not true.

Perhaps if people of the world united to devalue currency and we came to abolish the monetary system, it would then perhaps be a true statement. But who is going to get the ball rolling? It would be an anarchic world, sure, but maybe it would be a better one? Governments only have power over us because they have power over how we spend our money. Without money, they would have no control over us.

Also homelessness, poverty, debts and classes only exist because of money, inadvertently causing misery, depression, frustration, anger and any other negativities which are usually directed at the wrong people; currently "benefit scroungers" and "foreigners" are commonly used as scapegoat for peoples anger when it should be directed at the government and wealthy. Such people are the reasons why an idyllic true anarchic world can not exist. I often hear that it would be a survival of the fittest and the powerful ones will exert control, but they already have - they're the "same twats but with a different colour tie".

Now, unfortunately, I'm not intelligent enough to come up with a viable solution to these problems though, and this depresses me. We're all aware that the problems money and governments (same thing) has caused exists, yet callously most of us shrug our shoulders and carry on with our selfish, fortunate lives. Why inconvenience ourselves with a complete overhaul with how we all live our lives that we've come so accustomed too? So dependent on; routine, familiarity, convenience and, more importantly, earning money is what most prefer their daily lives to consist of. Time is money and money is time as people tend to say. How sad.

Last Days

I figured it's about time I give some closure on my travels to India - especially since I've been back in England for a couple of months now! I guess I have been lazy. Well, that and it's hard to motivate myself to do so, since people's interest in what I had been doing in India has wavered since I've been back. So now to finally finish...

Now that I had my flight booked, I only had a few days left and I decided to spend those last days with my good friend, Sam. One early afternoon, we decided to spend some time at Ulsoor Lake since I was interested in seeing it as we had drove past it a couple of times before. First we walked around the outskirts of it where I got some good views so I could take some snaps. Then we walked to the area where you can get a boat ride, stopping to grab some ice-cream first! Sam didn't want to go on a boat as he said he didn't trust them, so I went on a bigger boat with a group of people instead. The captain of this ship took us around the lake only for about 10 minutes; it was brief but pleasant. I guess this is the sort of place where you should take your partner for a romantic boat ride seeing as you can hire those peddle boats. After I got off the boat, me and Sam walked through the park and just chilled there for a bit.

As we walked back to where he parked his bike, a couple of young guys were selling honey on the street. I was interested to taste natural honey so we walked over and Sam asked if it was OK for me to try a sample. Looking at it, it looked disgusting; there were a lot bees - some of which looked dead - on the honeycombs. But nonetheless I decided to give it a try. The street vendor reached in to his bucket filled with honey and broke of a piece of honeycomb for me to try. Not sure what to do with it, I just shoved the whole thing in my mouth after I checked to see if there were any bees clinging on to it. The texture of the honeycomb didn't do much for me and I soon spat that out, but the honey was delicious! Certainly better than the stuff you get in jars with their added preservatives. As we walked, Sam told me about how they get their honey: People employ guys like them to clear away big honeycombs that you can sometimes see attached on to buildings - often very high up in awkward places therefore making it a risky job, and then they sell off the honey to make a bit more profit. 

                                        Hmmm, doesn't that look lovely? Well it was!

                                 We spotted these honeycombs under a bridge 

We then spent the evening pretty close by to where I was staying that was quite heavily populated with muslim people selling a variety of meats. These streets stank of dead animals as you could imagine. It was grimacing seeing the sight of freshly skinned and butchered animals, but it did also make me hungry. After walking around, telling many a man that I didn't want to buy their meat and taking a peek inside the beef market, we then went to a dirty looking restaurant so we could shove our mouths with some delicious dead animal. Even though the place did not look appealing, the chicken certainly was! It was honestly some of the nicest chicken I had tried India. Afterwards, Sam told me the direction back to my hotel and we parted ways. I walked back to my hotel through the still very busy streets at night. 

The following morning, I decided to take a stroll to find a Vodafone shop so I could just top up my balance to last me a couple of days. On my journey, a young man approached me and started conversing with me. His name is Pramod. At first, I thought he was going to try and sell me something, but quickly I just realised he was a friendly chap and just wanted to talk. He walked with me some way and pointed me in the direction of a Vodafone shop. Before we parted ways, we exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up for a drink before I go back to England. 

Sam came and picked me up in the afternoon and went for a little drive on his bike, eventually stopping off in a Nepalese populated area. He took me to a Nepalese restaurant where I tried some chicken momo with some mildly hot sauces to dip them in. It was the first time I tried them and I really liked them! Afterwards, we walked around a nearby shopping mall and I bought a doughnut for me and Sam there. We browsed through a book store and then wandered some more before Sam suggested we eat again. 

                                        This sign was outside a kid's maze in the mall.

Sam took me to a Chinese restaurant he frequents and enjoys. A friend of his also works there and he showed me a video of him performing a song on his guitar which was good! I had my ukulele on me and he wanted to hear me play it, so I did. Afterwards he took our orders - I ordered myself some lemon chicken and Sam ordered, erm, some hot and spicy chicken (can't quite remember what it was called). We both shared our plates when they arrived and I could see why he goes there often! After that lovely meal, we called it a day.

It was Friday the following day and I had planned to treat Sam to a meal to thank him for all he had done for me during my stay in Bangalore, and for being a good friend. I also wanted to have a few drinks that night too! Before any of that though, I got on the metro train to Indiranagar to meet up with Sam. He told me that Bindu would be meeting us in a little while so we went for a stroll, stopping to chill out at a beautiful looking little park for a bit, where I drew some attention by playing my ukulele. We met up with Bindu shortly after and decided to head to a nearby cafe. We ordered ourselves some drinks and snacks and talked. It was great to see Bindu again. She showed me some pictures on her laptop of her travels. We spent quite some time in there chatting and left when it got dark. I said a fond farewell to Bindu before she got on a tuk-tuk to get home.

I had decided that we eat at The Only place - probably my favourite restaurant in Bangalore, so I wanted to eat there one last time. It was worth it as, as usual, the meal was very delicious! I had some battered chicken steaks. After a meal, I wanted to have a few beers at a bar called Le Rock. As the name implies, it's bar that plays rock music. Perfect! It was then that I messaged Pramod to let him know where we were. I ordered a pitcher of Kingfisher beer to share. Soon, Pramod arrived and I introduced him to Sam and vice versa. We chatted, sang along to the awesome songs being played, drank and smoked. It was just like a Friday night in England! Sam left before us and me and Pramod didn't stay much longer. He walked with me back to my hotel, chilled and had a cigarette with me before saying our farewells and going home. 

Saturday was my last full day in India. Sam didn't tell me what we'd be doing that day. Just that he would come and pick me up and we'll go for a long drive somewhere. Sure enough, he came and got me late in the morning and off we went. He took us on the highway and we eventually got out of Bangalore so he wasn't kidding when he said we'd go for a long drive! It was nice riding a long the highway; the traffic wasn't so dense, the roads were in good shape and the view of the surrounding areas were quite lovely to boot. So as Sam was driving, I bravely took some photos with my camera. 

We must have been on the road for about an hour and half before we finally stopped for a refreshment. Sam said we were very close to a waterpark called Wonderla and very quickly decided we should go there. Why the hell not. 

It was fairly expensive to get in and because we didn't have any spare clothes on us (we didn't plan on getting wet after all!), Sam bought us a cheap pair of shorts. The first thing we done after we got changed was jump straight in to the large pool. Much like the waterpark I went to last year in Chennai, this too was very lively with people dancing, singing and splashing about in the water. Waterparks in India are a lot more fun than in England I've found. There were quite a few white-knuckle rides dotted about the place, so I went on some of them. Sam opted out though as he doesn't like them. Of course, there were many water slides there and we went on them. They also hold a "raindance;" inside the building, people get to dance to some cheesy music as a lot of water sprinkles over them. Not my cup of tea, but it was enjoyable seeing Sam get his groove on as well as the many others. I just used the place as somewhere to get a hot shower! We didn't have any towels on us, so we sat and ate whilst we dried. Although the sun was starting to set, it was still very hot and it didn't take too long to dry off in the heat. Once we got back in to our dry clothes, we set off back in to the city. It was a very nice drive on the way back as the sun set. 

The roads were very dense with traffic on the way in to the city; so much so that Sam decided to take a shortcut along the derelict pavements to navigate through the traffic, much to my discomfort. We eventually made it back to my hotel where I grabbed some cash and told Sam to take us Lakeview so I could get some of that lovely ice-cream one last time. And that was my final day. Fortunately, I didn't have much to pack that evening. I had come reasonably light when I set off to India, and now was even lighter as I had disposed off a couple of my clothes - my new books were more important! 

Sam came and picked me up late in the morning to take me somewhere to grab an early lunch. We stopped off at small restaurant and ordered some boneless spicy chicken. I also had a pint of Fosters. Sam pulled out a bag and handed it to me; he bought me a t-shirt as a gift. I promised that when I next come, he can have my ukulele as he said he wanted it (now I have a new one, I most certainly will give him it). Afterwards, we went back to my hotel so I could grab my bags and I said a fond farewell to the receptionist/manager/owner too. He was a very pleasant chap and we often had brief conversations when I saw him. I told him I would be more than happy to stay there again should I come back to Bangalore again. Anyway, Sam and I set off to meet his cousin and friend as they would be accompanying us to the airport. His cousin (unfortunately I have forgotten his name) also took one of my bags to unburden me a little which was nice of him. Once again we were back on the highway and Sam was driving really fast this time. I must admit, I was a little frightened at going such a speed without no protection whatsoever. But fortunately, we made it to the airport safe and sound after about an hours drive. 

So this was it. My time in India was over already and a lot sooner than I had anticipated; unfortunately, some plans didn't go accordingly and I had spent quite a bit staying in hotels. I did also indulge in more expensive but nicer food too. You can take me out of a western society but you can't take the western society out of me. Although, upon reflection I did really enjoy my time spent in the rural villages - Mallakunta especially - where I ate food straight from the land and also ate food cooked for me. Although I didn't particularly enjoy eating rice all the time, the experience was still very worthwhile and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

What I enjoyed the most, though, was spending time with old friends and making new ones. I will always cherish their friendships. And with that, I gave Sam a hug and we said our goodbyes.