Friday 8th Feb - Day 5

The more observant will have noticed I've already talked about 'day 5.' Well, give yourself a medal.

What happened today ?

Today I had the opportunity to go to the bank. There seem to be banks popping up all over the place in Banga. In fact every morning I have a full view from the balcony of a new bank being built across the road. I get to speak to the branch manager in a mixture of Punjabi and English. It seems there's a lot of bureaucracy in banks too.

I also learn about queuing. Quite often queuing for stuff is not politely waiting your turn. You find people will try and just get ahead of you in a queue so you have to stand your ground. There's no argy-bargy but it can be a little tiresome. However, if you're a woman, sometimes you can just march to the front of the queue no questions asked. I don't know who makes up the rules, but this is clearly sexual discrimination. Men should have a support group or something to fight this injustice. Maybe I should send an email to the Prime minister ?

I'm driven to Lakhpur, the village where my Grandfather and Grandmother, on my father's side lived. When I last came to India I saw them here. Sadly, they have both passed away. The neighbours still remember me and my younger brothers and sister and laugh at the fact we didn't want to come out from behind mosquito nets because we were afraid of insects. The building is more or less derelict, but there are plans to rebuild it. I see new buildings being built in a more western style in the building. Perhaps for people coming back here to retire.

We drive along some narrow tracks and I'm told that this field belongs to so and so and this field belongs to someone else - it all looks the same to me. We stop near a water pump feeding the fields and in this secluded area I see the grave stones of my two grandparents next to each other where we stop and stay for a while.

Later on I get to visit my first ever cybercafe. This can be a frustrating experience - slow network and pc speeds, not fully functional keyboards or mice. So quit complaining about my updates.