A Life Less Ordinary

The generation gap has made its presence felt in a very funny manner, that I felt like blagging about. It is a different matter that there are thousands of things that transpire on a daily basis that are blag-worthy, and after sifting through all the minuitae, this is among the cooler things to actually put on LJ.

My Mum saw my website for the first time, after I revamped the text on it. Don't check it out, it doesn't have much on it, except for a google-page front end that links to my online footprints.

The text contains a lot of arbit material, and also has a reference to RSS feeds. Being a 'Commie Neo-hippie Green Terrorist' son of parents with proven right-wing leanings who aren't as internet savvy, there was a small amounf of trepidation on her part as to what any reference to RSS was doing on my pages.

It took a small amount of time to actually explain to her how it was a reference to online feeds and not to THE RSS, but it was nice fun all the same to have a different look at things.

Some people in the previous generation have accepted the internet's invasion while the rest of them have managed to remain oblivious to it and have led normal lives regardless. I can't imagine life without the web at all, personally.

I had to travel from Bangalore to Mysore on sunday afternoon for arbit reasons. I usually travel by the Volvo bus which is super-comfortable, air conditioned and usually allows even a light sleeper like me to crash on it on occasion. The only downside is the price, which is INR 190 one way.

I have to return to the office tomorrow morning (Monday) and based on that, I would be spending only about 12-14 hours in Mysore, and I figured out that spending 380 bucks plus associated travel costs to get to the corresponding destinations would be a tad too much to shell out, considering my being max parsimonious and all, something you should be aware of by now.

Hence, I decided to travel by the 'super-fast' Tippu Express from Bangalore to Mysore, which was scheduled to leave Blr railway station at 1415 and reach Mysore by 1645, which is quite decent, speed-wise, when you contrast this train's journey time with that of the others that ply on the same track.

The other factor that tilted the train as the chosen mode of transport, apart from the price factor (INR 45 for regular and INR 55 for super-fast) was that I didn't have to spend time when the chosen mode of transport was battling traffic on the road, which was certain to happen had I put volvo travel. For instance, bus would leave Majestic at 2 PM, get to Mysore Road - Ring Road junction only by about 2-45 and another two and a half hours or so to reach Mysore, under which case it made more sense to take the train.

However, as soon as I reached the ticket queue, I noticed that it began way back almost near the entrance of the main railway station where all the chairs are, and then eventually snaked up all the way till the booking window, and given that it was already 1345 by which time I had reached, it was highly unlikely that I would be able to go by train.

However, I was approached by some tout guy who said it would be thirty bucks extra, and that for a tidy sum of INR 85, I could get a train ticket. I presume I looked like someone who could afford the marked up price, unlike the guy in this post. A split-second mental debate, a la Chaim Topol's soliloquies in the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof, albeit in silent mode made me arrive at the decision that I would go ahead and pay the extra INR 30, so help me God.

I haven't ever paid a bribe so far, and I don't know whether paying up extra to a tout to get a ticket faster constitutes as a similar offence. I hope not. I did what was easy, as opposed to standing in queue, and the only justification I have given to myself is that the system works in a similar manner even in temples where devotees that can afford more have easier passage to the sanctum sanctorum, and business class travellers have more spacious seats.

The only difference was that what I did was not part of the system, and in that I feel pangs of slight guilt. I should try and not do it the next time, I guess. Easy won, but right should've prevailed.