Bangalore Experience..

Upon touching down Bangalore, India, Dad and his colleague took a taxi to their hotel. Traffic was crawling. Drivers blaring horns at one another, drivers switching lanes at their own risks, drivers not following traffic rules (not sure if they were even of existence there). In short, the roads were chaotic.

While they were travelling, a motorcyclist in front of their taxi suddenly braked. The taxi driver managed to stop in time to avoiding hitting the motorcyclist but another motorcyclist behind the taxi was a fraction too late. To avoid confusion, the motorcyclist in front of the taxi shall be called MF and the motorcyclist behind would be named MB. MF rode off while the taxi driver came down to check the extent of the damage to his vehicle and to confront MB. After a couple of minutes of heated discussion between the pair of Indian men, the taxi driver got back onto the car and drove off. Dad and his colleague thought that the matter had been resolved. But Dad's colleague realised that the taxi driver was heading onto the wrong road. So he informed the driver. The taxi driver told both of them to sit tight as he was trying to chase after MF! Apparently, during the discussion with MB, both of them came to the conclusion that the fault lies with MF, not MB. Both the taxi driver and MB were trying to hunt down MF.

After a kilometre or so, they managed to track down MF and cornered him to prevent him from escaping. Apparently, he tried dodging away from them once. The taxi driver, MF and MB confronted one another and started arguing. Obviously Dad and his colleague didn't understand Tamil and didn't know what was happening. Soon, a crowd appeared on the roadside. A few even joined in the discussion to decide who was at fault! A while later, the taxi driver took out his handphone to make a call while the argument continued between MB, MF and the people on the streets. After making the call, the taxi driver politely apologised to my Dad and his colleague about the delay and let them know that another taxi would be on his way to pick them up and fetch them to their destination. Dad told him that they weren't in a hurry. The taxi driver replied, "Sir, I think it would take a few hours to settle this matter." I couldn't stop laughing when I heard that. I thought this kind of thing only happens in Tamil movies or drama serials. To think that Dad was actually caught in the midst of a real drama. Anyway, a few minutes later, another cab came and drove them away while the saga continued.

The above is just one of the numerous stories that Dad narrated to me from his overseas trip. I love it when Dad comes back from his business trips. I derive lots of entertainment from his countless and interesting encounters with the locals which I certainly would not experience even when I went on my packaged tour holidays. And he never fails to get me a T-shirt from each city he visits if I've never been to that country. But this time, for some reason which I shan't mention, he didn't do so. Instead, he brought back a whole box of my favourite fruit: mango :) However, I'm not sure if a certain Mr Lim has the courage to consume them, due to his rather weak tummy.