So we finished our move from the service apartment to the house where we will be living the rest of our time in India. Except that we are no longer in India it seems, but this strange mongerel of a place that seems like a cross between India and suburban Orlando. It really looks like a condo village near Disney world and considering that just outside the gate on Varthur Road is the typical hustle, bustle, poverty and dirt of India, it is a really strange combination.
I think that the architects watched Leave it To Beaver one too many times when designing the place; with its wide, immaculate streets, sidewalks set back from the street, American style and palm trees everywhere. It gets stranger. The people, wherther they are Indian, German, American, Korean or whatever also seem straight out of an idealized suburban American neighborhood circa 1960. People use the sidewalks – in large numbers – to stroll around, socialize, go to the store, etc. In the evenings, it seems that everyone is out for a stroll and there is a sound of children playing everywhere.
One of the other residents, who also happens to be a parent of one of Charlottes’s classmates said to us, “Welcome to the Republic of Palm Meadows”. Does this mean we commute to India now?
3 responses so far ↓
Holger // July 10, 2008 at 9:16 pm |
Any chance yet to call the snake catcher? Or Mr Fix it for Power Supply
?
Dave // July 11, 2008 at 9:12 am |
No snake catcher yet, though mr fix-it did fix the overhead fan that was squeaking and Raju did walk me through the admin page of the router. (It’s IP address was not the same as my Netgear router at home)
Daniela say that we live in Pleasantville now.
Dugi. // August 2, 2008 at 9:59 pm |
wow what a contradiction. I’ve heard about these ‘gated communities’ but never once visited one in Bangalore or else where in India.