Something funny not related to life in S Asia

Instead, it is about E Asia...

We have a friend from Hong Kong visiting right now. She asked what she could bring for us and Jerry requested current, popular Chinese action movies. She brought several VCDs and told us that when we watch them, we need to turn one speaker off.

WHAT??

Well, she went on to explain that we have to do that because the audio is in Mandarin AND Cantonese - one language on one speaker and the other language on the other speaker.

So before I came home Jerry was watching one of the movies with the right speaker off, so he could listen to the movie in Cantonese. But now that I am here, he is using his headphones and so the audio is coming only in his left ear!

Another Adventure in the Heat

We walked into our flat at around 8:30pm tonight and just as I approached the bedroom, the lights went out. Yup, a power cut. And what of our inverter, you say? Doesn't work. Well actually, the inverter works but the battery is near dead. Does it surprise you that things did not work out as planned with this whole inverter thing? Does not surprise me. Here's what happened next:

M: What do you think? Should we stay or try to find some A/C?
J: Well, we'll see. Maybe it will last only an hour.
M: Okay.

five minutes later...
M: Honey, a heat rash is developing on my finger and hands.
J: Okay, let's go.

Our plan was to find a coffee shop that still had power and bring our Skip-Bo with us and play cards until the power came back. We first went to Barista. No A/C. Then Cafe Coffee Day (CCD). No A/C. Then the mall (who had the 4-6 hour power cut over the weekend). A/C!! Hooray!! We went to the CCD on the food court level, ordered iced drinks and played Skip-Bo and then War. Our friend who has a working inverter let us know when the power came back on (10:00pm) and we went back to our flat where the temp was 95 degrees. We turned on the A/C, took a cold shower and watched a movie on TV called Outsourced, a film about an American guy who goes to India to train his outsourced replacement. It was a blessing to watch this character try to navigate the culture. We were able to laugh quite a bit since we are now "insiders" and it improved our moods about living here. We really needed that boost since this past week has been particularly frustrating and discouraging for us. Hooray for the right kind of movie just when we needed it, especially since Jerry was just flipping channels and happened upon it just as it was starting!

Not intended to elicit sympathy (for us)

I have a bit of time on my hands right now because I am unexpectedly at home instead of at work because of an upset stomach that is going on 4 hours. And here, I would say that my "stomach is paining" (one of these days I want to blog about new phrases I am learning).

Anyhow, I had some time to read the local news online and it's just crazy here. I kinda debated on whether or not to even share these things with you since I do not want to come across as someone to feel sorry for. Right now, I am lying in bed neath the comfort of a ceiling fan and A/C. But I want to help you understand what life is like here, so here goes...

THE WEATHER
Here is the high/low forecast for the next several days:
M - 108/79
T - 109/83
W - 107/80
R - 107/83
F - 107/83
Sa - 106/83
The discomfort index (sort of like a heat index, but includes more stuff than just humidity) was 148.6 yesterday. It was really HOT. And it is really humid here. I keep hearing that sweat cools you off, but in my experience, sweat makes me sticky, stinky, itchy and makes my eczema worse.

Anyhow, yesterday was also a day when most of the city lost power for hours. We went to the mall to get some A/C and the whole mall blacked out. That was weird. I was glad we were sitting inside a restaurant and not walking around. But I think that is why my stomach is paining today. Something I ate at the mall may have been affected by the blackout. The generators came on but only for the lights - no A/C. As we were walking around a bookstore later, we were sweating. And at my small group a few days before, we were all talking about how we were going to need to spend the weekends at the mall to get some A/C so we would not need to run up our own A/C costs at home. We may need to come up with a Plan B, C, D, etc.

A few excerpts from the newspaper:

Doctors said many were falling victim to the excessive heat. “People are being admitted with heat exhaustion, diarrhoea, hepatitis and fever,” said critical care expert Subrata Maitra.

Heat exhaustion, an initial stage of heat stroke, manifests itself through weakness, fatigue and a drop in blood pressure. "People should also try not to eat or drink at roadside stalls to avoid being afflicted with gastrointestinal ailments,” said Maitra.

Of the patients turning up at various gastroenterology clinics in the city, many are complaining of pain in the kidney or urinary bladder. “Crystals are formed in kidneys and urinary bladders because of inadequate intake of fluid in extreme heat. If left untreated, these crystals can grow into stones,” said surgical gastroenterologist Sanjay De Bakshi.

I really feel for the people who cannot afford electricity for fans or the luxury of A/C. And eating on the street is really cheap and lots of people do not have the money to do otherwise. Jerry and I are suffering, but certainly not to the extent of the average person.

And guess what? May will be hotter.

POLLUTION

I could write for days about the pollution, but I will limit myself to a recent news article. A school here in the middle of town noticed high absenteeism rates due to respiratory illnesses. So, as of last week, a surgical face mask is now a compulsory part of the school uniform. In their own words:

“So many people in this city are suffering from pollution-related lung cancer that it is scary. I also know of students who have developed breathing problems because of air pollution. The anti-pollution mask is not only for our protection but also a symbol of our protest (against official apathy),” says Abhishek Mundhra, a student of Class X.

Spandan Chatterjee, another Class X student, nods his head in approval. “I will carry the mask whenever I step out of home. If I am stuck in a traffic snarl, the mask will be my protection from noxious vehicle fumes.” Classmate Nakshatra Pain hopes the sight of students wearing masks to school would finally make the authorities sit up and take notice.

The school children are also planning to educate the slum children near their school about the effects of pollution and have plans to raise funds to buy masks for them as well.

I have read several articles about the pollution problem that report that between 65-80% of all of the people who live here have some sort of respiratory problem. Again, Jerry and I are able to limit the amount of time we walk around on the streets in the midst of the billowing black fumes, but long commutes by open-air bus, auto rickshaws and foot are a fact of life for most people.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Indian Premier League (for cricket) just kicked off its second season in SOUTH AFRICA. It's election time over here and because of the violence that surrounds elections, the league had to move all the games to ANOTHER COUNTRY or cancel the season. It's national election time and here they do it in five phases. During the first phase eleven people were killed. The phase in our city will be the day after my birthday - May 13th. Although there is typically no violence in this city during elections, I have been told we should stay at home that day. Anyway, there were too many security concerns regarding the safety of the spectators and the players, so the IPL got moved to another continent. People here LOVE cricket. It really crushed their spirits when the news broke that the IPL would not be playing any games in India. And last night, it was our own city's team that was playing their first game of the season but not many people got to watch it on TV because of the power outage.

Another thing that might happen is that the movie theaters may have to shut down. There is a dispute between Bollywood producers and the theaters about revenue-sharing. As of the beginning of this month, no new Bollywood movies have been shown. Bollywood cranks out way more films every year than Hollywood - think it is 1000 to 750. People love cricket, but even more people here love the Bollywood films. From today's paper:

“Yes we have already shut down half the screens because we have to cut operational costs and I have no qualms in admitting that we may shut down the entire property in the near future,” Shravan Shroff of Fame Cinemas told Metro. “It’s simple — there’s no supply of content and we are incurring losses every day.”

The last two weeks have seen average occupancy at the plexes plummeting to “10 to15 per cent”, proving yet again that the plexes can’t do without Bollywood, just as Bollywood can’t do without the plexes (that’s why there are no new releases on single screens either).

And things can only get worse. May 1 is the Friday when plexes in town may start shutting down if no solution is in sight. “I don’t see any talks happening between the producers and us. Their two main stars won’t even be in the country (Aamir will be on holiday in the US for two months and Shah Rukh will be in South Africa for the IPL). In such a scenario we would have to close down our properties,” explained Shravan.

So, with the heat and pollution (just two of many problems people face here), folks try to divert their attention to fun things like cricket and the cinema. But, the IPL cricket is gone and the cinema may follow.

But don't feel sorry for us (well, you can feel a little sorry for us), pray for the nationals who live here. Life here is tough already and it is exacerbated by heat, pollution and power cuts... When we first got here, we would say that we feel these discomforts more acutely than the nationals because we are used to a different standard and the people here grew up in these conditions. Well, I no longer feel that way. Just because they grew up here does not mean they are used to it or are able to endure. It is much harder for them.

Mitzi and Jerry are a little stunned that...

the forecast for Monday's high temp is 108 degrees.

It's hot here. I started drip sweating after standing in my living room for just two minutes. And just like last year, people keep saying, "Just wait til May. It will be hotter."

But this year, we are going to be a bit more prepared. This Saturday we are getting an inverter installed. An inverter is something like a battery that is connected to the electrical stuff in your flat. Usually, people have inverters that will allow one fan and one light to work in each room of the flat for about an hour. So, when the power goes out... you get the picture. Some buildings here have generators. Our does not. Some flats have inverters. Ours does not. Last year, the power outages almost got the best of me. There are more power cuts in summer than any other time because there is not enough electricity to meet the increased demand/need to use fans and A/Cs. Last summer, the power would go out and then after we could not stand it any longer, we would open the windows, but then the mosquitoes would come and bite me. They always stay away from Jerry and always bite me. It's just not fair.

Anyway, we are starting the process of getting the inverter installed this Saturday. I say starting the process because I have lived here long enough to know that it will most likely take at least a few sessions with the electrician before the inverter works. And I have decided that we will turn on only fans during the power outages because I would rather be in the dark if that means the fans can stay on a little longer without the lights using up the precious inverter battery. We don't need to SEE each other sweating!

This is what the table near us was eating...

Family Paper Dosa - never seen one before in my life until tonight!
(and the family was really nice about letting me AND my friend take pictures)