Colourful Bhubaneswar

What do you understand by a fully furnished house? Generally, the house should have all furniture, linen, gadgets and the rest, required to live there.
Not in this Indian state - Orissa!
Here, people have their own definition of furnishing.
Ask for a furnished house and the property agent will take you to newly built room with tiled floor and electricity connection. "You asked for furnished house, here you are! The room has tiles and the bathroom has all the fittings."
I gave up.
This is Orissa and people have different perceptions. Fine!
That was the point I decided to explore the famous `haat' (mercado grande or market). This was a effort to perk me up and help me not feel frustrated with the situation.
It was a good decision. When I arrived at the market, my mood was as bright as the lights in the massive shopping area. I was as cheerful as the noise around me.
This `haat' is a place in the heart of Bhubaneswar, where there are over 10,000 shops (ranging from a small kiosk  and pavement shop to big show rooms). They sell everything - you name it and they have it.
The most striking feature of this `haat' - one street has all shoe shops, the other one all bag shops (bags of all sizes shapes and colours). Then there are rows of fruit sellers or rows of shops selling Indian dress `Salwar Kurta' (shirt and trousers).
What surprised me the most were the series of shops selling plastic ropes (see the first pic). What they are for? I couldn't guess. But there were ropes of all thickness and in all possible shades.

Another interesting feature of the market are rows of repair shops. You lost your key for our car, motor bike or house key or you want to get your grand mother's pressure cooker fixed or if there is an old torch needing repair - this market has a solution for all you repair problems.


An hour of going around was not enough as I could explore less than 25 per cent of this most and unfortunately the only one interesting place I have discovered in Bhubaneswar so far.
This `Haat' has given me something to look forward to for the time being at least till I move beyond the city and explore the exotic places which I have  only read or heard about.
So, until then....

Brown Bhubaneswar....

When I took a flight to Bhubaneswar - the capital of Orissa - a south eastern state of India, I was excited. My bags had the best of y dresses and shoes and the rest. What I was thinking was that my friends would be envious of me knowing I am going to an exotic location while they would be slogging in the dusty by lanes of Uttar Pradesh for election coverage.
I was wrong!
As I arrive at the Biju Patnaik airport reality struck like lightning. There was a tourism information center (lights were on, no body home). The well-lit center was closed with no one in sight to help me with at least a map of the city - the most essential apparatus to carry in a new city.
It wasn't a big jolt as tourism offices mostly remain deserted in India. The reason is simple: No one (especially the government) gives a damn to tourism in India - the home to Taj Mahal. I have already given up on tourism authorities so it was no big deal but on expected lines.
I was happy to spot at least a prepaid taxi counter but before I could say 'h' i found that its condition was worse than the tourism office. It seemed it was never visited by anyone before. The airport security was casual about it - "I think they haven't come today."
I went out of the airport and to my surprise a man was sitting at the exit giving receipts to people for taxis. So, a gang of taxi men was operating outside the airport.
So my journey started and Bhubaneswar started unfolding.
I told the taxi guy to take me to hotel Golden Palace. After half an hour of drive, the driver stopped in front of a restaurant Golden Palace Hotel. I was tired and didn't have the energy to argue so I simply asked the taxi guy as to why. He innocently said, "you said hotel".
Alright, so the fault was mine!
I should have said lodge. In Bhubaneswar hotel means restaurant, lodge means a place to live and if you by mistake mention Guest House - they will take you to some shady but expensive accommodation.

My first learning about the city!                                                                                        
Next day while travelling to my work place I realised that the city was not as cool and beautiful as I had thought of. Everywhere construction going on - more or less all roads dug. But no where I saw any work going on. Looking objectively at the environment the most spontaneous word which cam to my mind was brown - 'brown Bhubanesawr'.
Then another shock came that the city has only autos (scooter rickshaw or tuktuk) and if you are lucky you can also find a 'town bus' (this is what city buses are known as).
For autos the motto of 'the more the better' works. Built for two passengers and a driver here the autos carry four people at the back seat and at least three at the front, including the driver. Seven people in an auto for three (and I found ourselves crammed if I had to adjust a fifth person in my Santro - which officially claims to be a car for five people).
The first days helped me in one way - I did not open my bag full of nice clothes. A pair of jeans and a few T shirts were enough for a week along with my walking shoes.
Nonetheless, nothing can be all negative and same goes true for Bhubaneswar too. The city has certain things which are sure to catch the attention of an outsider, especially if that outsider is from a place called Uttar Pradesh.
In a 'town bus', where people are crammed like sardines, people don't forget to give due respect to women. The bus conductor stops everyone to let women get down and same way he will ask everyone to stay aside and let a woman board the bus. Very impressive! In Uttar Pradesh I cannot even think of this behaviour in a bus.
Another striking thing I spotted was women working as traffic cops at every crossing. Smartly dresses in blue trousers and white shirt and white hats, they look pleasing to eyes.
And yes, all traffic cops wear long white gloves covering their full hands. I don't know whether it is to save them from getting tanned or to make their hand more visible to people (the latter argument I find more rational).

The last but most important thing is food - I have yet to find a KFC, McDonald or Cafe Coffee Day or Barista. The saving grace are the lovely colourful shops selling variety of fruit on which I have survived so far..

But it is less than a week I have passed here - i think the more and the better is yet to come - let me start travelling to nearby locations like Puri and Cuttak....