I was awoken from my reverie by the phone ringing.
Hello?
"Good mawning Sir"! said the friendly Indian voice at the other end.
"Red Cross"?
"Sorry?" I said.
"Red Cross Sir?" he repeated
"Errr...no I dont think sooo" I said, wandering if this was somehow some left over remnant from my helicopter confusion dream.
"No Red Cross Sir?
Umlette? Indian Red Cross?"
Ahhh! "Breakfast!"
"Yes Sir, Red Cross!"
"Indian Red Cross Sir?"
"YES! Yes please. Indian Red Cross!" I said excitedly.
"Ok Ok Sir! Indian Red Cross five minutes!' He said. (And probably "calm down you fool its only breakfast" in Tamil after putting the phone down.)
And so 5 minues later I sat down to my first Indian Breakfast, which was basically an Omlette with 4 small slices of bread arranged in quarters on top, and served with a cup of incredibly sweet milky tea.
I wolfed it all down, and then ran downstairs where Saravan was waiting ouside to drive me into College.
Once again the sheer volume, noise and chaos of the morning rush hour traffic was overwhelming, and once again Saravan handled it with consummate skill.
We stopped en route to pick up Pranav at his apartment which as it turned out was only about 200 metres from the college door, so at the time I'm wasn't quite sure why he didn't walk to work. Now, having been in Chennai a few days, I realise its because he values his life. Walking isn't really a viable option here. So if your the College Director, a chauffeur driven lift to work isnt so much a perk of the job as Life insurance and Health Care all in one.
Once again he seemed delighted to see me.
Good morning, good morning Myles! he said.
You have slept well? Not more jet lag?
Yes, very good thankyou Pranav.
Ahh! Good good. He was doing the wobbly head thing again.
"And your place is comfortable?"
Yes, fine thanks!
Ahh fine fine! More head wobble.
And you had Red Cross?
We drew up outside the College entrance, and he eagerly jumped out the car.
I followed him up the steps and he opened the glass entrance door for me.
"Please!" He motioned me through
"Welcome to Raffles!"
Hello?
"Good mawning Sir"! said the friendly Indian voice at the other end.
"Red Cross"?
"Sorry?" I said.
"Red Cross Sir?" he repeated
"Errr...no I dont think sooo" I said, wandering if this was somehow some left over remnant from my helicopter confusion dream.
"No Red Cross Sir?
Umlette? Indian Red Cross?"
Ahhh! "Breakfast!"
"Yes Sir, Red Cross!"
"Indian Red Cross Sir?"
"YES! Yes please. Indian Red Cross!" I said excitedly.
"Ok Ok Sir! Indian Red Cross five minutes!' He said. (And probably "calm down you fool its only breakfast" in Tamil after putting the phone down.)
And so 5 minues later I sat down to my first Indian Breakfast, which was basically an Omlette with 4 small slices of bread arranged in quarters on top, and served with a cup of incredibly sweet milky tea.
I wolfed it all down, and then ran downstairs where Saravan was waiting ouside to drive me into College.
Once again the sheer volume, noise and chaos of the morning rush hour traffic was overwhelming, and once again Saravan handled it with consummate skill.
We stopped en route to pick up Pranav at his apartment which as it turned out was only about 200 metres from the college door, so at the time I'm wasn't quite sure why he didn't walk to work. Now, having been in Chennai a few days, I realise its because he values his life. Walking isn't really a viable option here. So if your the College Director, a chauffeur driven lift to work isnt so much a perk of the job as Life insurance and Health Care all in one.
Once again he seemed delighted to see me.
Good morning, good morning Myles! he said.
You have slept well? Not more jet lag?
Yes, very good thankyou Pranav.
Ahh! Good good. He was doing the wobbly head thing again.
"And your place is comfortable?"
Yes, fine thanks!
Ahh fine fine! More head wobble.
And you had Red Cross?
We drew up outside the College entrance, and he eagerly jumped out the car.
I followed him up the steps and he opened the glass entrance door for me.
"Please!" He motioned me through
"Welcome to Raffles!"
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