Sound OK, horn

Sound OK, Horn. This may sound noisy, but unfortunately this is the most accepted cliche in India :-( This cacophony is at its best in the evenings, when everyone is hurrying back home. This is equally bad in front of our apartment in the early morning itself, when I wait for our office cab to pick me up. Having absolutely nothing to do till the cab picks me up, I tend to observe the vehicle behavior :-) I am not sure if our apartment is so attractive or distractive, without any exception all the vehicles honk atleast once there. Since there is no option but to accept these honking, sometime I even try to enjoy this early morning music. But it is tough :-(

So, having analyzed sound-ok-horn, I have been able to classify people into different categories:

• People suffering from Vehicle-syndrome: When you see a vehicle in front of you, just honk. Unfortunately in India, on any road, there is always a vehicle in front of you, and one hand of these people are always on the horn :-(
• Anti-social people: When you see someone trying to cross the road, honk. Someone is not trying to cross the road, but just standing by the side of the road? Honk even more... what if they decide to cross?
  
• Stress-Busters: Honking is a way of stress busting. More you honk, less stressed you are. Honk, Honk, Honk & be cool. Transfer all your frustration to others on the road & you have a smile on your face when you drive.
• Jam Busters: When there is a traffic jam, keep honking, hoping that jam gets cleared because of your decibel levels.
• Signal Busters: Even before the signal can turn green, start honking. Just to ensure that everyone at the signal are ready to do a race once signal goes green. If someone stops at the red-signal, Honk - why did the guy stop when it was just turning red?
• Road-o-phobia: Just saw a speed breaker? Just saw potholes? Honk, Honk, Honk. 
• Honko-Freaks: That guy honked at me, I honk at him. That guy overtook me, honk. I overtook this guy, honk. I need to scare this guy to give way, honk. Honko-freak guys just eat, sleep & drink honks.

All of us who honk does fit into one of these categories. When you drive next time & honk, just think why did you honk? You will get an answer as to which kind of Honko-personality is yours. No need to play an online quiz in Facebook to know the answer :-)

Gemini Circus : See to believe it

One of my friend had called me to wish on New year's. He just mentioned about Gemini circus which he attended during the last week of December & how much he enjoyed it. He said, he enjoyed it more than his 4 1/2 year old daughter did. I was little skeptical anyway, but I exactly had the same feeling after we attended the circus yesterday.

It was long time since I went for circus. During my Bhadravathi days (in late 80"s), I had visited some circus. Later I also had been to a circus show in US, in 1999. But the Indian circus has lot more variety & lot more interesting stuff to offer. Poorvi has never been to circus. So, I thought it is better to visit the circus over the weekend, before they pack & move to other city. I am always fascinated by circus. It is such a great art on the verge of extinction. :-( Unless people support them, they are gone & the next generation kids will have to just live in virtual world of entertainment :-(

We went there on Saturday evening & occupied the better seats available to watch the show. The whole setup was nice. There was orchestra band in the podium & the usual bells (3 times, last one being a long bell) indicated the start of the circus. From the word go till the very end, there was not even a single minute break, 2 hours of pure entertainment. Expectedly, the number of animals have reduced & the human touch has increased in the performance. They have performers from Russia, Africa etc & they set the stage on fire, literally. Each performance was better than the previous. Especially the ladder-balancing act, cycle show & the elephant performances (playing cricket, playing doctor-patient) are just memorable. When you just think you have seen the best performance of the show, next one will be much better. Wow. Such a talented bunch of people risking their lives day after day, show after show to entertain people.

Take a break from Idiots & Avataars to get the pure entertainment & thrill of circus. 

Here are the details of  the circus:

Place: Palace Grounds, you have ample car parking space, entry opposite to TV tower.

Timings: 3 shows daily : 1 PM, 4 PM, 7 PM  

Price : Rs40, Rs80, Rs150, Rs200, Rs250. My suggestion is to go for either 200 Rs or 250 Rs. You will have a good view. Rs 150 row itself is little back. Rs 40/80 are gallery benches.

Other points: Carry snacks/water. You will also get popcorns/juices/chocolates/candys/Coffee at your seat itself, but it is expensive. Try to sit away from the globe on which they do motorbike stunt, as it will be too noisy. Photography is prohibited, however I saw many many people clicking the photos & shooting the videos. Restroom services are not available, so take all precautionary measures :-).