"Sir...Auto Venum??"

Having shifted to Coimbatore two months ago, going back to Bangalore for weekends is an occasion I look forward to more eagerly these days.

No! Not because Coimbatore isn't good. Contrary to the opinion of many colleagues, I find it a nice place to live in. Friendly people, lesser traffic, less pollution, good public transport and so on...

Talking about the public transport, the buses fares here are damn cheap. Once it so happened that one my friends who got transferred here to Coimbatore was visiting a tourist place near the city. He purchased the ticket for a mere Rs.5 and then decided to wait at the foot board for his stop, for he assumed on seeing the ticket price that it must be just one or two stops away. The poor guy had to wait for 1.5 hrs at the foot board as hsi stop was 15-20kms away.

Bangalore still calls me for everything there: Home, family, friends, relatives, food and of course language - namma Kannada. Btw, my Tamil isn't bad either. Thanks to my good friend Mohan for his non-stop chattering, I can now survive in the city with my little knowledge of Tamil.

So, It was a festive time again for me as I was to catch the Island express to Bangalore. The bus driver was more than happy to take me to the station for just Rs.2. I boarded the train as it chugged its way to Bangalore. I was in for a big treat next morning. Winter had just begun in Bangalore and the cantonment station was covered with fog. Wow ! what a sight it was. Bangalore looked more beautiful than ever.

As I walked with my luggage towards the exit, I was greeted by a flock of auto drivers ever so happy to take their customers for a ride. Each one trying to out-do one another, one of the auto drivers hurriedly enquired "Sir, auto venum??". Amused by the enquiry in Tamil and also still not having made up my mind, I politely replied: "Beda guru". Possibly seeing the doubt in my mind, the auto driver pursued further: "Sir, yende area...yenge pogunu?". Now, clearly irritated with the questions for obvious reasons, I curtly replied "Guru, naanu kannadavanu", to which the driver had to say "Sir, English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil...Indian sir!!".
Sachin tendulkar's words came as a flash to my mind at the moment "I am proud to be a maharastrian, but I am an Indian first". I was caught short of the crease by this man now! This thought brought in a smile and I laughed at myself getting irritated and walked away.

I had my lesson: "Yes, I am an Indian first."