It’s a different kettle of fish
“When in Rome do as the Romans do” that’s the recommendaton by a well-known proverb. Far away from the hustle and bustle I came across an edition of “The Times of India” during breakfast. This newspaper has two advantages: it can be read through fast and easily and it holds a lot of weired news for European minds:
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For example this one: “Change of name: I, Martinho Angelo Vaz R/o. House No: 636, Cobia Pedda, Varca, Salcete-Goa, changed my name from Vas Martinho Angelo to Martinho Angelo Vaz. Hereafter in all my dealings & documents, I will be known by the name of Martinho Angelo Vaz.” The public announcement of a change in name was new to me. This, however, seems to be daily business in India, as more than seven of these ads have been published just in that edition.
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The headline: “3,500 Russians to descend on Goa’s shores every ten days” sounds alarming. A statistic makes it clear: Whereas only 11 flights arrived from Russian in Goa with 939 russian tourists in 2001-02, these figures will rise up to 259 flights with 59,327 tourists from Russia. Will this be the end of calmness and recovery in one of the last worldwide oasis of peace?
- A group of Internet-Nerds gets my attention: “Most Indian teenagers spend 5 hrs on net daily”. Über 50 % der 8-11-jährigen Kinder verbringen täglich über fünf Stunden beim Surfen im Internet. “Children of working parents were found to be more addicted, due to lack of parental supervision. It’s a problem that arises with urbanisation.” Welcome to a globalised world!
- The headline “What the future city needs, wants – and desires” bore for me the most strange and bold statement of that Times of India-edition: “You can be anybody in Mumbai but if you are smart and hardworking some one, some how, the city will give you a leg up. Few cities in the world can match this uplifting quality. New York is the only other city I know which has the same great positive energy.” It is hard to say, whether the author of this article knows only two cities in the world, one is Mumbai (Bombay) the other one is New York. Anybody, who has ever been to Mumbai knows what I am saying.
