Are we westerners missing something? Is it something in the versaltilty of the two wheeler that as a foreigner i have overlooked? I often hear ‘the lack of thinking outside the box’ as a problem with many people but this is not necessarily so if all you have is a bicycle, a scooter or a motorbike and you have to get item ‘x’ from A to B.

When i first came to India i was astounded, amused and sometimes angry at what i would see being transported on the back of a two wheeler. Now i have become complacent and just accept but that is a terrible shame, then i meet someone new to India and they tell me they have seen 4 people on a motorcycle – it all comes rushing back and the joy and excitement i felt when i saw my first ‘sixer’, yes SIX people on a two wheeler. Then i remember  the 10 feet ladder,  the TV set, the set of 6 matching plastic chairs and my favourite, which i have seen twice – two people and five sheep! 
The hilarious thing was the sheep seemed to be loving it! i hate to think where they were going but at least they had the chance to feel wind in their fleece and let ‘dribble’ fly off their mouth into the face of the passenger riding pillion!.

There has got to be an opportunity to bring these images together and bring a smile to someone’s face, so my question is can you beat my examples? Can you prove it? Lets have a competition, even an exhibition -  ‘Five Sheep and a TV”

If you’d like to share your photos, join buddy on facebook – click here – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=53017188911&ref=ts

Chris Baker
Bangalore, India
Director – bangalorebuddy

In India (Bangalore in my case) this is far more difficult than it sounds; these tradesman like anywhere
in the world can be as elusive as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, so do your homework.
Don’t be in the poition of taking the first one simply out of desperation!

You may be lucky and discover that your security man’s second cousin removed,
next door neighbour’s nephew’s wife’s father, ‘Raj’ is a real plumber with years of
experience and a portfolio of testimonials, but you may find that actually his
only experience is turning off a tap!

Remember ‘it should be fun!’.
What you want is confidence in the person that’s working for you.
Ask around, telephone, search the internet and then before giving them
the job to transform your house into a home, get them to do a small job first
and if they say ‘Monday’ then be wary! I have fallen into the ‘Monday’ trap so many times,
so now if you get told ‘Monday’ or even ‘Tuesday’ always ask which one!

Always allow for things to take longer than you are told or would expect, especially
in Bangalore so don’t plan your housewarming party until you know you can meet the deadline.

Remember ‘it should be fun’ not a trauma!
Finally don’t fall into the trap into thinking that now you have found your plumber
he will always be around. The chances are that next time you try and call him
his phone is disconnected or he may even send ‘Raj’!

Chris Baker
Bangalore, India
Director – http://www.bangalorebuddy.in