Dollar Rupee game...

Sriram headed out with his wife on a Sunday evening to shop things randomly. He had wishes and plans to purchase a new digital camera and probably upgrade his cellphone. The dailies were flooded with advertisements on holiday sales that nobody could resist. Sriram reached to an electronic store that displayed digital cameras with special prices for the festive and holiday season. When he picked the camera in hand, his mind calculated and converted the price on the tag to its US dollars and realized it was still 50% higher than the prices he had seen on US retail websites like amazon. He quickly decided to give up buying it and instead ask his colleague, Ashwin, who was returning home from the United States to buy the same model from there.

Ashwin was living his final month of his deputation in the United States of America. He somehow managed the five months with the Indian spices and the cereals he had brought from his home. One day, he wanted to eat nice Indian food at a restaurant. On a weekend, with so much eager and admiration that he had ever had, he visited one such Indian restaurant and walked in to have his meal. He looked slowly at the menu one by one and looked at the prices against each. He calculated and converted the prices to its Indian equivalent that ended up at a number that is about ten times, if it had bought the same in his home. He decide to pursue the dinner but, wait until reaching home to have his desirous Indian food.

Four (or more ) years back and now...

As a college boy, I stepped out of the university, watched several city buses go as I waited for that single bus that connects my college and home. There were days I used to stand for an hour or more ! Apart from typical reasons for college guy to have a bike, I used to think how much time I would be saving if I had a bike for commute. Well, after few months, I did buy one.

Couple of years later, the bike I had, as well as ,I aged. After losing couple of "knowns" and friends to fatal road accidents, I slowly refrained myself from using bike. No need to mention the weekend parking woos in Bangalore. Then, I started to look at (pluses of) cars and think how good it would be to take the family and ladies in it. I would not say, I enjoyed driving bike much then.

When it was the time, I got hold of an entry level hatchback and immediately, I started feeling I was finally there. After a year fighting for space on roads, avoiding roads during peak hours, thinking and planning for parking space everywhere I went, car became an overhead most of the times. I gave up taking car most of the times and have started using city buses and trains during week days and weekends. I know it is subjective. My house and office were nearby to bus stations.

I wait several minutes for the bus and forget the pressure to handle road space or parking space. I look at cars and the lonely commuter in them. Sometimes I watch few cars "hanging around" to park somewhere. I walk past happily towards the bus station.

Well, have several years passed by ?