Ravager's profile - StumbleUpon

Last login: 23 hours agoRavager: Chandrachoodan is a 26 year old guy from Chennai, TN, India.; Likes 75 pages, 2 videos, 16 photos • 14 fans; Member since Mar 19, 2005

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;-) iwinkd.com: Apr 9, 5:03am 1 review science, tags, discussion, number, wnkd
http://iwinkd.blogspot.com/; COol feature to put on pretty much every physical object.

Calvin & Hobbes - Oct 1991: Mar 18, 3:42am 1 review humor, comic, scott, calvin, hobbes
http://www.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/1991/10/199110.html; An entire bunch of Calvin & Hobbes, scanned from the books

a microscopic world: so close: Feb 9, 11:09am 1 review drawing, arts, art, illustration, comic
http://amicroscopicworld.blogspot.com/2007/06/so-close.html; brilliant sketch

nungambakkam 110 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!: Jan 29, 2:17am 1 review photography, street, portrait, motion, candid
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages/2215049062/; Adult.

Flickr: Please wait...: Jan 5, 11:34am 1 review photography
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amoleji/2166708689?addedcomment=1; From the page: "A middle aged man, probably British, looked a little disturbed on the platform number 1 of Margao train station in Goa. I exchanged greetings and asked if everything was ok, something that one can do to a stranger in India. I learned that he was refused to be on a train because his ticket was not valid for some reason and he had paid online for it. He tried arguing with the officials and asked them if he can pay a fine to stay on the train. He was asked to get out at Margao and get the next train. Gregory Roberts mentions in 'Shantaram' that it is not possible to win in India and the only thing one can do is be and survive it. Too bad that I didn�t read Shantaram till the second month of my journey in the country.

My first train ride from Amritsar to Bombay was painful, scary and yet a lot of fun. I slept on the floor between the doors in second-class sleeper coach. Putting my backpack on the ground and then sitting on took a lot of courage. But once I was there comfortably lying on my sleeping bag, I received plenty of smiles. Everybody going to the washroom looked at me wave and said hi. It was acceptance of a weird sort. The next time I was traveling overnight, it didn�t bother me at all, as a matter of fact I had a friend from New Zealand sleep next to me on the floor, attracting more attention.

The officials on board act like they are not there. Totally isolated from the conversations, troubles and questions of the passengers they zoom in and out of the coaches like administrative zombies. I offered them money when my seat was still in waiting status and was too lazy to keep one eye open for the luggage. Talking to them for a few minutes, I would get a special rate for the bribe. There seems to be so many loopholes in the reservation system and the ticketing process but like a huge wild animal the Indian railway runs through the jungles of the nation, making the so very diverse cultures and states look coherent.

There is no personal space in the world�s seventh largest country. In one coach there can be as many as 10 times the seats. From Madurai to Chennai, there was absolutely no space left for any one to move. When there are so many of us in one congested place, I guess it is some sort of natural thing for the relationships to get established. I became son to so many, brother to so many, uncle to so many and stranger to no one in that little area around me. It is totally normal to be offered food. It is totally up to you if you want it. It is totally normal for one to grab the magazine or comic that you have in your handbag. It is totally ok to photograph anyone there as well. Something that I was super excited about.

People can choose to complaint and be uncomfortable in this overwhelming presence of smells, sounds and people. They can be frustrated from the beggars and eunuchs asking for money. And several other reasons can be found wrong in the system worth for fighting. I think these very reasons for a resistance should be rather used as an excuse for no resistance. More over the phenomenon that is India will crush any such confidence that sees a different way. If you stay, sit and submit to India... its people, and its ways will simulate you to feel a whole new eco-system of cultures and values. These ways are most definitely are far grander than me, any outsider and that British man that I met on the platform number 1 of Margao train station. "