Morning Mr. Magpie

It’s blazing hot during the day, in the run up to the monsoons which will start early June, and which the Met office says with 97% certainty are likely to be ‘normal’.

We know it and the birds and the bees know it, which is why the parrots, crows andkoyals (Eudynamys Scolopacea Iheres for short) get all their chattering done early morning. It’s what we wake up to, with this massive feathered conversation taking place right outside our living room window. No magpies yet, save for the ones referenced by Radiohead.

Morning Mr Magpie, from Radiohead’s The King of Limbs album

Highlights

Life has its moments, such as Saturday brunch at Le Pain Quotidien, a Belgian brasserie that has opened up around the corner from the Taj Hotel, and which has been quickly dubbed as ‘LPQ’, to avoid linguistic embarrassment in high society.

Kumud found out about a creperie called Suzette (what else?) that opened up at Nariman Point. Let’s just say that Mira got her daily Nutella fix...

Lowlights

And then there is the mind-numbing disorganization of Indian bureaucracy to help ensure that life has its share of lowlights as well. Yang to the Crepe Suzette’s Ying, or the other way round.

The story goes something like, “Sanjay finally gets his Indian driving license, Sanjay loses Indian driving license a day later for ostensibly taking a wrong right turn (how do you notice) and for getting angry at the policeman, Sanjay regains driving license.

1.Sanjay actually finds the RTO

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2.Sanjay finally finds the prisoners’ block where the head of the RTO sits. Takes 5 min to insult him, when asked to provide evidence of what a “Class D” Illinois license stands for. Many words starting with the letter D start coming to mind.

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3.Sanjay sees merit in the cottage industry outside the RTO, where proof of medical fitness are issued for 50 Rupees, copies are made, etc.

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4.Sanjay scales new heights, climbing a ladder to an ‘internet cafe’ on left. Sends definition of “Class D” driving license from iPhone to super computer.

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5.Two genuinely helpful guys make printout, which doesn’t so much as merit a glance by the warden when it is finally submitted to him.

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The application for Mira’s passport renewal, though no less messy and inconsistent, proceeded much more successfully, as Kumud, raised in the ways of Indian bureaucracy, and therefore much more respectful and prepared, took charge.

But who are we kidding?

The wining about highlights and lowlights for the like of us reminds me of a joke by an African American comedian. “I love it when white guys sing the blues” he said. “What on earth are you blue about, did Banana Republic run out of khakis?

“No poor person in Maharashtra will remain homeless by 2012, according to an ambitious target set by the government which plans to construct 735,000 houses for the poor in three years”, according to Governor K. Sankaranarayanan.

Do Gooders. So click here for a list of charities who focus on homeless children in Mumbai.