India is an odd country. Cattle run riot on roads. (Elephants have stopped doing that since too many IT people started driving too many cars on the narrow roads.) Babas and gooroos are found droning in every street corner. Most dogs are homeless (like most people) and roam the streets nakes in the sun and the rains. And customer support is available 24 X 7.

There's hardly anything peculiar about the US. It's only the peculiar people like I that find some of the things peculiar. All services such as the Internet, cable etc. are organized, are run by corporations, have customer support centres, websites, and the works. And it takes only a few weeks to get anything done despite that. Nothing odd really, except that I am used to thinking how much time it takes in India to catch hold of the neighbourhood cable guy, who doesn't even have a fixed office, yell a bit, and fix the damned thing. May be 3-4 days.

Let's say you come across the following instruction outside banks and other such places: "Shirt and shoes required. Pets not allowed." Should you find it funny? Of course, not. I somehow find it funny though. Would you be envious of dogs with colourful sweaters and caps barking at you from inside luxury cars? No. I am not either. But I keep wondering. Had dogs evolved to grow better brains than those of humans, would they have treated me as well? Odd question, isn't it?