Ghosts in Bangalore

I just came back from two weeks in Bangalore's balmy weather. It was 108 degrees in Chennai on the day we left, and went up to 114(the highest temperature in Chennai in 90 years); Bangalore was in the mid-eighties. The gul mohurs were in brilliant bloom everywhere.

I don't know the city well, but I found two things that weren't there. One was this gate, on St. Marks Road, near K. C. Das. It's nothing much, but I like sunbursts. I knew when I saw it last year that it wouldn't be there when I came again:

The other ghost was older. I once spent a night in a hotel called Barton Court. Now it's been torn down and a huge building, meant to impose on its neighbours, has come up in its place. The older hotel was full of signs. On the gate:

No admission without permission.

At the desk:

God Loves You.

In the elevator:

Ride this lift at your own risk and responsibility.

Outside the room door:

Please close the door gently and oblige.

Two inside the door:

Parking instructions -- Parking is permitted on M.G. Road. It is unavoidable that vehicles are parked strictly there. We just do not have any parking space to offer. Our driveway is for driving and not for parking. Inconvenience is regretted. Please cooperate and oblige.

And below this:

Please leave nothing to chance -- carry your valuables always with you. Do not leave them anytime behind in the room. We accept no responsibility. Thank you.

Under the glass on the three tables in the room were three more notices. I wish I had paid more attention to them, but I was in a hurry. Who knows how their careful warnings and sound advice might have affected my life.

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I got a Google referral for 'Tamil word for i hate you.' I realised that I don't know it. I can say, 'I love you,' but it sounds so silly and overblown, I doubt that anyone says it outside of the movies. Or if they do, it's exactly because movies have taught them to. In fact, it seems to me - on the basis of limited experience -- that when people in Tamil (or Hindi) movies talk about love, they usually switch over to the English word - otherwise it just doesn't sound right.

I can say 'I hate you' in Hindi. The word nafrat, hatred, is very satisfying, if you spit it out and bite down on the final 't.' I tried it out after seeing the referral. So I'm ready.