Goodbye India

Since this is the last series of India posts, they will be massive and picture/video heavy (well to my standard at least...) - I may have to break them up into smaller pieces, but don't worry, I'll do it thematically so your poor heads (or mine) can cope with the inverted structure.
So lets start with the news of the moment - CRICKET!
There is cricket fever going on in India! Everybody is talking about the cricket. All the drivers have opinions as to who will win, there are actually big crowds in front of shops selling TV - where homeless men and passer-bys gather to watch the cricket on the many screens, in restaurants - waiters run out in the middle of ordering so they can see the current score. There was a riot in Bangalore when black market tickets for the India vs England game, were sold out and people got arrested (no I wasn't one of them, I was joking - I don't care about cricket!) The events I'm attending empty out at 2pm when cricket games start and many of the people I meet are telling me the boys at schools who are having exams at the moment, are failing because they cannot concentrate. I'm beginning to think this is all some Indian feminist conspiracy (the PM is a woman) to increase girl's participation in education by significantly reducing competition from boys.
But hey, don't listen to me - here's an expert!

It's a bit hard to hear, so I've included a transcript of Morale's words below (not his real name, but a variation...). He was our driver for past two days and just couldn't shut up about the cricket. So I devised a plan that I would be filming the road and casually ask him about the cricket and see if he starts talking on camera. I asked if I could film, including filming him a bit too. No problem. He was a bit shy but how could he not talk about cricket?! (I'll tell you later about why some teams fail while others do well. Morale had it all worked out.)
How's the cricket going?
Is doing very well Mam (that's me - I'm Mam, sometimes Helga is Mam - I'm having an identity crisis)
Who has won the last game?
Australia, Mam.
Yeah, yesterday.
Yesterday I didn't watch, Mam, because [...Australia?...] I go uni, I go to sleep, I wake up in the morning, I very tired. Because I continued 42 hour..., 62 hour duty, 32 hour duty.
32 hours?!!!
Yeah!
...of driving? (by this point I'm thinking - great! I'm in the death seat!!)
Yeah!! Then I went, I had some food, then I sleep. Then in morning at 5 o'clock I wake up, then I bath, then I come for the hotel. Now I'm coming... going for the airport. [OK he's that tired he doesn't know whether he's coming or going?]
Ah OK and so um was there any cricket yesterday? [Helga was supposed to help with the interviewing since she knows more about cricket than I do, but it takes her a while to join in...]
Yesterday, South Africa - West Indies was playing. I, ah, watched little bit but then last moment, I didn't see the match. I was... ah... sleepy.
But you don't think South Africa, um, is South Africa might win? [Ha ha notice the expert Indian sentence construction here! It's not a mistake, it was intentional rapport building! Oh and he told us before who he thought would win and I showed how little I knew about interviewing - I was concentrating on the camera work and lighting! Notice still no help from H!]
I think South Africa, they only win the match.
Ah OK but they won't win the...
I think so, but I need to see the paper! Because they give the news in the paper.
Is India still winning their games? [Finally Helga!]
That is, ah, the day after tomorrow, we know that, with the England. In Bangalore! But a lot of people, they standing still in the queue for the tickets. Because the ticket, they're selling in the black! They're not selling directly for the public. They're selling...
Aaah OK, black market! [I thought I'd clarify this for you. That's what the rioting was about!!]
...indirectly, black market, they're selling... The (...?...) tickets now it was... 15,000 to 20,000 rupees.
Oh my god!
200 rupees ticket, this much how they're selling.
And um, what I was gonna ask is... [zero help again...] Will you give us any tips on who might win?
Erm... In the World Cup, Mam? [No! In the Journalism Award for Best Interviewers!] I think India will win.
You think India will win? OK. And... [no assistance whatsoever, after we talked about how I have so many jobs - filming, lighting, make-up, direction, panicking about the death seat...]
Who... Who's the biggest competitor to India?
The player Mam?
No, who's the biggest threat to India? Which team? [Finally some assistance!] Yeah, which team?
I think they are all, three team, the tough team, very, very tough team, of this World Cup. One is Sri Lanka, one is South Africa, one is England! In this game, they are the teams, they are with chances.
That's the gist of it. India will win. Although the driver today (a different person) told me South Africa would win. Though I doubt this new driver had as much experience as Moralr. You see before all this took place Morale told us about how he drove the cricket world's elite. He even got a t-shirt from a Sri Lankan team player but couldn't wear it or he'd get killed, since it said Sri Lanka on it. But what's the secret of cricket team's success, I hear you ask?
Abstinence!
It's the alcohol and prostitutes that are cricket's downfall. Pakistan team apparently indulged and look at them - didn't make the top 3 tough teams (under India)! We heard it all in detail, bit too much actually. Helga had to change the topic. We also heard about the drug users in India and how young kids are getting addicted to sniffing solvents and 'liquid paper' (whiteout - for correcting mistakes on paper). And that the only thing that works on them is electrocuting them, since beating doesn't...
Anyway, enough of Morale's Bangalore stories or we'll all go to Kolkata and jump off that bridge!

Next will be a post about Indlish - a taste of which you saw today.
I almost proficient with it and I am catch myself very, very unaware of using it...
- Mam... erm.. - Ania!
PS We've had visitors from Russia on the blog. They woke me up one night and surprised the hell out of me. I even exclaimed "Oh my god!" to which D. replied without missing a beat " I told you, you don't have to call me that." D - 1, A - sleepy!