Have been trying to sink in to India. This trip, I have noticed one thing that I did not analyze earlier in my life. I noticed that no one has the patience here. Some examples:

1. Traffic signals - it is a good thing if someone stops at a red light. It is so uncommon to see that! Well, let me take it back. It is uncommon to see that before 9am and after 8pm. And it is no limited to the Bombay. It is also prevalent, and especially more so, in smaller towns where I have been visiting in the past two days.
2. Even if people have stopped at a red light, they start inching out well before the light turns green, and at some point they occupy half the intersection!
3. Ticket counter lines - I was at a railway station, waiting in the enquiry window line. I noticed that when someone’s turn comes up, there are at least 2 other people from behind who are not only watching and listening to what you ask at the window, but they are clinging on to you to see what you remove from your pocket and what you give the person at the counter.
4. And more importantly, as the line progressed, people would not stop moving more than needed. So when I tried to control this, by not moving much when the person ahead of me went to the counter, the lady behind me actually moved ahead of me! Can you imagine that?? She cut ahead of me right in front of my eyes. I stared at her and waited for her to respond to my stare. She said ‘Someone else will move ahead of you’! I argued with her that just because you move ahead does not mean that the line will move faster and she believed that it would! :-)

This impatience is now becoming a problem, I think. There will never be order in society where impatience is a big characteristic.