Little cocks and captionlings

I have finally adjusted to the time difference. And I have somewhat of a routine that I'm enjoying. It's Wednesday afternoon here, 12:28 p.m. In Los Angeles it's 11:58 p.m. I think Hyderabad alone attributes to the extra half hour or lack thereof. It's pouring rain outside after being sunny and bright just 10 minutes ago.

Two nights ago I woke up at four in the morning; my body thought it was 3:30 in the afternoon. I watched Tiger win the PGA Tour Championship by 8 strokes. Ho-hum. I went back to sleep.


I woke up at seven - on my own - this would never happen in LA with me - and walked to the park nearby, a two-minute walk - the KBR(Kasu Brahmananda Reddy) National Park. The park is fascinating; a rich, cultivated forest with wide dirt rock-lined paths. It's fascinating moreso because it's juxtaposed with the hustle and bustle-honks of the Hyderabad; signs line the park within that read, "Observe the sweet silence of the nature around you," and "Man belongs to Nature. Nature does not belong to Man." One of my favorites, "While in the park... The only thing you should shoot is photographs. The only thing you should kill is time." It's the jungle admidst the concrete jungle. I did not coin this last phrase. (multi-reference from Wikipedia, 2007.)

The most common sighting within the park is the peacock. My first day in the park(I ran again there this morning), I went off the beaten path into the forestry and came across a large female peacock. Upon seeing me, she rose up onto a rock slate to gander my way, and I quickly saw that she had some little followers. Little baby peacocks - seven of them. She responded to my presence by turning away and trotting down the rock, and the little baby cocks followed - hopping up onto the rock in a line, and jumping down the rock away, disappearing into the brush. This brought a big smile to my face - they were following mommy.

Peaceful now, I was ready for my first day of work. I have two pupils so far - Balakrishna and Guru. They are 25ish young men. Guru calls me Guru. He is right. I am the man. However, this is all a bunch of bullshit unless I get them to learn captioning and grammar. As well as listening and hearing accurately what is said.

Guru typed, "I GOT BACK IN FISH POND AND KNOW LEFT ROCK." When I checked his work I asked him if that made sense. I had him read it to me out loud. This was a very contentious moment. If he thinks what he just typed makes sense - that means there is NO HOPE. Whatever I do for the next 6 weeks is pointless. Because he is an English-related idiot.

But he answered right. He laughed, "No, Mr. Guru Scott, it does not make sense at all." Ahh. Thank God. Thank Buddha. I had him relisten. Again and again. Then he came up with, "I GOT BACK FROM THE FISH POND AND HAD LEFT MY ROCK." Damn. Pretty close. Okay, he didn't know the word "rod." I can live with that. I can teach this man. "It's 'rod,' Guru. You fish with a rod. The kid left his fishing rod."

"Oh, thank you. Yes." Both of them have the same attitude and understanding of what sounds right, albeit after the fact. So, an uphill battle. But this is only Day 2. Tomorrow I get two more new employees to teach. They are both young women. Excited at the prospect, Guru laughed and said he'll take over the training from here. "Keep it in your pants, Guru," I said.

"What do you mean, Scott?" he asked.

"I'm the guru, Guru. That's your lesson for today."