And then...

If you take a local bus in India you will see that most passengers are men. There will be women, but they are definitely in the minority. It is the same when you are out in the streets, shops and chai stalls. Women clearly exist, well there are a billion Indian citizens to prove that fact, but in India even though the role of the woman is changing it is still definitely men who live in the Outside World and women who preside over the Inside World; the domains of society and home.

There is a woman living here in Hyderabad who almost never goes out. She did work before and plans to again, yet at the moment for the foreseeable future she is at home looking after the house. If any groceries are needed the servant can bring them, or the seller can deliver them; there is no need to go anywhere. And so I suppose that when this way of life is seen as normal for women, it is understandable that people cannot fully understand why I am becoming frustrated as my options to move about become fewer.

It turned out that yesterday's shooting at Hyderabadi police was terror-related, in that the police were trying to arrest a 'known terrorist', and since then in a separate turn of events three of India's airports have been put on high alert as a warning came in for a planned attack. There is even talk of India and Pakistan going to war, although I suspect that is not likely.... as a news junkie and someone who has some experience of the media, I find the journalism here sensationalist and possibly even war-mongering. The one channel I am able to understand for news used dramatic music and sound effects while reporting the attacks on Mumbai, and when introducing one particular story used a computerised blood-soaked effect, making its news stories only one step away from a Bollywood spectacular.

The effects of all this make it difficult to do anything or go anywhere. My plans to get away from Hyderabad were thwarted by over-crowded trains and the prospect of being stuck here for days. I had hoped to go to Aurangabad, but it would be a while before I could go. My own advice has always been to have a Plan B and a Plan C in case of emergencies, and I have spent a long time studying the map of India looking for alternatives. But each location within reasonable distance for the time I have left and the time of year (it will be very cold up north) either didn't appeal or I had already seen it done it worn the t-shirt. There was the possibility of Goa but my gut-instinct was against this. According to the local media Indians are choosing to avoid Goa at present because it is considered a potential target for trouble, simply because it is so popular with tourists. However this wasn't my main concern. Really I was less inclined towards Goa because I find it so utterly boring.

So having booked nothing, by the time I left the reservation office in Secunderabad, where I'd had to deal with a particularly unhelpful and moody woman, I was not in a good mood. The heat was scorching and the traffic fumes and dust were making it hard to breathe. So when I then checked the internet and saw about the threats on Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai airports enough was enough. I am now trying to get a flight home direct from Hyderabad so I do not have to bother with Mumbai at all. My cousin Dominic has tried to persuade me to stay, saying that I am safe with them. Of course I know that I am safe with them but sitting in the house watching the world outside become increasingly tense is not my idea of a holiday. I am now waiting to hear from an agent with a confirmation of a flight but as I have said elsewhere, IST really does stand for Indian Stretchable Time so who knows how long I will have to wait.