I: "Bhaiyya, yeh kahan padta hai?" flashing out a piece of paper with an address.
The kind soul round the bend: "Siddha jaao, doosre chowraste pe Majjid hai, Majjid kane se right leke kamaan ke andhar se teesra right. Khareeb khareeb 3 km padta yahan se".
Dear God,
A typical exchange when locating an address. Hyderabadi gullies and their unending complexities can be truly overwhelming and at times, scary too. If you were having a bad day, heck! they may seem like points of no return!
Not when the friendly, kind bystander is around though. The dialogue above should give you an idea of how well he knows these bylanes and the precision with which he can lead you to your destination.
But not anymore, Google Maps, SIRI and their ilk have made in-roads here too. Something about men and directions - our egos never let us ask for directions. That is slowly but surely turning true with the advent of the digital era.
Today the said apps take me straight to my destination providing a running commentary through the course, with the same (mostly, better too) precision that the kind bystander was equipped with.
Yet another death, yet another opportunity for communication lost to time!
The kind bystander is no more....
The kind soul round the bend: "Siddha jaao, doosre chowraste pe Majjid hai, Majjid kane se right leke kamaan ke andhar se teesra right. Khareeb khareeb 3 km padta yahan se".
Dear God,
A typical exchange when locating an address. Hyderabadi gullies and their unending complexities can be truly overwhelming and at times, scary too. If you were having a bad day, heck! they may seem like points of no return!
Not when the friendly, kind bystander is around though. The dialogue above should give you an idea of how well he knows these bylanes and the precision with which he can lead you to your destination.
But not anymore, Google Maps, SIRI and their ilk have made in-roads here too. Something about men and directions - our egos never let us ask for directions. That is slowly but surely turning true with the advent of the digital era.
Today the said apps take me straight to my destination providing a running commentary through the course, with the same (mostly, better too) precision that the kind bystander was equipped with.
Yet another death, yet another opportunity for communication lost to time!
The kind bystander is no more....
