alt-country in the subcontinent

Because we went on a road trip, we finally got around to putting some tapes in the car. Nothing is quite as funny as Chris and I, windows down, tooling through Pondicherry afternoon traffic with Bob Dylan's Highway 61 blaring out of our Ambassador that has 8CC plates. (The Ambassador is the most standard and typically Indian car and 8CC plates are diplomatic. Funny stuff).

Fun trip, time passes, Real Life begins again for Chris (I have only a fantasy life, so Monday is pretty much like Sunday, except that Christopher is not there . . .) and the week begins. Monday afternoon I get into the car with Rajendran to go Accomplish Something and he turns on the stereo. The stereo is playing Jay Farrar. Obviously, Chris had been listening to Jay Farrar on his way to work with Rajendran, but now Rajendran is drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and humming.

“Do you like this music?” I ask Rajendran. “Yes, I like it. It is very good,” he says. Now, I think that he is lying, but Christopher says that he will learn to love Jay in time.

Tomorrow, we listen to Freakwater. I can't wait to see what he thinks about that.