Bean Bags

A curious sight I've noticed is the phrase "bean bags" followed by a phone number, spraypainted on numerous walls and fences around Bombay. What could it be? I thought. A real estate or demolition company (the graffiti always seemed to be on abandoned buildings)? Illicit drug sales? Some street slang?

Turns out to be cheap advertising for some enterprising soul selling -- big surprise -- bean bags. I guess they're very popular here.

Goochi has flown the coop and I'm off to Mhow (kind of in the middle of the country) to visit my aunt and uncle for a few days. Seems like Internet access will be quite limited there, so I doubt I'll be able to post until after I return to Bombay.

A funny "typical India" story from yesterday: Goochi's cell phone had quit working, so we went to the nearest Vodafone shop to check out the problem (I also needed to recharge my units, since I'd blazed through Rs. 500 worth already). Turns out the photo we'd submitted when we signed up was a color copy rather than an original (long story) so the company had cut off her service. When I asked if mine would also be cut off for the same reason, she checked my account and found that it is registered to someone else (totally wrong name and address). I asked if I needed to correct that, lest my account be terminated. "No madam. Your account is already active, so no need to change the name."

But of course!