Poor Raj

We woke up today to total silence outside...Bangalore is a ghost town all of a sudden.
There is no traffic, nobody walking down the road, no peddlers...not even any cows or water buffalo wandering around.

We wondered if perhaps it was a holiday we'd not been aware of, as often tends to be the case - but no, literally everything is closed without warning due to yesterday's passing away of aged Bollywood star, Raj Kumar.

I honestly can't say that I know who he is, which makes it even harder for me to comprehend the shutting down of everyday life on the announcement of his death, but that's the way they do things here.
Movie stars are worshipped like gods, complete with their own statues and icons - and impromptu holidays.

Ironically, the pharmacies and bars are open - so you can still get narcotics (valium is OTC here), and a beer - clearly there needs to be some reprioritizing around here.

P.S. 11.02 p.m.

So much for the ghost-town theory...
I'm getting emails and calls asking if we're 'OK.'
Yes, yes...no need to worry, we weren't part of the mad rush to view Poor Raj and have thusly avoided being shot by police among the rioters who are burning autos in reverence of their fallen hero.

The Karnataka government has declared an official two day mourning period, which I suppose means that everything is going to be closed again tomorrow.