To the Western eye, much of the wiring in most of India looks like a random, shocking disaster mess. It seems like a marvel that things often work, even usually work! If we saw anything like this kind of wiring in the west, we’d hold our breath and wait for the electrical fire.

Bangalore became a place of “solitary confinement” for me, in that after a few days I found it necessary to have no interaction with the locals whatsoever. I have experienced many challenges everywhere in India, mostly to do with scams and cheating, but this was the only place in India in eight weeks of accumulated travel so far, that I ended-up having to completely avoid and ignore strangers (ie.everyone). It came to the point when I had to assume everyone wanted to cheat and steal from me, which was a horrible feeling. I would have been a lunatic to adapt any differently than I did.

Because of this I invented projects to fill my time, taking photos of sidewalks was one such distraction, and on this afternoon I decided to take photos of wires.

I am not suggesting that Bangalore electricians are not highly-skilled professionals who take pride in perfection in all aspects of their work. I’m just showing you some wires that I found in one afternoon walking around downtown. You can come to your own conclusions. Personally, I would not suggest HydroOntario set-up a recruitment centre here, but that’s just my opinion.

If you have a good little climber in your family, these can also double as jungle gyms! These little localised transformer stations are everywhere, often blocking the sidewalks sending pedestrians into the road with the very safe traffic.

Perhaps the true purpose of the beautiful, mature trees is to serve as pylons to carry wires. But actually, if they’re already there, why not use them. Not sure why they are also used for extra wire storage though.

Just a lamp post, etc.

This is a commercial application as seen from the sidewalk. The red is frontage of a KFC.

So many separately-hanging wires.

A bit of a mish-mash.

Since we’re looking at wires, this is the wire of my best headphones that was ripped during my attempted mugging on Residency Road. I wasn’t the one doing the mugging, in case you were wondering.

I really love the look of these little coil thingys.

These must be on every street, at least they seem to be.

It doesn’t seem like electricians take huge pride in the appearance or organisation of their handiwork.

Another commercial application on the busy sidewalks of Brigade Road. I just wonder, if you are with little ones, do you need to be careful that they don’t end up playing with frayed wires? Especially when it rains? These carry 220v too, not the sissy voltage we use in North America.

A close-up of the same. “Just play with these pretty wires for a few minutes while Mommy does some shopping.”

A high-tech security cam amidst the mess of wires.

A commercial application above the sidewalk in Brigade Road. The underside of a store canopy.

Tree wires.

Don’t forget to look down to see wires, these ones on a sidewalk that we walk upon.

Same.

Traditional type.

These cylinder-things always seem to have open door-less compartments where wires are attached to wires. I’m not sure what they are and why they are always this shape.

I do not know what we are looking at here, but the wires did connect to other wires at the building.

It just seems like it is possible to be tidier. There seems to be a wire surplus in Bangalore, they seem to have more than they need.

Perhaps someone will comment as to what these set-ups are specifically for.

Another multi-purpose tree.

Some more traditional.

The wire surplus is very evident in this photo.

This is the previous photo, continued.

If wires were my thing, I could re-wire lots of phones, cables, and electricals with the street-side panel boxes that are often open, sometimes door-less, and never seem to be locked.

Just an overhead wire.

This little hanging-directly-in-the-sidewalk-mess was like a web trapeze for miniature monkeys.

I’ve shown this pic before, but it’s topical. If his stream happened to hit a frayed high-voltage wire he could end-up a changed man.

Art installation or actual wiring?

Probably phone lines?

Thank you for looking at my photos! If you like them, please share them with your friends! Remember, you can follow my blog by clicking on “follow” and entering an email address. Each time I post, it will arrive as an email. (And you can always unfollow later if you change your mind.) Cheers! Darren