Post 5: Finding enlightenment in India
The span of my current job is pretty extreme; I’ve got
responsibilities from Japan to India and will occasionally travel to Europe and
the US. With this set up, I will get to
scope out vacations spots and before bringing the whole family. India was my first “work” travel destination
since arriving here.
During posts like this, I will leave out most of the “work
related” stuff unless it overlaps with the overall experience. Suffice it to say, however, I’ve got a good
team in India and that part of my job is going to be great. And, if you were wondering about my job in
general… I think I am going to love it.
So far, it is everything that people told me it would be on the front
end.
India is a quite a trip.
Since arriving in Shanghai, we’ve met several people that just “fell in
love” with this place immediately after arriving … One lady I met on this trip
said she vacationed here for 2 weeks, fell in love with the country, and then moved
to India 4 months later. I can’t say
that I fell in love, but there are a lot of amazing experiences.
Here is a quick overview of my thoughts on India:
The feel: It felt
like inland Brazil to me. Not Rio,
Ipanema, or the rain forest. But, the
smaller towns in the middle of Brazil.
Same kind of trees, similar skin color, and a generally lacking
infrastructure.
Holy Cows:
Literally. They have a warm spot
for cows. Best I can tell it wasn’t
religiously driven, but still they hold the cow sacred. As a result, they are everywhere; cows,
bulls, everything. Walking on the streets,
in the towns, laying on the sidewalks with people walking right by…
bizarre.
The Elephant Son: We
didn’t talk too much about Hinduism, but I did ask about the elephant guy. Turns out he was the son of a god, accidently
got his head cut off by his dad, and then the dad told someone to replace his
head with the first thing you see… So, they found an elephant. Statues, idols, etc are everywhere to this
guy… they believe that praying to him will give you good fortune.
Dancing: When you go
out with colleagues in China, you sing Karaoke.
When you go out with colleagues in India, you dance. And, we (I) did a lot of it. When in Rome, do as the romans do.
Arguing: They are skilled
at debate. They say if you put 3 indians
in a room you will have 4 opinions. I
witnessed this first hand. They are good
at debate… sometimes I felt they were talking more than listening, but oh well,
in any case they can argue. And yes… I will probably won’t have any problem
fitting into that culture.
Curry: Well, you can’t
escape curry. I probably tasted 20 different
types of curry… In the end, they did all taste different, I couldn’t tell you
the differences, but they were all pretty good.
Some were hot, some were veggie, and most were either red or
yellow.
Dosa: A breakfast
item that tasted great. It was a slightly
crispier, “crepe-ish pancake that they stuff with a potato mixture. Then you dipped the potato into a red sauce
and ate it. I could get used to that.
Water: I was
terrified of the water. People told me
that one drop of any tap water (including ice) would put you in the
hospital. I didn’t temp it, but am
pretty sure I ingested some… No
problems.
Mosquitoes: Watch out
for Malaria. I don’t know I have malaria
brewing inside of me right now, but I was on and continue to take anti-malaria
pills for the next 5 days.
Poverty: It’s a bit
like any 3rd world country.
If you haven’t been to one, you should go just to have another reason to
count your personal blessings. It was
pervasive. I didn’t have kids flocking
me and asking for money (I’ve heard many stories like that), but people were
certainly living in a different way.
Infrastructure: Or,
lack there of… It really is the thing that keeps India from emerging or growing
exponentially and is a key differentiator between china and India. We spent hours in the car… A 15 mile drive took 2.5hrs, as an
example. There aren’t major interstates
connecting cities; just a small two lane roads everywhere.
Democracy vs. Communism:
Regarding infrastructure, remember China and forcibly remove people,
make decisions without a real vote, and move without concerns to the
environment. India, like in the US, must
have consensus, gain approval from property owners, and make everyone happy… Which system is better for an emerging
society…. Save that one for another blog.
Trash: This is
horribly disappointing and like nothing I’ve ever seen. There is trash everywhere… It appears to be a
cultural issue where people either (a) just don’t care, or (b) feel helpless to
make change because no-one cares. It is
really awful. You smell it and see it
everywhere. When I asked about India
beaches (which should be incredible), they said they weren’t because there is
too much trash. When you drive or walk
near an empty lot it looks like a landfill spilling over. When you see a river, there is generally a
spillway of trash leading to it… Hence, don’t drink the water. I don’t know the long term plan, but if India
wants to become a destination, they need to fix this and their infrastructure
(my opinion).
Driving: You are
better off just closing your eyes. There
don’t appear to be any rules, signs, or efficiency. It is just a free-for-all. Probably 3 times the number of scooters to
cars… And every scooter has 2.5 people on it.
Tuk tuks are also very popular; those have 6.5 people in each one
(crazy).
Kabaddi: This is
totally cool. I couldn’t describe the
game well enough here so I’ve included a link to the rules and a quick video
clip. Totally, totally cool. This, and cricket, are the national sports…
and this one looks like a ton of fun.
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| There was a lot of security in New Delhi. They've had quite a few terrorist attacks (Pakistan is right next door) and so they post quite a military presence. Also, Indians can sleep... anywhere. Seriously, inside, outside, on the floor or on the chairs. |
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| Well my first dinner was at TGIF, go figure... And, much to my displeaure was the Cowboy jersey hanging on the wall. I didn't get to try the corn, but I think it looks pretty good. Perhaps a competitor to the butter corn concoction from the college years. |
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| Dancing. These guys really like to dance. And, you've just got to drop your pride and join in... The only ones that look odd (in the moment) are the ones not dancing... That may not be true with the pictures afterwards. |
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| I just thought it was cool that the company name was Tata. And, you can start to see some of the traffic that plagues India. |
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| I real life goat herder. |
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| On the outskirts of town the poverty starts to show. |
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| Cows everywhere. |
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| There are a lot of really nice / elite hotels. |
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| I hate to show this, but you can't be honest about India without showing the trash. It is really horrible. |
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| My job will drive me to all of the automobile companies in the world. Its pretty cool to get to know this business. |
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| Lots of traffic and more cows. |
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| An incredible restaurant. A Fogo de Chao with an Asian flair. |
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| The best grilled chicken i've ever had in my life. |
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| This speaks to India's history... probably would be better if I had gone to one of the museums... instead of this stuff at the airport. |
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| Awesome. Back to 1984. |
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