Making Friends

Been some interesting things going on at work here in India. Mostly petty little interactions between team leads and what-not. Kind of annoying and kind of fun at the same time.

The important thing to note is I think I'm making friends. I was actually invited over to someones house for dinner (cooked by their mother) next week. Most of the team here is very young. If not just out of school, not far from it. Many of them still live at home with their parents. That partially explains why we haven't spent any rowdy drunken nights out at the bar.

I've been helping this one guy with his tasks over the last few days. In that time we've started talking about my experiences here in India and I've shown him my pictures. I've been kind of nervous about showing my pictures to anyone here. They're not really flattering, but he understands how different it must be for me and why I take pictures of everything - pretty wise for his youth.

He laughs at my interest in the trucks. He actually used to thumb rides from trucks on his way to and from school (which started as a steel shack). He says they're the least comfortable thing you could ride in on the highway.

This has actually opened a whole new opportunity for me. I may finally have someone to explain some of things I've seen, but don't understand. Like this for instance.

I saw this to and from Agra in the Delhi area. I tried getting a picture as we were speeding by, but it didn't come out so well. Between the poor quality and not having any idea what it was, I didn't post it. There's a stretch of road with a handful of buildings that look like bombs went off in them, but the buildings didn't looked finished before they were half demolished. It was just really weird looking. Harsh (new friend) explained it to me. These buildings were built in the wrong realestate zone (residential, industrial, commercial, etc) and destroyed by the authorities. Since I've started reading the paper over here, I've seen articles on this. The official term is called Sealing. This would be an extreme case of Sealing. I've mentioned before how vendors here in Gurgaon will throw up a tarp on the roadside and start selling stuff. That's the most basic form of "squat retail" I'll call it. From tarps, they go to plywood shacks, taking over empty buildings or, as above, building large retail space. When the offending space is discovered, the local officials "Seal" it. Literally they string up official seals in front of the shop preventing it from operating - either the proprietor has opened the shop in the wrong zone or hasn't paid (or bribed) the proper fees to operate. So how did such a large building get established before it was found and sealed?

I don't imagine the guys with the tarps are doing much more then bribing the nearest constable with free goods. Larger operations obviously require a larger range of bribery. The building above probably took care of the local authorities and the owner was able to build the structure. Once the structure was up, higher level authorities took notice and Sealed it. To insure the building wouldn't be used by smaller "squat retail" operations they had it destroyed in a way it couldn't be used at all. Removing the whole thing would have cost too much. Now this neighborhood has a row of half destroyed buildings. Wouldn't it have made more sense to just let the buildings go and tax the retailers? Wouldn't that have been better for the community then ugly and dangerous half destroyed buildings? Whatever. That's just something else I will have to go with not understanding.

Speaking of not understanding:
Most everyone wears sandals. A lot of the women have pedicures, but it's not like what you see in the states. They actually grow their toenails long and have them trimmed into points.

Other observations:
To hail a taxi (nobody calls them cabs, they look at you funny if you do) or a ride, hold your arm out and point down with a light waving motion. It's sort of like telling motorists to slow down as they drive by. That's what I thought people were doing when I first saw it. When I started seeing cars and rickshaws pulling over toward the people doing this, I figured it out.

In the states when you're taken to the hospital, but you're already dead, they call it Dead on Arrival. In India you're Brought Dead.

At the airport the other day, my driver was parked in a short term parking lot. I'm not sure if it was a special taxi lot or general short term parking, but all the cars were packed in tight. So tight, everyone left their car in neutral. The other drivers would then move the cars around to get out if you weren't there. They used rocks in front of the wheels to keep the cars from rolling away.

There's another Indian staying at the guest house/apartment this week. I find it odd how he interacts with the guys running the place. He's very commanding and treats them like servants. Last night the water pitcher on the table was empty. The water cooler is no more then four feet from the table. Instead of getting up and filling his own glass or the pitcher, he called for the guy in the kitchen to come out and do it. I understand there's a caste system, but I don't understand how it works. I'm not sure I ever could. It's easier for me to get the water myself or use terms like please and thank you regardless of who you are. I'm not criticizing him for the way he was treating the other guys. I'm assuming he was behaving a way he understands to be culturally acceptable. I'm simply pointing out the differences and my lack of understanding.

This morning I had Tomato and Cucumber Sandwiches for breakfast. They were tasty, but I'm not supposed to eat raw vegetables. Hopefully I don't get sick again.

The last of the Leh pictures are up. To start where I left off yesterday, click here. To start from the beginning, click here.

- b