Who's That?

Hopping about the internet today I found this.

The write-up isn't all that interesting, but the activities in the picture look like a whole lotta fun!

- b

Dear Mr. Fantasy

Germans are experimenting with what India already does.

Traffic Without Signs There might be a commercial before the clip plays.

It will be interesting to see if it succeeds. In Germany I trust they will have data and evaluate the situation. You can't get that here in India.

- b

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

Head Bobble

Before coming to India I did a little research on customs, cultural nuances, etc. One of the main things I came across was the head bobble. I had first understood it to mean they simply shake their heads no when they really mean yes. Ok fine. I'll keep an eye out for that.

I'm not sure if I didn't notice or if they weren't comfortable around me, but I didn't really see it till this week. Wow! It's weird. It's not just shaking your head no when you mean yes. It's actually tilting your head back and forth from one side to the other. It's very natural and smooth for them. For me, not so much.

It does resemble shaking your head no. When I see it, it sort of freaks me out. My initial reaction is "What do you mean no?", but that's wrong. It's actually an agreement.

Now I wonder what they're thinking when I don't do it. Are they're wondering why I don't agree?

- b

Roadside Haircut

Stick a mirror to a tree or wall, setup a chair and you've got a barber shop. Haircuts and shaves Rs. 5. Actually I don't know how much they cost and I don't imagine the guys I work with would use such a service, but they're here. I haven't noticed enough to see if the "shops" are transient or what, but I've seen enough to know it's a common practice.

I snuck up more Leh pictures last night. To start where the last left off click here. To start at the beginning click here.

- b

Welcome to the Suck

Stayed up late to watch Jarhead last night. My penance is a broken coffee machine this morning. Those guys spent 5 months sitting on their hands in the desert waiting to go to war. I've got a week and half left. I should be fine. Then there's this

High of 84, but realfeel 103? How does that work?

As I speak there's a worker on the 15 story building next to us throwing broken glass down on us at the 3rd floor. It's crashing into our windows like rocks.

And I just got a bloody nose - again.

Just another day at the office I suppose.

I got more pictures up. To start where I left off, click here. To start from the beginning click here.

- b

Because I'm an American

This is what I heard as I stepped into the elevator this morning at my apartment. The goofball from Arizona was in mid-conversation with some local in the elevator. He (the goofball) was wearing one of the two outfits he brought for a week and a half visit. I asked,

"Because we're Americans we can do what?"

He replies, "dress casually at the office." Not getting the jist yet, I continue with,

"I've noticed the office is pretty casual in general." - As a side note it's an unspoken corporate standard. Most of the development offices I've been in for this company are pretty casual.

He agrees with, "Yes lots of jeans and t-shirts, but no shorts." Now I'm caught up and getting pissed.

"Nobody wears shorts - not in the whole country. It's a cultural thing." He replies with,

"We can. We're Americans." Are you kidding me? Did that really just come out of his mouth? I say,

"Out of respect, we shouldn't." His childish reply is simply,

"it's hot and humid. How can you not wear shorts?" Disgusted I say,

"You'll survive." and walk off from the elevator.

Because we're Americans? What the hell does that mean? Because we're Americans we should be intelligent, respectful and adaptable. We should be concerned about how we represent ourselves (and our GD country) in front of our peers of different cultures in different countries.

For all the trash and filth I've seen in this country, nothing is more disgusting then this mans complacency

- b

Swastikas

I have to admit, they freak me out a little.

It's quite common in the Hindu religion and I see it frequently, but it still freaks me out a little. Funny how one can be so indoctrinated with a single belief or teaching.

Some Leh pictures are up. They're going to be in installments. You can see the first of them here.

- b

Mistruths

Leh is not in the Himalayan range as I thought it was. Leh is in the Ladakh range which is a sub-range of the Karakoram range. The Karakoram range is home to K2 (in Pakistan). The Karakoram range is also the most glaciated part of the world outside of the polar regions.

Next weekend I'm going to Dharamsala, not Darjeeling.

- b

Om Mani Padme Hum

I'm back from Leh. It was a pretty cool trip - even if I did get sick.

I'll have pictures up soon. Some quick thoughts:

• Older German women look like characters out of a Star Wars movie.
• Jet Airways is probably the best carrier I've ever flown. They served a full breakfast on an hour flight and the flight attendants look like models, but not the ones on the website.
• Getting sick sucks. Getting sick on vacation by yourself in a far away land with no TV really sucks.
• I lost count of the number of Buddhas I saw.
• I lost count of the number of times I got frisked this morning before boarding the plane, though it beats the alternative.
  
• I'm getting my nose cauterized when I get back to the States.
• I failed my first attempt at bartering.
• I'm going to need some new sneakers after a month in India.
  
• Giving free care to the kids in Leh to justify your $400,000 a year Dr. salary (and trekking hobby), still makes you a pompous jackass.
• I wouldn't make a very good Buddhist.
  

- b

I'm Out

5:40am flight means 3:00am wake up and 3:30am pickup.

Not sure what kind of connectivity I'll have in Leh, so it may be Monday before you hear from me again.

Have a nice weekend and kiss your loved ones for me. It's been two weeks since I've kissed mine.

- b

Cock Fight

A bunch of us get on the elevator on floor -2. That's the second subfloor in the basement parking garage. The first stop to be was floor 3. About floor 1 the power goes out and we're suspended. An emergency light comes on, people groan and it starts to get warm. Someone mentions that we'll head back to the bottom (floor -3) before we go up again when the power comes on.

At that, the dude next to me starts to go off about how easy it would be to code the lift mechanism to remember what floor it was on in case of power outages.

"It just needs a little ROM memory and everything would be fine. It's real easy. I don't know why they don't do it. I did it in college."

I look around in the dim emergency lighting and see eyes rolling, so I blurt out,

"I drank a lot of beer in college."

Everyone laughs (especially the chicks).

Me 1, dude next to me 0.

The power came back on and sure enough the elevator went all the way down before going back up.

Better bring you A game next time dude.

- b

ps. Important thing to note here was the conversation was in English. Most of the time everyone speaks in Hindi - even the people I eat lunch with as we sit together.

Mr. Robert

Experienced my first dust storm tonight. Somewhere in the middle of the afternoon I noticed it got a lot less sunny in the office. Looking out the window I could see what looked like haze rolling in from the west. As the afternoon went on, the haze got thicker. When I left work, it was dark. The headlights of the cars made the dust real obvious. It wasn't so bad that you could feel it on your skin. Nor did I have trouble breathing, but you could see it everywhere. Almost kind of spooky.

Good news is I successfully got some laundry done. I was told they would do it here at the guest house, but I was also told they would speak English and at least expect my arrival. I'd been debating how to request the service, and finally decided to just leave the dirty laundry piled on the bed since they make it everyday. It worked. Just before dinner, they knocked on my door with my clothes clean, folded and undershirts ironed. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this. People to drive me around, people to cook and clean for me, whatever will I do when I get home?

Bad news is I think my bed has bugs. I don't have bites all over me and I don't seem to notice while I'm asleep, but as I sit here typing and watching TV I feel things - little creepy crawling things. I can't see them, but I feel them. I know they're there.

Speaking of medical things, I did call my Dr. office. The admin said the Dr. would call back and suggested I not take the rest of my Diamox. Sounds like a good plan to me. They did call back and said the symptoms I was experiencing were normal. Normal? Someone needs to contact Rite Aid and let them know their fact sheet for Diamox is wrong. I still decided not to take it. At least not while I have to be at work and conscious.

Something else I wanted to make note of - there's a pig sty outside my office. I guess it's not exactly a sty since animals run free here. It's more of a mudhole they congregate in. I tried getting a picture last night while waiting for the elevator, but it was too dark. This morning it's been too busy.

Which brings up another point. I've been doing the 9 - 8 work thing since I've been here. Most of the people do 9 - 6. The head guy of the group I work with stays till 8 or later, so I do too. It's also helpful to be in here that late as it coincides with the beginning of your day back home. Plus, what else am I going to do? Go to a mall? I don't think so. I get my playtime in on the weekends.

Now I'm just rambling. How about some more dinner?

Besides the actual food, meals are interesting. I eat breakfast at 8:30am, lunch at 12:30 or 1, then dinner at 9pm. Sometimes we go for snacks in the cafeteria around 6:30 or 7. Snacks are usually some kind of vegetable dumpling thing prepared by the caterer in the cafeteria.

- b

Sacred Cow

The final installment of my Agra trip can be found here. Scroll down past the monkeys and read/see the new stuff.

I don't mean to be a total ass, but I really wish someone could explain the cow (livestock for that matter) thing to me. I've checked wikipedia for info on the Sacred Cow, but it still doesn't explain what I've seen. I think I even offended my co-workers last week when I asked about the bulls.

My problem is in Gurgaon there are random "wild" cows everywhere. Often they'll just sit in the road chewing their cud like nothing's going on. Ok so the cow is sacred, but can't you at least give it a nice pen in a field somewhere? Wouldn't that be nicer then mingling with cars and trucks on the hot asphalt? On my trip this weekend, most of the cows I saw were tied up, herded and even branded. Can't a cow be managed and sacred at the same time? Is this just a Gurgaon thing? I did see a kid throwing rocks at one the other day in front of his shop in an effort to move the cow - it worked. That doesn't seem very sacred. In addition to cows, there are pigs and donkeys running about too. I wouldn't be surprised to see goats either. Seeing other livestock leads me to believe the "free range" cow thing might be an issue with just Grugaon or maybe it's Delhi since we're so close. I really don't mean to be rude, I'd just like to understand.

Some other observations:

There are sinks in the cafeteria, where we drop off our food trays, that everyone uses to rinse their hands and mouths. I haven't asked, but my guess is it's to wash off the hot spices from yourself, so you don't spread them to places you don't want them like your eyes.

At lunch people from the office will go for walks in the parking garage - under the building.

Maybe it's their general disregard for noise, but no one over here uses "vibrate only" on their cell phones. Loud disco beats that play a few measures is the norm.

Most of the doors on our floor are glass. They all have metal handles, but they're hardly used. There's a girl whose sole job is to go around cleaning these doors. They also have guys to clean the desks and window sills - repeatedly throughout the week.

If ever there was a country and population that would benefit from RFID chip implants, India is it. Nearly everywhere you go, there's a guard with a notebook you have to sign. The guard usually has a stack of notebooks that he sorts through to find the right one for your situation. Even if you don't have to sign, but there's a guard, he'll pull out a notebook and make note of your passage. At first it seems kind of creepy that your every move is tracked, but it's just a notebook and there's so many of them. No one's taking the time to go through these unless they have to. After nearly a week and a half of this, it's become quite bothersome. Can't I just waive my arm under a reader and you scan my chip? I don't care if it's the sign of the devil, just let me get to my office or go home.

The Diamox reactions have subsided. The emergency US Dr. never got back to me. I'll just wait till my Dr. back home gets in and give her a call then. If I'm lucky, she say stay the course and I'll get to experience the fun I had this morning all over again tomorrow. Maybe I'll throw back some shots with some aspirin to strengthen the effects? No thanks. I'll pass on that.

- b

Oh The Drama

As soon as I call the emergency service number for my Dr. (which forwards on my concern to some other Dr. to call me back), I felt better. I'm still experiencing some oddities, but I'm a lot clearer. A lot clearer I think to wait till tonight to actually speak with my Dr. about this.

Though it would be nice if the on-call Dr. would actually call me back.

I'm getting hungry. That's definitely a good sign.

- b

Diamox Reaction

The company planning my Himalaya trips suggested I get a prescription for Diamox for my trips at elevation. My Dr. agreed, so I got the prescription. I started the dosage last night as prescribed by my Dr.

Today isn't going so well. So far I've experienced a few of the "Serious" side effects - tingling of extremities (face/feet), dizziness and confusion. The fact sheet I got from the pharmacist says to seek medical help immediately if these occur. Some websites say the side effects are worse when you first start taking the medication and to give it some time.

It's not a whole lot of fun. It feels like a really bad hangover. My coworkers are suggesting I go to the hospital, but that brings up a whole other issue. How do I pay and will insurance cover it?

Typically I prefer to just tough these things out and would be really annoyed if it just requires time to get through my system. So far the symptoms come in waves and I think the bad waves are getting shorter. Or maybe I'm confused?

This is really annoying. I wish I could just call my Dr. Maybe I will.

- b

Use Dipper

Went to a mall last night. It was nuts. Apparently the design of Gurgaon is to have only three kinds of buildings - offices, apartments, and malls. All shops, of all kinds, movie theatres, bars, restaurants, etc. are in the malls. It's a completely contained/controlled environment. Maybe it's to make life safer, cleaner, easier? I don't know. It certainly doesn't make it feel like any "community" I've been to.

As far as crowded, it felt like a mall back home on the weekend during the holidays. Yeah. Last night was a Monday night. It's not a holiday here.

Gurgaon is very new. It's 4 or 5 years old at the most. It just doesn't have the established forms of recreation and community that I'm used to, though by the looks of the malls, it never will.

Finally met the other "english looking dude" at my apartments. He normally sneaks in and out going only to and from his room. This morning he was having breakfast. He's not with SAP, so I don't know how it is he's in the guest house. Apparently he's been here a lot and looking to move into an apartment of his own in Delhi. He can't stand Gurgaon. The lack of community (as I've described above) annoys him to no end. Delhi he said is a much nicer place, though the affluent Indians prefer places like Gurgaon for their proposed and constructed cleanliness. He also told me the water in the cooler in the apartments is clean, though the Indians last week told me it wasn't. Who do I believe? I'll stick to my own bottled water I think.

I also spoke with an American this morning from Arizona. He's a goofball. Not sure I'll be talking much with him anymore. He's one of those travelers that wears a fanny pack with all his "necessary documents" on him all the time. My passport tucked discretely in my pocket has always been good enough for me. He was also going off about all his vaccinations. Apparently he's vaccinated against lyme disease too. He couldn't believe I wasn't considering I live on the east coast.

Yesterday was the first day I didn't wear my smelly bug repellent. Yesterday was the first day I got mauled by bugs. I'm wearing it today and will do so every day here-after.

I got pictures from the first part of my trip to Agra up. You can see them here.

- b

ps. "Use Dipper" is one of the messages painted on the back of trucks. It means use your high beams to communicate with the driver if wanting to pass or whatever.

Agra in Installments

There's a lot to see and say about Agra, so I'm going to give it to you in installments starting of course with the Taj Mahal.

Besides the trip events there have been a few other things I've noticed about India I want to share. First of all money (at least for me) is kind of a pain in the ass.

That's a pile of 10,000 rupees - roughly $250 US dollars. I got it from an ATM. It all came out in 500s and a few 100s. Wow! 100 rupees! Equals about $2.50 US, but it's still 100 rupees in India. Get it? I don't. I understand the mathmatical conversion of $1 being equal to about 40 rupees, but what I keep forgetting is 1 rupee is equal to $1 dollar as far as how it's used. For example, I normally leave a couple of bucks for maid service. Mathmatically that would equal about 100 rupees, but leaving 100 rupees for a maid in India is like leaving $100 in the US. Yeah I got it now and it seems so simple, but my jet lag was still lagging this weekend. The other issue was I had a really hard time getting anything smaller then 10 rupees. Most of the stuff I bought was 100 rupees or more. That typically didn't lead to change smaller then 10 rupees. So what do you give the maid, the doorman, or the cripple banging on your car window? I had nothing. I felt horrible, but I had nothing. I could have given 10 rupees, but was told (and read) that can be just as problematic or worse then not giving anything at all. Giving too much leads the population to believe you're some kind rich guy or that everyone from your country is super rich (they obviously don't understand the conversions either). When the next person comes along and gives the appropriate amount (just a few rupees), they could be harassed for more based on the previous persons "poor" example. Giving nothing means you're just rude. There are rude people everywhere.

Other observations:

Women will often ride in the front of cars with their infants in their laps or on the back of a motorcycle with an infant in their lap.

Drivers of motorycles and mopeds often wear helmets, but passengers do not.

Mopeds carry spare tires around here.

You can fit an entire family (parents and two children) on a single motorycle, and I'm not talking about the giant steel steeds we have in the US. These are tiny 100cc motorcycles.

Men will hold hands, walk arm in arm or sit very (VERY) close to each other. I've seen this in other countries too.

Men will urinate just about anywhere.

Some places smell in ways I can't describe.

Women can work right along side men digging ditches, carrying concrete or bricks often on their heads.

Men and women both spit just about anywhere.

Belching in the open, without excuse, is perfectly normal. Blowing your nose, apparently, is not.

Indians have a much larger variety of cell phones then we have in the US.

- b

ps. After a week, I'm getting better with the food. Actually went to lunch today without any digestive anxiety.

Anonymous American

Traveling alone (in general) is wierd.

At the Taj and along the way I would come in contact with other American tourists. Mostly they were in groups. When I say contact, I mean I could identify them as Americans because they were talking amongst themselves, usually wore shorts (Indians and Europeans for that matter) don't wear shorts), and were sometimes significantly larger then the other anglo-saxon tourists.

Being by myself, I had no one to talk to. Without language and from my appearance, I guess I didn't appear very American. So much so, I would go as far to say I was avoided at times.

When someone from India would speak to me, they often asked if I was from the UK. When I told them no and where I was from, the conversation quickly turned to our country's leadership. Yeah - the humiliation of this country's leadership makes a great conversation piece (not).

My guides and some Indians I met along the way spoke English, but not to the point where a friendly conversation could be held for longer then five minutes.

Maybe next time I'll wear a "God Bless America" t-shirt to identify my nationanlity and get some of that homestyle conversation and interaction I crave.

Or maybe I'll suck it up and quit whining.

- b

Beautiful Chaos

Back from my trip to the Taj Mahal. If you haven't checked yet, the homepage picture is updated here.

I took nearly 300 picutures. I've got it narrowed down to 80 or so for a page. It's gonna take some time. Too tired now.

In the meantime...

-b

H2O Irony

A few weeks ago in the states there was a big controversy about this

Apparently Pepsi is using tap water for their bottled water. The irony here in India it's not out of the tap - at least not any taps in India. It may not be spring water, but it's clean enough for me to drink.

Off to Agra tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal Sunday, so there won't be any updates till Sunday morning some time. See ya then,

- b

Mmmmmm Dinner

Tonights dinner. Not a whole lot different then last nights dinner or todays lunch for that matter. Good thing is I'm getting better at digesting - at least if there's curd.

- b

Someone's Birthday

There was a birthday in the office today. The guy at the cake is Harsh. It was his birthday.

Back home we might have cake for someone and all go out to lunch. Here in Gurgaon, office birthdays are a little different. For example, they smear your face with your cake.

Then they pick you up and kick you in the ass.

If that's a birthday, I can't imagine a bachelor party.

If you want more Gurgaon pictures, there's some here.

- b

My Warhol Moment

Bummer Life

- b

Sleep Hygiene

- b

Stinky Idiot

Jet lag is a painful thing. "Good sleep hygiene promotes rapid recovery from jet lag"

Ooops. Screwed that one up.

The first day here I had to leave half-way through the day to go home and sleep. Woke up yesterday feeling ok, but my brain wasn't in the game. I was a zombie till about 5pm my time (7:30am back on the east coast), then my brain woke up. It was like a light switch went on. Poof! I could think again. Suddenly I understood all the questions and discussions I had that day. Suddenly I could contribute, but my cab was waiting. It was time to go home.

Feeling guilty for the lack of productivity, I logged into work from home. Caught up in the flurry of emails and IMs with friends and family, it got late and I didn't get to sleep when I should have.

I'm paying for it today. Not quite the zombie I was yesterday, I'm still pretty stupid.

I should sleep when I'm normally awake. I should be awake when I normally sleep.
Onto other things...

Three days now I've gone without a hot shower (not even warm). I now know how to make the shower hot, but don't have the where-with-all in the mornings to make it happen. See, there's this thing over the toilet.

It's my very own personal hot water heater, but it only works if I turn it on.

Everyone here is pretty energy conscious, so it's not right to just leave it on all day. Also I'm not sure I trust it won't burn the whole building down.

I've been told it takes around 15 minutes to heat. The easy thing would be to turn it on at night, wait, then take a shower before bed. That would mean reapplying bug repellent before bed, then again in the morning before work. That stuff's nasty (i.e. the stinky part of the title). I don't like wearing it anymore then I have to, so I've been avoiding the evening showers (I'm totally self conscious about my "funny cologne").

That leaves me with cold showers, which is probably good anyway to wake me up and get me moving. Now if I could just get to bed ontime.

- b

Under Construction

You can't imagine the amount of construction that is going on here in Gurgaon.

In a single stretch of road, there can be 10 to 20 office buildings under construction - multi floor, glass facade buildings. In another stretch there's 10 to 20 apartment complexes under construction. Nevermind the third and fourth stretches.

It's insane.

Obviously that much construction requires a lot of money. A whole lot of money. Five years ago this area was corn fields. Now it's a money farm.

I've never seen this much development in one place. Not only does it take money, but many many people.

People without shoes. People filling dump trucks with handmade wooden shovels. People installing glass facades with scaffolding lashed together by hemp.

They get cell service in the basements of buildings, but can't keep the water clean.

They respect each other. They drive without traffic signals and speed limits because they can.

They work like mad - whether busting rocks with hammers or integrating source control into content development, they work like mad.

The TV shows fame and glamor, but right outside your doorstep (next to the mega mall) is a family sleeping in the bushes, a constable (not a police officer) peeing on a wall and a pile of cow shit. There are no pretenses. TV is just fantasy. I think maybe some of us have forgotten that.

- b


ps. On a side note. I've already lost weight. With the ab flab gone, I almost have half a six-pack.

Fate of Kings

Got a short Indian history lesson today at lunch. Apparently there was a time when India was ruled by kings. Kings would have sons. If you were a kings son, everything was cool till you were about 25. At that point you had two choices. Kill your brothers and father to make yourself king or be killed by your brothers or father and be dead. That's just the way it was.

I also learned the water I've been drinking is probably bad for me. That sucks.

-b

Yesterdays Pictures

Here are the pictures from yesterday. I've got to work on taking panoramic pictures while riding in the car. Single shots don't come anywhere near to capturing the full effect of the scene.

Bikes like these are everywhere. Some haul goods others haul people. I love the double downtube and top tube. What's also interesting is the majority of them are too big for the pilots. I don't know where they were made, but as you see, the guy (and most riding them) is standing to pedal. Granted he has a heavy load, but even guys riding single passenger bikes will stand or let their hips rock wildly to reach the full pedal stroke.

This bike fits better.

The people on bicycles are crazy compared to American standards of cycling safety, but the people on motorcycles are absolutely nuts. At least the people on bicycles stick to the side of the road. The motorcycles and mopeds will go anywhere at any speed. They weave and speed around trucks, buses and cars. I actually saw the aftermath of a moped getting hit yesterday. The rider was ok, but his moped was not.

This morning I saw a motorcycle passenger holding an infant in his lap. By the way the infant was haphazardly held, I imagine it was a girl. I say that after reading a newspaper article about the high mortality rates of girls here. Apparently when girls get sick, families are much less likely to do anything about it when they're growing up. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Maybe if there were more woman around, there wouldn't be so many men just standing around doing what appears to be nothing.

Finally the mega malls. For a place with a lot less women, they sure have a lot of malls.

It's really odd. It's almost like they're saying "Hey look at us! We're advanced and civilized. We have malls, models and movies!" Yet they can't get clean water, mosquito control or equal rights.

To their credit, they probably treat their street cows better then we treat our street people.

-b

Indian Commute

Things I saw along the drive home this afternoon. The obligatory cow in the street shot.

Ok. So this isn't working so well. I had a few more pictures to upload, but that's not happening right now. Instead you'll get some little anecdotes from the day. First of all, I didn't last the day. Shortly after lunch I started getting really sleepy. The head guy I'm working with (Partha) set me up in a room where I could take a nap. Shortly after that my stomach went south on me. There was a meeting with my boss back in the states at 5:30 I was trying to hold out for. Didn't make it. I caught a cab back to my apartment and took these pictures I can't upload. Back at the apartment, I slept. Sleep was good, but my stomach was still messed up. Dinner was really starting to make me nervous. I didn't want any. Didn't think I'd be able to stomach it, but knew I had to eat. At nine I finally sat down with another Indian visiting from Mumbai. He could speak English, so the conversation was nice. He also gave me the spicy food secret - Curd. I noticed it at lunch and here it was at dinner. I was told by my Drs. back in the states not to consume milk or milk products while I was here. The Indian said you have to. You don't really have a choice. It soothes your stomach from all the spice and acid of the food. Sure enough from the first spoonful, I was in heaven. My stomach quited down and all was good again. The conversation was also very nice.

Whistle Blowers - Outside my building at each door and driveway there are guards. There at least 5 or 7 for my building alone. Across the street there's another complex, so that's at least 5 or 7 more. Anyway when the power goes out (3 or 4 times last night, so far twice tonight) the guards start blowing their whistles. The power is usually out for a minute at most. Apparently the power in this area is all privately owned and run. It actually shuts off and switches private services randomly through the day. The guards blow their whistles in special patterns to identify themselves and their locations to each other. It's kind of weird and kind of neat. The whistle and horn are constant sounds around here, though they've quited a bit now that it's late.

The disparity between the haves and have-nots is crazy around here. If all you ever did was watch Indian TV and never looked outside, you'd think you were in the US. Everything on TV looks so plush, chic and cool. Outside it's all under construction, dirty and dirty. Then there are the many many mega malls. They advertise things like 1km of stores on each floor. They look like amusement parks on the side of the dirty road.

Last thing. Something I'm doing/taking is making my skin warm. It's weird. I just have this warmth in my arms, hands and neck. Coincidently I'm wearing time release bug repellent on those parts. I suppose it's that. It's kind of unnerving (like I need more of that right now). I asked the guy I had dinner with if the mosquito thing was really that bad. Unfortunately it is. So warm skin it is.

-b

Double Shot Day

Working on my second one of these in as many hours.

If my stomach wasn't efed up before...

-b

I'm Here - Rough Night

So flying nearly fifteen hours wasn't as bad as I thought it could be. The first flight from Newark to Frankfurt was overnight, so I slept a few cramped hours in my isle seat next to some guy not afraid to lean on me some. On the second flight I gave up my isle seat so some guy could sit next to his wife and infant. In return I got his seat in the middle of four in the center of the plane. Not like I had much choice. Cramped is always better then screaming kid. Turns out the middle of four was best. I kept my laptop on the floor in front of me, but not under the seat in front of me. Gave me more leg room.

Slept the first hour of the second flight, but otherwise stayed awake. Watched Oceans 13. Was worth the price of admission.

We landed shortly after midnight Delhi time, then sat on the runway for half an hour. I'd heard the Delhi airport was pretty nasty, but was still anxious to get off the plane. I've seen worse. The airport was about on par with a SEPTA station/bathroom. Immigration was smooth, customs was non-existent.

Found the dude with my name on his placard and jumped in his car.

Holy Shit! The sites were just crazy. It was well after 1am, but there were plenty of people out and about. Guards falling asleep at intersections, groups of guys sitting in parking lots, Road Warrior like trucks hauling ass or parked with people sitting all around. It was too much and too dark to completely take in.

The guy rolls up to the apartment building I'm supposed to be staying in, points to the elevator and says 14th floor. I ride up and sure enough find the door that says SAP. I ring the bell. A confused half asleep guy comes to the door and asks who I am - I think. After failing to communicate some more, he picks up the phone and calls someone. He says ok, then leads me back to the elevator. We go down one floor and to another door (not as nice as the SAP door). Some other confused half asleep guy lets me in and points to one of the inner doors. This must be the place.

Home sweet home for a month. Even comes with refreshing mothballs in the sink.

Now the fun begins. I unpack and try to connect to the wireless router I saw in the outside room. No luck. It's late. I figure I should get some sleep, but I'm wide awake. After a few trips to the bathroom (already?), I turn out the lights and try to get some sleep.

Anxiety and nausea set in.

From time to time I've had issues with anxiety in the past. Because of that I should have been more prepared (drugs!). My stomach was in knots and I was freaking out. So far nobody really spoke any English. The "Guest House" didn't know who I was and didn't seem too prepared. The room was kind of shoddy and the bed was really hard. The electricity kept flickering and whistles were being blown outside. What the hell had I gotten myself into and how fast could I get out? Should I call Jen? Should I take a shot of the Gin I bought? Was I sick already? Did I have chills? Fever? What the hell? I would try and count slowly and take deep breaths. Every time I got to 4, my heart would pound, my stomach turn and head spin. It was 3am my time. 7:30pm Jens time. Is my internal clock off? Am I jet lagged? Should I watch TV? Listen to my iPod. Buy a ticket home. How do I get out of this?

Finally around 4am, I gave in. I called Jen. Being the great wife that she is, she told me to "mix a gin and slip into oblivion." It worked. Between talking to her and a little hit of gin I was sleepy and a little more relaxed. I was still in and out of anxious moments, but I was catching some sleep in between.

Before I knew it the sun was coming up and I was feeling better. I took a shower, put on my bug repellent and went out to breakfast. There was a German named Rolf also staying there and having breakfast. It was a real relief to talk with him. I still couldn't communicate with the people running the guest house, but got breakfast anyway. Things were better. I got some pictures of the surrounding apartments.

Saw a guy walking his dog and definitely felt better. At this point I realized just how jet-lagged I was/am. Just laying in bed, made me nauseous. My body is completely out of whack. I set the alarm and took a nap before catching a cab to the office.

So far so good. Things are really getting better. I've met a few more really helpful people. Getting some real rest tonight should help significantly.

There are so many sights and things to get pictures of. Hopefully with some sleep, I'll be more adventurous with the camera.

Last night was definitely hard, but I'm doing better. Time should really start moving along as my comfort levels adjust.

- b

Back to July!

It's approaching my favorite time of year. The nights are cooler. The days are dryer. Leaves are starting to change. The weather is near perfect here. In Delhi, however, it's a little different. It's freakn' July!
I hate July.

Luckily some of the places I'll be visiting on the weekends are a little nicer (for me). Leh will feel something like this.
I can't wait!
Darjeeling should be nice too. That's why the British picked it as a hill station.

Perfect!

- b

Saddle Sore

All those years on $5 Fuji take-offs and hardly a problem. Six months into my relationship with a fancy real saddle and this happens? I suppose it's mostly my fault. I was sitting when I should have been floating.

If a warped chainring and busted saddle aren't testaments to my loss of skill, I don't know what is.

- b

Wicked Ride

I've never headed into Victory looking to get sober. Last night I did. Somebody was kind enough to stash some beers at the top of Marc D'Huez (thanks DBs). I reached in the magic bag and pulled out a Storm King. Hmmm 9.1% alcohol. This should be fun. Fun and fast, it went down quick. "What else you got?" Out of the bag came a Fest. Not typically a choice of mine, but it complimented the Stout nicely. The 5.6% alc worked well too. Back on the bikes to head down. "Wow! I'm really drunk." I mean drunk like crashing into trees kind of drunk. This should be fun. Chris had a light failure. He needed someone in front and someone behind to light him up. Good. Gives me something to focus on. We took a quick glimpse at the illuminated riders down the hill in the switchbacks, then headed down ourselves. The woods were ethereal. The trail and the immediate foreground were lit. All else was dark. Dirt, leaves and bark were all I could see. As drunk as I was, I thought I could feel them too. A couple of times I actually did as I went careening off trail or over the bars. In the cool dark night, a screech owl called out (or perhaps laughed at us). Somewhere along the way our little light train stopped to pick up Yarnall's dropped flask. On a trail we've ridden hundreds of times someone asked "where are we?" Out of the woods and onto the road we were flying. Into tucks we pointed ourselves down. Going at least 30mph on the road, time seemed to stand still. Our cluster of light and motion felt like it paused and hung there in time. I didn't want it to end. I wanted that moment captured, the light, the bikes, the wind in our faces and held onto to experience over and over when needed. Alas it had to end. Ben made a hard left as the rest of us bottlenecked behind him into the woods.

Back in the parking lot I was elated. What a great ride. Good times with good people to be remembered while I'm away.

- b

Labors of Love

Labor Day weekend huh? Yeah we labored. The majority of the time was spent on trim. Last week we decided to try and get the hallway trimmed out. Got that and a little more.

Check it out here. If you're new at this, you may want to start here or here. It's all apart of the Labor theme I guess.

Jen had a practice run with the mower. Something she'll probably get good at while I'm away.

I hope so. I'd much rather do dishes or clean toilets then drive ever smaller circles in the yard for a couple of hours.

If all that wasn't enough, we finished off with closing the pool.

So don't call. It's closed. No more fun here. Can't swim till next year. Summer's over.

See the new cover? Fancy huh? Not quite. Already has at least one hole in it. $200 and it already has a hole. At least if I was a goat herder, I could expect shit. The pretenses of civilized living are starting to get on my nerves.

It was dark when I got it done, though it's not completely done. I'll have to finish up with some things when I get back in October.

- b

Toxic Wash

In preparation for my "business trip", I soaked my clothes today in permethrin. Here's how it went down.

Organize the supplies

Close up of the chems
Roll up the clothes with string
Fill the bags. One part Permethrin. Two parts water.
Soak the clothes - two hours.
Hang to dry - forever.

It's funny. My dad never did this sort of thing for his business trips?

- b

All Work and No Play

- b

Nother Cool Tool

When it's working correctly (I think I've worn mine out), the pneumatic nailer makes a tough job more bearable.

I can't imagine how Victorians were all done by hand. The measuring, cutting and nailing would take forever

- b

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Been trying to get a picture of this thing for weeks.

Click the photo to get really creeped out.
- b