Lori's India Adventure

Social boundaries

2009-06-15T10:46:00.005-04:00

Alternative title: Yeah, I have gray hair-so what?!?!?

In India, one of the topics we used to teach to our trainees was how to use small talk with their North American customers. Rather than diving into the art of making small talk, we were mainly focusing on appropriate topics of conversation-since many topics considered appropriate in Indian culture are considered intrusive in North American culture. (e.g. politics, religion, personal information, and the like).

[I can't tell you how many times in India I was asked when I was getting married-even by people I had just met! I believe most North Americans would agree that the only time this kind of questioning is tolerated (though not encouraged) here is when your Great Aunt Sally asks you at your cousin's wedding.]

Anyway, after this weekend, I'm beginning to wonder if there is a cultural shift-maybe I was teaching the trainees all wrong. Maybe it is appropriate to make comments on peoples' physical attributes. Or maybe, just maybe, it just reflects the area I now live in.

This weekend, along with a couple of friends, I decided to go to the Pirates baseball game. As I was sitting on the bridge, waiting for one of my friends to show up, the guy sitting next to me randomly turns to me and says, "You're too young to have gray hair." Let me emphasize here that we had not had any previous conversation, not even an accidental catching of the eye-this was his opening comment!

I was immediately at a loss for words. I mean, I too, agree with this sentiment-though I do have a few gray hair, I (mostly) feel too young to have as much as I do. But, I was confused-in my mind this comment crossed all appropriate social bounds-even if he did notice that I had gray hair, why would he think that I wanted that pointed out? Was it supposed to be a compliment? Was he insulting me?

He seemed to take the confused smile on my face as incentive to continue the conversation by asking me the time. When I replied, "6:34" he replied with, "well, at 6:35, you'll still be too young to have gray hair!" Amid my uncomfortable chuckles and mild protests, he got up and repeated his original statement: "I still say you're too young to have gray hair."

What would you have said or done in that situation? I've thought about it and now I know what I'm going to do-I'm going to go get myself some Clairol!

Bollywood at Boyd

2009-06-10T09:52:00.002-04:00

Now that I've made peace with my experience in India, I'm on the lookout for ways to experience doses of Indian culture locally. Usually, I end up eating dosas and idlys at Udipi Cafe which typically sates my cravings for South Indian food and atmosphere. However, I was intrigued to find a notice in the local newspaper advertising an event titled "Bollywood at Boyd". Wanting to see quite what it would be like, being able to convince a couple of friends to check it out, and having an opportunity to don an item of 'ethnic dress' that I brought back from India, I decided to check it out.

After doing a bit more research, I found that the event was being held at Boyd Community Center to highlight a new Bhangra dancing exercise class that the center wants to begin in the fall. [If I'm still in the area, I'm going to have to check it out-maybe next time I visit India I can get a part as an extra in a real Bollywood movie! :)] The event was scheduled from 6pm-8pm, with the crafts & 'fair' part in the first hour and the dance performances the second hour. Since it looks like it was organized by an American, I wasn't sure whether we should take into account IST. After a bit of conferring, we decided to show up around 6:30 pm. Unfortunately we didn't, however, take into account getting lost. After driving around Fox Chapel for a bit and making calls for help, we were able to make it to the event slightly before 7:00 pm, so we missed out on most of the crafts and most of the food. Fortunately, we did make it in time to see the dance & drum performance for the second half of the event. I was entertained by the dancing and impressed by the tabla and dhol players. It almost made me want to get up and dance, which was a good thing because for the last song, they asked the audience to get up and follow the instructor in a variety steps. She claimed that she teaches it to children, but there were quite a few participants (myself included!) who still had difficulty following the motions-which makes me wonder if we will be able to learn bhangra or if we will be rolling on the floor laughing at ourselves trying to do it.

Anyway, I didn't take pictures myself, but you can find them on Boyd Community Center's website.

Tata Nano

2009-05-27T08:40:00.005-04:00

Ok I'm back! I know it has been waaaay over a month since I last left you all with the story about our boat trip in India. I wanted to finish out writing about our trip with a summary of what the trip meant to me. But somehow, I just couldn't figure out what to say. Wouldn't that make it so final? But I don't intend to be done with India-at least not yet. I still have people there to visit, weddings to attend, and my retirement to consider. :)

I guess what I can take away from the trip, though, is that India still draws me. While there, I had the opportunity to discuss returning to my previous company & my previous life. To my surprise, instead of instantly negating the idea, I spent a good portion of the trip vacillating back & forth on the idea. As you may have surmised, I opted not to at this point in time. But the fact remains that I still felt the pull of India.

Another reason that this post is slightly delayed is that I have experienced yet another round of bad car-ma. Obviously, in a previous life I have inflicted some horrible punishments on cars and this time around they are paying me back. This particular round necessitated the purchase of a new car. As I investigated a range of cars and prices, I remembered hearing about the new Tata Nano. If you haven't heard, the Nano is now the cheapest car that is sold anywhere in the world (around $2000 USD).

Tata motors started taking orders for the car in April of this year, with delivery scheduled to start in July. [I anticipate it to actually start rolling out in 2010-IST, you know.] I'm interested to see how well these cars do in India-I know in Chennai, people are going to have to spring for a deluxe version, with the A/C for the summer months, which might not make the pricing as competitive as it initially seems. I'm even more interested to see, however, how the infrastructure and traffic patterns (both already stretched near the breaking point) hold up under the large influx of cars forecasted to hit the roadways in the next couple of years.

Boat Trip

2009-04-07T08:36:00.009-04:00

Unfortunately, upon our return to Chennai, our scheduling problems continued. Liz tried vainly to keep rescheduling people and events, so that we would get to see and do most of what we wanted in our remaining few days in India.

Luckily, one of the things we did get to do was meet up with one of my former co-workers at a resort on ECR (East Coast Road). While we were there, they arranged a ride for us on a fishing boat. I was so excited; this was one thing I had wanted to do while living in Chennai, but had not been able to arrange! This was the guy who arranged the trip for us:

The fishermen obviously were used to giving rides to foreigners as they provided us with life jackets:

The ride was actually a bit short: we hopped in the boat, rode out over the swells to calmer water, took pictures and returned to the shore. However, since the sun was setting and we were very, very wet (you can read Liz' account of it here) we didn't object. Besides, everyone promised that the next time we returned (if we came earlier in the day), we could take a longer trip.

After we watched the crew push off, we decided to head down to Mahabilipuram to shop for souvenirs and see the town again. (This was on our wish list of things to do!) Liz was able to take a few tourist pictures there as well-who visits India without taking at least one picture of cows on the street?

Bangalore!

2009-03-26T08:32:00.003-04:00

Pretty much every vacation that Liz and I ever took together included massive amounts of shopping, so when we began planning this vacation of course we had to plan a trip to Bangalore! Of course we both had people we wanted to meet there as well, but a large portion of the time in Bangalore was scheduled for shopping.

The problem, however, lies in the use of the word 'scheduled'. All through the trip, Liz faithfully kept a schedule of the people we wanted meet, our available times, and the things we wanted to see and do (including shopping!) Every time we had to reschedule something (due to illness, someone's change in plans, or whatever) she made sure to pull out her calendar and figure out a new time for the event. I am deeply indebted to her for her organization or else I am sure we wouldn't have gotten to do half of the things we wanted to do. Unfortunately, it was in Bangalore where we really saw the schedule break down. Pretty much everything we scheduled in got postponed, changed, or cancelled and though we attempted to squeeze it all in at the end, the reality was that we only had 4 days in Bangalore, and we missed out on a few things.

The problem with the schedule was a source of endless amusement for some of our friends and prompted philosophical discussions between the two of us as to whether it was even realistic to try and keep a schedule in India. It was, by the end of the trip, a vivid reminder of what living in India is like, in terms of the fluidity of time.

Anyway, we did get to do several things we wanted to do while in Bangalore. Of course there were several instances of shopping! We got to see He's Just Not That Into You; a chance for us to laugh through a chick-flick together (a rarity since we currently live on opposite sides of the country!) [Read Liz' blog for a more thorough description of that] And we got to hang out at Mocha with several of our friends. (Even though the poutine is not as good as at the Mocha in Chennai!)

Liz & Shirmeen wondering how to use these forks in the poutine!

Ahmed & I relaxing with a hookah!

India Strikes Back!

2009-03-25T09:43:00.003-04:00

Alternative title: Am I Getting Old?

After 3 days of celebrating the wedding, Liz & I managed to drag ourselves back to Chennai. And I really mean drag. I don't know what's going on-it seemed to take a long time to get over the jet lag this time (and I don't know if I feel that I'm completely over it at this point in the trip!) Maybe I am getting old. I did celebrate a birthday on this trip:

Maybe it has more to do with the bout with the infamous 'Delhi Belly' that I had. Now granted when I lived in India there were a couple of times that I had stomach problems, but I don't remember anything quite this bad! I guess I should have been more careful about the food I ate and the water I drank-my body's just not used to it anymore! Hopefully this clears up soon so that I can enjoy our time in Bangalore!

The Wedding, Day 3: The Valima (Reception)

2009-03-15T13:56:00.010-04:00

A.K.A. Happy Valentine's Day!

The valima was the shortest of all the days we spent at the wedding, partly due to our departure back to Chennai early the next morning and partly because, by this point, most of the ceremonies had been completed.

The bride arrived...

...and, finally, stood next to the groom as a wife (as opposed to a bride.)

Don't they make a handsome couple?!?!

After dinner, we had a turn to take photos with the couple:

We also took pictures with his cousins who looked after us so well during all the events!!!

But 3 days of late night celebrations and our impending early morning departure began to take it's toll. (Or maybe we're just getting old! *shudder*)

The Wedding, Day 2: The Wedding

2009-03-14T10:54:00.016-04:00

Despite our late descent into slumber, Liz and I did manage to get up in time to head to the Charminar bazaar to purchase bangles to complement our outfits for the next two days of wedding functions. While we were there, the groom, his male relatives and the bride's male relatives went to the mosque to complete the marriage contract. The groom called me afterward to tell me he was now a married man, upon which I offered my heartiest congratulations!

In the evening, we decked ourselves out in our grandest outfits (with our new accessories!) And the winner is...(drum roll please):

The tie between the gaghra & the green sari was broken by the weighted votes of the groom & his mother! :)

That picture was taken as we were waiting for the groom to arrive. He soon arrived accompanied by much drumming and dancing:

Meanwhile, the bride sat posed on the stage, looking lovely:

I had to admire her fortitude because I don't know if I could sit, looking down, for hours and hours-especially with everyone looking at me!

After dinner, the groom joined the bride on stage as they shared their "first look" at each other under the veil.

They then posed for pictures, for the first time as a couple.

Here they are with his family & with us foreigners:

At the end of the night, the groom led the bride off to her new home & new family.

The Wedding, Day 1: Mehendi/Sanchak Dhamaka

2009-03-13T20:16:00.013-04:00

I know many of you are dying to find out which outfit I wore to the actual wedding, but you will have to wait until Day 2. :)

Liz wrote about our train adventures to Hyderabad and I have nothing further to add to that. (But I recommend you read her description!) We arrived in Hyderabad in the morning on the first day of the wedding festivities. After getting settled in the hotel and relaxing for a couple of hours, we headed over to the groom's relatives' house to for the application of mehendi.

While this process was going on, we socialized with the women from his family while they were preparing gifts to be taken to the bride's house later that night. We were impressed by the clothing, accessories, sweets & snacks that were beautifully displayed and wrapped for the bride's family and guests. After the henna had dried and been washed off, my hands looked like this:

side note: The henna typically lasts around 2-3 weeks after the application. Parts of mine lasted until after I arrived home.

In the evening, we headed over to the bride's house, where we were warmly welcomed and made to feel comfortable by her family. This is a shot of the bride & her parents:

The groom's cousins' also looked out for us during all of the festivities. Here's a shot of Liz & I with one of the cousins:After dinner, the groom was brought in and the bride's family began to tease him by offering him sweets with chilies inside and other small pranks, while his family supported him and encouraged him to refuse their offerings. After that the groom and the bride posed for pictures (separately because they aren't officially married yet!) with all of their guests. Here we are with the groom and his brother:

The party lasted until 2:00 AM! With the sleeplessness of the train ride, the busy events of the day, and the plan of shopping in the morning (I always need more bangles!), Liz and I were quite ready to head back to our hotel and crash for the night!

Chennai

2009-03-10T09:23:00.006-04:00

I'm confused as to how I'm supposed to feel being back in Chennai. What role am I supposed to play here? With what lens do I look at Chennai? As someone returning home? As a returning visitor? As a tourist? Before coming, Liz and I talked about how we wanted to be tourists on this trip-to take lots of pictures of things that we had just taken for granted before (whole families perched on the a motorcycle, cows, crowds, colorful scenes, etc.). But I'm not sure if I can totally be a tourist here. I have too much insider knowledge. I think I still have too much cynicism too.

I know I feel more like a tourist this time. I notice people staring at us a lot more than I used to. (Not that it didn't happen then, I think I had just learned to selectively ignore it!) But I also feel strangely connected to this place, or the people in this place. I felt the pull when a job possibility was mentioned to me. I felt the pull when I visited my former workplace and everyone thought I was returning instead of visiting. I felt the pull when listening to my friends talk about their future plans (weddings, babies).

I don't know. Maybe I'll be able to clear my head in a different city as we head off to Hyderabad for our friend's wedding.

On a lighter note, Liz is insisting that I post my fortune from the parrot as well.

I was a bit hesitant to get my fortune told because the last time I had it done, the parrot told me that I was would soon be blessed with a bouncing baby boy, which was not at all a comforting thought.

This time, however, was much better. Like Liz, I was reminded that Jesus is always with me. Then I was told that I'm friendly and gifted, but also moody, unpredictable, and easily angered. Despite that, I will have a successful career. Then he told me that I'm currently wondering if something is going to happen or not. He couldn't see whether it was going to happen or not, but if it did, it would happen in the next 5 weeks.

side note: as of this writing, it has been about 4 weeks since the parrot told my fortune. Thus, if it is going to happen, it has to be this week. Whatever "it" is.

Wow! Things CAN change in a short time in India!

2009-03-05T19:25:00.010-05:00

As Liz said, Chennai was the first stop in our multi-city tour. We had a great time relaxing, meeting friends and, of course, shopping. [We have to look fabulously wonderful at the wedding, don't we???? :) ] One of the exciting parts of our roaming about was seeing all of the changes that have happened in Chennai since we left. For one, there are several new flyovers that have been built and/or completed. I was particularly surprised by the one in T. Nagar that wasn't even started when I left Chennai.

Even though the traffic was still heavy through the area, I could see how much the flyover improved the flow.

We were also excited to see the completion of the renovation of Old Mahabalipuram Road-the Tech Corridor. This project was started before we ever arrived in Chennai and often disrupted our travel to & from work when we worked at the Tidal Park office. Before I left, half of the renovation had been completed, but the second half was a dusty, rutted mess. The difference now is amazing!

More surprising, though, was the toll booth right outside of our former company's Perungudi office.

Along with the completion of the Tech Corridor renovation, we learned that the flying train was now running. When we were working at Tidal Park, we used to joke that we would come back to Chennai (for the inaugural trip!) in 10 years and be able to say, "We remember when this was being built. We thought that it would never be completed!" :) We actually planned to ride the train and take pictures for our blogs, but, unfortunately, that plan was derailed.

Preparation for India

2009-03-02T17:22:00.002-05:00

I must say that the plane trip to India reminded me of many of the things I found frustrating about India-even starting out in JFK! I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, since we did fly Jet Airways, an Indian airline. (And Liz has vowed to never, ever fly with them again!) When Liz met me in JFK, we stood in line to see if we could change our seats in order to sit together on the onward flight. As we were standing in line, a Jet employee took our passports (with no explanation) to 'verify' them. Apparently everyone's passport needed to be inspected and verified before boarding, but that information wasn't deemed important enough to merit a general announcement-you had to be lucky enough to have the employee choose your passport to verify. When we got to the counter, another employee took our AA boarding passes and printed new Jet Airways boarding passes (again without bothering to explain anything). We found out later that we HAD to get new boarding passes to get on the plane, even though AA is a partner airline to Jet. [side note: the same did not apply upon our return-AA accepted my Jet boarding pass!]

Then, when we began to board the airplane, the ground staff announced that they would be boarding in rows and began to call off rows. Of course the only people who followed these directions were the white people, who remained in their seats while waiting for their rows to be called. The Indians all swarmed en mass, no matter which row they were seated in. I understand the mentality of Indians swarming for things when in India, I guess I just don't understand it when it still happens outside of India. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

The frustration didn't end, however, once we had boarded the plane. When we booked this flight, it was billed as a non-stop flight, with a brief refueling stop in Brussels. We assumed it would be a relatively quick stop and we would remain on the plane. Well, you know what they say about assuming... Upon arrival, everyone had to disembark from the plane. We were a bit concerned since we didn't have a separate boarding pass for Brussels. Then, we were a bit annoyed to find out that we didn't re-board the plane for over an hour. I'm sorry, but anytime you have to get off the plane and wait for more than an hour in the airport constitutes a LAYOVER and does NOT constitute a non-stop flight.

Luckily, the rest of the trip went smoothly. Oh, except for the crew IGNORING us (passing us by with the drink cart several times). And the entertainment system not working (and the crew not believing us that everyone on our side of the plane was having the same problem!) And them only having vegetarian food by the time they did get around to serving us. It was a RELIEF to finally land in Chennai!

I'm not dead yet!

2009-02-27T01:22:00.004-05:00

And I hope that's the last Monty Python quote for this blog! :)

I have now returned to the US from India (with my head still attached to my body-for those that were worried). The wedding I attended was much less dramatic and much more enjoyable...but more about that later. As you can see, I greatly overestimated the time that I would have to blog while I was in India. Have no fear, my loyal readers, as I have taken copious notes while there so that I could regale you with a myriad of stories of my travels in India. And for anything I miss, I am sure that Liz will be able to fill in the blanks. :) The good part about doing it this way means that I will be able to include pictures while I'm writing the stories instead of having to go back and add them later. While I was in India, I also discovered that my former co-workers are all reading my blog as well. It was quite a shock to have my former reporting manager show me that if you search Google Images for "Onam wear" the first two pictures are from my blog! :) And again I didn't know quite what to say when I was introduced to a new communication trainer who said, "You're Lori? I read your blog!" :) So now I guess the pressure is really on! (Let's just hope that I don't write ALL of my posts in the sleep-lacking, jet-lag induced state I am in now!) :)

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-26T20:06:00.001-05:00

I finally was able to see Slumdog Millionaire and I can't rave enough about the movie! I'm so glad that I was able to see it before I left on my trip. If you haven't heard by now, Slumdog Millionaire is the award-winning movie that tells the story of a slumdweller who wins Rs. 1,000,000 on an Indian game show and is immediately imprisoned under suspicion of cheating. The storyline develops as he explains how he actually knew the answers to the questions. And, like in any good Indian movie, there is a love story that goes along with it.

As you may or may not know, Slumdog Millionaire is loosely based on the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup. I want to emphasize the words loosely based on here because other than the rough outline of the story there are few similarities between the book and the movie. I read the book over the summer, and while I was entertained by the premise of the book, I found it a bit lacking in the way it was carried out. The movie, however, seemed to encapsulate the story a bit better.

Now that the movie is being nominated and talked about, it is interesting to see what criticisms are leveled against it. Even before I saw the movie, my eye was caught by a blog post titled Slumdog Millionaire Could Only Have Been Made By A Westerner. In the post, the author claims that only a Westerner could produce a movie that addresses the poverty that such a large part of India's population lives with daily. He levels sharp criticism at Bollywood for ignoring the poor and making only 'flimsy films about the lives of the middle class'. But is that really the issue with Slumdog Millionaire? First of all, director Danny Boyle loves India-he has admitted so and you can see it in practically every scene in Slumdog Millionaire. But, was the purpose of the film to address poverty in India? No, it was the rags-to-riches storyline that moviegoers love. Secondly, Bollywood does make stories that have a certain formula to them, stories that showcase love triumphing over all obstacles. But who do these movies appeal to the most? The same poor that the Bollywood elite is accused of ignoring. Movies in India are especially designed to be a fantasy world, in order to help the viewer escape the realities of their own life. We must remember that the relative cost to see a movie in India (vs. seeing one in the US) makes it an affordable escape for even those slumdwellers shown in Slumdog Millionaire. So, is Bollywood making mindless drivel while ignoring the majority of their countrymen, or are they catering to their largest market?

In my opinion, Slumdog Millionaire is a success because it brings to a Western audience the fantasy of a Bollywood movie in a format that they can appreciate. It will be interesting to see how it will continue to perform in India-whether it will appeal to the masses or merely the more 'Westernized' segment of the country.

Wicked Women of the Raj

2009-01-25T08:13:00.005-05:00

Ever since I heard Liz' ringing endorsement of Slumdog Millionaire, I've been trying to see it for myself. I convinced a friend here to go with me last weekend, but, by the time we got to the theater, it was already sold out. We made the best of a bad situation by stopping at Half-Priced Books, where I found this gem: Wicked Women of the Raj by Coralie Younger.

*side note: I bought this at Half-Priced Books, right? Half-Priced Books. For $7.98. When I looked it over more after getting it home, I realized that this particular edition had been bound for sale in India. The price? Rs. 295 (about $6, currently). Ummm....not quite half priced. :)

I was drawn to the book by it's subtitle: European Women Who Broke Society's Rules and Married Indian Princes, and by the questions posed on the back: Who were these women? Were they gold-diggers, or hopeless romantics hoping to enact their own Cinderella fairy-tale? Did they live happily ever after? I especially wanted the answer to the last question-I was hoping that I might be able to use this as a study guide for my upcoming trip!!! :)

The book, however, was not highly encouraging in this respect. Of the 20 stories in the book, only about a quarter of the marriages actually ended happily. Most of the firengi bahus were unable to cope with the consequences of their marriage to their Indian princes. The consequences were often fairly severe, including: ostricization from British society (they often weren't allowed to be recognized by any British official), unacceptance by the zenana (the women of the family) and the prince's subjects, continual infidelity by the prince, and being forced to give up a Western lifestyle-not quite the fairy tale life that most people imagine.

Even though it didn't encourage me to find a rich Indian prince during my trip, I still enjoyed reading the stories in the book. The author, an avowed Indiaphile, took care to include details that helps the reader really envision the lives that these women led. I highly recommend it to those who want a different view of life in India during the British Raj.

Congratulations, Ratika!

2009-01-15T08:15:00.002-05:00

Like Liz, I want to add my congratulations to Ratika for her write up in the Hindu's Metro Plus Chennai! Ratika designed and created most of the jewelry that I brought back from India. Even in the US, every time I wear something that I purchased from her, I receive tons of compliments from both friends and strangers. I am greatly looking forward to adding to my collection when we visit her in Chennai on this trip.

The Pirates from Uttar Pradesh

2009-01-12T17:44:00.003-05:00

Now that I'm blogging again, I want to bring attention to a story that, even though is a little old, most probably got lost amid the breaking news of the Mumbai attacks: Novice pitchers from India sign with the Pirates. I admit upon hearing this back in November, my thoughts initially were along the lines of "how hard up are the Pirates that they have to go to a country that doesn't even play baseball to recruit players?" (For those of you that aren't baseball fans, the Pirates finished their 16th consecutive losing season, so it might not be that strange of a question to ask.) However, since I was asked about it recently, I decided to do a little research into the story. No wonder Americans are interested in this story-it's the ultimate rags-to-riches storyline! These two guys from small villages in Uttar Pradesh enter a contest to see if there are any Indians out there that can throw a baseball over 90 mph. The contest was sponsored by a baseball scout trying to determine if India could be the next untapped source for new baseball talent. (Think Roberto Clemente from Latin America.) These two guys - the articles seem split on whether they were bowlers from cricket or javelin throwers before - made the finals and impressed the scout enough to bring them for training in the US. They worked on their training and conditioning well enough to be signed by the Pirates in November.

Most articles I read state that it is unlikely that we will see either Rinku or Dinesh make it to the mound in a major league game any time soon, but the fact that they are the first Indians to be signed by a professional sports team in America, along with the recent successes of a few notable Indian-Americans, such as Bobby Jindal, Kal Penn, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, & Paul Varghese, may help begin to dispel the stereotype of the Kwik-E-Mart Indian with the thick accent. Then again, maybe not.

In any case, be sure to check out Rinku & Dinesh's blog to see how they are adjusting to their training schedule and to the US as a whole! (I'm waiting to see what they think of playing baseball in the cooler months up north!)

An Indian Fashion Show

2009-01-10T09:22:00.007-05:00

Now that I've got to go back for a wedding, of course the big question is: what do I wear? Liz and I have been informed that there are 3 days of functions for us to attend-which means 3 separate outfits! Of course we have planned for a lot of time for shopping but what with all the accessories needed, I'm trying to decided if I already have anything that is appropriate. I decided to have my own little fashion show to see what I had that would do (Plus I was extremely curious to see whether I would be able to tie a saree still!) and I have decided to put it up for public opinion to see what I should wear. Here we go:

First the salwars...

Then the sarees...

And last, but not least, a gaghara:

A Return To India

2009-01-09T18:49:00.004-05:00

One always begins to forgive a place as soon as it's left behind

-Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar, quoting Little Dorrit

After almost a year's absence from blogging and a little more than a year's absence from India, it is now time to stage a return to both. I had intentions of keeping my blog active after my return, but it seems that every time I thought about posting something, I had to struggle to keep the sarcasm and bitterness to a minimum. In short, I had issues with India that needed dealt with. So, I have spent the past year letting my emotions about India run their course. I can't promise that I'm completely 'better' but I feel more ready to talk rationally about India once again.

This is good because I now have good reason to return to India and thus start blogging again: my friend Z's wedding! Z was a fellow trainer at my company who introduced us to the wonder of homemade Hyderabadi biriyani every Eid (as well as a few other times during the year!) Thus, it wasn't hard for me to promise him that I would come back for his wedding. When, in late 2008, he told me that the date was quickly approaching, Liz and I eagerly began to make plans for a trip back to India.

Now, with the trip less than a month away, I can't wait to return to India and maybe (hopefully?) fall in love with it once again-or, at the very least, make peace with the country that held my heart and my imagination for so long...

A reason to go back??? Chennai's first McDonald's!

2008-04-02T23:24:00.005-04:00

I almost thought this was an April Fool's prank..

Burger sold for Rs.400,000* at McDonald's Chennai
Posted April 1st, 2008 by Mudassir Rizwan

Economy
By IANS

Chennai : A vegetable burger, that ordinarily is priced at Rs.42, was sold for a whopping Rs.400,000 at McDonald's first Chennai outlet Tuesday.

Kick-starting its first outlet at Ascendas IT Park, McDonald's auctioned its first burger and donated the proceeds to the Banyan, a city-based NGO.

The successful bidder was Shiva Kumaar P.R., managing director of Saravana Bhavan Holdings LLC.

"The opening of the restaurant in Chennai is in line with our expansion plans in southern India," Amit Jatia, managing director of Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd, told the media.

The Mumbai-based Hardcastle, which is operating in southern and western parts of India, is a 50:50 joint venture between McDonald's and the Jatia family.

The company has set up 56 McDonald's outlets in the two regions and has plans to increase the numbers.

"We will be opening around 30 restaurants in these two regions in two years time with each outlet involving around Rs.30 million outlay excluding lease rental," Jatia added.

In the south, the company is looking at Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad for expansion apart from other towns like Coimbatore.

Declining to give the average amount per bill Jatia added, "The average turnaround time per table is around 30 minutes. We serve around 4,000 to 6,000 customers per day."

According to him, part of McDonald's success in India is attributed to its ability to build an efficient supply chain and to respect for Indian customs and culture.

"We source fresh lettuce from Pune, Delhi, Nainital and Ooty, Cheese from Dynamix Dairies, Maharashtra, fresh buns from Bector Foods and others," he added.

Each outlet has just three days stock of food articles and there are no central commissaries.

*Rs. 400,000 is approximately $10,000 USD

Now those of you not in India please note this line: The average turnaround time per table is around 30 minutes. 30 MINUTES!!! Imagine, just for a second, how long McDonald's would stay in business in the US if the average turnaround time per table here was 30 minutes. Think about the fact that people wait, at some points, over half an hour to eat at McDonald's. Do not ever doubt the power of a brand image worldwide.

Doing Business In India

2008-03-31T10:40:00.005-04:00

I was reading blogs today and this one (for obvious reasons) caught my attention: Tips on Doing Business in India

Of course I investigated further and looked at PMA's whole list of recommendations for doing business in the Indian market. My favorite was this one: You should try to arrive on time for meetings. Indians are impressed with punctuality. I find 'impressed' an odd word choice here. No Indians that I really knew were impressed by punctuality. In fact, I always got the feeling that it was more of an inconvenience to the person when you showed up exactly on time. What this statement doesn't (and should) go on to say is: Of course, they won't be ready on time for you. Be prepared to sit and wait for the person. The more important the person you are meeting with, the longer you may have to wait.

Overall, though, I was impressed by the way they presented the differences in positive light. Consider, Since they do not like to give negative answers, Indians may give an affirmative answer but be deliberately vague about any specific details. This will require you to look for non-verbal cues, such as a reluctance to commit to an actual time for a meeting or an enthusiastic response. where most people would have said, Indians can't give you a straight answer! They tell you that things will be accomplished, but then they don't follow through!

One thing I'm surprised they didn't mention was getting used to the Indian head-bobble (though maybe that doesn't come into play as much in business negotiations). A search on Google will turn up scores of Westerners utterly confused by or trying to explain the mystery of the movement. Here is an example of it (the exaggerate raised eyebrows are an important feature!)and here it is in practice (the websiteI got this from later said they found out it wasn't actually piracy-The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari actually sells for Rs. 175 there).

The Indian head bobble is something I wish I had written about it earlier (as in while I was still there), but I guess it is just something I picked up along the way. I didn't even really notice until friends pointed it out. Upon reflection, I really think learning it and learning which situations to use it in is an important step to adjusting to Indian culture.

Goodbyes

2008-02-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

Several friends have recently pointed out that I have not really explained here what was going on in my life, so I will attempt to remedy that in the next few days. I'm not sure why I delayed these postings (I've definately had plenty of time!); in some ways, I think that I might not have been ready to pull out some of these memories and think about everything that happened...

At the end of October, I put my papers down (that's resigned to those of you in the US) and prepared to leave India (for good?). I spent a couple of weeks wrapping up things in Chennai (it's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in 2 years!) and flew back to the US a little before Thanksgiving. Since then I have been staying with my parents while looking for a job back here in the good ole' US of A.

Anyway, I'm sure I will share more about that with you later, but for now, I thought I would leave you with a few pictures of the people I said goodbye to in Chennai...

My team of communication trainers

Crystal & Zach

Vijaya & Narayan...who got married after I left...Congratulations you 2!

Log

My supervisor/call back team-

I managed to go 2.5 years in India without getting cake

smeared all over my face (a common occurance on birthdays

and other occasions in India) UNTIL this group stepped in-thanks, guys!

Anita & Family. Anita was my friend, advisor, co-worker, co-conspirator, co-sufferer...and a lot more besides! She taught me everything I know about being a trainer on the production floor! I owe her a ton!

Maybe I wasn't quite as effective as I thought...

2007-12-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

[chatting online with a former trainee today]

Trainee: Why did you leave the company?

Me: I was sick and tired of dealing with the unorganized crap that you have to deal with there.

Trainee: How are you now? Take care of your helath-that is more important.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T08:41:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm home spending Christmas with my family, I look back and truly appreciate the friends who have been there to celebrate with me in recent years.

Maybe it was in Kerala?*

2007-12-17T13:43:00.000-05:00

An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the World.

So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to China.

On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read"$10,000 per call".

The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what the telephone was used for.

The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God.

The American thanked the priest and went along his way.

Next stop was in Japan. There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it.

He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in China and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was.

She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 He could talk to God.

"O.K., thank you," said the American.

He then traveled to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Russia, Germany and France .

In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same "$10,000 per call" sign under it. The American, upon leaving Vermont decided to travel to up to India to see if Indians had the same phone.

He arrived in India, and again, in the first church he entered, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read "One Rupee per call."

The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. "Father, I've traveled all over World and I've seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I'm told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but in the US the price was $10,000 per call.

Why is it so cheap here?"

Readers, it is your turn........Think .....before you see the answer...

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The priest smiled and answered, "You're in India now, Son - it's a Local Call. This is the only heaven on the Earth."

*Kerala's tagline is "God's Own Country"

Goa Story #2

2007-12-14T11:38:00.001-05:00

I imagine everyone has been waiting with bated breath for the second Goa story. :)

As Liz said, there were plenty of things to get irritated about, but somehow we always managed to pull through by adding some humor to the situation. One of the more frustrating things for me happened on the evening boat cruise we took on our 1/2 day of sight-seeing. It's such great fun to be followed around the boat by a 15-year-old who, despite his lack of English, tries to hit on you. [And trust me, his English was bad: when he wanted to ask Liz a question about whether she had been to Kerala (where he was from), he faced her and asked, "And has she been to Goa?" (apparently, he didn't pay attention to that all important Pronoun lesson!) But, my favorite was when he asked me, "How is better? Kerala or Goa?" (And Malayalis pride themselves on their educational standards and their grasp of English!) :) ]

Luckily, Liz, in her uber-sneakiness, was able to snap a picture to remind us of it:

Unfortunately, by this point, he had changed out of his matching shorts (that were worn over his pants!) that prompted us to nickname him SuperBoy*!

*Many thanks to Mr. Texas, another tourist who helped us nickname as well as avoid SuperBoy!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T07:40:00.000-05:00

Last year: this

This year: MMMMM!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On the way to Goa

2007-11-21T08:43:00.000-05:00

Liz has certainly beat me in writing about our trip to Goa (if you haven't read it, you should go here, here, here, here and here!)* She's done such a good job of describing everything that I thought it would be redundant for me to repeat the same details. Instead, I thought that I would describe two smaller incidents of our trip.

Some time ago, you may remember, Reader's Digest conducted a (arguably unscientific) survey to determine the most polite cities in the world. As you may also recall, Mumbai ranked the lowest of the 36 cities on the list. After the experience we had at the Baskin Robbins counter in the Mumbai airport, I can see where they may have earned this reputation. Liz and I had a long layover in Mumbai, and so we decided to treat ourselves to Baskin Robbins while waiting. No one was at the counter, so we spent a little time debating over which chocolate flavors to choose. Liz even tasted a couple of flavors to help her narrow down the choices. As she starts to order, this older woman pushes her way between Liz and the counter. (Note: Liz was standing at a normal ordering distance between the counter, leaving room for maybe a small child to fit between her and the counter. Not really room enough for a middle-aged, stout woman to fit through.) Liz, somewhat graciously, allowed the woman room enough to look at the flavors; then, the woman, taking advantage of this**, starts giving orders to the guy behind the counter (who is still working on Liz' order and has not yet taken mine.) When he finished Liz' order, she butt in again, even though she still didn't know what she wanted. Then, another guy comes in, with money in hand***, giving his orders. I, of course, stepped in and placed my order. The guy behind the counter starts filling my order and the woman starts complaining. The guy behind the counter explains that I had been waiting. Then, the woman's husband chimes in, saying that they have a plane to catch. (Don't we all? It's kind of a pre-requisite for being in the airport these days!) Anyway, he continued scooping, I got my ice cream, but the whole incident left a bad taste in my mouth.

And now that I have been running on for longer than I thought, I will end here and write about the second incident later. Stay tuned!

*and if you want to read about our massive shopping experience, go here. She is not lying-it was seriously a full 8+ hours of shopping each day! I never thought I could be a full-time shopper! [My mother is probably fainting right now imagining it.]

**I'm not sure if I've talked about the lack of a queue mentality in Indians before, but here it went beyond that. I mean, I've been in India for 2.5 years now, I've learned how to adapt. This was way beyond normal levels-this was rude!!!

***this is typical jumping queue behavior-get the money out, flash it before the counter attendant in the hopes that he'll take you first because you are ready.

Trainer's Day

2007-10-03T05:45:00.000-04:00

For the first time in my 2 1/2 years of being here, they actually recognized the trainers on Teacher's Day (Sept 5th). This is my favorite of the posters that they hung around our Center of Learning:

Happy Onam

2007-10-01T07:03:00.000-04:00

My comm team celebrated Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala, by dressing in the traditional off-white and gold outfits of Kerala.

(Unfortunately, the pictures from the camera phone are blurry)

It was Jody's (our other North American trainer, from Canada) first time to wear a sari!

Eco-hotels are the way to go!

2007-09-22T04:45:00.000-04:00

On the recommendation of our clients, Log and I decided to stay a weekend at The Dune to celebrate his birthday. The Dune is part of a growing trend in eco-hotels & resorts that provide a luxury setting while attempting to live in harmony with the environment. On the grounds of the resort, they grow many of the vegetables & spices that they use in cooking as well as the herbs used in the holistic & ayurvedic treatments available at the spa. The only vehicles allowed within the resort grounds are the battery-powered car and bicycles for the guests to use.

They offer a variety of themed accommodations, ranging from the "naturally cooled" beach cottages to the walled & gated family houses. We opted for the air-conditioned Bangle House, so named for the decorations using glass bangles evident throughout the room.

The service was great-I loved the way they took great pains to respect our privacy, even though we were attended by one of the resort dogs for a large portion of Sunday:

We had a great time, relaxing and watching old favorite movies on DVD (An Affair to Remember!!!!) as the resort does not have satellite TV. We had a great time and highly recommend The Dune. We look forward to trying more eco-hotels in the future.

Pictures for Liz

2007-09-06T06:07:00.000-04:00

In response to Liz' blog:

Liz,

There is some pictorial evidence from your visit to Chennai, but I have to admit that they are not as up to the mark as on previous visits. :) Now that I have access to a laptop again, I can post them for you. Enjoy!

Thanjavur

2007-07-22T06:05:00.000-04:00

One of the first things that I did when I got back to India was take a train journey to Thanjavur (pronounced Tanjore) to attend Log's friend's brother's wedding. I do not recommend flying for 20+ hours and then, within 48 hours, taking a 12+ hour train ride to attend a major function in a small town. Beware if you do so, because you might end up looking like this:

And the people there will look at you like this:

I actually don't remember much about the ceremony. (Not that I knew what was going on most of the time anyway!) But, after I was able to rest, we were able to visit the famous Bragatheeswarar Temple (The Big Temple). It hosts one of the largest statues of Nandhi, the bull ridden by Shiva (the destroyer/transformer). Then it was again time to get on the train and head back to Chennai.

Customer Service

2007-07-19T17:28:00.000-04:00

My mom sent me this great email:

When you call Customer Service and speak to someone in India and you can't understand him/her, perhaps it's a fault in the wiring?

I must admit, I've never actually seen anything even approaching this bad while I've been here. However, it does remind me a lot of the descriptions in Suketu Mehta's book, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. (I recommend this book for anyone who is familiar with India.) He describes taking a flat in Bombay (Mumbai) and how each tenant had brought in a new electrician to completely rewire the flat. I'm sure you can imagine how tangled up and patched together things would end up being after several tenants. He also describes how the slums and other poor communities tap into electricity sources. I imagine that it would eventually end up looking something like this.

I'm back!

2007-07-16T04:37:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone! (Although I'm not even sure if there will still be an everyone out there! Maybe no one will be checking my blog anymore, since it has been so long since I posted! :-( )

Oh, well, in the hopes that I still have a few readers left, let me update you all on my life. The reason that I have been so busy is that there are a bunch of new North American trainers that have come to work at our office with me. One is here on a year contract like I am, while the other three are here on a temporary basis (though there is already pressure on them to stay longer!) So, I've been spending most of my free time helping them get adjusted to India-finding the things they need, teaching them how to get things done, and translating (well, Log gets to do most of that!)

Basically I have realized that our company has learned absolutely nothing from the original group of NA trainers that they brought here. These new trainers all had similar stories of being picked up at the airport by a company driver who didn't speak much English and dumped into an apartment with no information on how/where to get food, change money or the like. In fact, there were originally 4 temporary trainers, but one has already decided he couldn't take it and jumped at the first opportunity to go back.

I, however, am happy that they are here. I didn't realize how much I was missing Ralph and Tim after their respective departures...and how alone I felt. Therefore, I'm doing my best to help them get settled here so that I will have company for the remainder of my time here.

Anyway, I have lots of stories to share-including a trip to the hospital! But you will just have to wait a couple of days for that one.

Anonymous feedback forms are not always anonymous

2007-06-11T03:47:00.000-04:00

Let me start out by saying that I HATE dealing with immigration. And, no this is not necessarily a comment on India per se, but, more likely, a comment on government bureaucracies in general. Every time I go there, it's like I have to pry information out of the receptionist about the documents that I need. And then the next time I go, the other receptionist will tell me I need something else before I can submit them. It's a horrid place and mostly try to minimize the time I need to spend there. I was quite relieved, however, when I was finally able to submit my application for registration last Monday. However, that was not to last....

Tuesday at work, I'm in a meeting and I get the following call:

Caller: I'm calling from the FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Office). I'm telling you that you need to come for appointment tomorrow morning 10 AM.

Me: 10 AM is not a convenient time for me. I work nights. I need to do it at another time. [I think this just goes to show you start to think you can get ANYTHING changed if you live in India-a sign that I've been here too long.]

Caller: Then I don't know what will happen to your application. [Is that a threat??]

Me: (sigh) Ok. Where do I go?

...

Uh-oh. I mean normally you submit your documents and, right then and there, they give you an appointment to come in a pick up your certificate a week or so later. There usually is neither a phone call nor an appointment with the FRRO to contend with. So, I'm sure you can imagine my state of mind for the rest of the night.

So I manage to get up and get myself to the office early the next morning. None of the administrative people seem to have any record that I have meeting with the FRRO-nor the Assistant Director. Finally they tell the FRRO himself that I am here and bring me in to see him. I sit down and he says to me, "Did you fill out this feedback form?" My initial thought is, "What?" I look and, attached to my application is the 4-question, anonymous feedback form that I had filled out on Monday.

Dozens of things flashed through my mind: How did they match it up? How long did they spend matching it up? Is this why everything there takes so long? Wow, they actually read the feedback forms! And, why exactly did I get only 4 hours of sleep for this?

He proceeded to ask me questions about my comments on their website and even brought in one of the receptionists to chastise her (in front of me) for saying not to go by what's on the website. [Of course, I'm thinking, "Great. Now this woman's going to give me an even harder time than usual when I next have to come here for something!"]

Sigh. I can hardly wait to see what my next trip to immigration will bring...

Elmira

2007-06-03T08:30:00.000-04:00

One of the things that I have been missing, that I haven't been able to find a substitute for in India, is Civil War reenacting. Luckily, I timed my return just right in order to be able to attend the 2007 Elmira Civil War Weekend with my former unit.

It was great to be out in the freezing cold, sleeping in a canvas tent...

....eating Denise's food cooked over an open fire....

...frantically mending our outfits....

...and sending our boys off to fight!

It was especially memorable because it was Maggie's first reenactment (look, she's already ready to cheer on the boys of the South!)

Honestly, sometimes I don't even know what I am doing in India

2007-05-28T07:44:00.000-04:00

Americans frequently complain about the level of customer or technical service that they get from overseas agents on the phone. However, I have to question: what standard are we holding these agents to and where did we get these standards? Maybe I just get frustated because when I am in the US, I tend to have to deal with a lot of customer service agents in a short period of time or maybe it's because I spend so much time teaching my agents how to reassure, how to communicate resolution and how to empathize with their customers, but, quite honestly, most of the American agents I spoke to are no better than their overseas counterparts in these areas.

For me, this time it revolved around the customer support department for Canon. My camera has been non-cooperative lately and I wanted to see if I could get it fixed while I was in the US. I described the problem and they suggested a resolution and even said they would fix it at no extra cost. (GREAT!) I had a few follow-up questions that I replied to the email with. In the response only ONE question was answered; the rest were ignored. (HMMMM...) But, I was generally pleased with the whole experience, so thought I would try it again, and replied to the new email with several questions. Again, only ONE question was answered and the rest were ignored. (Is this a policy-they are only allowed to answer one question per email???) I was becoming less pleased, so I decided to switch to a different medium-I decided to call.

At this point in time, my major questions had to do with how long the repair would take and if there was any way to expedite it since I do have time constraints for being in the US. In the email, they had told me that their repairs usually take 7-10 business days, but that they would get back to me about my specific repair after I sent in my camera and they had diagnosed the problem. So my questions were: is there any way to make sure that this repair can be finished and my camera returned before I leave? And, if there is no way to expedite it, will I find out how long this specific repair should take after they have diagnosed the problem? I didn't think that these questions would be too difficult, but two front-line agents and one supervisor later, I still had no answers and did not feel in the least like they were there to help me with my situation.

Not only did they not display any interest in helping me with my problem (not that I probably should have expected that from the second agent, she didn't even seem to understand what the problem was), but they gave me great suggestions, like: "Why don't you just pick up your camera when you get back to the US?" (Right, because there's no way I might want to take pictures when I'm OUT of the country??); or, "You can always send it in when you get back" (Again, cuz I might want to have a working camera while I'm out of the country for 6 months?? I don't know??); and, my favorite, when I pointed out that, with service like this, I wasn't planning on buying another Canon, "Well, I have several Canon models at home and I haven't had any trouble with them." (Nice empathy if I was trying to decide what camera to buy, not when I am sitting there with a Canon that is NOT WORKING ALREADY!!! Idiot!)

Anyway, after all of that, I ended up with frustration, a distaste for Canon, and a still broken camera.

And, I would like to point out, all of these agents were American. So, I don't think we can justifiably complain about the service that we get from overseas agents, at least, not while we are complaining about the outsourcing trend. Quite frankly, American agents are no better at customer service skills than those in the overseas markets.

Oh, and Canon? You should train your agents better.

If you are interested, I know a trainer who will be looking for work in the US after October. :)

Kissing Shilpa

2007-05-18T13:57:00.001-04:00

I can't believe how much publicity this event got-everywhere I went back in the States people were asking me about this event and I barely knew anything about it!

Anyway, in response, I offer the following humorous article:*

THE KISS THAT NOBODY COULD MISS

What a year it's been for Shilpa Shetty. The Bollywood actress has gained immense exposure around the world,grabbing headlines in major newspapers and getting every TV host in America, even the national ones, to mangle her name.

Shetty first drew worldwide attention when she appeared on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" and endured offensive comments from other contestants, triggering protests in India and the requisite effigy-burning. (More effigies are burned in India than in any other country in the world, according to Raj Sharma, spokesman for the Indian Effigy Manufacturers Association. George W. Bush has been burned in effigy numerous times, but isn't quite in the Top Ten. The only way for him to move up would be to join the Indian cricket team.)

Shetty's activities have been a boon to the effigy industry.Three months after winning "Celebrity Big Brother," she was embroiled in another controversy, having made the mistake of standing too close to Hollywood star Richard Gere.

The pair were at a televised AIDS awareness event in New Delhi, appearing on stage in front of thousands of people,when Gere kissed Shetty on the hand, embraced her, bent her backwards and kissed her several times on the cheek. To some onlookers, it looked like a demonstration. Gere was showing everyone that you can't get AIDS, of course, by kissing a Bollywood actress. (You can't get AIDS by kissing anyone else either, but you can get slapped. Trust me, I know.)

Many men in the audience were naturally upset. It was rude of Gere, even disgraceful, not to invite them to participate. "Demonstration is all well and good," one man said. "But we wanted to see for ourselves that it's safe to kiss Shilpa. We were ready to form a neat line."

Some political activists and others in India were outraged by Gere's act. They called it "obscene" and "vulgar,"causing millions of youngsters to go online to view it. "We were very disappointed," a teen-aged boy said. "She kept her sari on the whole time."

Many others felt that Shetty acted improperly. "She didn't resist at all," said a middle-aged Mumbai woman. "She could have pushed him away. She could have pepper-sprayed him or something."

Several young women from Chennai insisted they would have acted differently. "I'm a Christian," one of them said. "If Richard Gere kissed me passionately on the cheek, I'd show him the other cheek."

Most of the anger on the streets was directed at Gere.Protesters, egged on by political activists, didn't just burn effigies of Gere, they beat them with sticks. That sparked a dozen more protests, most of them organized by PETE (People for the Ethical Treatment of Effigies).

Shetty said people were overreacting and that Gere was just being sweet, prompting an Indian tabloid to print a tongue-twister of a headline: "Shapely Shilpa Shetty shockingly shows no shame!"

Then a lawyer filed a complaint accusing Gere of an"indecent act" and a judge in Rajasthan issued an arrest warrant for Gere. He faced a potential penalty of three months in prison, a fine or both. He'd better watch out or he could find himself sharing a cell with a burly man named Munna.

Gere: "Hello, what are you in here for?"

Munna: "Armed robbery. I robbed a bank and shot three people. What about you?"

Gere: "Kissing."

Munna: "Oh my God! You kissed someone?"

Gere: "Yes, but it was just an innocent ..."

Munna: "Guards! Get me out of here! I don't want to be with this man."

Gere: "Come on, relax. I'm harmless."

Munna: "Stand back, man! Don't come near me with those lips!"

Gere has apologized for the kiss, saying he was just mimicking a scene from his 2004 movie "Shall We Dance" and evidently misread Indian customs. He plans to continue visiting India, but from now on will wear a hockey mask in public to keep himself from kissing anyone.

His experience might give people the impression that public kissing does not occur in India, that no one ever does it.But that's not true at all. A few cases of public kissing have been recorded.

In 2001, for example, a Delhi man and his wife won a new Maruti car in a contest. The man was pictured in the Times of India planting a loving kiss on the front bumper. The next day, members of the right-wing group Shiv Sena burned effigies of the man. Some accused the man of"auto-erotic behavior."

In 2004, a Madurai man was spotted kissing a donkey. The donkey belonged to the man's boss, a flour merchant. The man was arrested and taken to court. "It's my wife's fault," he told the judge. "She told me that if I want the boss to give me a promotion, I need to kiss his ass."

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(c) Copyright 2007 Melvin Durai. All Rights Reserved.
www.MelvinDurai.com

*If you visit the site, I also recommend "Anything Goes on Chennai Roads" and "Indian English: It vil be wery helpful, yaar" under the Indian columns

Mysore

2007-04-19T04:55:00.000-04:00

In December I was supposed to visit Mumbai to attend a college friend's wedding. However, there was a problem with the hotel booking and a week before the wedding I found myself without a place to stay. Unfortunately, December ("the wedding season") is not a good time to be looking for a last-minute, affordable place to stay.

To make me feel better about missing the trip, a friend organized a quick trip to Mysore.

We saw the palace:

And the "dancing lights" show at Brindavan Gardens:

And got close to nature at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary:

Yea, I'm coming home for a vacation!

2007-04-19T04:45:00.000-04:00

So one of the things that was falling apart was that I was having a difficult time extending my visa for the extra week that I needed to stay here after it expired. However, that has finally been resolved (albeit all at the last minute!) and I am now free to leave for a vacation in the US. Now I'm starting to frantically pack up my heavy stuff to take home...because I am sure I will accumulate more by the time I am ready to leave again in the fall.

In the meantime, I thought I would share some pictures of some trips that I took but never posted about. Enjoy!

Deception

2007-04-12T04:36:00.000-04:00

Ok. I feel like I have led you all on. I mean here you are thinking that I've finally quit and have headed back to the US.

...But that is not truly the case. As it often happens here in India, the last week I was here, I was approached to stay with the company longer. Now, I am sure that you all know my feelings about staying with the training department...however, for the past couple of months, I have enjoyed my time working with one the specific programs. I'm getting to develop training plans, interact with clients, make recommendations (that are actually taken into account!) It's kind of....well, enjoyable.

So I made a rather surprising (to some!) decision to stay for another 6 months, with a trip back to the US in between.

...Of course, after which, almost everything in my life here has started to fall apart, causing me endless days of questioning whether I made the right decision. But, that is another post for another time...

Last Day

2007-04-02T07:36:00.000-04:00

I feel as if I should have some meaningful insights to write about my last day of work at the company that has kept me in India and caused me to start this blog, but I can't really come up with any. I mean, it was pretty typical... not typical of last days, mind you, but typical of any day at the company:

The communication team for the program I am now working with was supposed to take a couple of hours and go out to dinner to celebrate my last day of work. Actually, I was supposed to brief them on the new communication curriculum first, then we were supposed to head out to eat. We actually were able to book a training room (very surprising!); however, once inside, I found that the trainer computer had no sound card nor MS Office installed (sigh). While I ran around to try to get someone to fix that, the rest of the team scattered to work on updating the end-of-the-month data that was due. Also, one of the team managers came around to tell us that there was a meeting with the program manager in 5 mins that we needed to attend. Twenty minutes later, the same program manager called to let us know that he was going down for a smoke and would be "right there" (sigh). He also said that the meeting should only last 15 mins. One hour later, one of the other trainers had already gone home and the meeting with the program manager was still in progress.

I think maybe I should revise my post on missing IST. :) I did finally get to go out-with about half of the team; leaving at the time we were supposed to be returning; to a different place than we were planning (it was 12:30 AM-the other place had closed!) The good part was that those of us who did go out had a lot of fun!

2007-04-01T12:48:00.000-04:00

1. Close friends

2007-03-31T13:13:00.000-04:00

2. Trainees (the good batches!)

2007-03-30T17:42:00.000-04:00

3. Drives down ECR (East Coast Road)

2007-03-30T05:34:00.000-04:00

4. IST (Indian Stretchable Time)

Honestly, I have to admit it...sometimes it is nice to not have to be so....well...punctual. I mean, yes, there are time when you plan something and you want everyone to be there on time, but other times it's kind of nice to tell everyone that you're going to meet up somewhere at 8 pm, knowing full well that no one will show up until 9. Or knowing you don't have to show up for a wedding reception that lasts from 6pm-10pm until 9:30.

2007-03-29T17:22:00.000-04:00

I think I should have added this one with yesterday's post:

5. Affordable pedicures & manicures

2007-03-28T05:44:00.000-04:00

3 more working days!!!!

6. Having a servant maid

I don't know what I'm going to do back in the US when I have to sweep & mop floors, clean bathrooms, do dishes and hang out the laundry by myself!

Ok, with a clothes dryer maybe the last one won't matter so much in the US, but the rest still applies!

7. Sending out the ironing

And I'm going have to iron my own clothes again instead of sending them out for ironing at 5 cents each!

Hmm...I think I'll need to shop for some wrinkle-resistant clothes when I get back!

8. Alterations

And I'm definitely going to miss the fact that, if clothes don't fit in the store, you can get things altered at the store at no cost!

I'll take a bonna fide tailor over the petite section in a store any day!

2007-03-27T04:52:00.000-04:00

Here's another one that has its good and bad parts:

9. Bargaining

I'm not saying that I'm great at bargaining by any means...except maybe with autos...sometimes. :) Bargaining can be both frustrating and daunting, especially at first. However, there is a certain satisfaction you feel when you bargain for something and are satisfied with the price that you paid for it-it's hard to describe. I know it often helps me feel like I'm adjusting to life here when I can complete a successful bargaining transaction, like things are not so out-of-control.

2007-03-23T09:44:00.000-04:00

And two things that I am going to experience this weekend, as we are off to take a houseboat cruise in Alleppey :

10. Travelling by train

11. Fresh seafood in Kerala-grilled, with some butter and garlic, no heavy sauces...mmm!

2007-03-23T03:53:00.000-04:00

12. Travelling by bike, feeling the wind (or the rain) on your face

Helmet laws, though, go into effect on June 1st in Chennai, so I guess this one is coming to an end (if they enforce it!)

These guys, in Port Blair, seem to have found a great solution though-cover your head while still feeling the wind on your face...though I have to wonder how well a hard hat would protect your head in an accident, if it stayed on your head at all! I wonder, though, if real helmets are scarce in the Andaman Islands and this is why we saw so many people resort to using hard hats?

2007-03-21T06:44:00.000-04:00

13. Bangles...lots and lots of bangles!

14. Indian clothing-and feeling like a princess when you get dressed up

2007-03-20T04:24:00.000-04:00

15. Getting preferential treatment because you're a foreigner

I have to admit that this has both its upside and downside...but for this list I'm focusing on the good parts...for example, when I went to pay my electricity bill. Normally, they calculate the amount due and the maintenance people in my apartment bring the card to me; however, due to a problem over a previous payment, I had to go to the office to get the calculation and make the payment. Normally, you stand in line, get the amount, step out of line, get the payment ready, and then get back in line to make the payment. (Efficient, huh?) But, because I was a foreigner, they let me write the check and make the payment in the first line. (It was great-the people behind me in line were even complaining about it!) :)

2007-03-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

10 more working days...and that figure will actually remain the same, since Liz can't come... :(

16. All-night parties at Zach & Crystal's....

...where we somehow always ended up in the Bay

which brings me to:

17. Being so close to the beach!

Mmmm...food

2007-03-14T03:36:00.000-04:00

I knew I would fall behind in my list...but then I had more pressing things to attend to-like applying for jobs! *crossing fingers* Let's hope something comes from all the frantic searching!

13 more working days...although I'm taking off my remaining leave days next week when Liz is here, so that actually makes it more like 9 more. :) Either way it sounds good to me.

Anyway, back to my list....

There are a bunch of South Indian foods that I'm going to miss back in the US:

18. Masala dosa...and my new treat, mushroom dosa...pretty much any kind of dosa, actually

19. Mutton Biriyani-especially Hyderabadi Mutton Biriyani at Zubair's house! MMMM!

20. Fresh lime sodas-a little salt, a little sugar (kuncha salt, kuncha sweet to the Tamil vendors...which always makes them laugh!) is my favorite way to have it-so refreshing on a hot day!

I guess it takes some getting used to, though. I remember Stephen's face as he tried to get used to the taste of a drink with salt-he was not a fan!

21. Fresh-squeezed juices...especially grape, which tastes nothing like the packaged grape juice that you buy in the stores! Oh-and sweet lime too!

22. Chaat-especially anything with dahi (yogurt) such as dahi poori

23. And, even though I don't get it much in Chennai (it's a Kerala dish)-appams with coconut milk.

Ok, now I'm hungry....time for me to go make lunch! :)

Places I'll miss...

2007-03-06T02:30:00.000-05:00

24. Lounging poolside at Aqua

25. Tapas at Zara's....even though they revised their drink menu!!!

26. Hanging out in Geoffrey's

27. Sunday brunches at the Taj

28. Smoking hookahs at Mocha

Port Blair

2007-03-02T03:21:00.000-05:00

Ralph came for a visit from Kuwait, so we went off to explore a new part of India-Port Blair, in the Andaman Islands. Port Blair itself is a rather dull town that doesn't seem too interested in catering to tourists. Its one concession to the tourist industry is the number of scuba diving outfits that are there. We investigated the possibility of snorkeling, but decided against it when we were told that fins were not available.

Port Blair does have historical significance, though. We visited the Cellular Jail, which was used to incarcerate the Indian Freedom Fighters during the independence movement.

We also traveled to Ross Island, which was occupied first by the British and then by the Japanese in WWII.

The British settlement, once abandoned, was quickly brought to ruin by the natural vegetation; however, they have attempted to restore some of the old buildings. These were officer's quarters:

And this was the church

March Madness

2007-03-02T02:57:00.000-05:00

21 more working days! :)

I'm so excited about heading home; however, I don't want to give them impression that all of my experiences in India have all been bad. I have decided, for the month of March, to list 30 things that I will miss about India, naturally with special emphasis on Chennai. I'm going to attempt to do this each day, but probably there will end up being groups of things every few days. Keep in mind they are not in any specific order, other than things I am thinking about at the moment.

I planned on starting this yesterday, so here are my first two (which is okay, since they are related):

30. NO SNOW!!! I haven't seen snow for the past 2 years (except during vacations back to Rochester in OCTOBER!) and I haven't missed it at all!

29. Warm weather year-round. Need I say more?

Birthday Celebrations

2007-02-23T02:47:00.000-05:00

Originally, I wasn't looking forward to turning 30 in India...however, it turned out to be fun!

Thursday, I celebrated with friends at Zara's & Zanzibar...

...then headed to Kodaikanal for the weekend.

I finally found a cold place in Tamil Nadu: Kodaikanal is a hill station, where people here go to escape the heat of the summer. The summer heat hasn't fully arrived here (give it another month or so), so it wasn't too crowded there yet.

It was quite a trek to Dolphin's Nose, but I loved the fog that surrounded the mountain

Suicide Point:

The hotel had a great lake view!

One Countdown Begins....Another Ends

2007-02-14T13:30:00.000-05:00

I'm excited to announce:

I have 30 more working days...

...and today I turn the big 3-0!

Oh Canada!

2007-02-11T08:37:00.000-05:00

I've been assigned to work with one of our new programs that supports clients in Canada. Now that my roommates (both Canadians) are both gone, I guess they figured an American was the next best thing. I think I managed okay with my first batch, changing the places where I used to say "Your American customers expect..." to "Your North American customers expect...." :)Throughout the batch, though, I was reminded about how little I actually know about our "neighbors to the north." While scrambling to find basic information (standard address formats and the like), however, I was relieved to find out that I'm not as bad as these people....

Way to Take One for the Team!

2007-01-29T09:02:00.000-05:00

Jenna has been visiting Chennai this past week to visit me and help out with the next phase of Equip's latest venture. I didn't see her much during the week, but since I didn't have to work Friday (Republic Day), we had plenty of time to catch up over the weekend. The one thing that everyone here knows about Jenna is that she has a mad crush on the Indian cricket player Dhoni: This weekend, Chennai hosted the World Cup ODI (One Day Internationals) between India and the West Indies (I think-I'm so up on my cricket!). In between her training sessions, Jenna began plotting a strategy to meet Dhoni here in Chennai (previous attempts in both Delhi & Mumbai had already proved unsuccessful). It seemed fated to be when she met a cricket commentator in The Leather Bar Friday night who offered to leave us passes to the next day's match.

Which is how I found myself, approximately 10 minutes before the match was about to end, standing outside of the gate of the cricket stadium-the smell of urine and horse poop wafting through in the air-waiting and waiting and waiting. Surprise, surprise-no passes! Sigh. Jenna frantically calls the commentator guy-I mean we are so close to Dhoni, she feels that tonight will be the night she finally gets to meet him! Especially since he isn't playing tonight: he will be in the stands just watching the game-what a perfect time to chat him up!! As we are waiting for the commentator to come down and get us in, she points out to me that I need to be the one who has the mad crush on Dhoni. She can't, because she's been flirting with the commentator to get us in in the first place! You know me-I'm sooo good at faking hero worship. :) But, I don't have long to prepare for my role (I'm just hoping that there will be no follow-up questions!) as he comes down and gets us in. Jenna wastes no time-in the elevator to the VIP boxes, she tells the commentator all about my "crush". I try to play it off like I'm embarrassed that she's telling him all this; though I'm not sure if it came out that way! He did smile indulgently at me and suggested I stake out the hotel where the players are staying.

But the whole charade was all for nothing!!!! Sigh. The commentator dumps us in an empty VIP booth, on the opposite side from where the players were sitting and tells us that he has to go for a studio shoot. So, dejectedly, we sit and watch India loose the last few minutes of the match, knowing we have no hope of meeting Dhoni. We can't even see him across the field from us!

Why Chennai will never become a tourist mecca...

2007-01-15T01:05:00.000-05:00

Actually, I could probably write several posts relating to this topic; however, I want to deal specifically with one thing that made the front page here in Chennai recently:

Tamil Nadu hikes auto rickshaw rates
Chennai, Jan 10: Tamil Nadu government today announced an upward revision of auto rickshaw fares in the state from January 26, 2007. The minimum fare, which was fixed at Rs seven in 1996, now has been revised to Rs.14. This would be valid for the first two kms, state Transport Minister K N Nehru told reporters here.The fare for further distances has also been hiked to Rs six per km from the present Rs.3.50, he said.He said the autorickshaws should be fitted with electronic metres within the next six months failing of which, stern action would be taken.The last revision was made in 1996 and the prices of petrol and diesel have increased many times since then, he said.

Ok. This may seem like a generally fair thing, right? Raising the fares to a more reasonable price to take into account the hikes in petrol prices? Let's examine a bit closer:

1.) The current auto rates in Bangalore, where the cost of living is generally higher than Chennai, the auto rates are set at Rs. 12 for the first 2 km and Rs. 6 for each additional km.

2.) Generally, in Chennai, it is actually impossible to get an auto driver to take you anywhere less than 2 km for less than Rs. 20...

3.) ...Not that this is verifiable because the auto drivers in Chennai do not use a meter-EVER. In fact, most drivers have completely disconnected their meter and I have even been in an auto where there wasn't even a meter. So what does this mean? You have to know the area well enough to be able to bargain the correct price with the auto driver. What does that mean if you are a tourist, first time in Chennai? That you should expect that you will be cheated if you take an auto. Because, the fact is, if you are white, they generally assume you are a tourist and will raise their rates even more.

Case in point: Liz & I had brunch at the Courtyard Marriott the day she left. When we left, we came out to negotiate for an auto to go back home. Right outside the hotel, the drivers all started their bargaining at Rs. 150, telling us, "Long distance madam. At least 25 km [its actually around 9!]" When we crossed the street, to get away from them and to head in the right direction, the negotiations started out at Rs. 100. Imagine: a Rs. 50 difference just by crossing the street! But how would I know that if I was a first-time tourist?

Why is it like this?, one might ask. This brings me to point #4.

4.)I have heard, though not verified, that it is because the cops own most of the autos here in Chennai. Of course they are not going to enforce the meter laws (which were in existence all along), if they get more money by letting their drivers negotiate for fares. That's why I have my doubts about the "Stern action would be taken" phrase in the report. This phrase is already the Indian equivalent of "There is no punishment defined, so we won't bother to enforce this law." And who is going to enforce the laws anyway if the cops are implicit in the problem?

Now, knowing this (most of which you can find in any tourist publication), would you want to visit Chennai as a tourist? Chennai is the fourth largest metro in India, with several noteworthy tourist spots. It could use the influx of tourist dollars to develop even more. Unlike the heat and humidity (another tourist deterrent) this is something that could easily be fixed to turn Chennai into a viable tourist destination. But, does anyone care?

Happy (Belated) New Year!

2007-01-03T11:17:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I haven't been keeping you updated...and, if I were one of those people that actually tried to make & keep new year's resolutions then mine would be to blog more frequently...but I don't really believe in making new year's resolutions, so I guess you will just have to randomly keep checking back for updates. :)

Anyway, as many of you know, Liz came to visit me for Christmas and we have been having a great time celebrating the holidays together. Here are some pictures to show what we have been up to:

Christmas Day:

A wedding reception for one of my former trainees (that I believe Liz actually failed in his final assessment!) Good thing he didn't hold a grudge... :)

New Year's Party:

Now we are off for another traveling adventure... :)

"A homely girl wouldn't wear that"

2006-12-20T08:37:00.000-05:00

Good looking and intelligent. MA (English), BEd. Extremely good natured. Very compatible, down to earth, modest and homely. Highly respectful to elders. Hobby oil painting.

Do any of these words seem like an odd choice for a matrimonial ad?

One of the things that can get you into trouble in India is when words have different definitions than they way we use them back home. For example, I was out shopping for an outfit to wear to a friend's wedding with my American friend Jenna and an Indian friend's sister. Jenna pointed out a poster of a woman in a sheer saree (you could see her stomach through the fabric, the rest was covered in the layers) and asked if that was too risque of an outfit. My friend's sister replied, "A homely girl wouldn't wear that." Jenna, of course, was thinking, according to the American definition, "Yes, thank goodness!" [homely-(adv.) A word used to describe an ugly, unattractive female*] However, my friend's sister actually meant homely with the Indian definition [homely-Characteristic of the home or of home life*; traditional]

Two totally different understandings of the same statement; and, at the time, it was funny only to me because I knew where each one was coming from. Luckily, it wasn't serious enough to cause a cross-cultural misunderstanding! :)

*both definitions courtesy of urbandictionary.com

My Love Affair With India Is Dying…

2006-12-01T02:37:00.000-05:00

…and has been dying for quite a while now. I would say that right now we are in that awkward stage where you are trying to divide up your life together. You know, when you still have to be seen together, but you already know that things are heading toward a break-up, you just aren’t sure exactly when it’s going to happen. I know exactly what’s causing the affair to go sour; it is happening because everything happens like this (finally a story my previous colleagues can truly appreciate!):

Back in July, I decided to purchase a scooter, a Honda Activa. I wanted to have more freedom to roam around and not always have to be dependent on negotiating with auto drivers for my travels around the city. I applied for a loan from ICICI Bank because that is the bank the showroom I bought my Activa from dealt with. I wasn’t too impressed when, after a week of waiting without hearing anything, I discovered that they had lost part of my application. I re-filled out the form and submitted all sorts of additional documents for things to proceed.

One of the things they do in India is send someone to your home to verify your address. When the guy came, very early one morning, he was much more interested in the fact that I had two MALE roommates and I was married to neither of them than he was in actually verifying any of the information he was supposed to.

Finally, everything was verified and approved and I went in to sign the loan paperwork. I specifically asked the guy if I could pay it off early and he said that would be no problem, although I might have to pay a penalty of a couple of month’s interest. I also filled out a form to have the monthly payments deducted from my local account, to start in August. By the end of August, I started to get calls saying that they haven’t received a payment. When I did some investigating, I got all sorts of different answers about why it hasn’t happened correctly (the form got lost, my bank returned it, they can’t do it from my local bank account, etc) Finally, they agreed to send someone to collect the payment. We set up a time for the collection, I sat around waiting and the guy never showed up! When I call up, annoyed, they set another time and the same thing happens. At this point, I stop setting up times and told them that can send the guy whenever they like, if they happen to get me at home I will give him the money. Well, the collector decided tell everyone in my building that I owe money on my loan and how much I owe. Can you imagine? I was LIVID!

Anyway, that finally got straightened out, but I decided I was not happy with the bike. (It’s too heavy and I’m not comfortable driving it in traffic.) So, I sold it to someone I know. It was close to my visit home, so we agreed to complete the formalities when I got back. Which brings us to now. I went to the bank where my loan is; however, the loan “officer” there tells me (without even looking it up on the computer) that I need to go to a different branch. I go to that branch and explain what I want to do. The receptionist directs me to another man who (again without even looking) tries to direct me to still a different branch. I protest because the first branch sent me here and he takes me back to another guy who actually does look it up on a computer and tells me that I have to go to yet a completely different branch. I’m so annoyed by this point in time, I tell him I just want a number to complain. He gives me a number, which I go home and call. After speaking to the manager, and explaining the whole situation, he says he needs to do some checking and will call me back. He doesn’t even bother to apologize for the inconvenience or ineptitude of his staff-no empathy whatsoever! He does, however, call me back (surprising enough in itself) and tells me that it is impossible to close the loan in less than 6 months. I point out that I won’t be here by the time the loan is 6 months old. He tells me they can do nothing but if I don’t pay, they will take legal action. I’m thinking to myself that the loan amount is much less than the cost of sending someone to the US to track me down, but whatever. I can’t believe that a financial institution would rather risk loosing the loan money than try to come to some agreement over a penalty payment.

I think that dealing with ICICI Bank has been THE MOST unprofessional experience I have had here in India and, trust me, there have been many competitors for that title!

To My Friends & Family Enjoying Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, Cranberries, Stuffing & Sweet Potatoes Today...

2006-11-23T01:56:00.000-05:00

...ok I better stop now before I make myself drool. I, unfortunately, will most probably dine tonight on rice (sigh!) and chicken from the office canteen. So, please do spare a thought for me as you are stuffing yourselves with your feasts. :) Wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving-may you realize you have a lot to be thankful for!

The Night of Thanksgiving

TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING, BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS, I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.
***
THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED - THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION WITH ALL MY MIGHT
***
TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION
***
SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
***
I GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.
***
I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.
***
I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.
***
BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES...
HAPPY EATING TO ALL PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.
***
MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY, MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.
***
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF YOUR THIGHS.
***
HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

Jaan-E-Mann

2006-11-09T14:19:00.000-05:00

So I went to see a Hindi movie in the theater today-the new Salman Khan movie, Jaan-E-Mann(Sweetheart): Let's Fall In Love...Again. I feel that I should state right here that I am not a Salman Khan fan. I think this is due, in a large part, to the opinion of one of my friends who had a large influence on my Hindi movie-watching experiences. ["What's this movie?" "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke."* "Who's in this movie?" "Salman Khan. *disgustedly* I wonder if he'll take his shirt off in this movie too?"**] But, from my own personal opinion, if you look at his eyes in many of his movies he looks like he's on some sort of drugs.

Anyway, despite the fact that it was a Salman Khan movie, one of my friends convinced me to see it. He adores Salman Khan, and he's already seen the movie like 4 times, so I didn't feel too bad about asking him to translate it all for me. It was a typical Hindi movie-love triangle, family interference in true love, lots of singing & dancing (though no wet saree scene). And, it was a typical Salman Khan movie because not even a half hour into the movie, he rips his shirt off.

However, the part I found most interesting was the Indian movie representation of New York City and of New Yorkers. (I think that having the characters visit NYC is the new trend in Indian movies-see also Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu). In this movie, the two heroes get out of a cab in NYC to find the address of the heroine. They meet a guy (an American) coming out of her apartment building and they ask him if they are at the right address and he starts giving out all sorts of personal details about her: "Oh, you must mean the sweet and pretty girl that lives right next to me" etc to these two strangers! And she lives alone! Plus, the dialogue for all the Americans was rather stilted, not the way we speak at all! Then, there is a fight scene where Salman Khan single-handedly trounces six tough guys...in the middle of Times Square! I mean, come on, do people really think it's like India where you can pay everyone to look the other way while you beat someone in public?

I don't mean to sound negative, though, because I really did enjoy the experience altogether. I do have a certain love for Hindi movies, no matter how bad they are!

*Secretly, Quietly
**Of course he does.

In case you missed my voice...

2006-11-02T15:04:00.000-05:00

I've been waiting to leak this for quite a while now, but I had to check it out while I was in the US...

"If you are calling about N***** Anti-virus 2007,

please press 1"

Over the past month or so, I have been recording the new IVR menus for one of our clients. (I'm being a little vague about it cuz I'm not sure if I am allowed to share this, but I figure, hey, I didn't get paid any extra for it, so why not get some enjoyment out of sharing it!)

"If you are calling about N***** Anti-virus 2006 or

N***** Anti-virus 2005, please press 2"

It was kind of fun...especially since they chose my voice over Tim's after the first recording! :) But, I have to admit, after listening to the recordings, I can now recognize that I definitely have a regional accent...and a Rochester accent on top of a Pittsburgh accent is not necessarily a good combination...

"If you are calling about N***** Anti-virus 2004 or earlier,

please press 3"

I was actually kind of disappointed when I checked it out at home and found that you have to pay to even hear the menu options; however, when I got back to India, I recorded another one, which anyone can hear. 1 800 927 3991 or 1 800 441 7234.*

*Please note that, at this time, the first voice is not me, but the second voice is....in case it has been that long since you've heard my voice. :)

Choices

2006-10-22T13:27:00.000-04:00

As I was going through training for my first mission trip to Gaza, I remember the person leading it telling us that we would probably, at some point in time, when we least expected it, be overwhelmed by how much we have here in the West. She said it came to her one day when picking out laundry detergent in Wegmans-she was overwhelmed by the choices available. I've often wondered if I would ever have a similar experience, but, until now, I hadn't had one.

This week, while shopping with my girl friend (in Target, actually, not Wegmans) I decided I needed to pick up some lotion to combat the dryness in my skin from the crisp fall air. As we walked into the lotion aisle and saw all of the different options available, I started to wonder how people are even able to choose between brands. Because I've been out of the country for a year and a half now, I didn't have a specific brand or type of lotion that I wanted to purchase. As I tried to pick out the best one, I actually became so overwhelmed by the amount of choices there are, I started to panic and, had my friend not been there with me, I think I would have left the store without buying anything!

I think that we in the West are lucky because of how much choice we do have, and I think it is something that we typically don't even realize. I'm reminded again about this topic after my arrival back in Chennai. Everyone here always asks if I like Indian food. My standard reply has lately been, "Yes, but not every day." I do like Indian food, but the idea of eating the same sort of meal day after day makes me loose my taste for it. And when I compare it to all of the different kinds of food I ate during my short visit to the US, I can't help but marvel again at the overabundance of choices: Mexican, steak, sushi, pasta, BBQ, seafood (that's not in a curry sauce) to name a few. People laughed when they asked me what I wanted to eat while I was home and my reply was always "anything that's not rice". But when rice is a staple food and often the most appetizing option, you can easily get tired of it when you are used to having more choices available.

Sometimes, I think this is one of the hardest things to adjust to here (at least for me) and as I am starting to get back into the swing of things here, it is something I am not looking forward to giving up. I guess I will always be an American in that respect, no matter how hard I try to fit in India.

In comparison...

2006-10-16T08:01:00.000-04:00

It's hard to miss living in western NY when you hear stories like this: Western NY Digs Out After Record Snow. I mean, first of all, it's middle of October, not even winter yet. Second of all, it's Buffalo; think how creative you have to get to have RECORD snowfalls in Buffalo! *Sigh*

I think it seems especially cruel when I realize that a mere two weeks ago, I was here

at a beach resort in Kovallum.

My roommates and I decided to make the most of our recent four-day weekend and headed out to soak up some sun on beaches of Kerala. It was so relaxing and uncrowded-and because it wasn't quite high season, we were able to swing some good deals on food, shelter and taxis. This was our view from our balconies:

And a few other random shots of the area:

Ethnic Day

2006-10-13T07:55:00.000-04:00

Whew! I have much to catch you all up on. I have been running around like crazy for the past couple weeks, vacationing (in India) and preparing for my vacation back to the US. However, now that I have landed stateside, I have plenty of time to relax and catch you up on life in India.

I originally planned to head back on October 5th, but was asked to postpone my trip so that I could finish the batch I had started. However, the batch start got delayed, and when I asked what was going to happen, they told me they would find someone to cover my batch. Um, wait, doesn't that completely INVALIDATE the reason I delayed my trip? Sigh. Although I am not sure whether to ascribe this to an Indian thing or a general management thing...

Luckily, it was a great batch and made me actually want to return to training in India. (Something I was heavily doubting during a previous bad batch.) Here is a picture of us on "Traditional Dress Day" (to celebrate Dusshera-a day to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, ascribed to two different stories). (Yes, I know a saree is not my traditional dress, but I was instructed to wear it!)

Here' s another one with some trainees from a former [good] batch (who are now in process training):

Girl's Night Out!

2006-09-25T23:39:00.000-04:00

Sunday was my friend Crystal's birthday and since her husband was out of town, she decided she wanted to celebrate by having a girl's night out. She rented a car (& driver) and we headed out on the town. It was a fun night overall, despite the fact that at one of the pubs, Havana, we had what was possibly the worst drink ever conceived. If you ever go-don't try the Zippy Zapper. It is a concoction containing Jal Jeera, lime juice, ginger, either white rum or vodka, and some other stuff (I don't remember-I don't WANT to remember!)

Most of the definitions I found on line describe Jal Jeera like this: Jal Jeera or Jaljeera is a very common, spicy and tangy cold drink made from Cumin seeds. "Jal" means water in Hindi and "Jeera" means cumin in Hindi. Jal Jeera is the Indian version of the American summer drink "Lemonade". And just like the lemonade it makes for a refreshing drink in summer. or Jal Jeera can be best described as Indian spiced and salty lemonade. It is different at first but [for] those who like it, it is absolutely refreshing.* These definitions were obviously not written by an American, as who takes their lemonade SALTY? And without any lemon flavor?

It must have been quite funny to the outside observer to watch all of our faces simultaneously contort after the first sip...quickly followed by puzzled glances at the contents of our glasses. We all had similar thoughts: "What the heck did we order?" ; "Who thought up this drink?" and "How are we going to finish the pitcher?" Oh, well, so much for being adventurous...

*One recipe I found even included this line about Jal Jeera: Before serving, Add Boondi to each separate serving. ( Boondi floats on top making the drink more crispy.) Cuz you know that always what I look for, a nice CRISPY drink...

The Flora and Fauna of India...well, at least the fauna

2006-09-25T02:59:00.000-04:00

We discovered that we had a rat living in our apartment last week, after finding half-eaten bananas (peel and all!) on top of our refrigerator. I was a little concerned because the rats that I have seen so far (outside of one of our offices) were probably the inspiration for the R.O.U.S.es in The Princess Bride. Seriously, they are at least as big as a good-sized cat...and I definitely did not want to think about where something that size was hiding in our apartment.

Anyway, Ralph and I came home from a lo-ong day of shopping and decided to watch one of our (newly purchased!) movies. As we were sorting through, trying to decide which one to watch, a rat comes scurrying out of the kitchen, jumps on the window screen and hides behind the curtain. (Luckily, he (she?) seems to be pretty normal-sized!) Ralph and I jump up and decide we're going to chase him out onto the balcony. Armed with a broom and a mop, at first we only succeed in chasing him back & forth between the curtains. Finally, he takes a leap and runs...no, not outside, but back in the kitchen. Sigh...the chase continues through the laundry baskets, under the washing machine and behind the fridge...all to have him end up on the screen again. We hastily blocked off the kitchen with the ironing board. During this process, Ralph intelligently shut and latched the door to his bedroom, but I merely shut mine, so our next leg of the chase took us into and around my room. Finally, though, we managed to herd him outside. We shut the balcony door firmly then sat down and had a good laugh at the whole proceeding.

We selected and began to watch the movie we abandoned earlier. About 10 minutes into the movie, a rat comes running out of the kitchen, jumps on the window screen and hides behind the curtain. Ralph and I look at each other, wondering if we are experiencing deja-vu. However, we quickly ascertain that, no, this is a second rat, who is slightly larger than the last one. Luckily we are now pros at this. We opened the balcony door, sealed off the kitchen, latched the bedroom doors, picked up our 'weapons', and had the second rat out the door in less than half the time it took to get the first one out. Again, we close the balcony door and broke into peals of laughter at the whole experience.

As we started the movie once again, I know I was wondering how many more times we were going to have to repeat the procedure. Luckily, though, we were able to make it through the rest of the movie without any further rodent interruptions!

Denim

2006-09-18T03:25:00.000-04:00

Now that there has been some time, I feel I can finally write about an event that happened that nearly sent me over the edge-and back to the US, with no thoughts of return. Not that the event in itself was so big, just that it hit at a time when I was already frustrated with work and generally being in India. I guess I can call it: THE CASE OF THE MISSING JEANS!
In an earlier post, I mentioned the trauma of having to shop for new jeans, which I try not to repeat very often. I thought I was set with the couple of pairs I had. However, a couple of weeks ago I did some laundry and hung it upstairs on the roof to dry. A couple of days later, I noticed that one pair of jeans had never returned from the rooftop. I searched all over and discovered that I was missing two other pairs of pants-one trouser and another pair of jeans. I checked with my roommates, I checked with the maid, I checked with the ironing lady-all to no avail. They were gone.!

It sent me over the edge. I can't believe I'm living in a place where people steal clothes (keep in mind that my jeans are tailored to my size too!) right off the line. People tried to suggest that they flew off the line and disappeared, but I had a lot of trouble thinking that it all happened in one day, with items that are so heavy...

I was inconsolable. I kept telling everyone that I was going home in October and not coming back to India. It was the last straw! Everything that I hate about India is consolidated into this one event. It outweighed everything I like about India. I want to go back where things make sense...

Anyway, that was what I was going through for the past couple of weeks. Now, however, I seem to have stabilized (well, as much as I was before!). I bought new jeans and, as of right now, am planning on returning after my vacation to the US in October.

Yea! Liz finally has her own blog!!!!

2006-09-04T02:54:00.000-04:00

Check it out....

In celebration, I thought I would post a few fun pictures of Liz that didn't make it to the blog yet!

Look at those bare legs! You won't see a picture like this coming from where she is now!

The question at Christmas was "Does this clash with my new hair color?"

Liz shows of some fancy footwork with her trainees at the cultural
show!

More shots from our Bollywood experience in Ramoji Film Studios!

And, last but not least, the goodbye scene...

Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu

2006-08-28T06:55:00.000-04:00

I went to see my first Tamil movie in the theater today. Now normally I don't go see Indian movies in the theater because, obviously, I'd either have to have someone translate (not fun for either one of us) or it would have to be subtitled (which I believe only happens in the US) or I would sit there only grasping a portion of what was going on on the screen. However, since many of my friends were going and one of my students (who saw the movie on it's opening night) told me that it had a lot of English dialogues since it was set in NYC, I decided to try it out. ..

First, let me tell you that the definition of "a lot of English dialogues" is completely relative. I should have known better. In fact, maybe 10 lines were completely in English (even the NYC scenes!), plus a couple of randomly-sprinkled English words in the midst of a Tamil dialogue. After discussing this with people afterwards, apparently that DOES constitute a lot of English for a Tamil movie-usually there is zero English! :)

Everyone, however, has been talking about this movie-I didn't want to be left out! And, I have been hearing the soundtrack (though I didn't know it!) blaring during many of my cab rides to and from work. The movie stars Kamal Hassan, one of the reigning legends of Tamil cinema. He plays a police officer searching for a serial killer (actually two), the pursuit of whom takes him around Tamil Nadu, to NYC, and back to Chennai.

My friends warned me that I was in for an experience, seeing a Tamil movie in the theaters. I understood why right from the beginning as people started clapping, cheering & whistling when Kamal Hassan appeared on the screen. It was reminiscent of my DaVinci Code experience (although I still think that crowd was just being obnoxious!) It died down, mostly, as people got absorbed into the movie.

All in all it was a fun experience and I did like the movie, despite some wacky upside down camera shots during some of the chase scenes. Southern movies seem a bit more realistic than their Bollywood relatives (though there are still the musical interludes in exotic locations!) Now all I have to do is learn Tamil so that I can enjoy them even more....

Moo?

2006-08-26T16:28:00.000-04:00

Check this out!

I wonder if they have trouble understanding each other when one cow gets sold and moved to a different part of the country. And if the cows in the existing herd make fun of the new cow with the different accent. Do you think that American cows have a different accent all together from the British ones? Do Indian cows moo a different language all together or do they just have a different accent? And is there some sort of "neutral moo" that, theoretically, any of them can understand?

Introducing....

2006-08-10T03:52:00.000-04:00

....TIM

Isn't he sexy, ladies? :)

Since he has complained that he hasn't gotten enough face time on my blog, I have decided to remedy the situation and give him a whole post here just to introduce his new blog! :) I encourage you to visit and enjoy his unusual thoughts on India.

Finally, I have convinced one of my roommates to get their own blog instead of living vicariously through mine! :)

Hey! That's my food!

2006-08-07T05:23:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had take-out food delivered to your door that you didn't order? Ok, maybe. (though thanks to a standardized address system in the US, it's probably not likely!)

However, have you ever taken said food, pretended that you did order it, pay for it and greedily consume it*? Nope, I didn't think so.

But, yes, that is what happened when Ralph and I attempted to order food from Wang's Kitchen for lunch yesterday. Now last year I ordered quite a bit from them, but this was my first time to order from my new apartment. I was a bit concerned about changing the address, but they seemed*** to understand. So when an hour had passed with no sign of them, I made the (first) call to them. "On it's way, 10 minutes madam." (The standard reply.) 20 more minutes pass. I phone again (because, really, they are closing in 5 minutes!)

Me: "I'm calling about the food I ordered for delivery."

Wang's guy: "But it's been delivered madam..."

Me: "Um [stomach growls], no?"

Wang's guy: "But yes madam and the money is coming...the money has come back"

Me (pitifully-remember I have been waiting for food for an hour and half here!): "But I have no food!"

Wang's guy: Delivery to [reads out address-with incorrect number]?

Me: No, [corrects numbers]

Wang's guy: "Ok madam. I am sending food again there 20 minutes."****

Me (desperately): "20 minutes or no payment!"

Wang's guy: "For sure***** 20 minutes madam."

When the delivery guy showed up (about 22 minutes later, but I paid him anyway), he explained that he had delivered it to the house 3 houses down from us. Now, I don't know my neighbors here, but I have heard that at least one Tamil actress, plus possibly a few other people associated with the film industry, live on our street. Not exactly the people that you would think would need to steal food from a couple of poor, hungry, foreign language trainers, but I guess you never know....

...I only hope they were veg!!!!!! Would serve them right...

*I am only speculating about the greedy consumption part of the story, though I think it is a safe bet**

**asterisk comments inspired by Pete and Tiffany

***this is always the problem

****If it only takes 20 minutes, why did it take an hour the first time?

*****Always a dangerous phrase (means, most likely, never, similarity to definitely) ******

******Hey these comments are kinda fun!

Random Quiz

2006-07-28T07:15:00.000-04:00

Ok so I don't usually go for all of these quizzes, but this one was kind of funny.
Especially the fact that it used the word "shady" in my obituary. :) Jeff, I blame you.

Actually, come to think of it, doesn't this obit fit him a lot better?

'What" will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

The Da Vinci Code-the movie

2006-07-25T00:38:00.000-04:00

I finally went to see The Da Vinci Code at Sathyam Theater last night. What a waste of time and money. I guess I can try to comfort myself with the fact that I only spend about Rs. 100 ($2.50) instead of the $8+ I would have had to pay if I had seen it in the US. I guess that’s what you get when you take an average (at best) book and try to turn it into a blockbuster movie.

Of course, my opinion of the movie was also influenced by the crowd around me. In case you didn’t know, the movie has only been open here for a little while now; Tamil Nadu was one of the states that had originally banned its release. I can’t imagine why the censors here were worried-if the crowd that was at Sathyam last night was any indication, no one is actually going to pay enough attention to the movie to understand what the movie is about! Even before intermission, the crowd had already given up paying attention to the plot and would randomly shout, whistle and clap at what was going on on the screen. It was so obnoxious!

Personally, I think that the movie had too much dialogue and monologues for the average Indian viewer-and not enough action. It brings to mind a quote from a Hindi movie I have seen recently, Rang de Basanti. A father says about his son, “SMS generation. Speak 4 lines and they think you’re giving them a lecture.”

As for me, I think I will do all my movie viewing at Maayajal-the crowd has been much less obnoxious in my trips there.

Censored!

2006-07-20T08:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm posting this new post, even though I won't be able to see it due to this. Pete's friend Dave had this problem a couple of days ago, but I've only been blocked starting today. Gives you a new appreciation for the guarantees of free speech, I guess. Keep posted, I may have to move my site.

Events

2006-07-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

Here are some random pictures of various events that I've celebrated here...

This is the wedding and reception hall of Deepa and Jude. Deepa is a friend from church-doesn't she look stunning as a bride?

Another wedding, this time for the daughter of our co-worker. The decorations in the background are all made out of vegetables.

My roommates (Tim and Ralph) and I went to the German Food Festival to celebrate Ralph's birthday. Tim (the one on the left, in profile) has been harassing me that he hasn't been mentioned on my blog, so here's his first mention. :)

This is my former student's sister's wedding. One interesting thing is that each person in the family gets their own invitations to the wedding. So this one invited me specifically to the wedding "of my sister". But it was good to see these guys from my batch. They were from my batch that finished in the middle of November last year and they still keep in touch with me.

2006-07-11T15:55:00.000-04:00

I'm fine, but this is what's going on in Mumbai.

The Descent of the Accent

2006-07-11T02:19:00.000-04:00

This article appeared in the Chennai version of The Hindu today. I thought it was pretty interesting, plus someone from my company was quoted. I wonder if this is why I can't get a job at any of other companies here...

Sick

2006-07-09T12:43:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally feel like a true Chennai-ite. I spent the last week suffering with a bout of viral fever that has been making the rounds here. Now don't panic-I think it sounds much worse than it actually was. From what my doctor was saying, it sounds like it is related to a bout of the flu. People tell me that it is actually very common here as we start to change seasons.

My doctor prescribed two courses of antibiotics to take care of the secondary symptoms. Here's my new favorite thing about India: AND HE CAME TO MY APARTMENT TO DO THE CHECK-UP! It was great-I didn't even have to get out of my pajamas to see the doctor (and when he left, I went right back to bed!) All for a mere Rs. 200 per visit (that's about $5). I don't even think I could get a doctor in the US to SEE me (in his own office) for $200 (without my health insurance that is!) AND the medicines were also delivered to my apartment as well! What a wonderful system!

Call Center Humor 2

2006-06-29T16:56:00.000-04:00

Another one:

Lark news

Back to training...

2006-06-29T16:10:00.000-04:00

What a cruel twist of fate...I have been sent back to the training department (for reasons which I may or may not choose to blog about later-I'm hoping that some time and distance will be able to take the bitter edge off of what I choose to say about the matter)

Anyway, here are some pictures from our last "fun day" at the program:

Awards Ceremony

2006-06-23T19:49:00.000-04:00

Our awards ceremony for the program:

Vijayalakshmi, our top performer:

2006-06-23T07:47:00.000-04:00

Hmmm...yet another reason I don't want to be back in the training department...our office is in Perungudi

Local Pictures

2006-06-22T20:01:00.000-04:00

But now, since I FINALLY have an internet connection in my apartment (It only took 5 weeks- not bad considering they first said it would take 5 days!) I am going to post some pictures.

This is my new apartment:

And this is the view of the racecourse from my balcony (during a rainstorm):

I would love to post the pictures from Google Earth of my new apartment (Chennai has finally been updated!) but I guess that's not a good idea...

Anyway, the first weekend I got back, I took a trip to Pondicherry. Do I still look jet lagged here?

"Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here."

2006-06-22T08:55:00.000-04:00

"Am I crazy?" is a question I remember asking frequently when I was back in the US, mainly when I wondered if my viewpoint on something, which seemed so sane and rational to me, was not as apparent to someone else. They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. After returning to India for a second year with the same company, you’d think I’d know what results to expect, yet it seems that every day they are able to find new and better ways to let inefficiency and incompetence make me miserable.

WARNING: THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE A VERY NEGATIVE RANT. Therefore, those of you who say that I do nothing but complain might want to ignore the rest of this post. Don’t say you haven’t been warned…

First, as mentioned in my last post, I arrived at work to find out that I had been deactivated in all of the systems, even though I had been in communication with my reporting manager about the delays in receiving my visa. It took two days to get it (mostly) sorted out, although I was marked absent for those two days (though I was assured that it would be fixed at the end of the month). The second week, I had to change my schedule to work days (which requires approval by my reporting manager-the one from the training department, not the program I am currently working with). I sent an email to my reporting manager explaining why I needed my attendance altered, which was promptly ignored. Halfway through the month of May and I’m already looking at a Loss of Pay for four days-not so encouraging for coming back. Then, when I attempted to register with immigration here, I found out that they had not given me the proper documents that I needed to do so. Also, they realized at the end of the month, that I had not had a proper orientation and needed to do so IMMEDIATELY, in the daytime (because HR gets to work days). Guess I didn’t need to sleep or anything!!!!! What they didn’t tell me at the time was that I would again be “deactivated” and reassigned a new employee ID. Imagine how happy I was to arrive at work, minus a couple of hours of sleep, to find that, once again I couldn’t log in or mark my attendance. Two hours of repeated calls to my HR representative finally elicited the new number from him…all to find out that I still didn’t have permission to log into certain sites that I needed for work. Sigh…another two days before that was straightened out.

Supposedly we get paid on the last day of the month. I say supposedly because, as you may already be imagining, I also didn’t get paid on time. (What would I get paid for? According to the company records, I only joined on the 26th, not on the 1st of May.) The worst part is that they knew this would happen, they just didn’t bother to inform me; I didn’t find out until I tried to pick up my paycheck. It took another two weeks for them to issue a special check and open a local bank account for me.

I guess the question remains: Am I crazy?

Back to Chennai

2006-05-15T08:13:00.000-04:00

Well, I have arrived safely and soundly back to Chennai. The heat hit me full force (even though it was only 3:30 AM) the minute I stepped off the plane. Aaah...welcome back. :) It quickly reminded me why I wanted to spend May back in the US instead of April, but oh well... :)

As I said, I landed early Monday morning and managed to head back to work Monday night. Luckily I had planned for a friend of mine to pick me up for work, for when I got to work, I FOUND OUT I HAD BEEN DEACTIVATED IN ALL OF THE SYSTEMS. This means no cabs, no computer log on, no way to mark my attendence. *Sigh* And I specifically remember asking, "Do I need to worry about marking anything while I am gone?" to which the reply was a firm "No." Lovely. Of course, to get re-activated I need HR approval. Guess what? Monday is a support staff (including HR) holiday. Is anything ever easy with this company???

Why am I here at work again? :) Anyway, after a lot of yelling and complaining-DIVA mode is back-I was finally able to log on to the computer at least. And a week later I was able to get a cab. Now all I have to do is get my attendance fixed so I don't loose any pay....hmmmm....still a bit worried about that....

"I feel all giddy inside"

2006-04-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

Since I now have all this extra time on my hands, this weekend I went down to help Pete move out of the $1.x million dollar house he has been living in. Even though I am completely exhausted as I write this (I got back about an hour ago) I had a really great time and I'm really glad that I was able to do it! Friday night, our good friend Mark and his brother Aaron came over and we played cards and stayed up way to late for our own good. It was kind of scary-those of you that knew me "back in the day" will understand this-I actually had to think about the rules and strategy while we were playing Euchre, that's how long it has been since I played! But it was fun to shock Mark with news and updates about the recent spate of engagements and dating couples among the group. Amazingly, despite our late night, we all managed to wake up early enough to get everything in the truck before the rain started pouring down.

The best news for me, however, is that my visa came while I was gone!!!! Yea!!! Now I can be off again as soon as my tickets are arranged!!!

More India Pictures

2006-04-15T22:28:00.000-04:00

I've added pictures of our Hyderabad trip as well as the visit from Stephen & Malinda-February and March posts. Check them out!

Also, here are some photos of an outing I took with my new program right before I left:

Yes, this is on the bus...while we were moving...and no, they are not standing up because it was full...apparently, choosing seats for a bus trip is irrelevant since NO ONE STAYS IN THEIR SEATS!!!!

Here we are playing cricket. I even got to play! (Although I only got to bat during practice, not during the actual match.)

And, as always, there is dancing....

Home

2006-04-15T21:13:00.000-04:00

Isn't it amazing how when you are home on vacation and you supposedly have all the time in the world is the time when you never seem to get around to blogging? :) At least that's my excuse for the long time between these blog posts...

So I did manage to get both my apartment and myself packed up in the five days before I left. Whew. I had a safe enough flight over...although my luggage decided it wanted to take a later flight and only showed up on Friday. If you like to travel with your luggage the whole time, I recommend having a longer layover in London than 45 minutes...particularly if you have to travel from one end of the terminal to the other! :) And somewhere along the way my mobile phone has disappeared as well...so I need to collect numbers again from those of you who read my blog.

I've found that working nights in India has one advantage-it mitigates the effects of jet lag when you come back to the US. I spent the first few days at home with my parents and also hanging out with my friend Pete. You can read Pete's summary of the events here and here. Then I headed to Rochester to meet up with friends there. Of course, being Rochester, it had to snow two of the six days I was there! (Thank you so much! I was already freezing when I stepped off the plane and it was in the sixties! When do I get to leave again????) Anyway, other than that, I had a lot of good visits with people and I wish I could have stayed longer.

So the question that everyone seems to be asking me is, "what made you stay?" I guess, as I look back on my recent posts that I can understand why. The explanation that currently best sums it up is: I was like Bush, I didn't have an exit strategy. :) Yes, I wasn't happy with the second-year contracts, but I didn't yet have a good plan as to what to do when I got back to the US. In many ways, I just felt like I wasn't ready to leave-I haven't seen, haven't experienced enough of India yet. Plus, according to Pete, I haven't accomplished my purpose by finding a husband, so of course I had to stay. :) (just kidding)

So now I'm back at home waiting to leave. I was supposed to have left yesterday (Friday) but my visa has yet to appear and when I tried to call the consulate to find out the status, I found out they were closed on Good Friday, a fact I think is strange when considering that Christianity is the 3rd major religion for the country at only 2.3% of the population. I guess government jobs are the same all over... Hmmm...looks like I won't be making it into work by Monday as my new boss was hoping.

I'm coming home!!!!

2006-03-24T04:34:00.000-05:00

Gotta love the way everything happens at the last minute! I'm coming home on Tuesday!!!!

Anyone know anyone that wants to buy my car?

2006-03-23T05:37:00.000-05:00

Ok. So I've decided to renew my contract with the company for another year. HOWEVER, it's with a different program and under different management, so hopefully things will be better! *crossing fingers* :) But, yes, I am happy about the decision.

Anyway, I am coming back to the US imminently to get a new visa and take care of things there (including selling my car) in a relatively small amount of time. So I'm asking if anyone knows anyone in the market for a new car to please let me know. I have a 2005 Suzuki Aerio, manual transmission, with only 5000 miles and I'm looking to sell it for the Kelly Blue Book value of $11,000.

It looks like I am coming back next week and will be leaving by the middle of April. I hope to see as many people as possible while I am there!