Udaipur

It was another long drive -- 4 or 5 hours -- from Jaipur to Udaipur.  By this point, we were happy to get some rain along the way.  Then again, there was one point when it was coming down hard enough to flood the road, but Ved handled it all capably.  Until we got to Udaipur, that is. 

There are three lakes in Udaipur.  We knew that our hotel was on one of them, but we didn't know where it was, and neither did Ved.  We stopped several times for him to ask apeople, and we even called the hotel from our mobile and asked them to tell Ved how to get there.  I guess I should explain that, while "everyone" speaks English, drivers don't speak it very well.  I think Ved was speaking Hindi. People kept directing him towards the City Palace, which seemed to be uphilll via a network of narrow, curving streets.  In addition to two-way traffic, there were lots of pedestrians.  At one point, I really didn't see how we were going to get the car through the street, and pedestrians were crowding in between the car and a wall.  I thought someone was going to get killed.  Steve was getting really exasperated with the whole business, but there wasn't anything we could do.  Finally, somehow, we made our way out of the Old City and found our Sheraton a little further West, on Fateh Sagar Lake.

The Sheraton was a notch below our other vacation stays, and it was the first hotel where we were not upgraded to a suite.  Nevertheless, we had a lake view that was just stunning and one day there was a monkey outside our window, so that was pretty cool.  They had live Indian music out on the patio at night, too.  Steve declared the next day Nina Day, so we got to do whatever I wanted.  We went for a walk, then a swim, and finally got Ved to drive us back into town to take the Ropeway up to the top of a hill to see the view just before sunset.  Like everything else in Udaipur, the ropeway was hard to find.  This time Steve had a map, so he was able to recognize when we made a wrong turn, but that didn't mean he was able to figure out the right way either.  But since it was Nina Day, everyone persevered.

The ropeway was a tram that took about 5 minutes to get from the bottom to the top of a hill.  From the top, there were views of Udaipur in every direction.  To the west was Lake Pichola, surrounded by green hills.  The lights were coming on at Jag Mandir, a historical palace, and the Taj Lake Palace hotel, which is so exclusive that you can't even go there for lunch if you're not staying at the hotel.  The sun was setting as we stood at the top and we could suddenly hear the Islamic call to prayer rising from minarets in the city below us.  That was really cool. 

Next day, we decided to once again head for the high ground and so we went to Sajjan Garh Palace, also known as Monsoon Palace.  It once belonged to a rich maharajah, of course, but it's famous because it was featured in the James Bond movie, Octopussy.  That was probably the last time the place was painted.  It has a great location, but the structure is in pretty bad shape.  It was hard to imagine it any other way.

Still, we felt that Udaipur had the most natural scenic beauty of any place we saw in India.  We were glad to have included it in the vacation.

Jaipur

From Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, we continued by car to the "Pink City" of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan. Jaipur is in a hilly area; as we entered, the road wound uphill through narrow walls.  We stayed at a lovely hotel, Le Meridien (pronounced by the locals as "Lee Meriden") where we were greeted with music, marigold necklaces, and cool drinks.  They didn't have our reservation, but they upgraded us to a suite anyhow.  This hotel places an emphasis on local arts -- in the evening they had drumming, dancing, and a Rajasthani puppet show.  The elevator featured a soundscape that made you feel as if you were being flushed -- that part was just weird.  We found a rooftop bar and had pizza under the stars.

Our first tourist destination was the Amber Fort, built by a maharajah about 400 years ago.  Our guide, Sunil, was great at creating images of what the palace was like in its heydey.  The palace featured a central sleeping area covered with small mirrors that would have reflected candlelight and moonlight.  This would have been richly carpeted and hung with silk curtains blowing in the evening breeze.  There was an early form of air conditioning involving water & air currents.  Underground passages provided a secret means to travel from one palace-fort to another.  It was fascinating.

At the end of the tour, Sunil took us to the "official" store where we learned about the traditional methods used for block printing and carpet weaving.  This was all part of a sales pitch of course. We were tempted by some beautiful carpets, very reasonably priced, but we just don't do that on vacation.

Early risers can ride elephants (locals say "elly-fants") up the hill to the fort.  We were lucky enough to see them bathing in the afternoon, and in the streets again later.  Steve fed some rolls to one from the car window -- it was fun but a little scary too.

The other site on our list was Jantar Mantar, a 400-year-old observatory.  (Interesting that most of the sites we've seen have been about the same age.  I guess it was the Indian Renaissance.)  It had just been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Our driver couldn't find the place at all the first day, but we went back the next morning and I'm so glad that we did.  The place was like a sculpture garden, but instead of art they had very large scale astronomical "instruments."  This first picture, for example, is a sundial.  It's said to be accurate within two seconds.  Pretty impressive that this maharajah chose to use his power and wealth for scientific (or at least astrological) purposes.

The observatory was peaceful and green.  There were some workers cutting the grass, but no one was trying to sell us anything or take us anywhere.  All of a sudden, a whole bunch of monkeys appeared and ran along the wall.  We took lots of photos.  Here's one of the best.

The Taj Mahal

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we headed out to see the Taj Mahal.  Ved took us to a parking area where we hired a horse-drawn rickshaw to take us the last half-mile to the gate.  Steve bought our tickets, which included 2 bottles of water (warm) and paper covers for our shoes. I was mobbed by hawkers while waiting in the rickshaw, but I'm okay with that.  After awhile they started imitating my "No thank you" refrain. 

We had hired a guide, Aboshek, who was quite knowledgeable.  He made sure we noticed the little details:  The towers -- minarets really -- on the corners are tilted slightly so they look straight from a distance.  They were once open to the public but had to be closed because they attracted too many suicidal lovers.  The black calligraphy is bigger at the top than the bottom so it looks even from the bottom.  The black-and-white chevron striping is flat, but it creates a 3-D illusion.  The marble is inlaid with precious stones that glow in light.  The whole thing is completely symmetrical except for the emperor's tomb, which was added after it was finished.

The emperor didn't want the marble workers to create another Taj when his was done, so he made them promise never to work again. According to Aboshek, he could have cut off their hands, but instead he created a village for them and provided for all their needs. Although they couldn't work themselves, they taught the stone-working arts to their children, who carry on the tradition today.  This romantic little tale turned out to be the start of a sales pitch.  We didn't buy.

It was very hot, over 100 degrees, and humid. If you look closely at the picture of us above, you'll see sweat running down my face. And that photo was taken right aftger we got there. When we got up to the monument itself we had a choice of removing our shoes or donning the shoe covers. We went barefoot; the dark stone in front of the monument was HOT but the white marble was nice and cool.

When we were finished looking at the monument itself, we put our shoes back on and strolled through a shady garden. What a relief!

Despite the free botles of water & shoe covers, I am happy to say that we saw no litter at the Taj Mahal.

The Road (to Agra)

I read a book called The Road to Agra when I was a kid.  I had forgotten all about it until this trip.  I would like to find it and read it again.

Once we got out of the Delhi traffic jam, it took about 4 hours to arrive in Agra.  Ved, our driver for this trip, is adept at Indian-style driving.  You must constantly weave to avoid a myriad of obstacles:  cows, dogs, goats, donkeys, people, auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, trucks, tractors, horse-drawn carts, speed bumps ("breakers"), potholes.    At each village, you face the congestion of the local bazaar, where the crowds, goods, and pushcarts take up the sides of the roadway. 

Most of the commercial vehicles are colorfully decorated with images of gods, animals, the Indian flag and other emblems.  Many trucks are adorned with black tassles -- for good luck.  The backs of trucks are lettered with signs -- typically requesting other drivers to Blow Horn.  Honking is extremely important because it lets everyone else know you're coming through on one side or the other so they should watch out. 

There were many stops to pay tolls and taxes, or to show that we had already paid the tolls and taxes. The hawkers and beggars hang out at these spots, knocking on the windows of the car to get your attention.  There was even a guy with a monkey.  We had been advised,  "If you look at the monkey, the man will want money, and if you pay the man then everyone else will want money too" -- so we strenuously avoided looking at the monkey, even though it was pressed right up against the car window.

At last we arrived at our hotel, the ITC Mughal, where we were greeted with signs asking our forgiveness for construction work in progress.  Uh-oh.  I was already very anxious because all of our arrangements had been made at the last possible moment by someone else.  And then they told us we'd been upgraded and showed us to to a suite and opened the door to a beautiful, cool suite with the best bathroom ever.  Steve said the tub was "almost too big."  Plus an unbelievable massage chair (it did a complete 14-minute program of neck rolls, shoulder thumps, leg squeezes...). 

The property was beautiful, with singing birds, butterflies, green lawns, and an arboretum. 

Before the sun set that night, we had a chance to walk up to the observatory where we got our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal in the distance.

Delhi Revisited

Guess what?  There's a lot more to India than Hyderabad.  This week we are vacationing in the Golden Triangle, visiting Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur in northern India.

I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Today Gurgaon (that's the official name of the hotel) when I first arrived in India in May.  Unfortunately, I was sick most of the time then.  Now I'm fully acclimated. 

New Delhi seems  so much more orderly than Hyderabad.  The drivers stay in their lanes most of the time and they don't honk their horns so much.  We didn't see any gigantic holes in the ground, and very few abandoned, unfinished buildings.  Plus, compared to a few months ago, the landscape was much greener.  What I thought was a DMZ turned out to be a horse-pasture.

Our flight arrived around midnight, but the luggage and driver both showed up quickly.  Heading to the hotel, we noticed many processions of young men dressed in orange, carrying these yoke-like  things.  Turns out there's a big Shiva festival on August 8.  For the next several days, we continued to see similar processions, accompanied by blaring music, and also noticed that many women wore orange.  Kind of like the wearing of the green for St. Patrick's day.

We stayed up waaay too late in the bar with a Brit named Mick.  Next morning, Steve enjoyed the best shower of his life with the Rainforest Shower (kind of like the Commando 450 that Kramer bought in that Seinfeld episode, only used to wash elephants).  We thought we'd take a quick tour of the major sights before heading out to Agra.  Unfortunately, even on Saturday, we got bogged down in traffic.  Delhi is hosting the Commonwealth Games in a few months, and there are a lot of "diversions" (detours) due to construction.

Nevertheless, we visited the India Gate, which is a monument to the soldiers who died in World War I.  It's pretty impressive, kind of like the Arc de Triomphe.  Since it's a major tourist attraction, there were lots of hawkers, including our first snake charmer.  Steve is scared by snakes and is completely intolerant of hawkers, so this was not his favorite scene.  I am fascinated by everything and everyone, enjoying the people more than the monument.  This will be a theme for the whole journey.

More tomorrow.

Sights of Hyderabad

This weekend we really stepped up the pace of our sight-seeing.   Yesterday, we went to Lumbini Park on Hussain Sagar Lake, known for its big Buddha statue.  The park itself isn't much.  You can take a ferry over to the big Buddha from there, but we didn't do that.  It was a mostly sunny day, and we noticed lots of young couples spending time together.  It rained for a little while and we took shelter under a big banyan tree.  As always, any time we stop to rest is a great photo opportunity for everyone else.  I use these opportunities to get my own shots of everyday people.

From the park, we could see Birla Mandir up on a hill.  It's a Hindu temple made of white Rajasthani marble. We were surprised to find out that it's only 40 or so years old.    This is the first place we've been where we were required to remove our shoes, and we also had to check the camera.  It was definitely the most serene place we've been.  There were individual shrines dedicated to different Hindu deities -- Ganesh, Shiva, and others I can't name.  Interestingly, there were also carved panels about Confucius, Moses, and Jesus.  We climbed up and up to the top and were rewarded with cool breezes and expansive views of the city. 

We finished up our day by going to Shilparamam, an Indian crafts village that was built by the government to preserve the traditional ways, or so they say.   Maybe the government just wanted a piece of the action.  Steve befriended a stray dog while I shopped for a few more souvenirs and textiles.  I would have bought a lot more fabric there, but we had already used up most our energy and needed to head back to the hotel.

Today we went to Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad's version of the MGM Studio theme park at Disney World.  First we had to travel by car for about 90 minutes through the city, finally emerging into green and hilly countryside.  Once inside the gates of the park, it was about a 15-minute bus ride to the attractions.  Along the way we passsed various statuary (a painted Venus-on-the half-shell, for example), whimsical landscaping, and fountains (usually not working, for reasons I can't explain).  We went on a little ride that was very much like It's a Small World, only cheesier.  Then we went to the Movie Magic show, where they picked some people out of the audience to be in a little movie, do sound effects with Foley equipment, and the like.  After that, it was a Tower of Terror ride where we got sprayed with water and tickled by "rat's tails."   If you'be been to Disney World, this will all sound a bit too familiar.  Can you say trademark infringement?

Golconda Fort

With Steve as my companion, I've seen a lot more of Hyderabad  in the last few weeks.  We've been to the zoo, the national park (KBR), the Salar Jung museum... but my favorite so far is Golconda Fort.

Hyderabad sits on a plateau of granite rocks.  The builders of the fort took advantage of that to create their fort about 400 years ago (I think. You can look it up.)  As with everything in Hyderabad, it was a long cab ride from the hotel. Normally, there would be a small entrance fee, but last Sunday was a festival day so it was free.  We never did find out exactly which festival it was; the location of the fort has something to do with Tamil culture. 

It was very crowded near the entrance, with "official" tour guides trying to engage us and many people carrying all sorts of bags and containers -- turns out that these were picnic supplies.  We pressed onward and upward. There was some kind of music blaring from speakers high above us.   It was hot, humid, and steep.  We stopped to rest at an overlook and a guy approached, asking if he could take our picture.  Okay, sure -- so we posed for a few cell phone pictures with his friends.  They were a group of guys from Tamil Nadu.  We kept going, and resting, and each time we stopped there were people wanting to take our pictures.  It got kind of ridiculous, and Steve starting quipping, "That'll be 50 rupees..... 100 rupees.... 150 rupees."  The younger women and girls especially would get shy & giggly about posing with us.

Eventually, we realized that there were many separate processsions going on.  A couple of guys would be carrying a pyramid-shaped thing, and a few women would follow, each carrying something on her head -- an oil lamp of some kind, or a plate of bread or fruit.  Some of the women were carrying what looked like powdered dye -- orange & yellow -- and they would stop and paint the steps going up to the top of the fort.  Many of the women were barefoot and their feet were also stained or dyed orange or yellow.  We tried to be respectful and stay out of the way. 

We stopped before the very top of the fort because it seemed to be a sacred place -- people were removing their shoes and leaving them behind -- and we didn't want to intrude. When we got back down to the bottom of the hill, it was crowded with families.  Some were tending smoky fires within the old stone walls of the fort.  Some women had brought their goats.  (My friends at work say the goats would be slaughtered on the spot.) All in all, it was a crowded and festive scene.  And we were the celebrities -- always surrounded by the papparazi.

Life at the Ellaa

For this part of the trip, we decided to move out of the Westin.  It's a great hotel, but expensive.  By stepping down a notch, we could afford more space for less money.

The Ellaa Hotel is in a section of Hyderabad called Gachibowli. It's a little further from work, but I was tired of living in the middle of an office park.  This development was built about 10 years ago for the Asian-African games. To the west is a cluster of high-rise apartments.   To the east is a large stadium complex - 1 indoor and 2 outdoor stadiums.  They look nice,  but I don't think they've been used at all since we arrived.   that we can see from our windows.  Right next door is a gated community of about 150 single-family houses.  We call it The Village. The streets are tree-lined and lit. There's a green park surrounded by palm trees where people like to kick a soccer ball around. A security guard rides around on a bike. Weekend mornings, the streets are busy with people sweeping, washing their cars, walking with little kids. It's the nicest version of Indian life I've observed here, and I'm guessing it's very rare.

I had reserved an "Executive" suite here, but they were full when we arrived so we were upgraded to an "Ellaa" suite for the first few nights.  This suites had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room (with a table for 8), a kitchen, and a balcony.  Wow.  It was so big that you couldn't hear the front doorbell from the bedroom.  Steve found this out the hard way when he locked himself out while I was sleeping.  He had to call on the phone to wake me up.

After a few days, we moved to our "Executive" suite, with only one bedroom, one bathroom, living room and kitchen.   We are especially glad to have a regular refrigerator, microwave, and electric kettle.  Steve's first solo outing was to Hypercity at the Inorbit Mall where he picked up a toaster, bread and butter. He needs his daily toast the way I need my coffee. 

Speaking of coffee:  It continues to be a challenge.  The first time I ordered a pot from room service, it tasted like reheated instant, leftover from the day before.  Yuck. For awhile, I had to resort to making instant myself (at least it wasn't leftover).  We went back to room service coffee, which had improved for some reason, but a pot only holds 3 little cups so I'd end up making instant too. So a few days ago, Steve called room service and ordered "two pots of black coffee, no milk, sugar please."  As always, they asked, "For how many people?" so he answered "Four."  We got one pot of coffee, with cream in it, and four cups.  After that, Steve went back to Hypercity and bought some kind of make-your-own drip coffee that the store guy claimed is very popular with Westerners.  It's pretty good.

The Ellaa has several restaurants and we have eaten at all of them.  The food is.....interesting.  Breakfast is always a buffet, featuring a mix of Indian and Western style foods.  I still can't get used to idli (rice dumplings) and sambar (a spicy stew) for breakfast.  I need to convince my stomach that it's time for lunch.  They make fresh juices every day --grape, lychee, etc.  Watermelon juice is still weird though.

We have been trying Indian foods like biryani (a Hyderabad specialty), tandoori, roti breads, etc. Even in its toned-down for hotel guests form, the Indian dishes are usually just too hot for my palate. We really expected to like the Kebab Pavilion.  It's outdoors and looks very romantic in the hotel brochure.  Unfortunately, our evening there was spoiled by unruly children running and rough-housing all over the place. And we thought American children were spoiled!

The hotel's Italian restaurant just opened.  When we went, we almost had the place to ourselves.  The food was actually not bad, but wasn't exactly Italian either.  One night I had "Lasange" (lasagna) that seemed to be topped with a slice of Kraft American cheese.  Hmmm. 

I think we need to get out more!

Halfway Around the World and Back

Since my last post, I've been back to the States for 2 weeks and now I'm back in Hyderabad along with my husband Steve.


The trip itself, on Qatar Airways, was pretty incredible.  I got the royal treatment all the way -- a personal escort  from the taxi through the airport to my seat on the plane; a layover in Doha's premium lounge, which is a whole separate terminal just for the elite; and a 13-hour flight in a business class seat that not only lies flat but also has a built-in massager.  Among other goodies, Qatar Airways gives each business class passenger a pair of pajamas (or pyjamas as we spell it here in India). 
I spent a week with my sisters in Annapolis, MD.  We always have a good time together.  One of the highlights was an Indian fashion show featuring my new SKs.  Everyone agrees that we should start a movement to adopt this form of dress in the US. 

After Annapolis, I went home to CT for a week.  That was wonderful, too.  It's so relaxing to be in a place that's 100% familiar.  I especially enjoyed my glitch-free home-office infrastructure: wireless headset, WiFi, dual monitors, etc. plus a return to working in my PJs.

We started the trip back to India at about 8 pm on Monday July 5.  We took a private car from our house to JFK.  Not as comfortable as I had hoped, but the timing was much more convenient than the other options.  After Doha, the business class lounge in JFK seemed small and tattered.  The flights were good, no glitches, great service etc. but this time it seemed more gruelling.  We finally checked in to our hotel at 5:30 am on Wednesday July 7.  I'm still too jet-lagged to calculate how many hours or days we were in transit.

Laad Bazaar

Why have I been wasting my time in the malls?  Today I went to a real Indian market.

I asked my driver to pick me up earlier than usual so I could go to the bazaar before the heat set in (as if!).  We set off for Laad Bazaar, near Char Minar in the Hyderabad's Old City.

Char Minar (meaning 4 minarets) is a 400-year-old mosque in what was once the center of  the city.  The Laad Bazaar is a warren of stores, stalls, and vendors nearby.  It took us a long time to get there, but I didn't mind because there was so much to look at as we drove through the city.  The neighborhoods of Hyderabad are such a jumble of beauty and ugliness, with the fancy houses of film stars right next to the blue-tarp-covered hovels of the poor.  We also passed several nice-looking parks that I hope to explore another time.

As we got closer to the Old City, the streets became busier with all manner of people buying and selling all manner of goods -- fruits, vegetables, hoses, inlaid wood furniture, mirrors, handkerchiefs, bamboo, fabric, shoes.  Not to mention the traffic --overloaded autorickshaws and motor bikes, bicycles, cars, little trucks, the occasional tractor or wagon -- and people walking in the street or trying to cross.  It's not uncommon to see a woman in a beautiful embroidered saree carrying what looks like a large dish full of mud on her head.  In theory, people here drive on the left side of the road.  In actuality, they frequently veer into the wrong lane to avoid obstacles (rubble, animals, people, holes in the road, police checkpoint barriers).  Rotary-style intersections are common -- it feels like total chaos to me.

The driver finally dropped me off at Laad Bazaar around 11:30.  For awhile, I just walked around trying to get a feel for the place.  Most of the stalls were just opening up, putting out their goods, sweeping up.  I was surprised because no one was bothering me.  I went down what turned out to be a residential alleyway. There were some long-eared goats and a few little children running around.  One of them bumped into me and we both said Sorry, and then Sorry again, and again -- it was a game. And no, he didn't try to pick my pocket.

When I stopped to examine some scarves on display, I began to get an idea of how shopping works here.  The vendor came over and greeted me.  I asked him how much was this scarf and he told me (150 rupees, which is about $3).  My job at this point was to say something like, "I can't afford that!"  The vendor's job was to show me more stuff and then offer me his "best price."  I didn't really haggle much, so I'm sure I paid more than I had to.  Oh well, it's only money.

At some stores, the vendor invites you in.  You remove your shoes and sit down, cross-legged, on a large mattress that covers the whole floor.  It's very comfortable.  The vendor takes things off the shelves and shows them to you until you've seen enough.  At one place, I wanted to buy the very first thing I looked at -- the vendor seemed really disappointed.

At some point, I stopped at a little place and had a Sprite so I could sit in the shade and watch the world go by.  Compared to other parts of the city, there seemed to be more women in black burkas here.  When you look closely, you notice that the burkas are often embellished with sequins, embroidery, or other needlework.  Some of the fabrics are subtly patterned or pin-striped.  I've seen a lot of burka- or saree-clad women on the back of motor bikes, too -- riding sidesaddle of course. 

The only time anyone really bothered me was when I was standing on the corner waiting for my driver to pick me up again.  A guy was trying to sell me a pair of Rayban sunglasses.  He wanted 3500 rupees.  I said no.  Him: Well how much would you be willing to pay?  Me: 200 rupees (thinking this would be so insultingly low that he would go away).  Him:  Is that your best price?  It turned out he was willing to accept 200 rupees for them. Boy was he mad when I said I didn't want to buy them at any price, leave me alone, go away, etc.  I was very happy to jump into my car when it arrived!  Even happier when the driver handed me a big, cold bottle of water for the trip back to the hotel.

SK Wearing

SK stands for salwar kameez, which is a traditional way of dress of many Indian women.  The salwar part is a pair of draw-string pants; I think there are different terms to describe the ones that are loose vs. tight.  The kameez part is the tunic top (like the French word, chemise).  There's also a 3rd piece, a dupatta, which is a shawl or scarf.

When I found out that I would be travelling to India, my first (or maybe second) question was, "What will I wear?"  I was obsessed with this for weeks.  From afar,  SK looked like the right answer:  business-appropriate (modest) and comfortable. Still, I hesitated.  Would it be ridiculous, or even rude,  for an obviously Western woman to wear this outfit?  And how would I know what style to buy?  After all, I don't want to go to work looking like I'm dressed for a wedding.  I decided that the best approach was to wait and make up my mind after I'd had a chance to see how people dress at work.

As it turned out, I didn't have the energy to shop in Delhi, but I wasted no time once I got to Hyderabad (see my 5/30 post).  But I still didn't have the nerve to wear my new SK in public.  Finally last Thursday, I told the guys on my team that I wanted to wear beautiful Indian clothes and asked them if they thought that would be weird.  They were encouraging.  Besides, I was running out of my "real" clothes. So Friday was the big day.

I thought I detected more than the usual number of smiles from the hotel workers I passed as I left the Westin -- but those could have been smirks, right?  Then when I got to my cube, Dev said, "Oh, you look beautiful!"  What woman doesn't want to hear that?  And again, more than the usual number of smiles from the rest of the people on my floor.  Which I decided to take as a good sign.  At the end of the day, for the first time, I kept my working clothes on until time for bed instead of immediately changing into sweats -- that's how comfortable I felt.  This adds up to SK success.

First thing Saturday, I went out and bought 4 more SKs, each more beautiful than the last.  I was so excited about my purchases that I laid them all out on the bed together to admire.  (Sorry, I didn't take a photo.) Then, because I'm a spoiled American living in a hotel, I sent them all out to be pressed because it simply won't do to wear wrinkled clothes here in India.  Since then, I've been SK all the way, every day. 

Today I wore the fanciest one.  I think it's silk.  It's dark red with gold/copper appliques and embroidery.  A woman on the elevator told me that I looked great, the color is very becoming on me.  And a guy in the cafeteria told me that Indian style of dress suits me very well.  Wow.  I'm not accustomed to compliments from random strangers.

The only downside is the dupatta.  Theoretically, it's very practical.  You can cover your head with it, use it as a carrying-sling, or fold it up and sit on it if you don't want to dirty your other clothes.  But for some reason, it's worn like a winter muffler in reverse, with the loose ends trailing down your back.  Inevitably, it slides around so that one end is dragging on the floor or I'm sitting on it or it's choking me.  This doesn't seem to bother the Indian women, but I am constantly yanking on mine. 

Doesn't anyone here know that Isadora Duncan's dupatta was her cause of her death?

Toilet Mysteries

I know that some of my co-workers are reading this blog. I hope that this post doesn't ruin my career at UHG.

Before I came here, some people warned me that Indian toilets would be primitive.  That is not true.  In fact, they are so sophisticated that I find myself mystified by certain features.  I'm too shy to ask. 

1. What is the meaning & utility of the 2-button flush?

2. What are you supposed to do with the hose?

Working in Hyderabad

The last few days have been all about work, with not much time or energy for writing. I don't have any new pictures but I promise I'll take some and post them later this week.

The car & driver arrangement got off to a rocky start. On Monday, apparently, the driver showed up, didn't know what to do, and left. Eventually I called Puneet (UHG transition coordinator) and he picked me up. Tuesday's driver did not know where the office is. Despite my protests, which he probably didn't understand, he took me waaay over to the other side of Hyderabad. Lucky for me, I have a cell phone on which I had stored the phone number of the UHG Transport Help Desk. This is an amazing service, available 24x7. I explained my predicament and they called the car service, which in turn called the driver, causing him to finally pull over & turn around. I'm not sure who gave him directions (certainly not me), but when we got to one of the pre-office checkpoints he still had to ask the guard where Bldg #14 was. In all, my 5-minute commute took about 45 minutes. That guy is not my driver any more. Today's driver was much better -- speaks English & knows where the office is. I hope I keep him.

Even though the office is quite close, I won't be able to walk there. For one, it's too hot. There are sidewalks most of the way, but they end where the huge, chaotic construction zone around the office begins. Our building is finished on the outside but several floors are still under construction. If you step out of the elevator on one of those floors, there's marble dust everywhere - look out, it's slippery. On one floor there are actually large chunks of marble, as if a wall was demolished. Across the street from us is something gargantuan under construction; no idea what it will become.

This picture is the view from inside my building.  The large building on the far left is under construction.  The 3rd building from the left (in the distance) is the Westin.  In the foreground is a pit where you can see the foundations of yet another building..

Before you get anywhere near the building, it's necessary to go through at least 2 security checkpoints where I have to flash my UHG badge. Since we don't occupy the entire building, there are guards on every floor. They don't carry guns but they wear military-style uniforms that make them look very serious.

My team is on the 7th floor, a vast uninterrupted expanse of cubicles, if you can call them that. The walls are only about 8 inches above desk height, so you can see everyone's head. Although most cubes are occupied, the place is surprisingly quiet. I'm happy to say that everyone did NOT drop what they were doing to stare at the strange lady who just walked in.

I finally got to meet 2 of my new team-mates: Karthik ("car-tik") and Dev (his full name is Debabrata; thank goodness for nicknames). They are both ambitious young bachelors, eager to learn, anxious to please. Karthik strikes me as down-to-earth: he's soft-spoken, lives with his sister and her family, and likes to play with his six-month-old niece. Dev is flashier -- he wears his hair a little spiky, has a metal stud through his soul-patch beard, and I swear the guy has dark blue eyes (contacts?). He's into death-metal music. Like the rest of the India team that I met in Gurgaon, they are always looking out for my welfare. It's touching.

There are lots of small logistical problems in the office, so all 3 of us have had to be creative and flexible. Our "training room" is in fact a tiny conference room on the 2nd floor, with space for only 4 people -- so we'll be at our max when Nagar arrives on Friday. There are only 2 network ports & no WiFi, so we can't all be online simultaneously. (We unplug our cables & pass them around.) Karthik & Dev are still getting set up with email, messaging, webex, access to drives, etc. so I'm doing the training via projector -- I shine it on the wall. I spoke to Puneet about all of this. He said it took him 15 days of negotiations already to get us that small conference room and it's the best he can do. He is facing tremendous challenges but promises that it will all be much better in July when the 6th floor is finished and the WiFi is in. Sure hope so. Back at our cubes, the Cisco IP phones have not arrived yet (delayed by volcanic ash?), so we are using cheap Tata phones with no features.

This is a picture of Dev, Nagar & Karthik, taken in our tiny training room on Friday. Can you read Dev's t-shirt?

The "cafeteria" is just a large open room with tables. At one end there's a guy who serves hot dishes (no idea what) from what looks like a steam table with no steam. At the other end there's a guy who does things with fruit: salads, juices, etc. Another guy serves small items that he warms in a microwave: veg & cheese pastries, "frankies", chicken burgers, samosas. He also has sodas & snacks. It's pretty slim pickins for me right now because I'm being extremely careful (you could say paranoid) about what I consume. I'm going to have to figure out some solution to this -- maybe start bringing lunch from the Westin. I'm also finding it very difficult to keep my team-mates from paying for all of my meals. I don't know if this is a host/visitor or male/female thing -- it was the same in Gurgaon, where Sharad picked up every tab.

After work Monday night, I finally went to one of the hotel restaurants. I hate being in a restaurant by myself, but I can't eat in my room forever. I chose Prego -- yes, it's Italian -- and was pleasantly surprised. I was really in the mood for gnocchi, comfort food for me, but didn't expect it to even be on the menu. It was, with prawns (shrimp), and it was really, really good. Perfectly cooked. Since it was more than I could finish, I took the leftovers to work the next day & reheated them in the microwave. I need to do something like that every day.

Today's challenge was coffee. I absolutely must have coffee in the morning and I've been making it with the French press in my room-- until today. No packet of coffee in my room. Housekeeping stopped by to replenish my supplies and told me that the coffee was near its expiration date so they removed it & replaced it with instant coffee packets. What!?!?!? Breakfast downstairs was officially over & the last time I showed up late it threw them into a panic. I was saved by a little coffee shop in the lobby that offers coffee, espresso, cappuccino... So I got my caffeine fix after all.

SK Shopping Trip

My first solo excursion in India was a trip to the GVK mall. As it turns out, there are lots of malls nearby and this one was a long way off, but I enjoyed the sights. Black water buffalo - with horns - wander the street freely and it's up to drivers to avoid them. But this is still a very Westernized city, with many recognizable brands. Compared to Delhi, it's much more modern and congested, but also more attractive. Lots of pretty plantings, some lakes, gardens & parks. And everywhere you look, something new under construction.

My driver, David, was kind enough to lend me a cell phone when he dropped me off so that I could call him when I was ready to leave. Entering the mall required a security check & wanding. When I got inside, the sounds & smells were overwhelming. There was some kind of "get your picture taken with a race car" thing going on -- loudly -- and all sorts of food smells coming from KFC, Subway and I don't know what. This mall, like many, is about 6 stories high with a center atrium. There are elevators & escalators to connect the floor -- I saw a whole family taking what must have been their first escalator ride.

I wandered into the first store on my right, Shoppers Stop, which turned out to be a modern department store. Women's wear was quite confusing at first -- I started looking at a rack of tops, but where in the world were the bottoms? Then I moved to the Salwar Kameez (SK) section & realized that I could buy the whole package (top, bottoms & stole). Pretty soon, I had a sales woman at my side. She advised that I would need size XL (sad but true) and encouraged me to try on many outfits. Most of the ones I picked turned out to be too fancy, but one set is just right. I've always wondered about the pants. There are different styles, but the ones I got are extremely long (so that they can bunch at the ankles) with a gigantic drawstring waist. Should be comfortable anyhow. Now, will I ever have the courage to wear them?

My sales person really wanted me to buy more, but I refused. Then she offered me a preferred shoppers' card. Me: No thanks. Her: But it's free. Me: No thanks. Her: But you will get a discount on this purchase. Me: Oh, really -- how much? Her: This SK is priced at 1800 rupees but with the card you can have it for 1100. Me: Well okay then. Back at the hotel, I look at the price tag. It says 1799 on one side, 1049 on the other. I think I've been had.

I picked this mall for its FabIndia store, which had been recommended. But when I got there, I found that I couldn't take the heat -- the store was literally too hot and the goods were arrayed in a way that required the services of a sales person to even look at them. Nope, not today thanks.

Goodbye Delhi - Hello Hyderabad

Sad to say, jet lag kept me from seeing very much of Delhi. I never went shopping and I had to cancel my plans to see the city with Sharad. Instead, I spent most of Friday night & Saturday resting and hydrating. A true tour of Delhi will have to wait until another time.

I enjoyed hanging out at the airport waiting for my flight to Hyderabad. It was my first chance to do some real people-watching. Oddly, even though I was one of very few Westerners in the crowd, I didn't feel strange. In Delhi they don't make you remove your shoes to go through security but they did send all the women into a screened booth to be wanded by a female security officer. After security, everyone waits in the same large area for their flight to be called. There are restaurants -- I saw a KFC -- and high-end stores. For boarding, you go through the gate and wait outside for a bus to arrive. The bus takes you to the plane & you wait outside again to board. It had rained -- torrentially -- just before I left the hotel but luckily not while I was at the airport. I was in no rush and Indians are a little pushy, so I ended up being one of the last to board. Someone was in my seat, and someone was in her seat, and so on until we had completed a round of musical chairs. It was a bit cloudy and dim, so I didn't see much of India out my window, but several times I could see fireworks down below. I wonder if it was a holiday? or just normal Saturday night?

When I got to Hyderabad, I was met at the gate by Srinu, a manager from the Westin. Very smooth and charming, he chatted me up while waiting for my luggage and handed me off to my chauffeur for the trip to the Westin. By the way, the Hyderabad airport smells like pizza. It's very new and far more attractive than the Delhi airport, in a Disney kind of way. There were green plantings and a little brook instead of just dusty roads and barriers. And it was about 20 degrees cooler than Delhi. This driver did not want to talk, which made for a relaxing, if long, drive into the city. All the way in, I could see signs of the building boom: roads under construction, cranes atop buildings in progress, etc.

The Westin is everything I expected. My room is much like the one at the Crowne Plaza, including the glass-walled bathroom arrangement, but the whole thing is newer and a bit more Western. Since I am a Preferred Guest at this hotel, there was a little presentation of fruit & sweets waiting for me. I finally got my appetite back -- I had a chicken club sandwich with a glass of white wine and really enjoyed it.

This morning, I slept late in my Heavenly Bed and read the Deccan Chronicle with my cup of coffee. The Sunday funnies were two strips: Garfield and The Phantom. The crossword has some interesting clues: "Bat and ____ and field; in short, play cricket." (4 letters, ends with L). I've spent most of the day so far settling in. I unpacked my bags, sent my laundry to be done, sorted out my business papers, etc. and now I am about ready to finally go shopping. Unless it turns out that stores are closed on Sunday, which could be true for all I know.

First Impressions

From an airplane after dark, Delhi seems to sprawl out, with lots of dark sections that could be parks, or water, or maybe rolling blackouts. We circled several times before landing. Inside, the first thing I noticed about the airport was the marble floor. There's a lot of marble here. But let's face it, the airport was like any other airport. It took me a long time to clear customs, get my bags & change some money. When I walked into the lounge, there was my driver, decked out in a white Crowne Plaza uniform with lots of gold braid, holding a big sign with my name: Ninar Hinchee. Close enough. He took charge of my bags and lead the way outside -- at last, breathing New Delhi air. Which is quite hot (106 last night), moist, and smells a bit like charcoal. Not unpleasantly.

It didn't take long for us to arrive at the Crowne Plaza. Even though this was a hotel employee driving a hotel car, we still had to open the hood & let someone look around in the cab. That's how tight security is at Western hotels since the terrorism in Mumbai. They also searched my bags & had me walk through a scanner. All in the nicest, smilingest, way of course.

My room is exactly what I expected -- very nice but a little odd. The tub, shower & toilet are all separated by glass walls, and the wall between the bathroom & the bedroom is glass. This means you can watch TV from the tub, but it's still strange. If one wants more privacy, there's a little remote you can use to shut the blinds. There's another remote just to open & close the wall-to-ceiling drapes. They use one of those key-card systems, which I detest because my timing is not very good. You need the card for more than your room key: it also activates the elevator AND the master power switch for the room. I could have ordered pillows from the pillow-menu (selections included millet-stuffed, feathers, I don't know what else), but I am pretty happy with the ones I have.

I have a little electric pot for boiling water and a French press to make my coffee. They deliver the Hindustan Times to the door in the morning. I had breakfast in the hotel "Cafe G" this morning. What a huge selection of things I wasn't sure about! I did have 2 glasses of fresh-squeezed mango juice and also a dish called idli, which is a couple of soft rice dumplings in a hearty, spicy stew. It was actually very tasty, but odd for breakfast.

After breakfast, my driver took me to the Gurgaon office. Despite all sorts of pre-arrangements, there was no one to meet me at reception so the guards sent me all over the place for awhile - Building C Level 4, no Building B Level 12, no 14 -- until finally one of my team-mates came and rescued me. The buildings are very much like the UHG office in Hartford -- slow elevators, cubes, etc. I enjoyed observing the wide variety of women's clothing styles - sarees, salwar kameez, kurtis with pants. I think I was appropriately dressed in tunic top & slacks.

It was really great to finally meet the people on my team that I have worked with for the past several months. Sharad is the leader of the group, and he has gone out of his way to check in on me, make sure I'm okay, give me advice, lend me a phone. It's great. Priya, the only woman there today, is so little, so pretty, and quiet. She was wearing the most beautiful pink & gold shalwar kameez, many sparkly bangles, a diamond bindi on her forehead. (The picture here is from the next day, casual-dress Friday.)

We had our first meeting, very informal, and everyone enjoyed the chocolate I brought (thank goodness it didn't melt in my carry on). After the meeting we went to a Punjab restaurant that was decorated to seem like we were eating under the stars. There were fake monkeys, too. The food was tasty -- my coworkers ordered for me in Hindi, so I don't really know what I had. They asked the waiter for not-so-hot dishes. They were still plenty spicy. I had some paneer (kind of like cheese), and several different dishes that involved chicken in "gravy" (that's what they call sauce). There was also a "milk sweet" -- kind of like pudding cake? - for dessert. I ate just a few bites of each thing, but by the end of the meal I was feeling stuffed & sleepy!

I was planning to go clothes shopping tonight, but I'm too tired (or overstimulated) so came back to the hotel. Discovered that my power adapter does not fit any of the plugs in my room, and I needed to charge the loaner cell phone and my laptop. Called the concierge, sure they can send up an adapter. In fact, they sent 2 -- One doesn't fit the plugs and the other is only good for the cell phone charger. Ah well, if my computer runs out of power I'll recharge it at the office again tomorrow.