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.