"Horn OK Please"

Driving here in India is completely different than in the States. Not only do people drive on the other side of the road and on the other side of the car like in South Africa, they have a completely different sense of personal space. I understood that latter part to mean that there is not the 3 feet of personal space that we are used to having between people. But now I realize that it also transfers to driving too!


There is no personal space when driving. Seriously. There may be lanes...sometimes...but that doesn't mean that people drive in them. It is common to float all over the different lanes, cutting off people like it's nothing.

When you overtake someone, you use the horn. You honk when they are in your way. You honk when you want them to move over so you can pass. You continue to use the horn the entire time when you are driving. The funny thing is, it is written on the back of cars and trucks that they prefer you use the horn and honk at them! Crazy, but it's true. "Horn OK Please". I realized that if you are not honking, you are going too slowly and the people are honking at you to get out of the way! At night, though, you get to use your high beams, "Use Dipper at Night." You flash and flash and flash the high beams like there's no tomorrow. Who cares if it is annoying and blinding. It's how you drive here. But don't worry, you can use the horn all you want as well. lol

Now, I thought driving in Mumbai was crazy. But after driving from New Delhi to Agra for the Taj (I'll do a separate post for this), I realize the drivers in Mumbai have a lot of room in comparison! What would be considered a traffic jam in the States would be a normal intersection here. I'm really not joking! There was one intersection where I just watched in amazement as we battled our way through.  At one point, there was a motorcycle with 2 guys on it that was sandwiched perpendicular in front of us and another vehicle. You know it's pretty close when the motorcyclist freaked out for a sec (considering the lack of personal space they are used to). I swear they only had about an inch on either side of them before they would have become a smooshed sandwich. But, they made it through, and then we honked our way through right after.

One of the craziest sights, although quite common, was to see an entire family on a motorcycle! I wish I had a photo to share of this. The father was driving. The little kid (about 2 years old) sitting in front of the dad with his little hands on the tank. The mother sitting side-saddle on the back cradling a baby in her arms.Wow! Then just 10 seconds later I saw the same scenario again. I thought it was the same family, but it was an entirely different one!!

Work, work, and then more work

Well, the first week was pretty much just working. Sorry I didn't get a chance to do another post last week. The temperature changes were kicking my butt. I swear it's like going from freezing in the hotel room, to hot in the hallway, to freezing in the lobby, to hot/humid outside, to freezing in the car, to hot/humid outside, to freezing in the office, to hot/humid in the bathroom, to freezing in the office, etc. No wonder I got sick with a fever/chills for a few days. :-(

Our typical schedule so far is getting picked up at 5PM, drive to the office, work, leave around 4:30-4:45 AM, then get back to the hotel around 5:15 AM. Kind of sucks working PST hours. No bars are open when we get back, so we miss all the nightlife.
 

Luckily, breakfast starts at 6:30 AM, so we only have to wait about an hour to get something to eat. Breakfast has been our main staple for food. There is a big buffet, so we get to try a lot of things. Dave usually sticks to the poached eggs and fruit, but I'll get a little sampling of the different Indian foods too.

We are in Syntel's new office in Airoli on the 2nd floor. But that really means we are on the 5th floor since there are 3 floors for parking. We made the mistaking of hitting "1" once, got lost, then had to go down 3 more flights of stairs. haha







 We are actually treated pretty good here. There is a guy who's job is to get us drinks, so he brings Dave his coffee and me some Masala Chai every day. But that still doesn't beat that fact that Dave orders ice up to his room for his whiskey every day. You can't just get it yourself like in hotels in the US. Someone brings it to you! lol
 

Arrival in Mumbai

The next two legs of my flight went by pretty quickly. Business class was pretty good since I had a seat that I can manipulate in many different positions, including reclining all the way back to a flat position for sleeping. 

From the moment I boarded, the flight attendant kept handing me drinks (champagne, wine, Baileys, etc.) and food, and he never let my wine glass go empty.

 
The Business Lounge in Frankfurt, Germany, was pretty cool though. They even had Franziskaner beer on tap and even some Jaeger if you wanted a shot! lol



I finally arrived in Mumbai at 1AM on Sunday night/Monday morning and found my driver. They drive like the people in South Africa - on the opposite side of the car on the opposite of the road. No need for lanes. Just flash your lights a bunch of times, pass on whatever side of them, then cut them off right away!

My room is pretty nice. This is so much better than staying in a hostel...especially when it's on someone else's dime!



Luckily I'm not by myself here, or it would be quite lonely. The views from our rooms are quite different. Check them out! .

David's view from room (zoomed in).
I think David got the short end of the stick. lol

I get a view of the pool and lake. No swimming in the lake, unless you want to swim with the crocs!




 

I've only been here about 12 hours so far, but I got a chance to check out the grounds. The pool looks pretty nice. I think I may have to take a snooze here when I get off from work.

Red Carpet Lounge

As some of you probably know, my job functions at State Street are being transitioned to India. For the past couple of months, I've been training some guys to do my job. Isn't that great?...training my replacements. Nice. I'm still in limbo and don't know what will happen once this transition is complete. Will I transferred to a different department or be let go? No idea. But there is one thing good that is coming out of this predicament...I get a free trip to India!
 

Right now I am sitting in the Red Carpet Lounge in Denver, CO. I've never been in one of these lounges before because I've never flown Business class. But I was curious to see what was behind Door #1. So far I get free internet, snacks (crackers, Tillamook cheese, gourmet hot chocolate, carrots & ranch), and a comfy place to hang out while I wait for my next flight to Frankfurt, Germany, and then to Mumbai, India. Can't wait to see how that will be like compared to the normal Economy class I usually fly.


Even though the reason of this business trip isn't the best, I hope I get to at least enjoy myself a little!!