Deborah in Gurgaon

February 3, 2007 - Part 2 I’ve begun to realize that the old axiom about it being the journey not the destination that matters applies to India ten fold. I find myself being as entranced with the drive to my destinations as I am with the destination itself. Okay, maybe the Taj Mahal is an exception, but still the drive down (and back) delivered so many fascinating scenes. I’ll include the photographs I was able get out the car window as we drove. The first is a fine example of an overloaded auto-rickshaw. I think I promised a photo of this phenomenon in a previous entry. I have since learned that some people call this auto-rickshaw’s Tic-Tics. The nickname comes from the sound the motors make tic-tic-tic-tic-tic. I have no idea how many men were in ... read more

February 1, 2007 I had my first official India update call with Sandy, my boss, today. After we got the pleasantries and official India business out of the way, she dropped a bomb on me. She told me that there would soon be an IT reorganization announcement and as part of that reorg, I would be getting a new job and a new boss. She went on the say stuff about moving the bridge Relationship Managers back into the greater IT organization and she felt like I was burnt out on my old job which I’ve been doing for 6+ years and something about Charlie, my new boss, and EQM, my new project… But she might as well have been talking to a deaf mute. I only absorbed about 10% of what she said, and I ... read more

January 28, 2007 - Part 2 It was late; I was exhausted; I was in desperate need of a bath. I tossed my bags from the day’s shopping on the floor and headed to the bathroom to start getting ready for bed. Those of you that know me well, know that I’m not exactly the world’s most observant person on the planet. So I have no I idea what made me look up. But there it was, a damned lizard! Shit! I’m not really afraid of lizards, but I wasn’t about to share my room with one... especially one that was every bit of 8 - 10 inches long. So I put my shoes back on and walked back to the front desk to report my unwanted guest. The guy at the reception desk called housekeeping ... read more

January 27, 2007 - Part 4 I took a few random “snaps” as we were leaving Jaipur to head back to Delhi. (That’s what the Indians call photographs, “snaps.”) We decided to stop at a roadside vendor just on the way out of town to grab something to eat. We hadn’t had any food since breakfast and we were very hungry. They love potato chips over here. Every single roadside vendor sells them. It goes without saying that they have their own flavors, but Michele was able to get us some plain Lays potato chips. She bought our driver a bag of Masala (Indian spice) flavored one. Two bottles of water and we were good to go. While Michele was buying the potato chips, our driver used this public telephone to make a call. I have ... read more

January 27, 2007 - Part 2 We headed back to the car after Hawa Mahal to begin our drive out of town to the Amber Palace. It was here I planned to ride the elephant to the top of the hill where the palace was located. On the approach to the palace, in the thick of traffic, a young man approaches the car and offers his services as a guide for 20 Rupees. He produces this laminated document he claims is his guide license. We decided what the heck… it’s only 20 rupees, which is less than 50 cents. So he jumps in the car, and we tell him we want to ride an elephant to the top. He insists it’s much better to ride the elephant “on the down side.” So he directed our driver ... read more