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Published: October 2nd 2008
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Saturday was the big mall event in Delhi . . . essentially something that is done in the U.S. all the time - a big promotional event with a host on the microphone while performances and games occur. This was a new concept for India, so the Indian instructors were very skeptical about it. I told them it actually does works in the U.S. - people will stop, watch for a while and hopefully become interested enough to check out the product.
The event was set up right outside the RBK store. The mall was huge - reminded me of Woodfield Mall in Illinois with lots of high end stores. Big RBK advertisements were set up with “Fitness is Fun!” and stability balls, bands, free weights, and hula hoops were out on display to be used in some of the various games. Charu and I changed in to some of the new Reebok line for our performances. I taught/performed a dance routine to Michael Jackson’s remix of “Wanna Be Startin’ Something.” I say “taught/performed” because there wasn’t really anyone learning it. If you were in the mall watching, it basically appeared as if a fitness dance video was being performed
live.
I had been staying in all 5 Star Hotels up until this point, so I was very surprised when the electricity kept going out (in the entire mall). Regi, a marketing team member of Reebok India, said to me, “Welcome to Third World!” Apparently, this is a regular occurrence in many public places in Delhi. I pictured this happening in the U.S. and people either getting irate, freaked out or just plain annoyed. In India no one even fluctuated. The things we take advantage of in our country . . .
Overall, I would say the event was a success. While we were performing tons of people were filing around and watching from the balconies. There was a ton of press there videotaping and photographing us. My friends promised to send me pictures. I’m sad to say I have not taken very many pictures since being here. It’s hard, when I’m working all day, to get the chance to.
The RBK team from the office seemed happy but said there would have been a lot more people in the mall that day if the bomb blasts hadn’t occurred that afternoon . . . oh yeah, there
were two bombs that day very close by in the Delhi marketplace. They didn’t want to tell me at first but I wanted to know so I could call Sean and he could let everyone know I was okay. The RBK staff was pretty worked up about it. There had been a series of bombs around Sept. 13 as well, and when it does happen there is usually a series of bombs for a couple of days straight (sure enough there were another two the next day, as well as an abduction of a foreigner - yikes!). Vinata, the RBK trainer I would meet up with in Mumbai (Bombay), said it was particularly annoying this time around because no one claimed the bombings. I guess usually the terrorist group will step up and announce their success. Almost all the terrorists in India are from Pakistan.
When the mall event ended I quickly picked up some RBK product and headed to the airport. I had the Resolution in Mumbai the next day. My flight was at 10:30 PM, which put me into Mumbai after midnight, which put me to my hotel after 2 AM. In India it is not unusual to fly at all hours of the night. I flew Kingfisher airlines, which I highly recommend. It is a 5 Star Airline, where they serve food (you actually get a menu). You also have your own personal TV screen that is built in to the back of the seat in front of you.
A driver from the hotel picked me up in Mumbai (after many phone calls). Right away I could tell that Mumbai had a different feel than Delhi. It’s definitely more modernized. One section in particular reminded me of a run-down college town with fast food restaurants, bars, tons of people just milling about outside. At this time of night in this part of town (about 1 AM) there was not one single woman in sight, and I was really looking for them. All I could think of was Amy Dhaliwal (an Indian friend of Martha and mine here in the U.S.) telling me that if I started to notice that I was the only woman in the area to get the heck out! So, at this point I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that the cab wouldn’t break down any time soon.
I was taken to the Taj Palace to stay for the night. If only I had had the chance to experience this hotel during the day! It was gorgeous - like a palace (go figure!). I drank some tea, repacked my bags and went to bed for about 4 hours. The next morning I was picked up and taken to a banquet hall for the Resolution. There was an amazing view of the city skyline against the Arabian Sea on the way. Again, Mumbai appeared to be much more modernized than Delhi. There were no cows roaming the streets; rick-shaws are not allowed in the downtown area; and there seemed to be a little more consideration for the rules of the road (although just as much honking). Most cars in India are really small - almost the size of the new Smart Car.
I want to address the Mumbai vs. Bombay question. The story is such: The city was originally named Mumbai (pronounced “mum-buy”), but when the British came in, they renamed the city Bombay (pronounced “bomb-bay”). Now that the British are gone the new government wants the city to be named Mumbai again. The RBK trainer, who picked me up, Vishaka, said that her son who is thirteen refers to it as Mumbai but the older generations still say Bombay. Anyways, just know that they are the same place and you can pretty much use them interchangeably.
The RBK Resolution in Mumbai went by so fast. I had to do back to back seminars. The participants were well trained and seemed significantly older than those in Delhi. Again, there was a mix of men and women. I met one couple in which the husband owns a weight lifting gym where he trains mostly body builders and the wife owns a group fitness gym (which I heard later is not an uncommon occurrence). One of the attendees told me she had been to Resolution for the past seven years and this was her favorite yet! Groovin’ and Movin’ was the best. I taught a piece to Hairspray’s “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” and you would have thought it was a 1960’s dance party- they went crazy! So fun . . .
The Master Trainers in Mumbai were so kind and welcoming - Vinata (who is part of the Global Team I am on), Doc (his nickname), Vishaka and Priti. They went out of their way to make sure I had anything I needed and even helped me get booked on an earlier flight out of Mumbai (so I could try to catch up on some sleep).
While I was waiting for my cab to take me to the airport they had a physical therapist come in who used to work with the Cricket team in India. Cricket is crazy popular here. The players make upwards of 15 million and I guess when there is a Cricket game “the streets are empty” because everyone is watching the game. So the participants found it to be a huge deal that he was here with them. I had a chance to talk more with him later in the week, but I was afraid if I stuck around for his seminar I might fall asleep (since I was on about 4 hours of sleep at that point), so I sat out in the hallway with the two young guys who had been giving out Gatorade all day. They decided it would be fun to teach me Hindi, so I learned anything from “I love you.” to “Cows are everywhere.” They got quite the kick out of me trying to pronounce Hindi correctly, and frankly, so did I!
So I was off to Chennai . . . I was glad to know I would get to come back to Mumbai to see more of the city.
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