I'm sorry it's taken me more than a week since my last post. I had a great weekend in Bombay, but I forgot my computer at the office over the weekend so I wasn't able to post. I also almost forgot my computer at the security checkpoint at the airport today and had a momentary panic, but that's another story! The past week has also been very busy wrapping things up at work. It's hard to believe two and a half weeks have flown by.
On my last day, my driver turned to me and said, "You write me letter? Good letter?" I was pretty confused, as I wasn't sure what he was talking about. What kind of letter would he want me to write, and how would he even understand it?
Then, he handed me a sample recommendation that a previous Googler had written about what a great driver was and I understood. He showed me his resume, which showed that he had ten years of work experience, all driving a texi (yes, taxi was incorrectly spelled T-E-X-I). I didn't get a chance to correct him. I saw the year that Ramesh was born and that he was 36 years old. The sparse resume was the most that I had ever known about Ramesh's personal life, as we always had difficulty communicating.
Even though Ramesh and I had miscommunications though, I genuinely liked him. He greeted me every morning with a smile. "Water sir?" he would say. Then, he would ask me if I wanted the air conditioning or radio on. The moment I got in the car, he would always switch from the Hindi music station to the station with Bad American pop music. (Truthfully, I wouldn't have minded the Hindi music every now and then.) Then, when the car was stopped, he would get out and open the door for me, walking around to the other side. When I was in Chandi Chawk, the most crowded shopping area of Delhi, Ramesh helped me carry the bag of things I purchased through the crowded streets to the car which was parked down the street. (And finding parking in that area must not have been easy.)
All in all, Ramesh was a good driver and I was happy to do anything I could to help him advance in his career, so I wrote him the letter and emailed his boss. Ramesh is truely hard working and goes above and beyond to make his clients happy, things that are important no matter what job you're in. But sometimes I wonder, what is next for Ramesh? Will he be a driver in India, probably earning in a month what I earn in a day? Maye I will see him again next time I return to India.
The staff at the guesthouse was also incredibly helpful, and I'll miss them as well -- particularly Manik, who always had the biggest smile. Manik was the guy who made me a grilled cheese sandwich at midnight on the first night I arrived. He also washed and ironed all of my clothes -- even the ones that I left in the suitcase. They were really wrinkly from my travels, so he figured it'd be better to clean them. When I left, Manik told me, "I'll miss you sir." Abdul, the head of the guest house said, "Next time you come, you stay here, at Edshel Towers. It's our pleasure to have you."
I love the Indian hospitality, and I really enjoy the life that I've led there for the past two and a half weeks. I will miss the food, the colors, and the people, but I also know that tihs journey is not the end. I would love to conitnue a career that involves doing business internationally, and I hope to return to India again one day. I'm also returning with closer personal connections which my team members, so it's not like I'm saying goodbye. Some of the foks I met from the India office are actually coming to Ann Arbor within the next month, so I'll get to see them again!
I better get to the terminal to make sure that my flight isn't boarding yet. I'll post again soon with some photos and more details about my past weekend in Mumbai.
Update: I never got a chance to post a full post on my last weekend in Mumbai so will provide a quick update. I spent the day going to a swanky club, the Elefanta Caves, the grounds of the Taj Hotel, a Budhist Temple and more. It was fun hanging out with a great group of Googlers.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Millionaires, Momos, and Miscommunications
A McDonad's in Delhi -- Some things are the same, and some are different Everyday here continues to be exciting, and it's not always the big things that make it exciting, but also the little things. In today's post, I will tell you about meeting a millionaire, a bad experience while eating Momos (potstickers), miscommunications with my driver, and some other interesting stories. It's the little things that can't be planned for that make travel interesting and exciting. After all, if everything went according to plan, life would be boring.
Saturday
Yesterday, I finally got a chance to visit the Red Fort in Delhi and the Old City. Because it was Diwali, the streets were less crowded than normal. When I arrived at the Red Fort, my driver told me it was closed, which I was not happy about -- considering it was my second time trying to go there. Also, I had called the tourism office which told me it was open. Thankfully, after my driver circled around the fort, he found that it actually was open, and that I was able to go.
The Red Fort was constructed by Sah Jahan -- the same guy who built the Taj Mahal, and it was constructed after the Taj. I had a guide show me around who told me about the fort's history and helped me imagine the dancers that used to put on shows, opulent gold and curtains which once adorned it.After the Red Fort I strolled through Chatni Chowk, which was an action-packed bazar. To escape from the commotion, I decided to go to the Oberoy Hotel for lunch, which is one of the nicest hotels in Delhi. It seemed like a rather opulent thing to do, but I thought it would be fun.. The hotel was gated off and our car was thoroughly checked before we were allowed to enter.
I sat by a window in the restaurant and ordered a cocktail. Then, a guy walked up to me and started chatting me up, which at first made me rather uncomfortable. I had once been hit on by a gay guy in London, and it took me a while to realize it, but that's another story. "My mother is thinking of ordering that, how do you like it?" he asked. He then invited me to sit at his table with his mother and friend, and I decided not to refuse.
As we talked, I learned that the young guy I was talking to was one of the top executives at an Indian cosmetics company. His friend sitting next to him was a political news anchor for a television network. My new friend told me stories of opulent parties he had been to, his travels around the world, his dating adventures, and more.
Using his charm, he also managed to get us a free meal. The hotel had offered to give us free drinks because he was dissatisfied with something. He then brashly walked up the waiter and said, "Well at least let me pay for the food?" Of course, with Indian hospitality, the only appropriate answer was no.
So I walked out of the Oberoi Hotel two hours later, having met new friends and not having paid a penny. I had a nice evening at home with my housemates watching fireworks burst from all directions.
Sunday
Today, I hung out with Elyse and Punam (one of my colleagues from the office) and enjoyed doing some shopping and seeing some more parts of town I hadn't seen before. We went to a Sikh temple, Christian Church, several places for shopping, and concluded with an excellent Italian dinner at a place called the Big Chill -- a restaurant that had posters from American movies lining the walls. and played Michael Jackson Music.
At Dillihad, one of the markets went to, with Punam's help, I got prices that were less than a third of what I was being charged at tourist shops. It was a great place to go with lots of local craft vendors at reasonable prices. It really goes to show how I was being ripped off before, and reinforces the mantra of not going places that drivers recommend. (Drivers always get a kick back and send you to expensive, high-pressure shops.)
After our shopping there, we sat down to eat momos -- which are kind of like potstickers. I also drank Indian fruit beer (which really isn't beer, but rather sparkling juice). Unfortunately, the drink attracted bees, and a bee ended up touching the tip of my tongue as I tried to swallow the drink! My tongue was sore I felt awful for a few minutes, and even started to shed a tear. But, rest assured, there is no stinger in my tongue, and I'm feeling entirely better now. A little ice cream to numb my tongue did the trick. Key takeaway -- ice cream is the cure to everything.
The other funny thing about our journey is that we went in two cars and my driver was following the other driver, even though there would have been space in one car. My driver came this morning, even though I texted him that he didn't need to. Because I think they get paid by the day, I didn't want to send him home. Also, I thought that perhaps at one point our plans might diverge, but eventually it became clear that I wanted to just go to all the same places. At one point, I had Punim ask him if he wanted me to sign off for the day so he could go home and I could just go along in Elyuse's cab, but he seemed unenthusiastic about the idea. I guess he wanted to work and he wanted to have the hours accounted for. It seemed kind of wasteful having two cars following each other, but only in India is there such as an abudnace of labor that this arrangement was actually more considerate for my driver.
At the end of the evening, I was going to leave a few minutes before Elyse and Punim, but I couldn't find where my driver was. I tried calling him, but of course, he couldn't explain to me in English the location he was parked in. I ended up giving my cell phone to a policeman who offered to explain to the driver in Hindi where I was standing. Still, ten minutes later, he wasn't there. (Note also that I called him from my American phone - which has a high cost per minute- since my Indian phone was out of battery.)
Finally, Punim found the corner I was standing at and helped me make it back to my cab, which was parked on the completely other side of the mall. If I didn't have a backup cell phone with me, I could have been stranded there quite a while. When I finally got back to the car, Rahesh said "I'm sorry sir" multiple times. I think he was waiting in the right spot and it was really my fault for being in the wrong spot. The moral of the story is to always know your meeting spot, and to always charge your cell phone.
Tomorrow it's back to work, and I may not have time to post again for a few days. I'll be super busy with meeting with my team, and with staying late for client calls. I feel like I am a dignitary on a mission. President Manmohan Singh is visiting Barack Obama next month talk about collaboration between the United States and India, and I'm meeting with my Google team to forge closer collaboration with our work. OK, so I'm much less important than the President, but I wouldn't want to be the President. I love my job right now and intend to work hard to make this business trip a success.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Getting to Know Gurgaon
I was up late last night researching potential travel opportunities for this weekend and the opportunities are boundless -- the forts of Jaipur, the Golden Temple at Amritsar, white water rafting on the Ganges River in Rishikesh, seeing the spiritual city of Varnasi, going on a house boat in the backwaters of Kerala -- all these experiences and more a stone's throw away. So many opportunities, so little time! I was debating all my options, but after too much contemplation, decided to spend the three day weekend here in Gurgaon and Delhi. Travel seemed logistically complicated (especially alone) and there's still a lot I haven't seen in the Delhi area. I want to experience what it is like to live here, not just from the perspective of a tourist.
"Are you feeling well sir?" the staff at my house asked me today. This is because I slept in to eleven o'clock, which is uncharacteristically late for me. After a nice breakfast and lunch, I was invited to go to the Amby place mall with Gautum and his friends. Gautum is on a two year assignment with Google in India, working with the Media Partnerships team. He speaks fluent Hindi. Neela, his friend, joked that there is no reason to go to a mall when she didn't need to buy anything and that all malls are the same. I felt otherwise. I had never been to a mall in India before and was actually excited to go the largest mall in India. At 1.8 million square feet, this is probably the largest mall I've ever been to.
Most of the stores at the mall were very similar to what you'd see at an American mall and just as expensive -- brands like Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Nautica, etc. There was one Indian store called Fab India -- kind of like the Indian equivalent of the Gap. I had fun going there and bought a couple khourtas for myself to bring back to the states. I had fun just browsing around in an environment that felt safe where, unlike in the city, nobody was being too high pressure. I spent about twenty minutes playing a keyboard in the music store, and nobody bothered me for playing even though I had no intnetion of making a purchase.
Afterwards, we went to a smaller outdoor mall, called Galleria Market, where the stores were local. We sat down to have some chaat (the Hindu word for appetizers or light snacks.) I had a glass of fresh-squeezed Mosambi juice. Mosambi means "sweet lime" although it tastes nothing like lime; it's more like a sweeter orange. It's a popular fruit here. Gotam asked them to bring me the fruit to show me what it looked like, and he told me the staff must have thought he was crazy, as it's the equivalent of asking to bring an orange.
Tomorrow, I've asked a driver to come in the morning and am going to be more adventurous with getting back into exploring Delhi. I'll close this blog post with a video I took last week showing my commute back from work. The Hindi music in the background, the traffic, the endless malls... This place is very different from home. This is Gurgaon.
"Are you feeling well sir?" the staff at my house asked me today. This is because I slept in to eleven o'clock, which is uncharacteristically late for me. After a nice breakfast and lunch, I was invited to go to the Amby place mall with Gautum and his friends. Gautum is on a two year assignment with Google in India, working with the Media Partnerships team. He speaks fluent Hindi. Neela, his friend, joked that there is no reason to go to a mall when she didn't need to buy anything and that all malls are the same. I felt otherwise. I had never been to a mall in India before and was actually excited to go the largest mall in India. At 1.8 million square feet, this is probably the largest mall I've ever been to.
Most of the stores at the mall were very similar to what you'd see at an American mall and just as expensive -- brands like Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Nautica, etc. There was one Indian store called Fab India -- kind of like the Indian equivalent of the Gap. I had fun going there and bought a couple khourtas for myself to bring back to the states. I had fun just browsing around in an environment that felt safe where, unlike in the city, nobody was being too high pressure. I spent about twenty minutes playing a keyboard in the music store, and nobody bothered me for playing even though I had no intnetion of making a purchase.
Afterwards, we went to a smaller outdoor mall, called Galleria Market, where the stores were local. We sat down to have some chaat (the Hindu word for appetizers or light snacks.) I had a glass of fresh-squeezed Mosambi juice. Mosambi means "sweet lime" although it tastes nothing like lime; it's more like a sweeter orange. It's a popular fruit here. Gotam asked them to bring me the fruit to show me what it looked like, and he told me the staff must have thought he was crazy, as it's the equivalent of asking to bring an orange.
Tomorrow, I've asked a driver to come in the morning and am going to be more adventurous with getting back into exploring Delhi. I'll close this blog post with a video I took last week showing my commute back from work. The Hindi music in the background, the traffic, the endless malls... This place is very different from home. This is Gurgaon.
Happy Diwali!
For Diwali, the Gurgaon Google office was adorned with decorations and my team dressed up in traditional Indian apparel. The holiday celebrates the return of the Hindu God Rhana ater a 14-day exhile. His return was celebrated by lighting candles, and Diwali is known as "The Festival of Lights." Consider Diwali like the Indian Christmas. It's a pretty big deal! I had a great day at work yesterday, and Parul enjoyed having me taste all of the traditional Indian foods at TGIF, such as Kulfi -- a traditional Indian ice cream served with something that looks like noodles. Below, is a photo of the Auto team all dressed up for Diwai.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A Tuesday at the Taj, Going to the Goog(le), and More
Some of you may have started to wonder why I haven't posted for the past couple days and what has happened to me. I assure you the reason is not a bad one. I have been incredibly busy with work and travel, and I've been enjoying every moment of it. I've been so happy for the past few days to have the opportunity to work with great people, travel to incredible sites and soak in the culture. I'm not the slightest bit homesick and am really getting used to the lifestyle here. The other day, I even discovered that my shower actually is able to provide hot water (I just had the handle turned in the wrong direction and didn't have the switch for the hot water heater on for long enough.)On Monday, I had my first day working at the Google office in Gurgaon. The office is in a tall building with a lot of other large corporations, such as American Express and Microsoft. The interior is very Googley and has all the perks that are typical at a Google office, like colorful walls, a massage chair, a ping pong table, and great food all over the place. Of course, the Gurgaon office has some advantages, like a barista that serves drinks such as ice coffee, Cadbury bars in the microkitchen, and really delicious Indian food.
More important than any of that though is how wonderful it has been working with my team. Parul, Neha, Anannya, and everyone else that I have met on the Auto team at the office has been so warm and welcoming. The time has flown by in meetings with my team that would have been far more difficult through video conference. We've also had some great conversations about Indian culture and history, and a whole bunch of other topics. I've been working late so I can keep up with clients and meetings in the United States. Today for instance, we were at work until 9:00pm calling clients, and concluded with a client call that went particularly well. I don't mind working late because I feel energized from the excitement of being with my team.
On Tuesday, it was an election today in Haryana, so Elise (another Googler visting from Ann Arbor) and I made a spontaneous plan to go the Taj Mahal. How often does one get the day off of work and have an opportunity to go the one of the Seven Wonders of the World? We left late on Monday night, and had a private driver pick us up. We arrived at around 1:00pm, and the driver couldn't find the place that we were supposed to meet Elyse's friend at, so we ended up staying at the first place our driver could find. It was actually really nice.
We woke up at 5:30 the next morning, fresh on four hours of sleep, to make it to the Taj at sunrise. The hotel's credit card machine was broken and we didn't have sufficient cash, and finding an ATM machine wasn't easy. A staff member from the hotel went in our car to make sure we didn't run away without paying. As the cab drove through the streets of Agra at sunrise, we saw people with rickshaws and pushcarts, and some tourists already starting to get to town, but what we didn't see was an ATM that worked. The first two ATMs we found were either program or closed and we had to go a couple kilometers to find one that actually worked. Only in India.
After spending several hours admiring the view at the Taj, we went to a rooftop cafeteria where we were able to watch life go by from the streets. I took many pictures and was fascinated by the angle at which I was able to watch life play out in a rural Indian town. I saw Indian children walking back from school arm in arm, vegetable vendors pushing carts, and even a camel walking along the road. The photos that I took there were some of my favorites I've ever taken. Papa, my grandpa, has a scroll from China that shows street scenes of people there and you can roll the parchment so that you're always looking at a different scene. I felt like my view form the cafe was the same. Even though I took many photos from the same spot, the scene was always changing. It was tough to choose just a couple photos of Agra to post to the blog, so you can view my entire Agra album on Picasa here.
I have Friday off of work for Diwali, which is a pretty major Indina holiday. Tomorrow at work will be a celebration where everyone where's traditional Indian appearal. The office is already decorated with bright colors and icons. I tried to go to the mall after work to by an Indian khourta, but unfortunately, the stores were already closed by 9. There were still some people completing their purchases when I was there, but the security guard wouldn't let me in. Thankfully, Parul said she would be able to let me borrow a khourta from her husband.
I'm not sure what I'm doing this weekend yet, which I probably should decide, since I have just one more day of work this week! Whatever I do, I'm sure that they'll be more adventures.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
When Everybody Wants Your Money
It's the middle of the night, and I should get back to bed momentarily, but I thought I'd post a little bit more detail about my experiences yesterday before it is old history.
I ventured off into Delhi as a more experienced traveler, with much more of a concrete plan than the last time. I even used Google maps to map out everything that I was going to do in that day, and to make sure they were in a logical sequence. I knew to expect that the driver would speak little English, and I knew to expect, that even with my well thought out plans, things would most certainly not be exactly as I had envisioned them and that would all be part of the adventure.
The thing that struck me yesterday more than the day prior is how everyone was asking for money, in one way or another. As the cab was driving down the street, a little boy wearing a costume was dancing right in the middle of the street between the cars and knocking on people's windows for tips. Then there was a girl doing cartwheels in the street, among the traffic that wasn't going anywhere. The boy was right in front of me, and my driver rolled down my window for me, to guilt trip me into paying. I gave the boy an American dollar, as I didn't have any small denominations of Rupees on me. Then, this little girl comes up to my window with the saddest, cutest face. But I didn't have any small denominations of money on me, and I thought that the boy was here brother so they could share. My taxi driver looks at me and I tell him I don't have more. He hands me a rupee to give the to the girl. Then, four more children run up to the cab. They stick their hands in the window as I begin to close it, and their fingers are literally part way inside the window as my car starts to pull away. As the car started to move, I was worried for their safety. It was as if all the children from Slumdog Millionaire were running after me and I was turning them away. I felt guilty, but I cannot give money to everyone that asks me for it, and in this case, I simply didn't have any small denomination bills or coins on me.
There was another point in the trip where the driver took me to a souvenir shop, even though I hadn't asked to go to one. He said, "Don't worry, you don't have to buy." He took me to a small store, where I was the only patron there, with a sales person who was very high pressure. The whole experience was annoying, and I probably shouldn't have let the driver take me there in the first place. When I arrived, a gentleman showed me how kashmir rugs were made - sowing the thread one row at a time, someone works for five hours a day to complete them. Then, he ushered me to a back room where he had three helpers who would lay the rugs out before me. An assistant then brought me a cup of special kashmere tea -- which I did not dare touch! I was never considering buying a rug in the first place. What happened to consultative slaes where you at least try to sell the customer on a product they might be interested in?
He then took me into another room with scarves and silks. I did actually end up buying a small gift for someone, and I bargianed him down a couple hundred rupees, but I felt bad about the situation because I knew that I was still paying twice as much as I should. Even after I agreed to make a purchase, he also wouldn't leave me alone. He wanted to show me handicrafts and tea-shirts and ties -- and I had to be pretty emphatic about just wanting the one thing. I was doing him a favor by buying something and paying way more than I should have, and he still kept trying to guilt trip me. It didn't work.
Later, I was walking around by the India Gate, and more people kept coming up to me. Because I was one of the only white people among a crowd of Indians, I was an obvious target. A teacher pinned an Indian flag to my shirt and let me know she was raising money for a school. I gave a little money to her, and by that point I had smaller change. Before I returned to my car, there was a snake charmer waiting outside right by the door, demanding that I take a picture with his snake. Normally, I wouldn't fall for such a trap, but I figured it would be a decent photo opp, it would get him off my back, and since I had smaller bills now, I wouldn't have to pay much. As the picture was being taken, the snake charmer whispered in my ear, "one thousand rupees!" A thousand rupees is $20, which is absolutely a ridculous price to pay for a photo that didn't even turn out very well. This time I was very defensive.
"One hundred ruppes, not a penny more!" (Granted, this is still overpriced, but at least tolerable.)
He demanded 500 rupees, but I stood firm, gave him the smaller amount, and jumped back in my car. By that point, I was happy to go back to the guest house where I could relax in peace without anyone asking me for anything. This outing has taught me that I need to continue to stand firm and do a better job of saying no, but it's really tough traveling alone with a driver with no companionship, having to be rude and defensive to everyone that you meet.
Depsite all that, I did see some interesting historical sites. We started at Qutb Minar, the largest minaret in the world (actually it was closed for a private function, but I at least saw it on the outside). We then went on to Hamayen's tomb (the tomb of a Mogul Emperor). Both of these two sites are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Next, we saw Indira Gandhi's former residence where she was assacinated by her bodygard. Indira Gandhi is an interesting enigma to me, as she helped modernize the country, but some of her policies (such as forced sterilization and declaring a 'State of Emergency' to bolster her powers) were rather controversial. She was not referenced favorably in Rushdie's Midnight's Children, a novel which I read freshman year of college. We ended at the India Gate, which looks strikingly like the Arc de Triumph in Paris, and is a memorial to fallen Indian soldiers during World I. Below are photos of all the places that I saw on my tour.
Qutm Minar (World's Tallest Minaret)
Hamayen's Tomb
Library at Indira Gandhi's House
Indian Soldiers Posing in Front of India Gate (Perfect I Caught Them There, Huh?)
Time to get some more rest before work tomorrow. I'm so excited to finally meet my team and get to work with them in person!
I ventured off into Delhi as a more experienced traveler, with much more of a concrete plan than the last time. I even used Google maps to map out everything that I was going to do in that day, and to make sure they were in a logical sequence. I knew to expect that the driver would speak little English, and I knew to expect, that even with my well thought out plans, things would most certainly not be exactly as I had envisioned them and that would all be part of the adventure.
The thing that struck me yesterday more than the day prior is how everyone was asking for money, in one way or another. As the cab was driving down the street, a little boy wearing a costume was dancing right in the middle of the street between the cars and knocking on people's windows for tips. Then there was a girl doing cartwheels in the street, among the traffic that wasn't going anywhere. The boy was right in front of me, and my driver rolled down my window for me, to guilt trip me into paying. I gave the boy an American dollar, as I didn't have any small denominations of Rupees on me. Then, this little girl comes up to my window with the saddest, cutest face. But I didn't have any small denominations of money on me, and I thought that the boy was here brother so they could share. My taxi driver looks at me and I tell him I don't have more. He hands me a rupee to give the to the girl. Then, four more children run up to the cab. They stick their hands in the window as I begin to close it, and their fingers are literally part way inside the window as my car starts to pull away. As the car started to move, I was worried for their safety. It was as if all the children from Slumdog Millionaire were running after me and I was turning them away. I felt guilty, but I cannot give money to everyone that asks me for it, and in this case, I simply didn't have any small denomination bills or coins on me.
There was another point in the trip where the driver took me to a souvenir shop, even though I hadn't asked to go to one. He said, "Don't worry, you don't have to buy." He took me to a small store, where I was the only patron there, with a sales person who was very high pressure. The whole experience was annoying, and I probably shouldn't have let the driver take me there in the first place. When I arrived, a gentleman showed me how kashmir rugs were made - sowing the thread one row at a time, someone works for five hours a day to complete them. Then, he ushered me to a back room where he had three helpers who would lay the rugs out before me. An assistant then brought me a cup of special kashmere tea -- which I did not dare touch! I was never considering buying a rug in the first place. What happened to consultative slaes where you at least try to sell the customer on a product they might be interested in?
He then took me into another room with scarves and silks. I did actually end up buying a small gift for someone, and I bargianed him down a couple hundred rupees, but I felt bad about the situation because I knew that I was still paying twice as much as I should. Even after I agreed to make a purchase, he also wouldn't leave me alone. He wanted to show me handicrafts and tea-shirts and ties -- and I had to be pretty emphatic about just wanting the one thing. I was doing him a favor by buying something and paying way more than I should have, and he still kept trying to guilt trip me. It didn't work.
Later, I was walking around by the India Gate, and more people kept coming up to me. Because I was one of the only white people among a crowd of Indians, I was an obvious target. A teacher pinned an Indian flag to my shirt and let me know she was raising money for a school. I gave a little money to her, and by that point I had smaller change. Before I returned to my car, there was a snake charmer waiting outside right by the door, demanding that I take a picture with his snake. Normally, I wouldn't fall for such a trap, but I figured it would be a decent photo opp, it would get him off my back, and since I had smaller bills now, I wouldn't have to pay much. As the picture was being taken, the snake charmer whispered in my ear, "one thousand rupees!" A thousand rupees is $20, which is absolutely a ridculous price to pay for a photo that didn't even turn out very well. This time I was very defensive.
"One hundred ruppes, not a penny more!" (Granted, this is still overpriced, but at least tolerable.)
He demanded 500 rupees, but I stood firm, gave him the smaller amount, and jumped back in my car. By that point, I was happy to go back to the guest house where I could relax in peace without anyone asking me for anything. This outing has taught me that I need to continue to stand firm and do a better job of saying no, but it's really tough traveling alone with a driver with no companionship, having to be rude and defensive to everyone that you meet.
Depsite all that, I did see some interesting historical sites. We started at Qutb Minar, the largest minaret in the world (actually it was closed for a private function, but I at least saw it on the outside). We then went on to Hamayen's tomb (the tomb of a Mogul Emperor). Both of these two sites are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Next, we saw Indira Gandhi's former residence where she was assacinated by her bodygard. Indira Gandhi is an interesting enigma to me, as she helped modernize the country, but some of her policies (such as forced sterilization and declaring a 'State of Emergency' to bolster her powers) were rather controversial. She was not referenced favorably in Rushdie's Midnight's Children, a novel which I read freshman year of college. We ended at the India Gate, which looks strikingly like the Arc de Triumph in Paris, and is a memorial to fallen Indian soldiers during World I. Below are photos of all the places that I saw on my tour.
Qutm Minar (World's Tallest Minaret)
Hamayen's Tomb
Library at Indira Gandhi's House
Indian Soldiers Posing in Front of India Gate (Perfect I Caught Them There, Huh?)Time to get some more rest before work tomorrow. I'm so excited to finally meet my team and get to work with them in person!
The People of India: A Photo Montage
In the couple days I've been out in Delhi, I've seen a lot of historic buildings, but the most fascinating thing I've seen has been the people. To be able to capture the expression of stranger - happiness, confusion, desperation -- is magical. My trick is to stand a distance and use the zoom so the person doesn't think my camera is aimed at them. The expression that I was looking at is often gone by the time I can snap the image, occasionally I get lucky. There's lots of postcards and photos of Raj Ghat and the Taj Mahal, but moments such as the ones captured below have never been captured before and can never be captured again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)