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.

We rode from the parking lot to the Taj Mahal on a rickshaw bicycle who managed to drive the two of us. When we arrived at the Taj Mahal, it was just as beautiful as I would have imagined or hoped. The history of the Taj is also interesting. It was built by a Mogul emperor for his favorite wife, and it took 14 years to complete. Some stories say that the the emperor cut off the hands of those who built it so nothing similar could ever be built again. At the Taj, we met up with Elyse's friend Jessie, who is on his touring India on his way to Thailand where he plans to teach diving.


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.