Incredible India
Back in Asia, back in India. 9 years its been that I´ve been here and it feels great. Back in time, I’ve been sharing the experience with some colleagues and we had a great time here. Bangalore was back in time already a buzzing international city located in the southern part of the country but it has changed a lot! Of course, it’s been crazy compared to what I am used to in Germany and even Barcelona, but already back in time, the difference between Bangalore and any other big city I’ve seen till that point was big.
Back in 2010, we came here to train the new colleagues and tried to build bridges between European and Bangalore teams. I am happy that some of the connections made back in 2010 are still holding and still we are in touch from time to time. India and the people impressed me and the trip itself was an eye-opener. It was my first trip so far away from home into a totally different culture and I knew I will go back.
Now I am again here for a business purpose but still, I want to come back again. I still want to go here on vacation to have the freedom to go during the day wherever I want and not being pushed and obliged to go to the office. During my last vacation on Bali, I’ve rented a scooter to discover the island and I really enjoyed it as it gives you the freedom to roam around even on the small streets cars cannot pass. On a two-wheeler, you simply see more and can experience not only the landscape but as well the smell of the country and get in touch with the people easier. This year maybe not due to other priorities, but next year I really want to do my license for the motorcycle.
Due to some miscommunication with a colleague my hotel is located in the “outskirts” of Bangalore. I am supposed to work with different teams on this trip to test some functions of a new system we implement but at the end, the team I am working with is in the heart of the city, 14km away from my hotel. It doesn’t sound much but with the traffic of India 14 km can take up to 2 hours to drive. It’s hard to explain someone that’s never been here how the traffic really is, the comedian Russel Peters brought it to the point though. I can’t really quote him but “most of the countries have a sort of a traffic system which is that you drive in your lane. India has the system “create a lane”.” and that’s not exaggerated. It’s mayhem!
Like every day, I am taking an Uber as it’s the most relaxed way to get around and every time you see something different happening on the way. So far my drivers were rather relaxed and didn’t try to kill me and themselves when driving. On Wednesday though I drove with a Michael Schumacher style of a driver called Sharanappa. I doubt that it is him though as the profile picture in Uber shows someone 80kg heavier and bolt. Wherever he saw a tiny space he went for it with the pedal to the metal… and he was not even wearing the seatbelt!
No matter which driver I had, I think they all misunderstood the concept of the inner mirror in the car. In all cars, the mirror was put to see themselves but not to what is happening in the back of the car.
The drive went on and the car in front had a sticker on it stating literally “If the dude is driving like a maniac, call this number, press 0″…I am wondering though what will happen if you call and wish my car would have had such a sticker. So here I am in my Uber, listen to Indian rap, trust my life to a guy that turned now from Michael Schumacher to Sebastian Loeb to go off-road through tiny dirt roads… aaaand Sebastian is now raping along a Snoop Dogg of India.
Today is Thursday and I just arranged to stay for one more week as we keep on testing. So far my stomach is good, except for last night. I don’t want to go too much into details but Montezuma’s revenge got me and I finally fell asleep around 4 am. I am better now and everything I ate during the day, even though it was not much, stayed in or left my body the right way. 🙂 The weekend is coming up and my initial plan was to jump onto a plane, fly up to Delhi and take a train or car to Agra. For a weekend trip though that’s way too short and I’ve asked my colleague Sowmya if she can give me some tips to where to go for some shopping. So I will be wandering around the commercial streets of Shivaji Nagar, in reach of my new Hotel :).
Cheers Tofu
Tofu Indites 