bye bye pune

well, here we are. welcome to my last day & post on "next stop: india". in roughly two hours, a driver will pick me up at 'rolling hills apartments, phase-2' and take me to mumbai airport (chhatrapati shivaji intl airport, to be precise).

I am looking back at three wonderful months in incredible india. not only did I explore the city of pune extensively but also did I get to go to new delhi twice, went on a night hike in maharashtra's mountains,... and this all on top of 13 exciting and sometimes challenging weeks of controlling ground work at our development centre.

how do I best close this blog? perhaps the following list of positives and negatives will do. in fact I do not really think I could turn last weeks' experiences and impressions into a few paragraphs. if you followed this blog closely since the begin of march, then you will have gotten the best overall impression anyway.

things I will not miss
- day temperatures peaking at around 45°c
- the air conditioner in my room
- the attendant's daily question before I take off to work: "dinner?!"
- the mostly dusty streets in pune
- the often prevailing 'principle: chaos' nobody bothers tackling (drives you nuts sometimes)

things I will certainly miss
- the indian food
- the people I got to know and friends I have made
- an incredibly positive working atmosphere
- those crazy rickshaw rides (except for the "add a premium for the white nose" ones)
- the colourful daily life, e.g. manifested in those beautiful traditional clothes
- the indian smile
- indianised english
- the often prevailing 'principle: chaos' nobody bothers tackling (does have something refreshing to it at times)

thank you, india. you are definitely different but certainly not as awful as often perceived in other parts of the world. I will come back, be it as tourist or on a company's assignment.

ti-bob

farewell feelings

I had intended to complete my this-time-around sightseeing activities with someone who constituted my first conscious encounter with the country india many years ago: mahatma gandhi. during the "quit india" movement in the 1940ies, gandhi was imprisoned in the "aga khan palace" in pune for almost two years from '42 to '44. interned along with him were his wife kasturba and his secretary and aide mahadev, who both were to die during the 'house arrest'.

would have been a nice finish, wouldn't it? unfortunately, the palace was closed when my rickshaw pulled up at the main gate (no, I have not bought a three-wheeler of my own; the ride belonged to the driver and still does). this way, with the palace being located on the other side of town, I got a full 300-rupees round trip of pune. of course, these events are not mere bad luck. one the one hand, pune just wanted to retain something rendering itslef worthwhile for me to come back for sightseeing. on the other hand, the city simply said goodbye by showing me around one last time.

yesterday night could also be depicted as 'premature farewell activity'. my favourite indians and I went to "yana sizzlers"; one of the rare places offering tasty "non-veg" dishes. being early birds, we were able to secure a table with perfect view on the sole tv in the entire restaurant. the reason was not that we did not have any topics justifying extensive chatting, mind you. rather, the first semi-final of this year's ipl (yes, the indian cricket tournament shifted to south africa) was on. with the help of nikhil, rajnikant, and louis, I was able to enhance my knowledge of the (twenty20) cricket rules further. "no ball", "fielding restrictions", and "leg before wicket" do not raise question marks with me anymore.

alongside providing an abundance of qualified comments on the match delhi daredevils vs. deccan chargers, we enjoyed a tasty soup-sizzler-desert sequence. I had to promise to explicitly mention the indian desert kulfi on my blog; try it if you get a chance at your preferred indian restaurant. and as for my companions: I have had fun with you guys, friday night as well as during the last twelve weeks!


otherwise, subsequently to both the tonsilitis and the 'stomach mayhem', I am trying to get rid of my first regular indian cold. with the only symptom being a congested and/or running nose, I am confident that I will not become the second confirmed case of swine flu in india. no antibiotics or any other medication this time, just sleep and water!

alright then, so I have my last week in pune ahead of me. since I will have to go to our dhankot plant again for one day, it will will fly by just as the past twelve did. german summer, get ready for my return!

ti-bob

w/o

god, those malaria pills do cause some commotion in my head. what else could give me the most vivid and weirdest dreams almost every sunday night? nothing to worry about though. and nothing filthy either, for that matter.

and I yet have to figure out why I have been reminiscing about that san-francisco-to-phoenix trip a lot recently. maybe because I went on it exactly two years ago. alternatively, because some of the images from those long&lonely drives have scorched a part of my visual memory forever. in a positive way, that is.

how time flies by, does it not?

p.s.: seemingly, indian children are much more prepared to give you a smile when you smile at them than the average german child. I cannot prove this claim, of course, but I am nevertheless confident there is some truth to it...

night hike to rajgad fort

hi there!

before I go into detail here, let me say one thing: friday night did not just add another set of amazing impressions I will retain from the three months in india. in fact, if the taj surprised me in an aesthetic way, this hiking trip introduced me to a entirely unknown kind of atmospheric perceptions altogether.

nikhil picked me up at my apartment at 8 p.m. with his motorbike. we went straight to one of his friend's place where three college friends of his joined us. it took us about two hours to get to our starting point: a little tiny village in the middle of nowhere. we parked the bikes in front of a "hotel", leaving the helmets on the roof of the same, and took off.

the ascent to the fort really deserves the description "backcountry" - nothing but pure nature. we were lucky to have a full moon, which enabled us to complete the major part without the use of torches. unsurprisingly, the way up became steeper by the meter. the last part resembled rock climbing; you really had to make sure your foot did not slip only an inch. the climbing ended at a small hole in the rock - we had reached the outskirts of the fort.

these surrounding fortifications actually span three different mountain ridges with the fort itself being located at their centre. the fort consists mainly of huge walls, a few small buildings (or what is left of them), some small ponds used for collecting rain water, and many staircases connecting the different parts of the fort.

looking at the pictures, some of you might find the atmosphere a little dodgy or frightening. it surely is something special to explore the top of a mountain with ancient ruins by full moon but I did not feel unsafe whatsoever. strange feeling though to be up there at the pinnacle, somewhere in the mountains in south india, with just four other guys and two stray dogs accompanying you while otherwise you cannot hear anything but the wind blow.

towards 2 a.m. we lay down just where we stood to take a quick nap. that is how it must have been in the past when you were travelling; you simply slept under the open sky. I did not get a wink of sleep there because of the glaring moonlight; quite an experience for a city boy like me.

before dawn, we were back at our starting point dozing for hardly an hour. however, seeing the sun rise from up there compensated for the sleepless night. only now could I visually measure how high up we had actually climbed. spectactular sights. you might want to turn off the light when you look at the pictures:

shortly thereafter, we started descending back to the village in an attempt to avoid the indian midday heat. we arrived at the village just when its residents got up and began their day. we headed back to pune and I was back at the apartment, safe and sound, at 8:30 a.m., where I indulged in an extended shower session and went straight to bed. finally.

what an awesome trip!

gurgaon

I just realized that I had forgotten to finish off my travel coverage on delhi...I missed to introduce you to gurgaon!

gurgaon is a place packed with office buildings and huge residental sky scrapers. a totally artificial and planned city near new delhi. this is where the business is being done. driving through those ravines of glass and steel, you cannot think of any company whose name you have not seen. they are all here.

more than just a hand full of malls entertain the large expatriate community and the wealthy indian families living here. you find everything from cinemas to a german restaurant there (steffen and I were the only obvious foreigners in there!). strange place, this gurgaon.

here are a few pics of gurgaon plus a glimpse of what expatriate life in india can resemble when it comes to housing (I stayed in one of the two guest houses our company maintains there):

otherwise, I am doing fine. my intestinal bacteria - the good ones - seem to be back at work. tomorrow night, I will join nikhil and some college friends of his for a night hiking trip. we will head to rajgad which is, reportedly, one of the most impressive forts in maharashtra. we will climb to the pinnacle at night, rest up there and wait for dawn to arrive, and then come back to pune in the morning. all that on motorbikes (I insisted on wearing a helmet - I will certainly be the only one who bothers).

ti-bob

india

...the often misconceived and misunderstood country. I just started reading "white tiger" by aravind adiga. provides many truths about this country - I feel confident to possess this kind of judgement after nine weeks here - from a driver's perspective. a true page-turner in my opinion (and I usually fail to finish more than two books per year).

apparently, there remains ample room for an improved understanding of the subcontinent in germany, too:


:-) thanks, giulz, for the picture!

ti-bob

on strike

long weekends are a nice thing. if you can take advantage of them by doing some sightseeing, for instance.

if you are to find out saturday morning, however, that the 50-some-thousand rickshaw drivers in the pune area went on an unheralded & indefinite strike, the long weekend is literally gone.


the drivers protest against the fact that the city reduced the statuatory fare prices (nine rupees for the first, seven for every additional kilometer). reason for the reduction: fuel prices went down considerably during the last months. argument of the drivers: their financial stability has not improved with the fuel prices falling (higher prices for spare parts etc.)

how is the average puneit affected? you can hardly get anywhere since regular taxis are close to non-existent and the public transportation system is rather 'underdeveloped'. walking does not represent an alternative either; I have explained why in earlier posts.

however, I did manage to go to the hair saloon yesterday. 3mm - when and where if not during summer in india? this time, I did not forget to take pictures! again, I paid 30 rupees, that is what I call 'value for money'.

delhi

on sunday, I went to see india's capital along with steffen, who works at our plant in the village of dhankot until the end of june. since the april heat scored record highs in delhi (highest temperatures recorded since 1890!), we decided not to set off until 2 p.m. a taxi picked us up at the guest house in gurgaon and drove us to the first sight, humayun's tomb (app. one-hour drive, 500 rupees).

in terms of motivation for building, humayun's tomb constitutes the exact opposite of the taj mahal: humanyun's widow had the tomb built after his death. as far as architecture (and timing: 16th century) goes, the tomb is actually considered a precursor to the taj mahal. just like the taj, humayun's tomb belongs to a legacy of mughal monuments in india. humayun in particular was known for importing persian ideas and style into northern india.

the visit to the tomb also generated my favourite picture of this weekend; maybe you are able to tell without referring to the picture descriptions.

after the tomb, we went to the old part of delhi, successfully fending off the rickshaw driver's attempts to take us to "very good shopping" places. our goal was the 'jama masjid of delhi', the largest and most important mosque in india. and guess what, we are herewith coming back to the taj again since this mosque was also built by the mughal emperor shah jahan. we were right in time for the evening prayer and, therefore, denied access. we were to come back one hour later though.

the mosque surely is a place worth seeing when you are in delhi. however, do not expect the silence and peace of other sights. jama masjid is a publicly accessible building at no entrance fee (just as any church in germany). therefore, especially as a foreigner, you will find many people begging here. and if you stroll - as we did - around the area surrounding the mosque, you understand why.

this is 'old delhi', often offering perceptions from the middle ages: children wash themselves in the streets, workers take a nap on the sidewalk, and dirt and bad odors are ubiquitous. walking through the streets there I was to realize once more that I cannot just point my camera at everybody and everything. looking at the few pictures I took in old delhi, simply keep in mind that I did not take pictures of the worst things. this is not a 'vacation'; a sightseeing tour to old delhi is not a walk in the park from a mental point of view, at least, not for the average and maybe new-to-india tourist.

at the same time, I do not want to leave you with a biased impression about old delhi. you can explore this very interesting part of delhi without having to fear any harm; I would even claim that it is a much safer place than the subway system in paris, for instance. moreover, the world-famous and reportedly best non-vegetarian restaurant of delhi hides itself in these alleys ('karim's'). we had perfectly seasoned chicken and lamb there. I will definitely go back next time; to both old delhi and 'karim's'.

for the last part of our visit to delhi, we went to the commercial centre of delhi, the 'new' new delhi: connaught place. steffen knew a nice rooftop bar where we sealed up the day's experiences with a descent pint of tiger beer.

ti-bob

the taj

"why am I doing this again?" was flashing in big letters above my bed when I got up at 4:30 a.m. saturday morning. since agra lies at least a three-hours drive away from new delhi and given the high summer temperatures, you are well advised to be an early bird here.

when I arrived at the taj's east gate, the sun stood somewhere between dawn and half way up in the sky, administering just the right light to unveil the taj's full beauty. I had seen pictures of the taj mahal before, I knew it appears in some of the "wonders of the world" lists, and I was sure it would be beautiful. but this sight exceeded all my expectations. simply mind-boggling, exhilarating,...but see for yourself:

I surely have not seen much of the world yet. then again, I have visited sights such as the colosseum in rome, the tour eiffel in paris, or the grand canyon in arizona. although the pictures may not convince everybody, the taj mahal represents the most beautiful destination I have travelled to.

ok, let us get back to the educational side of this blog. the mughal emperor shah jahan had the taj built as a mausoleum in honour of his third - and most favourite - wife in the 17th century. I wonder what the first two got. anyway, myths about the taj are abundant. for instance, shah jahan planned to build an exact reproduction of the taj on the opposite side of yamuna river - in black. another one offers the cruel story that all important craftsmen got their hands cut off to prevent them from ever rebuilding anything remotely close to the taj. it seems to be a fact though that one of jahan's sons put him under house arrest in the nearby fort agra soon after the taj's completion until his dead (fort and view from the fort in the second part of the above slide show). jahan was, however, buried next to his wife in the taj.

I hope I was able to convey my admiration at least to some extent.

ti-bob

sick

I might have succeeded in (a) coming back from delhi without any harm and (b) avoiding to catch whatever caused serious stomach conditions for some of the expatriates.

last night's dinner, however, obviously could not agree on the common digestion process, taking the 'upper exit' more than once.

nothing serious though, I might just stay home today and if nothing changes, take on a second encounter with the indian health care system.

oh, and for everybody who might wonder: neither does vomiting feel any different in incredible india nor does it - as one might expect - come in fancier colours.

ti-bob

election day & business trip

today, india faces its second polling day, this time also in the state of maharashtra. since elections in india theoretically have to embrace more than one billion people, several polling days have been spread over the next month. on election days, companies are compelled to grant a public holiday to their employees; the level of activity here in the office will, hence, plummet around three o'clock (polling stations close at five). our boss emphasized the importance of everybody making use of his right to vote.

amid the "dance for democracy", maoist extremists yesterday hijacked a public train with more than 300 passengers. the hostages were released only a few hours later; the hijackers had probably 'only' aimed at attracting some attention.

with these circumstances in mind, do I have to count myself lucky that I am going to new delhi by plane this afternoon...?

I will be back monday, hopefully bringing pictures of the taj mahal!

ti-bob

another saturday

today began very early. I got up at 5:45 a.m. to attend our company's cricket game at 7 a.m. the game was worth sacrificing some sleep since we did much better compared to last time. again, our performance did not suffice to win; after two hours we could merely applaud a (from our point of view unfortunate) 56 to 56 draw with the other team. this time, nikhil contributed a match-decisive performance; outstanding bowling and batting dude!

after the game, I went home and there straight to bed to make up for the sleep lost in the morning. around noon I got ready to meet dr. archarya, the professor of german at university of pune, whom I call by her first name swati since yesterday, for lunch. we went to a descent and air-conditioned indian restaurant where I could present my finger-eating capabilities. interesting conversation and very tasty food!

during lunch, I was again reminded how small the world is: one of swati's colleagues happened to have lunch in the same restaurant with a friend of hers. noticing that we were talking german, she immediately introduced her friend who works for the united nations in bonn..."are you kidding me?" I almost shouted with surprise.

in this very moment, I watch cricket on tv. the "ipl" (indian premier league) is on since today. the ipl constitutes an attempt to establish a popular, that is, suitable for tv broadcasting, domestic cricket league in india. 2009 is only the second year this tournament takes place, played in a form of twenty20. eight indian teams participate in this competition which spans one month. right now, the bangalore royal challengers (fielding) are faced with the rajasthan royals (batting).

the sad part of the ipl story this year: the tournament, as aforementioned conceived as an domestic indian show, is actually carried out in south africa. in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks in mumbai and with elections being held from mid april to mid march, the different states conceded they could not guarantee for the overall security. the two options discussed were the uk and south africa, with the latter one now hosting the event.

as to my health: the tonsillitis is slowly retreating. in one moment I believe it completely gone, in another it strikes back with full force. we'll see what them pills can do...

here some pictures taken this morning near the cricket ground; india does surely have its beautiful sights...



ti-bob

seeing the doctor

some of you probably remember my visits to dr pierce, the american dentist with first-hand vietnam experience. the story with the 'ridiculously muscular tongue', if that rings a bell with you. I know it does; stop laughing now.

anyway, a weak but constant pain in my throat, especially when swallowing, made me go see a doctor today. in germany I would have probably forgone this visit since the whole thing is nothing but a little annnoying. but in inda...you better go twice than not at all.

so I went to this little "out patient" clinic, right on the street where the gym is located. actually, it was an apartment turned into a tiny version of a clinic. but we find this kind of doctor's offices in germany as well, don't we? as compared to the german standard, I would probably call it a "85 per cent solution". at the end of the eighties, the average german hospital probably looked the same. briefly put: nothing to worry about.

the doctor performed the checks common in cases such as mine: blood pressure, temperature, auditory checks of lungs and heart. everything in good shape. in contrast to my right tonsil which is a little inflamed. tonsillitis time, once again. relative target achievement compared to germany regarding face time with the doc: 110 per cent; he took all the time he needed.

although I almost fought tooth and nail against it, he eventually made me accept tackling the tonsillitis with antibiotics. this is the third time in only six months for me but all the doctor could agree on was reducing the treatment to a three-days dosis. on top of that, I received a prescription for two other pills and an medical mouthwash:


those bacteria better watch out! cost for this medical adventure amounted to 150 rupees each for seeing the doctor and the pills. fighting tonsillitis for below five euros sounds quite "cost efficient" to a german controller's ears. certainly not an amount I will contact the insurance company for.


and now it is time for me to 'hit the hay'. the cricket game is actually tomorrow morning, and the ride to the game leaves at 6:30 a.m....

well then, have a great weekend!

ti-bob

half-time

wednesday of the seventh week, out of thirteen in total. "hump day"!

cricket

yes, I know, the posts did come more frequently at the beginning of my stay here...

last saturday was cricket time. I had tried to watch a game on tv before but could not quite figure out the rules. this time, I was to physically witness a cricket game on early saturday morning; our company has its own team which participates in a tournament between local companies.

I did not really expect me to understand the rules. having tried, and failed, to do so with regards to baseball, did not really boost my confidence here either. however, I was proved wrong: a quick introduction using wikipedia over breakfast equipped me with sufficient knowledge to understand 90 per cent of the game. I could actually tell when our team scored! in a nutshell, it is two batsmen of one against all players of the other team. the two batsmen, standing in the middle of the field, face each other and one is thrown a ball by the bowler. he tries to hit it as far as possible. if he does, the two batsmen try to trade positions as long as the ball is not returned to the centre of the field. this is the job of the bowler's team mates, who are scattered all over the playing field ("fielding"). one exchange of positions between the batsmen equals one point ("run"); if they are not back behind the batsmens' lines when the ball is returned, they are "out" or "dismissed". every batsman gets six balls to score (=one "over"); if he does not, he is also "out" and will be replaced by the next player (until everybody in the team has batted and was taken out). if the batsman hits the ball out of the field without it touching the ground, he automatically scores six "runs" (four if the ball hits the ground somewhere in between). just like a homerun in baseball. the phase of the game during which one team is fielding and the other is batting is called "innings" (yes, including the "s").

of course, there are more specific rules, particularily when it comes to dismissing the batsmen but let us leave it at the aforementioned for now. with the rules presented above, you will be able to follow every cricket game.

one word about the different cricket game types: one version, "test cricket", can go on for days. literally, for days. then there is "twenty20" which limits the number of overs to 20 per team. in our case, we played one innings per team, that is, each team had to both score and defend once.

cricket is not india's national sport #1; some indians deem this one of the greatest misconceptions in today's world. instead, india's national sport is hockey! then again, cricket succeeds in attracting more attention and money these days. still, everybody i asked assured me that hockey remains what soccer is in germany.

enough words, here are some pictures. admittedly, they do not convey the impression that this game is particularily exciting...

how did we do? we lost. big time. especially one of the german translators, nikhil, was frustrated with his bowling. next weekend, the last game of the season will take place.

sunday morning, 7 a.m. sleep against lower temperatures, what a deal.

ti-bob

happy easter!

hello out there,

no, I have neither fallen out of a rickshaw nor sweat to death. just been busy fighting with the internet. I have already uploaded last weekend's pictures three times to slide.com but always failed to save them. the fourth upload is currently being processed...we will see if I make it this time.

any news on my end? no, not really. most noteworthy is probably the fact that my sister and brother-in-law will move to the "us and a" on a (lottery) green card. lucky bastards...pardon my french but I am right, am I not?

besides that, these were my 'highlights' of the past week:
- I bought another two kurtas to be equipped with appropriate clothing for the indian heat
- ...which seems to gain in force faster this year than usually (if even the indians start complaining...)
- in this country, waiters and the like often face fairly rude treatment although their guests show good behaviour otherwise
- establishing efficient controlling activities in our indian subsidiary requires, for starters, convincing your colleagues that
a) well-maintained master lists will save a lot of time when you most need it
b) excel was conceived to do more than merely display numbers, and
c) transparency constitutes the key to informed decisions
- I doubt that I will be able to do without indian food after returning to germany
- the average indian engineer picks up the german language impressively fast
- they do sell real cow milk (as opposed to the soy crap) over here
- I finally succeeded in uploading those damn pictures. enjoy!

and, I almost forgot, I am about to witness my first cricket match tomorrow morning!

ti-bob

neighbourly help

today, coming back from running some errands at the food bazar, i faced another rickshaw driver who tried to make a quick rupee. although i live virtually around the corner, he demanded at least 40 rupees to drive me home. popular reasons: "i have to come back empty" or "extra night charge" (which does not exist).

i did what i always do in these situations: smile, turn around, and look for the next driver. i did not get this far this time because someone tapped me on my shoulder saying "rolling hills apartments? i can drop you off there!" he had been in line in front of me at the food bazar and must have heard how i told the driver where i wanted to go. that's what i thought.

turned out, however, that he knew me from one of those sleepy elevator rides in the morning. we actually live kind of next door.

that's what i call friendly&nice. thanks!

4th week's sunday

two days ago, i met with rajnikant around 1:30 p.m. to take a tour of the world famous "osho international" ashram. commune, that is. no, that's not it either, they like to be referred to as "meditation resort" these days. be it!

unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside the resort. then again, we were only given ten minutes actually inside of the osho. before that, a 30-minutes film was to enlighten us about how bad the lives we are leading really are without osho in them. if you want to see for yourself, check out www.osho.com.

in my opinion, the resort constitutes a very well-conceived vacation park. in contrast to the world surrounding the osho, everything looks neat and fresh inside. beautiful park areas, a pool, a state-of-the-art kitchen, small cafés, and much more let this resort appear as a luxury "center park". two very clever aspects make the osho so successfull. first, in a country like india, a clean and silent area is something many people crave. second, people coming here do not have to say "i am going to hang out at this luxurious resort in poor india". pimping the whole thing by blending it with a spiritual "i am off to discovering myself" sounds a lot better, doesn't it?

the business model also makes perfect sense. nobody is denied access to the osho since prospects do not have to meet specific requirements such as practicing a certain religion. furthermore, signing up for the resort, you do not limit yourself to only one form of therapy either. yoga, arun, zen, ayurveda...you name it! all you have to do is replace your regular clothes with a maroon robe and pay (as an international) 1400 for the first and 550 rupees for every additional day. not exactly too expensive (compulsory hiv test included!). with the words of a business student: shotgun marketing combined with fixed cost degression. when osho himself was still around, he reportedly owned, among other things, more than 90 rolls royces. you do the math!

afterwards, rajnikant introduced me to some rather dodgy parts of the regular indian sunday. according to him, the hindu's calendar "tolerates" the consumption of alcohol only on sundays. the first place we went to was a restaurant possessing also an alcohol license. they did not have many lights burning there. then we went to a liquor store, where you can buy virtually everything from beer to booze. since you are not allowed to drin in public, a very, VERY filthy back room provided relief in this regard (see picture with the little boy putting away empty bottles). at last, we bought "masala paan", which is a betel leaf filled with mainly areca nut. i am still trying to figure out what exactly i had there. rajnikant got himself something blended with tobacco. "nicht fur dich, aber hab vertrauen", were his words...

on the way home, we made a detour and drove to pune aiport. on the way there, i got a good impression about what "suburban india" means.

for next sunday, we put the mahatma gandhi memorial to the top of the sightseeing list. or some town built into the mountains although that might be too hot for the wimpy european. pune scored a temperature record for the month of march this last weekend (40°c), which closes the gap to the last post...

so long,
ti-bob

indian summer

kids,

i think i got myself a descent little sunstroke yesterday. thanks to sun blocker (spf 30), i might indeed have succeeded in not getting sunburned; instead, i have been suffering from a major headache since yesterday evening.

so hang in there and bear (typo corrected!) with me if you don't mind. i will be back soon updating the blog.

ti-bob

lazy saturday

somehow i did not feel like doing much today. after sleeping in did not really work because of the rising temperatures, i decided to go work out at the gym. but before that i had to check off an actually compulsory item from today's agenda: have my hair cut. yes, that does not require half a day in my case. then again, i cannot just stop by my favourite turkish barber's saloon here.

anita had told me about a place near the gym, where app. 20 middle-aged men were already awaiting me, the foreign customer. one accompanied me to my chair and seemed a little disappointed to learn that all my head needed was a hair clipper. three words about the saloon: packed, busy, steamy. the whole joint could just as well have existed in the 1920ies what probably does not appeal to today's average westerner. in a way, there was something vintage, cozy, and classy about this place (note to myself: go back and take a picture).

the hair cut was o.k., i have seen much worse. having reestablished my regular hair length, the barber asked if i wanted a head and body massage. i opted only for the first (i will leave the latter to someone more familiar). and boy, did he do a great job; i almost fell asleep (2nd note to myself: have that "someone more familiar" learn how to do head massages). the total for hair cut and massage amounted to 30 rupees...cannot say i overspent here.

unfortunately, i was to find out that the gym was closed (3rd note to myself: remember to not expect everything to be open on hindu new year's day). instead, i managed to find the bookstore my boss recommended: i am now equipped with the two allegedly most influential indian business magazines ("business&economy" / "business india") AND the english translation of an originally german book ("measuring the world" by d. kehlmann). i surely had to go to india to get my hands on the latter one. cannot wait to learn about what giulz' "boss" kept himself busy with when he was still around (read: in the 19th century).

then i had lunch at "kobe sizzlers" - the first meat in three weeks! - and facilitated the digestion of the same by administering a descent café latte at "café coffe day". nothing particularly indian about this saturday i have to admit. therefore, rajnikant and i will go take a tour of the "osho international" ashram in koregaon park, pune tomorrow. they do not seem to allow taking pictures there but i will give my very best.

finding of the day: besides getting gray, i am also slowly going bald. of course, the last four weeks here in india have neither induced nor spurred this development in any way. but we will see what i look like when i come home (which will be as soon as in only nine weeks!)...

indian engagement

yesterday night, nikhil took me to an indian egagement ceremony. one of his friends from the german classes at university had invited him and said it was no problem for me to come along.

i was very surprised. first, the whole thing rather resembled a party or happy gathering than a ceremony. while the traditional elements of an engeagement were carried out meticulously, the guests catted or took pictures. second - i could have figured - this engagement involved more people than many german weddings:

the engagement ceremony consists of three parts. first, the fiancé's family welcomes and/or accepts the fiancée to the family. as far as i understood, the fiancée undergoes the same ritual for every family member: they touch her forehead, stick something to eat in her mouth, and she finally touches their feet. thus, you will be better off picking a groom with a family that both is small and cares about clean feet (as most indians do)...

during the second part, the fiancée's family passes on the responsibility for their daugther to the fiancé. same subsequence of rituals as aforementioned. these two elements are often more than just an old tradition, since, as in this case, the two families barely know each other if at all. i was told that this was an example for a very modern couple since it was a) a love marriage (as opposed to an arranged one) and b) the caste system did not play any role.

exchanging the engagement rings constitutes the third and last step of the ceremony. as opposed to e.g. german customs, hindu traditions do not repeat the ring exchange at the acutal wedding.

these three steps lasted approximately one hour. the engagement party then moved on to the buffet to eat (in our case: from one side of the room to the other). the students of german obviously could not quite believe the food was not "zu scharf?!" for me at all.

during the ceremony, i also got to chat with one of the professors of the german department at pune university. understanding that she had the prototype of the german business world in front of her, dr acharya invited me to visit their newly established business german course to give a lecture. topic to be determined via e-mail but it will probably deal with something like "what the heck does controlling stand for" or "angela merkel and the economic downturn". they seem to have difficulties finding germans who are capable and willing to do such things. since i always enjoyed having foreign visitors in my french or english classes, i agreed on the spot; report will follow.

more pics

good evening everybody,

here's a brandnew slideshow for you to see how i am doing:

what do you see in the pictures? let me jot down a quick table of contents for your convenience:
- ti-bob wearing a short kurta at work on friday
- lunch, canteen, and slum view through the building's all-glass front
- visiting the mall
- beer on sunday
- indian wedding
- indian means of transportation (my favourite)
- burgers the indian way (totally meat-free!)
...supplemented with random shots of pune city for smoother viewing.

enjoy!

the reader

today, i went to the movies with rajnikant; "the reader" is in the cinemas since friday here in india. having discussed and analyzed the book in detail as a student of german, he wanted to see if the film could make it up to the book's story. i just wanted to go because the story sounded interesting. of course, i have not read the book.

before the film started, the entire audience was asked to rise for the national anthem of india. no kidding, the whole theatre stared at the indian flag on the screen; nobody even dared to move.

to make a long story short, i cannot but recommend this film. great story, great places, great actors. after "revolutionary road", "the reader" proved once again that kate winslet becomes more beautiful the older she gets. besides that, it was kind of strange to sit in an sold out movie theatre with only indians around, watching a film whose story takes place in germany. even more strange, however, that those two hours reminded me insistently that i am nothing but german, no matter how far away from home i am or how much i enjoy being abroad. yeah, that is us, look at how neat and structured everything was in germany already in the fiftees... also, the crowd almost broke into laughter when, towards the end of the movie, the "little apartment" michael rents for hanna is shown. "pure luxury what you germans call little" was what i understood.

after the movie, india quickly hauled me back into its reality with the heat, the unorganized chaos (no typo!), and the dirty streets. but there was something else pointing out that i was not at home here: still discussing the nuremberg trials with rajnikant, i spotted a book on display in the store right next to the movie theatre. "adolf hitler, mein kampf. with rare photographs."

ti-bob

nano space

when i stepped out of our office building after work today,
it was already dark outside,
i almost stumbled accross four little girls
playing in the gutter.

right above their heads
our office building's name
shining from a silver plate.
"nano space".

this situation, of course,
did not exactly ask for picture taking.
altough an important fact about india
could not have possibly been depicted better
than by those four dirty children
and their own, special headline.

because in this country
there often literally is
merely a nano inch of space
between first
and third world.

the four girls, however,
went about their play
lifting their heads just halfheartedly
to greet me with a broad grin.

today's findings

hello everybody,

i'd just like to share a few thoughts here.

1.) the gym enrolled i at must have bought one of those "bravo hits XX" from the nineties. today, wighfield ("saturday night"), sasha ("i feel lonely"), and even mr. president ("coco jambo") joined me during my sweaty activities.

2.) compared to germany, a lot of women frequently engage in lifting weights here in india. admittedly, i had expected just the opposite.

3.) according to an article in the times of india, the subcontinent accounts for some ten per cent of the world's traffic deaths with only one per cent of its cars. i will probably continue to feel fairly safe taking the rickshaw until i witness the first major accident.

4.) i haven't had much meat for lunch or dinner since i arrived and i do not miss it much. and just for the record: mango pickle rules!

ti-bob

pune city & university area

yesterday, rajnikant took me out to tour pune city. this time, we hit the "real" center of pune, which means the mahatma gandhi road in particular (referred to as MG road by the locals). here, you find many shops, restaurants, and even bars that sell alcohol. we entered one of these joints, which had somewhat of a dodgy atmosphere to it, and i was to get to enjoy my first beer since i have left germany (king fisher strong, i.e. 8% alcohol, 650ml bottle for just 150 rupees).

we then discussed a little bit the indian customs regarding alcohol consumption. being hindu, rajnikant could not have a beer since it was a religious holiday. but he admitted that not everybody always observes the "religious standard". neither can you buy alcohol in a regular supermarket nor can you order a bottle of beer in a restaurant. bars like the one we paid a visit to need a specific concession to serve alcoholic beverages (rajnikant's estimate amounted to about 5 million rupees for such a concession). it was not long until the entire bar was packed with drinking people. whiskey, gin, everything you can possibly think of. and there were not only foreigners drinking, mind you.

the evening out made something very clear to me: going out here will not be as relaxing as it would be in any bigger city in europe or the us. you might leave a bar and find a little girl playing with her even younger sibling in the street, literally covered with dirt. while you are contemplating how these differences can coexist in such astonishing peace, a screaming rickshaw almost hits you. you jump onto the sidewalk where a small boy insists on giving your shoes a shine. trying to shake him off, you almost bump into a cow rubbing it's back against a street lamp. a little condensed description but you get my point.

this slide show contains both pictures of pune city yesterday and a few day-light shots of the area where i live and work:

today, i checked out the pune university area. this area spans 1,6 square kilometers and mainly consists of forest; the buildings seem scattered all over the place. unbelievable that this university combines 46 academic departments, about 118 recognized research institutes, and 269 affiliated colleges offering graduate and under-graduate courses. have a look at the following slide show and you will admit that this does not resemble a university in the european sense at all:

next weekend, i will go see a part of pune called "koregaon park" which, according to my travel guide, harbours the more upscale places of pune.

so long,
ti-bob

the foreigner experience

the longer i am in pune the more i come to realize that there is more to the movie "lost in translation" than just fiction. despite english being one of the two national languages in india, you absolutely have to speak the local language - hindi for the state of maharashtra - to really become self-efficient here. otherwise, you will always be limited in your ways to explore a foreign country.

the average auto-rickshaw driver or the attendant in my apartment do not even possess the english skills of a sixth grader in germany. this situation is understandable because if they did, they could easily find better jobs. this country offers so many opportunities but you will not even get a glimpse of them without appropriate education.

having said the above, i also do have to concede that the sometimes poor communication with locals also stems from my inability to "roll the r" in the way required to pronounce street names correctly.

ti-bob

unfortunately...

...i could not participate in the holi festivities since "after eight" was the motto at work today. but i am back online again, so there will finally be pictures and movies of last weekend. stay put!

wait a second, i do have one picture of holi...next to our apartment building they lit a huge fire and shared indian sweets.


ti-bob

happy holi!

i am lucky enough to have come to india just in time for one of the allegedly biggest and oldest festivals celebrated here: holi. usually, the festivities span two days but can, in certain parts of india an abroad, extend over as many as ten days.

on the first day, everybody wears traditional indian clothes (sari for women and kurta for men). the women paint their skins with henna and in the evening there are bonfires burning everywhere. the story behind holi includes a father who intended to alter the belief of his son prahlada. prahlada prayed to the god vishnu and denied his father's demand. therefore, the father tried to kill him. one attempt involves the father's sister holika who was able to walk through fire. she should jump onto a fire with prahlada so that he would burn. but vishnu stepped in again and both protected prahlada and made holika to die despite her tolerance to fire.

the second day is called “colour day” and basically consists of applying as many different colours to other people as possible. the colour can come in the form of coloured water or powder. in a nutshell, this day wipes away all differences bethween the celebrants such as caste affiliation. the downside of this friendly happening: as opposed to the old days, the celebrations do not entirely rely on natural colours. the use of artificially produced and very harmful colours comes cheaper and is therefore often widespread. symptoms caused by these artificial colours include skin conditions, temporary and rarely permanent blindness, and serious lung congestion.

depending on when i can leave the office today i will provide you with first-hand experiences...

ti-bob

pune city or indian traffic on a motorbike

last sunday, my colleague nikhil picked me up at my apartment complex at 5 p.m. a few seconds later, we were like fish in a sea with very strong currents, which is rather euphemistically put when talking about indian traffic. first off: i never felt really unsafe during the approximately 45 minutes we were rolling to and through poona city. nobody wears a helmet over here, neither did we, although the non-existent traffic rules and the prevailing chaos definitely demand for one. then again, at the spots where danger seemed to peak, the moving crowd also lowered its driving speed to a minimum. the average passenger in flip flops would always advance faster here.

anyway, neither nikhil nor i were injured or harmed in any other way. admittedly, more than just once notions such as “there it is coming, this truck is going to hit us big time, here we go…” were flashing in my head. but as if every vehicle had its own protecting carma as an invisual bumper, nothing ever happened. if i had to write a book about how to survive and succeed in indian traffic, i would probably go with the title “recognizing and seizing opportunities”.

apart from the traffic, an abundance of mind-boggling impressions - again - struck me during this quick ride. join me here, here, and here.

we finished the day off by climbing on of the mountains nearby that offer a quite scenic view on pune. i there came to remember that pune as agglomeration is larger than any other german city…a marvellous view.

ti-bob

offline

hello everybody,

just a quick note from work: i am fine.
i was not able to skype or update the blog
with the first pictures from pune city
since i am - again - offline at the apartment.
they are surely trying to fix it
but i am not quite sure as to whether
we're talking about a few hours
or rather days here.

we'll see when i will be back riding the digital waves!

so long,
ti-bob

the first week's over

today is sunday, which means that i have been in india for almost a week now. it acutally feels much longer but that is probably because i have seen and done so many new things during the past few days. "india is an assault on the senses" is how my travel guide puts it, and there definitely is a lot to that statement.

for the first time, i went to the "city center" of baner village all by myself. the rickshaw driver (i still have not managed to find out if there is actually one single correct way to spell this word) did not understand where i wanted to go but agreed that i would simply direct him. here's another crazy rickshaw ride, this time at daylight:



worked out well, he dropped me off where i wanted. he demanded 30 rupees but i only had a 100-rupees note. surprisingly, he did not want to accept the 70 rupees as "tip" and finally managed to get smaller notes so he could return them as change. first, i walked for about a mile to get to know the area a little bit. the ultimate goal was the mcdonalds in the northern part of baner. having eaten indian food all week, i was craving a decent burger and some fries. even the burgers are more spicy than in europe; the "maharaja menu" came for just 123 rupees and the burger was very delicious. at mcdonalds, i saw many young indians, especially girls, who would talk to each other in a combination of their mother tongue, supposedly hindi, and english. as if there was nothing more natural.

after having filled my stomach with fast food, i enrolled at a fitness center which is about 2 miles from where i live and work. since jogging or swimming do not represent feasible options here, going to the gym will be the only way to destress a little (and not to return fattened to germany).

then i walked home, about another 2 miles. i was surprised at how little attention my presence attracted although i was the only obvious foreigner around. here are some pictures of this little journey:

the little walk yesterday made me realize that being in india has to exhaust the average european to a certain extent. i assume we are not used to this many differences within only a few meters or minutes. it's like boot camp for your senses, to rephrase the quote from the travel guide. but that also makes india more exciting than what we usually get to see...

this afternoon, i will explore the city of pune for the first time. nikhil offered to pick me up with his motorbike and show me around. yes, you heard me, i will be travelling on a motorbike in indian traffic...

moritz/ti-bob

let's talk about financials

being the obsessive controller you all know, i probably will not surprise anybody here by presenting what living in inda means in terms of cost.

this is a rikshah fare table. using this card prevents the cost-conscious traveller from being gypped by the rikshah driver. reportedly, such cards exist everywhere in india and are widely used.

nikhil and rajnikant, two colleagues working as german-english translators, told me about it yesterday and gave me one today. yes, it is only 10 rupees per kilometer. to give you a feeling in european currency: i withdrew 5000 rupees in exchange for 76 euros on tuesday, which equals an exchange rate of roughly 65 rupees per euro. therefore, i do not really mind the two rupees by which the standard price per km was reduced since the card was issued due to recently cheaper fuel (by the way, the government has issued a decree which requires every rikshah to run on either one of two natural gas types from may). i have to admit though that i have yet to try the crazy-rikshah ride. maybe tomorrow; i need a waiver to top up my indian mobile card.

another occasion on which i ran into a cost comparison today was when i enjoyed one of the freshly mixed fruit juices offered in our cafeteria all day. "mixed fruit" goes for 18 rupees, is incredibly delicious, and does - obviously - not destabilize my gastrointestinal fauna.

at the end of the day, the stay here in pune will earn the label "low-cost". the company pays for the apartment and the food (included in the apartment rent and also provided twelve hours every day in the company cafeteria), the coffee at work is also for free.

besides financial considerations, i am very confident that i will soon be doing more than just put in long hours at work. the aforementioned nikhil and rajnikant as well as "my trainee" mihir offered me to show me the city center of pune (company premises and apartment are not located in the heart of pune but in a suburb, or rather village, called "baner"). nikhil also brought up the idea of visiting one of the two-hundred-and-something forts in maharashtra. forget going there by car; these places are often only accessible if you hike there. we'll see what the european lung can tolerate in the indian heat...

to close today's posting, another picture. when i woke up yesterday morning i perceived a strong odor, similar to burning wood. and i was right: in the small but existent slum areas right next to our building, people simply need an open fire to get warm water. as simple as that. awkward notion that the european foreigner first had bad personal hygiene as reason in mind, don't you think? the picture shows how steemy the area looks in the morning; and believe me, this is not exclusively due to morning mist.

first visual impressions from pune

check it out:

and here's a short drive on the road where i live and work...

the first day

well, the flight to mumbai was very pleasant indeed. not fully booked, the plane offered more than one seat per passenger. out of the plane in mumbai, i got my luggage very quickly and without any damage. after this point, however, the big adventure india seemed to be let off the leash.

“how many laptops do you bring to india?”…i had been warned. and since they had just scanned everything i was about to bring into the country, lying was not an option. “you are allowed only one duty-free laptop”. 200 dollars, that’s what this customs officer envisioned as an appropriate fee, which should represent 35 percent of the depreciated value. as already mentioned, i was prepared. “all i have is 50 us dollars”. “only 50 us dollars. this might as well be possible but in this case you won’t get a receipt for the payment”, said the honourable officer. since i had already factored in such a fee, i was not surprised and agreed. from there it went like in a bad movie. i had to follow one of his colleagues who showed me the inside of a little tiny room which must have served as lumber room some time ago, mumbled the word “friend” a couple of times, accepted the money and smiled. off i went, still in possession of both my laptops. 10 meters further, the last control. “how many laptops?” “one!” (i had just paid for the second one to turn immaterial). “holding any foreign currency?” “just a few one-dollar bills is all that i have left over.” “two dollars, please” is what this eager officer replied, waving me through the last door to mumbai.

many words to describe just the way from the luggage belt to the waiting crowd of taxi drivers. my driver was the last one in the long line of course, waiting patiently together with another colleague from Germany. yes i had already smiled at how much can go wrong in only a few minutes…unjustifiedly. it cannot be unintentionally that it was a huge jeep our driver steered onto the mumbai-pune expressway a little later. that took at least the motorbikes as threatening obstacles out of the game. i always thought i had seen bad, dangerous driving in the u.s.! what we were about to experience during the following three hours is probably best depicted by “a hell of a ride”: trucks with and without functioning lighting, always obtaining two lanes at the same time, and a driver who was willing to tackle this situation with a descent amount of aggressiveness. his main tools: horn and headlamp flasher. this way, the aforementioned trucks would leave just enough space, sometimes under consideration of the fourth “shoulder” lane, to let us pass. the surprised foreigner was not surprised that literally every truck had written “please honk!” on its rear bumper. i was fortunate enough to catch one with my camera; yes, it is a truck transporting gas.

having survived the drive from mumbai to pune should give me a little advantage whenever destiny will be looking for a victim.

around 4:30 a.m. indian time i finally arrived at my apartment complex. the sleepy guard on night watch told me very proudly about him being christian and the two attendants in my apartments awaited me desperately. they really asked me what i would like them to cook for “dinner”. i went straight to bed, without any food. and just for the record: being in india does not equal people with good english skills around.

room and bathroom are ok for three months i guess. the air condition is working properly and the television is probably larger than anything i will own in my life. the shower resembles a lot those “rain showers” in german wellness clubs; it takes some time to get all the soap off of you. you’re right, the described is still waaaaaay above indian average.

waking up the first morning in india felt surprisingly good. i did not sleep long but well, the sun was shining and i was served fresh papaya for breakfast. the colleague whom i am expected to introduce to the mastery of project controlling - he has been with the company for only one week - picked me up at my apartment. fortunately, the apartment complex is located literally next door to the “nano space” where the company moved into new offices a couple of weeks ago. and what can i say - this can absolutely be deemed “western standard” if not - thinking of what we have in lippstadt - “and even beyond that in some cases”. lots of glass, water running down a wall, a colourful cafeteria, and the first separate office in my working life! but besides all the luxury, a look out of the window unveils india’s ambiguity: there are still people living in slums among all these construction sites.

all in all, too much for me to get my head around now. good night, i definitely need it.

ti-bob/moritz

p.s.: pictures will follow as soon as i will have internet access in my apartment. so far, “it giant” india has been unable to get me online...

off to india

everybody,

tomorrow morning i will set out for pune.
in other words, it will not be long
until you can tune into the first eye-witness posting
from sizzling hot india.

start counting down the days,
i will be back sooner,
than the expression "three months"
makes it sound.

ti-bob

entitled to enter india

I finally received my visa...should I be concerned that my company applied for a one-year instead of a regular six-months visa???



and: what did the consulate do with the two pictures I had to submit along with the visa application?

ti-bob

what's this "pune" about anyway?

some of you might have already read something about pune. or poona, as it was called some time ago. pune is located 160km southeast of mumbai (former bombay) and is the second largest city in the state of maharashtra (and the seventh largest in all of india).



pune lies at 560m above sea level which is why the city enjoys pretty cool night temperatures compared to the hot days. march to may - yes, exactly when I will be there - are summer months with daytime temperatures close to 40°c. can't wait to go there if I look out of the window here in cold, cold lippstadt. and the north carolinian part of me is used to hot and humid summers anyway. talking of humidity, pune also has two rivers, mula and mutha, that merge in pune.

more than 5 million people live in pune, an estimated 40 percent of them in slums. by indian standards, the literacy rate of more than 80 percent beats the national average by far. this is mainly because of pune's role as center of higher education and economically strong area. also referred to as "oxford of the east" due to its many universities and research institutes, pune also accomodates many companies from the automotive and it business.

all in all, all these facts make me very curious about pune. even with fleabites such as almost daily occuring power outages, I am looking forward to the time I will spend there. I have already been in Pune a couple of times; at least, I always believe it to be reality when I dream of it.

you want more on pune? check out this or this link. have fun!

ti-bob

here we go again

hello there,

it has been roughly one and a half years now
since i have last posted on my "charlotte, nc" blog.
as most of you know, i went back to germany
to complete my studies and to engage in earning money.

i once posted that the year in charlotte
will be groundwork for further international experiences.
turns out that i was right.
last year, i was dispatched to the carolinas for almost three months,
enjoying the hot summer there, the southern lifestyle,
and - of course - donuts, chicken wings, and hot dogs.

but now it is time for something excitingly new,
which is why i set up this blog.
the asian subcontinent of india is waiting for me,
the city of pune in particular,
where i will work for three months.
a very short period indeed,
but i consider this my "window" to a world totally different
from what we know in europe or the u.s.

so please hop in and accompany me on this trip;
i am sure this blog will be worth stopping by from time to time.

ti-bob/moritz

p.s.: most of you might have already noticed that i switched to english for this blog. i am doing this because of my friends overseas, who could not follow if i used german. however, i might post in german at times, whenever the situation calls for my mother tongue. so, everybody, dust off your your perhaps rusted english and come along!

also, i do not want to forget to extend many thanks to my sister lisa who - again - helped me in enhancing the design of this blog. that is what i call skills!