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...