Come Again Another Day

I've heard those of you back in Ottawa are having precipitation issues - let me tell you, we are too. Why, just yesterday it rained. It doesn't rain in Pune in February. There were puddles on the ground and everything. At first I thought someone was spitting on me from a tall building, as that was a more likely explanation for all the sky water.

I'm not sure we'll get over the trauma. Here is the forecast for the rest of my stay, though.

Ajanta

My night on the road ended much too soon, and we were up and on the road early. A couple hours later we snuck through a closed gate to get an impressive view of the Ajanta caves from above, as the sun rose. The horseshoe formation carved out of the rock was fantastic - it must have taken endless manpower to chisel out of the mountain.

We stopped for breakfast, and I was ravenous, having skipped dinner the night before. Perhaps that was a lucky move, as Mike was feeling ill, something he didn't really recover from all day. A local family - dozens of people -descended on the place we were eating. Some seem interested in the strange white people, and shared some of their snack of fried chickpeas with peanuts mixed it. Very good.

We were done in time to get to the gates of Ajanta just as the opened. These caves are famous for cave after cave of highly detailed paintings. Every square inch of these massive rooms were covering in ornate decoration. My fav was one where the carved the ceiling in a wavy pattern so it looked just like a giant tent!

And the monkeys! The are everywhere, playfully bounding all over the place. Guard your snacks carefully or you might find yourself on the wrong end of a primate-mugging!

It was time for the long trip home. We stopped by Sairandhree's aunt's place for afternoon tea, and to watch a bit of the India-England cricket match (ended in a tie.)  A successful weekend adventure. Oh, on the way home we passed an elephant. India!

Road Trip

It's the weekend, so you know what that means...road trip to the Ellora and Ajanta caves! We piled into a mini-van with Sairandhree from the office, her husband and his friend, as well as her kids at ridiculously early o'clock and head out into to Maharashtra countryside.

First stop was the Smiles Stone cafe, which I think is an adorably appropriate name for a highway pit stop for a generous helping of Indian-style nibbles. There was some emu's there too, chilling in their cages, but I don't THINK they were part of breakfast.

A few hours later we arrived at Ellora Caves. These are elaborate monasteries, monk residences, etc. all cut directly out of the mountain-side, one little chisel mark at a time. There was an assortment of religions represented. Buddhism was first - the acoustics in their carved out caves were phenomenal. Our guide belted out some prayers and the sound was outer-worldly.  Next up was Hindu - and the shear size and detail put into their entire complex boggled the mind. Ten generations of people tireless chipping away at the mountain side to reveal a whole villa of buildings. Unreal. Jainism also represented at Ellora, but we skipped their entries as they were somewhat far away and not overly decorated (too plain Jain?)

After some lunch, it was off to Dalutabad fort - whose defenses were never breached. And I can see why. There were fully seven walls with various detriments to any army who got in their mind to invade central India. Moat with crocodiles? Check. Spikes on the doors to prevent elephants from bashing the down? Check. (Although this can be countered by using a camel as 'padding.')  Twisty pitch black maze with ambush points, with a bonus swarm of bats? Check - they're in my hair, they're in my HAIR!

This is where I learned I am a celebrity. All day I was getting constant requests for locals to take their picture with me. Just one more, they'd ask. Yes, my pasty white skin made me all the rage and since they were so friendly, I gladly obliged.

We caught a few more sights too as we drove into Aurangabad for the night. An old watermill and a smaller knock-off version of the Taj Majal.  At this point I was totally wiped and beat a hasty retreat to my hotel room to crash so we could repeat it all again tomorrow.

Good Morning, Mr. Box!

It's easy for me to begin feeling like royalty here. The hotel I'm staying at is 5 star, which is a stark contrast to the  establishments I usually select when travelling abroad, where I'm more likely to be wrestling rats for the covers than received a chocolate-sealed turn-down.  Everywhere I go, it's 'Let me get that for you, Mr. Box' or 'Good morning, sir'.  Very posh.

Now, I have no issue adjusting to a lifestyle of luxury, but for Mike it has been a struggle. He is more of 'I'll do it myself, no need to make a big fuss' and is flummoxed by offers to carry his bags or make his bed up every night and makes every effort to avoid it. We have a hired driver to take us around town, and often we must leave him waiting until we've done whatever task we had at hand. Again, this made him uncomfortable - it's just not done in our culture.

Now, I agree there are excesses. When we arrived at our hotel, we were pleased to find three complimentary bottles of water awaiting us. I downed a couple to quench my thirst, and the next day they were replenished. But I never did get around to drinking those, and the day after they had friends. And more the next day. It is now the 4th day of staying at the hotel and there is a veritable bottle army overwhelming my room - I count their numbers at no less than 15 strong.

I've got another week-and-a-half here, and the perverse side of me wants to know how many they'll leave before declaring enough to be enough. Stay tuned.

I Did Not Know Gretzky was a Hindi Name

From the front page of the newspaper delivered to my room this morning. I'm inclined to debate this fact.

My Next Hit

As those who know me know, I have a passion bordering on mania for collecting flags from the different places I visit. When on the road, I can become like a shark sniffing the waters for the local colours and when I find one and buy it, well, it just makes my day. I'm a total junkie. But never quite a literally as today.

Mike and I were strolling down R.G. Road, a popular area with many shops, restaurants etc., looking to get some souvenirs, when a shaggy looking dude selling some maps along the street got our attention. Did we want some maps? No, but Mike suggested that if he had any flags on him, I surely would be interested. Well, he didn't have any, but that didn't stop him from offering to go track one down for me. I politely declined, not wanting to get involved in some complicated dealings.

So, we go on our way and stop for dinner a great local vegetarian place. Excellent food, and superb value. After that, we head on back to where our driver has been waiting patiently for us. But who do we run into on the way back, but our map-monger friend with an Indian flag in hand - just the one I wanted. Well, plus-one to him for entrepreneurial spirit. So we strike a deal, and I give him more than a fair price, and get my photo taken with him. I feel that high of new flag acquisition mounting.

 As we turn away he says one more thing, "Wuldyuliksumhas?'

'Pardon?', says I, getting a little big closer.

"Would you like to buy some hash?"

No thanks!!! And that is the story of how Braden bought a flag from a drug dealer.

Hi ho, hi ho

How easy it was, between the flying and the luxury hotel, to be deceived that I was on vacation!  Alas, no, I suppose if Halogen is footing the bill, I figure I should squeeze in some work for them. With that in mind, I was whisked off to the Wesley Clover office, dodging Indian traffic the whole way.

I was happy to see all the familiar faces again, as well as some new ones. We broke bread - rather pizza - at lunch and it was a delicious twist on the flavours we get back home. We then gifted everyone a little taste of Canada - hockey sticks and maple syrup!

The weather was wonderful, so we took a stroll down to a fruit stand for some freshly made smoothies. Hit the spot perfectly. Yes, in between all the gorging, we got down to work on some new features. Can't be all fun and games.

After work we checked out the Pune Central mall, which was more of a giant department store. They had mostly clothes for sale, the same brands and prices as at home. I declined to pick anything up. At this point, I'm fading fast and barely make it through the traffic jam and back to the hotel to crash.

Time to get up and do it all again!

Arrival

Well, I made it. If that was the longest journey I've ever made, it was also one of the smoothest. Everything went without a hitch and I even got a little sleep.  Our last leg was with Kingfisher Airlines, and they do flying right. For example, even though we were in the air for only 2 hours, they served us a full meal. And a spicy one at that. I can tell that I'm going to like eating here.

Upon touchdown we were picked up and brought to our hotel. As expected, traffic is incredible. Trucks, cars and scooters all meander across the lanes, trying to get ahead, constantly honk-honk-honking to let others know where they are. Like a babbling brook filled with noisy geese.

My hotel is wonderful and I have a huge bed to sleep in. So far I've hermitted myself in here, trying to ret and recuperate enough to head out for dinner. And to explore this country - I have a feeling there will be no shortage of adventure!

Economy of Scale

When I heard I'd be working with developers from Pune, naturally my first question was "Where?"  So a quick jump on Wikipedia reveals that it's about 200km east of Mumbai (heard of that one!) and is primarily a university town with a growing IT sector. I'm picturing it as the equivalent of Waterloo.  A nice small city, off the beaten path, perhaps not too exciting but a nice place to stay. Then I looked at the word 'Population' and then the words next to it, '5.5 million'.  So much for my sleepy little town.

So India is big. Big in land, big in culture, but much bigger in number of  people. For a guy who grew up in a small town of 3000 (and that was enough!) this might be an adjustment. And this population is going to be what drives the world as it develops. Asia is becoming a powerhouse, and I'm right in the middle of it, the start of a new era. It is going to be the experience of a lifetime!

As chance would have it, that experience starts today.  This evening I board the first of many airplanes and begin my mind-blowing (and butt-numbing) adventure! I'm always bit sad to leave my country behind, if perhaps not the weather. I'm particularly sad to be leaving one person behind - you know who you are - but you'll be in my heart the whole way.

I've got my suitcase pack and my passport handy. Let's go!