Made in China

If you want to convince someone that India is not as populated as everyone says it is, and that the streets aren’t really that crowded, just get them to come outside when there’s a cricket match going on.

Sunday afternoon was the ICC match of India vs. Pakistan, so most every man, woman, child and cow was inside watching India wish Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t injured. Sachin plays for India. India eventually lost. But Louis and I kept going.

Saturday morning, while the rest of the country was (literally, it was on the news) praying for the cricket team, we went out to see the largest statue of Ganesh Ji in the state. Which is, conveniently, a 15 minute walk away.

Walk for a further 5 min, and you get to the IMAX theatre. Louis and I made plans to see “Dhoom” on Saturday, the Indian fast-and-the-furious knockoff that’s on top of the Indian box office right now. Ankur says it’s a must-see. Our buddies from the guest house (below) said they agree.

Who says you can’t still be multicultural while in India. Over this weekend we’ve plowed through 4 episodes of a rocking Japanese hockey-drama, and at night we turned the tables on the TCS Guest House staff and made dinner for them. Louis took the wheel and whipped up some awesome Chinese dishes, while I did my magic of cracking eggs and taking pictures.

So from karaoke to Rajasthan and right back to Ganesh Ji and Chinese cooking, we’ve had our share of variety this weekend. But it’s satisfying heading back to work, getting back to business, and – most of all – convincing the TCS coffee-machine-operator that really, I think I can do the button-pushing all by myself.

At lunch I had a chocolate eclair for dessert, and they didn’t give me a spoon. Maybe we’re having a positive effect on our new home after all.

The First Week

Loyal readers, devoted blog followers, and random people who mistyped a url and are here by mistake: I’ve been away from photoblogging for a while, so here’s a few pics to get it started again. And remember, you can always click on any pic in this blog to make it bigger (Picasa’s Hello used to take care of that for me, but since the program won’t work over a proxy, welcome to Rohit’s html skillz).

Anyhow, so I’m working in the city of Hyderabad, which is in the state of Andhra Pradesh, which is in south-central India. Don’t let “south-central” make it sound ghetto, because it’s not, but it is known for its incredible pearls. We went exploring the first night, and the rumours are true.

And they look even shiner up close. Trust me

If you like rocks, grass, and the mixing of the two, then you’re in for a treat: that’s what you’ll find on your way to work in Hyderabad. The roads aren’t NEARLY this empty, this is just a small side street at lunch.

I work for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is in this massive red building composed of Agra sandstone and an infinite number of security guards.

There’s someone for everything in there, to the point where it’s excessive. I mean, they have staff hired to give you coffee from the AUTOMATIC coffee machine. That is, there’s a dude paid to sit beside the machine, ask what you want, press the button, and hand you your drink. Yes, he’s a paid staff member and everything. No, this dude is not Tata’s coop student from Waterloo.

I work in “Hi-Tech City”, a developing new part of Hyderabad with the awful nickname of Cyberabad. Like at TCS, all of the buildings in this part of town are funky.

Currently, I’m staying in the TCS Guest House, which is about 10km from work and accesible by public transit, car, bike, riksha, cow, bull, and the occasional donkey. You’ll find all those modes of transportation on the road every day, but luckily the inside of the guest house is fairly animal-free.

These last 2 shots are of my room. I didn’t change my name, Salarjung is a dude who’s apparently a pretty important part of Hyderabad’s history. He’s got a museum in Hyderabad, which I’ll tell you about after checking it out soon.

After a busy week at work, this weekend I hope to explore Hyderabad a bit more, including the huge temple that everyone at work keeps me about. I hope it’s accessible by donkey.