Go East Dude

Breakfast Cereal?

2007-11-25T00:21:00.000-08:00

I had read in R2I (return to India) news groups that people carry boxes of their favorite cereals so that they can ease into indian breakfast. I did not carry any boxes and I have not eaten a morsel of cereal since I arrived here. It is interesting how I can live without it. I use to eat raisin bran for last 12 years- no changes - sometimes on weekends too...
I don't miss it at all. I eat Idly or dosas for breakfast everyday now.

Driving is not that bad

2007-11-25T00:19:00.000-08:00

I should say I was pleasantly surprised to notice that driving around Bangalore is not as bad as it seems. I got a car finally and have been using it for last few weeks. As long as you dont have to drive on critical routes and don't have to hunt for parking it is not a bad deal. We do have a driver who is a big help when it comes to parking! It is his problem to find parking, he drops us off and picks us back when we need him. Needless to say he has a fancy mobile with a wierd ringtone!
Here are some tips about driving in Bangalore: Don't drive on the left. YOu will run the risk of knocking off a pedestrian. Stick to the center of the road. I am not kidding, this is what my driving school instructor taught me too and it works like a magic. Generally the roads are so narrow with cars and bikes parked on either sides, it is better to stick to the center. Another side benefit is that I was able to unlearn the habit of driving on the right side of the road as in US (and most of the world) very easily.
Few days back I was in a bus stand and noticed a bus from local transport agency (BMTC http://www.bmtcinfo.com/english/index.htm) in "hot Pink" color. More interesting was what was written on the bus "Women Special". When I asked around people said that this is nothing new! I am not sure if any other cities in India or around the world have this kind of buses?

Too long a break from blogging...

2007-11-25T00:17:00.000-08:00

I am making a blog entry after a long break. There are several reasons (aka excuses) for this delay. One reason: I am looking to change jobs. so soon? not even there for 2 months? more on this latter.

Deepavali (Diwali) was peaceful and kind of low key. I know it is a big festival for most of India. In fact it is replacing other big HOlidays in South, atleast in Bangalore. I see companies giving out bonuses and sweets on Deepavali. Generally it was during Dasera earlier. I say it was low key because this is one of the festivals that lack any ceremonies or pooja attached to it. All it was was eating and burting fire crackers. May be I am from old school but having ceremonies or traditions make holidays special. Just as in Thanks Giving Dinner in US.

IT company buses

2007-10-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today I was waiting for my company bus at the bus stop at 7:20 a.m. I lost track of the number of companies whose buses I saw. It sounds like who's who in the tech industry - IBM, Oracle, Nokia, Accenture, HP, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Cognizant, Satyam, Honeywell, Lucent ... it goes on and on...

It is pretty common for most of the companies to provide some sort of transportation to the employees in India (I am not sure if this is same in other Indian cities). I like the bus ride so far but it seems so strange since I am so used to personal mode of transportation. Once I buy a car I will give it a shot if driving is too painful then I will take the bus.

Few days back I took a ride in a city bus. This particular bus happen to be a "high end bus". It is popularly known as "Volvo bus", it is more expensive but the ride is awesome, it is air conditioned and very quite and smooth even on Bangalore roads. It has a decent sized flat screen TV which is showing some entertainment shows. I heard that the City is planning on adding many more such buses. It is ironic that I moved from Chicago where both PACE and CTA are cutting their routes and buses while in Bangalore the buses are getting fancier and new routes are added...

Few years back I was thinking that Bangalore City can raise some money by leasing out space on buses for advertisers. I already see that happening. The buses are covered with fancy ads from side to side. Though I don't see any ads inside the bus.

Cricket.... what can I say

2007-10-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up cricket was not a popular entertainment for the masses. Few decades back mostly educated (I mean people who have gone to school/college) use to watch cricket. Now it is different. Thanks to the media cricket has become part of masses (probably not the bottom 20% of the socio-economic class). I was in City Market (the old central market, Bangalore) I overheard vegetable vendors discussing why India lost to Australia.

Few weeks back when India played finals of 20-20. I saw sudden traffic rush around 4:00 pm which is unusual (usually peak traffic starts after 6:00pm). Latter I found that since India is playing finals a lot of working people want to get home early. People struck in the traffic (I was one of them) were busy keeping track of score through mobile phones/SMS. Latter that day the calls were not going through, I guess it was due the volume.

Media and many businesses have capitalized on the cricket craze.

Work day 9.5 hours!

2007-09-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

One shocker I got at the orientation of my new job is that I found out that official work day is 9.5 hours. Why did we think we work long hours in the US? May be compared to Europe.
Given the commute, power cuts, lack of water and other life style issues I guess people get very little sleep here. I heard some IT companies are looking at increasing the work week to 6 days.
Does this 50+ hour work week result in increased productivity? I will make some observations, be it anecdotal, unscientific, I will blog them after few weeks.

One cab driver remarked to me that he gets 2-3 hours sleep in the night. He works 6 days a week and sometimes Sundays too.

Traffic mess? may be not...

2007-09-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

Getting from one part of Bangalore to another takes an hour to 2 hours. This seems a lot of time but if I look back it took the same time 15 years ago if you factor in walking to bus stop, waiting for the city bus, bus ride and walking to the destination from the bus stop. For those of you who had a two wheeler or a car when you were here in Bangalore earlier it is not going to be same anymore. You cannot zip through the streets from one corner of the city to another.
Of course the common man who has to depend on city bus is the worst affected. If you have a car and a driver it should be ok.

Stuff is expensive?
My wife was commenting that household goods such as soap, shampoo are expensive. I guess we got used to Walmart prices back in the US. Sometimes even if we divide the cost by 40 it is expensive. Example: Johnson Baby soap costs Rs 102. Well, we have to get used to some stuff being ultra cheap and some stuff being expensive, it is not going to be same.

Breezy Internet Connection

2007-09-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

I had filled out a internet connection request with BSNL (this is the govt. telecom company) in April when I last visited India. I still had not gotten it. After making a few phone calls and through some one in the higher ups I got the connection last week.

I heard from people that they celebrate when they get BSNL connection since it is so hard to get it. It is the cheapest and fastest. I get 2 MBPS for about $5 a month. There are other private providers which can give decent broadband for about $25 a month. I got my wireless, vonage everything working!!!

Another good news is that we got a UPS (uninturrpted power supply). I don't even know when the power cut happens. This where I say money can buy happiness. It was not cheap and it cost me RS. 25,000 to get this.

Good byes, ask directions? no more special treatment.

2007-09-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I take off to India by Lufthansa, the last time I flew Lufthansa was when I came to US in 1992! also a one way ticket! I guess Lufthansa is for one way tickets only!

I woke up this morning and realized that I am 1/2 way through my life. I am 37 assuming life expectancy is 70s. Thank God I am doing something what my heart says before it is not too late.

Yesterday I went to visit a friend of mine in a hospital in downtown Chicago. He was in an accident and he is in chicago rehab inst. I parked my car on the street and depositied coins, I was not sure if I parked right. I waited for a minute to ask a passerby what the sign says! am I illiterate? I guess the old habit of asking directions never dies. He said "It is for handicap only". I guess I never came across metered handicap parking in the last 15 years.

I talked to my dad and told him that I will be arriving Monday afternoon. He says "take a cab". What? nobody is going to come to pickme up. No red carpet welcome? Well, I am not going on vacation, no more special treatment :-)

I will post the pictures I took from the last day at work when I get to India.

Last day at work

2007-09-07T03:52:00.000-07:00

This is my last week in the US. I am flying out on Sunday afternoon. It has been a hectic last 2 months - selling the house, cars, furniture, shipping stuff, job hunt, consolidating bank accounts. I don't know what else I have forgotten! I will remember somethings on the flight :-)

Did I mention work? working full time on a critical project has added another dimension to this madness. I have been very lucky in more than one aspect - I was able to find a buyer for my house in this market, get my passport and PIO (people of Indian Origin, Indian green card?) in record time and was able to give an early notice to my employer. Having my mother-in-law stay with us during the last few months really helped.

All I know from people is that life is going to get more hectic when I get to India. I have to deal with mosquitoes and people and people and people....Well I am mentally prepared. The people who have taken this route has clearly said that "unless you have a strong reason and commitment you will take the next flight back"