Up in the Air

Check out the dude drinking in the first picture. This is the Indian way of drinking from bottles. I mentioned the mysteriously-filled bottles at work and how they drink from them - this is it. That's what they do. Keep that mouth away from the rim and pour it through the air. I can't do it yet: I either spill or rely upon my lower lip to steady the position a bit by touching lower on the bottle.

I've noticed also that I drink a lot more water than them. Now, I hydrate quite a bit but they aren't even at the same table as me.

I also snap my gum, sing songs out loud, make foolish jokes and generally comport myself with a carefree attitude. This is very un-Indian of me, or at least that's how it seems. I sometimes feel like the big loud lout to their considerate, polite gentlemen. Of course I have a business face, too, but sometimes I wonder how foolish I appear.

Anyway- these were shot from my hotel room looking across the street. 300mm lens. The project is crazy and I have to sneak a snap or two here and there. Even now I should be sleeping; another long day and we have to work Saturday.

Nice news is that more teammates arrive Sunday.

Oh, and although everyone thinks I'm a fool, I want to try some street food. The vendor in the second picture does brisk business- must be doing something right. I'm thinking more along the lines of roasted nuts, though. Something easy to deal with.
We'll see. I expect I will mostly sleep and work the next 48 hours.

Nighty night

Turn Away, Gentle Readers

Okay, so: here is the facilities in my hotel room.

I have to say up front that bathroom concerns weighed on my mind when I first set out for India. I had heard stories and seen movies. And the whole left-hand thing was very troublesome to me. It's easy to picture a scene where you have Deli Belly and have to rely on lefty to get clean and I was very upset about having to do that.
So, the first thing I did when I checked in is run to the toily to see what was what. There are several things I want to point out to you in the above picture. First, there are two buttons above the commode; a large one and a small one. The larger one makes the water (which is very vigorous) run longer. So; bigger job, bigger button.
Second you might have noticed the thing that looks like the hose by the sink in your kitchen. I don't know what they call that, but it is apparently a common device. Obviously, it's like a bidet but with a manual aspect. It shoots only cold water, but there is a handle that controls the pressure. Now- there is toilet paper in the picture and they have that here, but they clearly are not big into it. Even here at this swank hotel the paper is rather coarse and harder to come by.
I haven't tried the hose-thing yet, but feel that as a traveller it is my duty to have new experiences. So, at some point I will, but not today. Frankly, I have some questions about aiming and drying.
Now, other places have different arrangements and we all snoop around to see what's what where we go. There have been the usual funny stick figure signs that show you the proper use of such devices and a fun "toilet karma" sign that outlined some do's and don'ts. I will try to get pix of that as well.
But the short story is - no lefty so far, no Deli Belly for that matter either: things are fine.

Republic Day at Work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoGqwPOFCcQ

Ok, I'm exhausted from a long work day and gearing up for another very long one, but I have to post this.
We roll into work at noon and go on up to the roof where the whole group has gathered. Like us, they are mostly all wearing traditional clothing. Many of their clothes represent their traditional areas and backgrounds' style. So, there were a lot of different outfits.
They bought us clothes as well, so we were decked out, too. I will post photos later.
So, the program on the roof starts with the preseident of the company giving a speech. Then, as in the state-wide program, there is entertainment. A gentleman started out with a traditional drumming exhibition. Next came a dance, but there was a technical glitch with the audio. So, they announce the problem and say, while we are waiting would anyone like to come up and sing a song. Brief pause and then, yes, someone does get up and belt out an accapella number. Big round of applause.
The dancing turns out to be more Bollywood style, but it is very exubeberant and we cheer loudly. They do a couple numbers, including one to a rap-style song. "East to West, India is the Best", that sort of thing.
Finally it's games: an eating contest and then charades. I go first and the phrase I draw to act out is "there are two kinds of men; the dead and the deadly". Wha? I figure the best bet here is to just make a fool of myself pretending to be dead and deadly, in hopes that it is a common phrase. I flop around dead and somehow act like a lady to make them get "man" but time expires and they are left bewildered but amused.
Most of the phrase ones were unfamiliar to us like "Tarzan on the tallest tower". I don't know if they are idioms or just tricky sentences.
Afterwards we had a home-cooked meal which was delicious. At the end they served paan, which is a betel leaf chew. It was minty and surprising. I think I should have chewed it more slowly or treated it like a tobacco plug. It was a little strong. But overall, a great Republic Day celebration and such gracious hosts. I couldn't be happier with them.

Republic Day

Republic Day started at 6:30am for me. We were supposed to meet our local counterparts at 7am and I had to get up to get ready. All of my teammates had bagged on me so I was flying solo. We were up until 2 or so the night before working, so I can't really blame them.
Anyway, 7 comes and my guy isn't around. He worked late too and is behind this morning. Around 8 when I've given up and gone back to the room he shows and we are off to the show.
We get there and it turns out we need a pass to get in. We have no pass, but my man Sasi says no problem. He scouts around, puts the schmooze on a couple people, points out a big dumb American and it's No Pass, No Problem - in we go.
The event is held at the parade grounds and it's pretty crowded but not as bad as you might think. The show starts with speech from the State leader and then a parade of the military, civic groups and bands. Afterwards it's a series of ethnic dances and shows by kids in groups around 600-700. Big, show affairs with props and music. Overhead a well-spoken MC breaks out the symbols and meanings of each affair in a delightfully poliet, clipped tone.

These kids were part of a dance about the diversity and unity of India. They were dressed up as different religions (including funny Christians dressed as brides and grooms carrying upside-down crosses) to show how the had harmony within diversity.

The grand finale was this troupe of military men that climb poles in crazy formations. It's a form of enjoyable calisthenics, the man said. When this started, one of the military guys that had been hovering around me the whole time pushed me towards the edge of the crowd so that I could get a better shot, shouting "you go there- your spot!" It was crazy. They breathed fire and leaped up and down that pole with great shouts and huzzahs. I went home greatful and tired. Thanks Sasi!

Big Buildings

This is the ISKON temple.

ISKON is an international Krishna church with temples worldwide. Picture a Hindu version of an American Mega Church and you're on the right track.

The first thing is, they don't allow photography inside. That's a shame, because the view from the plateau of the surrounding areas was great and a lot of what was inside was pretty photogenic.

Most of it didn't make any sense to us. We were shuffed through a series of icon viewings and then sat in front of an altar to watch a monk perform a ritual. At the end we shuffled past an incense censure he used in the servicve. Everyone scooped some of the smoke and breathed it in, so I did the same.

I didn't understand what was going on, I'll have to look it up. Before the ritual they gave us two sealed baggies that held coconut. Later they wanted us to exchange the baggies for a discount on religious texts. In the ritual (the paja?) the monk sprinkled plant shavings on a statue while chanting and then cleaned them up. Several other monks were chanting in other areas. The floor had been roped off so that paying customers like us went up front while all the people there for service were on the floor behind us.

After the brief service I was feeling the Krishna love. I was barefoot and happy.

Then they looped us through a near-endless series of shopping stations. Buy a book, buy beads, buy art, buy a snack, then it repeated. Several times. It took a long time to get out and being barefoot in the snack stations wasn't so neat. So, I'm glad I went but I'm all set with it for now.

This is the Palace at Bangalore.

The ground is a thick red clay dust. I'd like to say I learned a lot about the owner of this place and the unbroken line of kings that were his fathers back to the 1400's. But, our guide was nearly incomprehensible.

He showed us around the mansion, which you could see was beautiful once, and tried to explain the antiques. Ah, a very old coffee maker. Hmm, a scale used to weigh jockeys. Say, an old fashioned icebox. Ok.

The tour included several pieces of furniture made from an elephant's feet an trunk. The guide offered us a chance to sit on the elephant-foot stools for pictures, but I wasn't interested in doing that. I guess it's a part of history and the Raj and all, but between this and the corridor of crude naked lady paintings I wasn't feeling terribly sympathetic with the king. He had a nice summer palace in Mysore as well by they way. At night it's lit with 80,000 light bulbs.

Later we went back to the store for some Red Bull shopping and tried to lounge around the pool. But by then the pool was closed and we mostly vegged out.

Next stop: Republic Day on Tuesday, hopefully game preserve safari next weekend.

Shopping Day

This is the doorman at the Chancery Pavilion in Bangalore. We call him the General. He spends his team beaming at people and wearing a fun outfit. I like his moustache and told him so. He seemed pleased with this but he's generally pleased with everything, especially the rupees I slip him. He located our driver this mornng as we set out for an expedition to the local shopping centers.

We told the driver to take us to the stores the girls at work recommended, but he took us here instead "just so we can get an idea". The persistent salesmanship here would make the hawkers in Cancun blush. Most of us walked out with things we could have gotten cheaper elsewhere and a vague feeling that our driver was in cahoots with them somehow. Still, I sometimes don't mind being taken along for the ride and it was fun.

Later we went to a couple of local shopping centers. They were madhouses. Checking out took forever. But, the places were very lively. They had live dj's and push-up contests; things like that. Again, Salesperson City and we got to wondering how people who live there take the constant mental bombardment and crush of people.

We crossed a busy street - twice - and felt like we had just been skydiving. Laughing like fools at having survived the dash as cars made no attempt to slow down for us.

Sir, Sir! An Image I Require!

For people speaking the same language, my students and I have a hard time understanding each other.

Typically, I have to have them repeat everything they say. It dawned on me the other day that they prolly miss the bulk of what I say, too. Of course, I'm ennunciating everything and speaking slowly; running a class. They usually mumble and look down and fail to even gesture.

Anyhoo- one of my favorite students at the moment is Mahesh.

But this may require I back up a step. The first day I got in nothing was set up but they were all waiting for me. The first class they just stared at me no matter what I said. No computers worked, so I had to give an impromptu 8-hour lecture. I took every opportunity to ellicit response from them.

At one point I was trying to make a reference to Treasure Islamd. It has to do with spot colors, but that's not important. I made the reference and then realized they might not get it. So I asked them "Who's heard of Robert Louis Stevenson?". Nothing. "He wrote Treasure Island. Ever hear of it?" Nothing. "It's a book about pirates. No who hear can tell me what a pirate is?" Nothing. "You've never heard of pirates?" No reply. They barely blink, but they are all giving me looks like I'm insane.

And at that point, I was. I wanted a response, any response from any of them. But I got nothing. So I persisted: "None of you has ever hear of pirates? You have no idea what a pirate is? Johnny Depp in that movie? Pirates of the Carribean? No one? Really? None of you know what a pirate is?" I asked it like I was sure they were messing with me.

But really, I get them a bit better than I get Spanish, so why should they understand me? Accent is a big part of it, but phrasing is key too.

But by asking things in a way that allows them to open up without exposing them to shame or being wrong and by working hard to give them ways to learn without appearing weak in front of their supervisor, they are starting to open up after a week.

Maheesh is funny because he starts every sentence addressed to me with "Sir, Sir!" So it's "Sir, Sir! deeblackandudderoneitis maybe not sameok?" That's right, Maheesh, they arent the same but the stroke is so small no one will notice and it will do it's job. Ohh...ok. "Sir, Sir! Maybe boxturn, is ok?" Mmm, no the specs have it going the other way. Do it like this. Ohhh... ok.

Today we were getting images and he started to get excited. Keep in mind - I've been in a tight corridor with these people for a full week and most of them have yet to speak aloud to me. So when we work the ads and Mahneesh finds that file he needs he raises his hand and peeps: "Sir, Sir! An image I require!" I have to chuckle.