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| Subject: From Chad in India | |
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Author: messenger |
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Date Posted: 14:41:19 05/14/07 Mon Author Host/IP: cache-ntc-ac06.proxy.aol.com/207.200.116.135 Friends and Family, For those of you that don't know I am currently in Mumbai (also known as Bombay), India for two weeks on a business trip. Yes, I am only 1 year out of college and my company, EDS, sent me alone to train the employees that are taking my job. I have, however, been giving a new position within EDS and it will be a great move for me. I am fortunate to have this opportunity at such an early stage in my career. I have now been here for a week and have had many new and interesting experiences. Some good and others not so good. I flew from Dallas to New York and from New York straight into Mumbai. From New York it was a 15 hour plane ride, which went surprisingly fast. I slept for at least 10 hours of the flight (I didn't get much sleep the night before). I had a smooth time going through customs and finding my driver. Now is where the excitement began. I was very shocked at what was around me and what I was seeing. My driver used the horn every minute or so and the streets were packed with cars changing lanes whenever, motorcycles driving through tight places, people crossing the streets hoping that the cars slow down, and a lot more interesting things. I thought for sure we were going to get in an accident, but there are actually very few here. There are rare cases when you can drive over 30 mph as there are too many cars, people, and animals in the way. There a lot of taxis around, which are little buggy type vehicles. Also, no matter what time of the day or where I go, there are always people walking or sleeping in or by the streets. It is really a sight to see. Mumbai is very overpopulated with 19 million people (in the greater Bombay area) and about 15,000 people per square kilometer (less than a mile). There are no boundaries between nice parts and slums. I have seen a couple cows, about 15 goats, and more than 100 stray dogs roaming the streets. The people that have a piece of land with some grass, which is very few, will own cow and people will pay them to feed the cow to meet their religious fulfillments. Cows are sacred because they can provide you with so much, or something like that. Also, there are very many homeless people around. There are many tents set up and there will be families sleeping in between two cement medians in the road. This is the trashiest, most disgusting place I have ever been to. I went to the beach the 2 nd day I was here and trash was everywhere I stepped. Sickly looking kids have come up to my car and banged on the window begging for money. One little girl had her newly born brother with her. I could go on and on about the things I see driving around this city. It is very sad and unbelievable witnessing the living conditions here. Another bad thing is that there is always that lingering aroma of Indian cooking that gives you a sick feeling in your stomach every time you smell it. It also smells of rotten fish outside the office. I was sticking to eating continental food, until I gave in and was taken out to an Indian restaurant. Three days later and I am still regretting that decision. I now know what it is like to take a laxative. After the Indian restaurant I tried pan, which was sold on the side of the street at this little cigarette shop a guy (probably homeless) set up. He was a very dirty guy, most likely hadn't bathed in weeks, which is normal. He got a leaf out of his shelf about three inches in diameter and started rubbing in this brown paste with his filthy hands. I then lost my appetite, but decided to try it anyway because the guys were buying it for me. After putting about 20 different ingredients in, many of them different types of candy, he wrapped it up, put a cherry and toothpick through it, sprinkled on some more toppings and gave it to us. I watched the others put the whole thing into their mouth and proceeded to do the same only to bite into one of the worst things I have ever put in my mouth. There were so many different tastes going through my mouth that I had to spit it out before I saw my dinner again. I have tried many different foods and think I will stick to finding some normal food for the remainder of my trip. I also tried a turkey burger, which was terrible. I will now move on to some of the good things about my trip. EDS set me up with a driver for the duration of my stay. I have a different one than the one who picked me up from the airport. The new guy, Mr. George, is a nice young man and is a much more conservative driver. He is 25 and will be marrying a girl as soon as she turns 18. This is the norm around here. There are also still arranged marriages over here. There are a lot more Christians here than I imagined. I think the Christian families allow love marriages, but the Hindu's still try to arrange marriages. Everybody at the office has been extremely nice and hospitable. I have been training two guys, one 25 and the other 28. I am starting to get along with them very well. However, I did get very annoyed last Friday when one of them hadn't showered all week and smelt terrible. It was very painful working with him. The guys have been catching on to the training quickly and hopefully the team will have a smooth transition over to the Mumbai office. I just pray they don't find a better job and we have to start all over with someone else. The turnover rates are really bad over here. I think the two guys are going to enjoy the job and will stay a long time. I am having a hard time understanding everybody that speaks "English" over here. I stress the quotes, because I have a hard time calling what they speak English. I had a discussion with the two guys about the language differences and they said they also have trouble understanding me at times. I am ready to have a conversation without asking what every couple sentences. It gets very frustrating. I explained to them what 'ya'll' means after I kept on saying it to them. We have been working 4 pm – 2 am India time. Most of India works these hours or later to match up with US times. The office has a ping pong table by the elevators (I am very jealous of this). They also have this other game in their cafeteria which is similar to billiards. I forget the name of it. Most of the people take many smoke breaks during the day. A lot more people smoke cigarettes over here than in America. Another good thing about this trip is the hotel. It is a very nice place, with a beautiful outdoor pool and many restaurants with 'normal' food. I have enjoyed charging everything to the room and not worrying about how much the bill will be at the end. There is also a very nice workout room that I have been using. The hotel is also right on the beach, but as mentioned before, isn't very nice. My room is also very nice and I can imagine I am not in India in here. A guy from the office, Mathew, took me out Saturday to see the sights of Mumbai. I had an excellent time everywhere we went and enjoyed being exposed to more of the Indian culture. I have learned many things about the Indians on this trip. As a white person over here I stick out like a sore thumb and attract all the people trying to get money. There are a lot of people selling various things and won't go away after the first no. A lot of pirated DVD's and imitation items are sold over here. Mathew had me try fresh bamboo juice. It was drinkable I guess. There are a lot of juice stands around the city. A funny thing happened to me when we were at one of the sights. Mathew was taking my picture while two Indian guys were beside me combing their hair. Then they asked to take a picture with me. I felt like a celebrity. I had Mathew take a picture and will send it when I get back home. It was very funny. I will send pictures of the places we went and I will have to look back at Mathew's notes to remember the names of the places we saw. We were out for about 12 hours and I was very tired when we got back. I relaxed all of Sunday in my room and by the pool. It was very nice. Thank you if you are still reading this long e-mail. I have many more things to talk about, but have to end somewhere. Overall I am having a fantastic trip with many once in a lifetime experiences I didn't imagine I would be having. If you get the opportunity and like adventure I definitely suggest coming over here. This will look good on my resume and I have grown as a person. I now realize I love America a lot more and I am very fortunate that I didn't grow up here. I wish I didn't come alone and had somebody to experience this with me. I miss everybody very much and I am becoming very home sick. My fianc�e will be in Dallas for the next month and a half and I am looking very forward to coming back to see her. I hope everybody is well and having a great time in America. Please forward this on to anybody you think will enjoy reading it or that wants to hear from me. Thank you. Love, Chad [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Re: From Chad in India | phelps | 10:55:06 05/15/07 Tue |
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