04/02/2010

Bengaḷūru, not Bangalore (why did Bangalore get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Indians…)

So, we arrived in Bangalore (ok, so it’s changed names, but I’m not used to it yet, so let me just stick to Bangalore, eh?) at 3am or so in the morning. We were exhausted and cranky and it was already hot. We got to the hotel thinking we didn’t have any meetings until 7pm the following day, so at least we could sleep in late the next day…


8am the next morning, however, all of our phones in our respective rooms started ringing letting us know that we had a car awaiting us… ??

Each of us, as we later found out, thought it was a wrong number and told the front desk as much. Going back to sleep.

I woke up a little later, however, and went down to lunch around 10:30. The lunch, by the way, was fabulous. Wow, what a spread! Oh, let me take time to say the hotel is quite nice. Mind you, India is a slum. From my hotel window, I have a beautiful view of little poverty stricken children running around lean-to shacks with tarps for a roof… Ack! My room, however, is fabulous! Wow! Luxury at its finest. A bit surreal, to say the least.

Anyway, during lunch, someone came up to me with a phone… ??... “sir, your car is waiting” someone said on the other line. I suppose being one of the few Americans in the hotel made me stand out. “Ok, just who ORDERED this car, anyway?” I said. “Microsoft, sir”.

“Ooooohhhhh”…. Whoops. “Tell them to hold on a sec, eh?” So I rounded up Craig and Chuck, who were just waking up, and off we went. So much for a relaxing day.

The day was then a blur. Mad busy. A couple of things to note, however:

• Electricity here in India is not a guarantee. Though more consistent than South Africa, it will randomly go out (and I mean, black out) for a few moments, and then come back on for no apparent reason. This happens at Microsoft and here at the hotel several times a day.

• Don’t be fooled about things costing next to nothing. My lunch cost $15.00 and when we got back from work, I had 2 drinks at the bar and they cost just over $20. You have to be careful with the translation, I’m finding out. It can be dangerous.

• You are not allowed to take photographs on the Microsoft campus here in India. I took one photograph of the sign at Microsoft and was told immediately by a guard that such things were not allowed and I must cease and desist. Er? I’ve been meaning to ask someone why, but things have just gotten to be too busy. I’m guessing it has to do with terrorism, just as, when coming to the hotel, they use mirrors to check under the car and search the trunk. Still… crazy. Nonetheless, I’m still hoping to get a pic of the Microsoft logo in Sanskrit to go along with the pic of Microsoft in kanji… just have to do it outside of the Man’s line of site… =).

Our day ended late, with the promise from one of the guys there that he would take us out and show us the town… alas, that wasn’t to happen, but that’s tomorrow’s tale…

** Current Music Listening To: Ryan Adams ‘Call Me On Your Way Back Home’