Silliness is...

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

...Not seeing the trees through the forest

This post really pertains to the second day in India, though I will touch on some things that I have seen and learned since then.

On the second day of my stay in New Delhi we were able to take a couple hours and go sight seeing before the meeting rooms were up and running. On this trip we were taken around to the major landmarks of New Delhi including India Gate, and some of the local governmental buildings. I will post pictures of these below.

The truly interesting part came when we were taken to Old Delhi and were taken on a tour riding in rickshaws. Old Delhi is where the 'real' India can be observed. Here is where I wish that I could wave my hand and make the poverty disappear. I must say though, that I had more people wave, smile and say hello than I would have thought possible. Most of these people did not ask for money, items or anything else, so I can not attribute their happiness to greed or the want to take advantage of us in any way. I saw many small children playing in squalor, signs of abject poverty and just general poor infrastructure.

I said in my previous post that the people here are radiant; what I mean by this is that they display more happiness and positive spirit than I would think possible in this environment. This is truly remarkable and touching. I am a realist and understand that there are negative influences here, but the majority of the people that I saw and interacted with were more friendly and genuine than many I have dealt with in the United States.

We also visited some local landmarks and monuments, pictures below as well. I have also been enjoying the local cuisine, and am surprised that it is not as spicy as many of the Indian restaurants back home.

Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Presidential Palace

Monkey Business

Government Building

Government Monument

India Arch

Road to Government complex

Steve with Snake

Snake Handler

Rickshaw and Driver

Local Shoe Shop

Steve and I

Old Delhi

Alley in Old Delhi

Shops

Power Station, Old Delhi

Another power station

Housing in Old Delhi

Check out the power infrastructure

Architecture

Mothers Cooking Stall

Spice Shop

We are moving and the rickshaw in the next lane
is inches from grinding my knee off

Check that high tech scaffolding

More scaffolding

Deconstruction

Muslim Ruins

So humid that my camera kept fogging up

Monday, August 5, 2013

... Getting on a flight that traverses half the globe...

...if you are critically afraid of flying! Duh, people, drugs can be your friend!

This past Friday I started a journey to India for my company. Very exciting for me because I absolutely love flying and look forward to this trip that has sucked up so much of both my personal and private time. The first leg of the journey was uneventful, even pleasurable as I sat next to a very beautiful and intelligent woman with whom I shared some great stories and conversation.

The second leg of my journey was not so much fun... I am very grateful that my company sent me business class for this trip, but even in business class thing can go amok. For probably the first three hours things were great, had some drinks, talked to the guy in the pod next to mine, fun! Then things went south... We hit some severe turbulence and people were anxious... A lady (I don't know her age or anything else about her, as we were all commanded to stay seated) about four rows back started screaming at the top of her lungs (more a screech than a scream) that we were crashing and we were all going to die. Not too much fun. There of course was a flurry of activity as our flight crew handled the situation with calm aplomb. She finally stopped screaming about the end of the world (her world at least) but for the next four'ish hours she would squeak every time we hit a big air pocket. So this meant that I had pretty much zero sleep.

Ultimately we landed safely in India. Getting off the plane was like walking into a wall of water; monsoon season...

The drive to the hotel (more like palace) was uneventful, though I realize that people who drive in India are either extremely brave or suicidal. Lanes appear to be mere suggestions, people are riding three to four persons (think whole family here) on motorcycles and pedestrians are playing the real game of frogger by hopping across 6 lanes of traffic on foot. I am utterly surprised that I didn't see dozens of injuries...

On arrival to the hotel I noticed that there were dozens of armed guards/military personnel mulling about in the street and we were not allowed to enter the check in area without being searched (car for bombs, me for ?). Once I made it int the compound we were screened for weapons again. It actually feels extremely safe here as there are always armed personnel at the entry points to the hotel.

I finally made it to my room, which is phenomenal. See the pics below.