Marriage - Indian style

Marriage is serious business in India. Seriously!!!

In a Sunday copy of the Times of India - a reputable piece of mainstream rag, there was a pullout section that totalled 8 pages of individuals looking for life partners (or alliances as they had been termed).

India has been termed as the world's largest democracy and it truly is. There is no discernible discrimination in how the ads are placed when the individuals were looking for alliances. They have the not so easy to cubby hole ads like these.

With even special interest groups being catered for

And ads based on vocation

And religion

And Castes

How much more democratic can you be? The most common theme that I observed in all these ads were that the individuals tends to be Handsome/ pretty, Slim/ healthy, good family, professionals, have USA residence through Green Card, Highly educated, etc., etc. If this was true, why do they find it so difficult to find a life partner?? Hmmmm.....

I brought back the pullout for the single people in the office. There has been at least one who was willing to consider an overseas "investment". Good Luck Ian!!

India (Gurgaon) Today - part 2

Any writeup on a visit to India is never complete without mentioning it's food. For this trip I was expecting my boss Mark D to be coming together with Nancy A and Neil N. At the last minute, Mark had to cancel his trip due to the sudden departure of his boss.

Neil is actually of Indian descent but is now an American (original name was Anil). But guess what? He, of all people came down with the Delhi belly and got confined to his room for the day. Nancy wanted to shop for some traditional Indian dress and so I ended up accompanying her for shopping and dinner. I roped in Keshav-ji so that we will not be fleeced. Nancy got what she wanted after we popped into a few shops in Metropolitan Mall in Gurgaon. It seems that Gurgaon is now the shopping mall capital of India!!!

For dinner, colleagues in the office recommended a place in Metro Mall called Bauji something or another. That was a pretty good place with Punjabi food. The place reminded me of another where brass-ware was used in abundance. the dinner plate was stainless steel. The drinking cup was brass. All dishes were served on stainless steel plates. I think it must have been because of Nancy, we were allowed into the kitchen to see the tandoor(oven) and also to see how they made the naans (bread) and other meals. Interesting!!!!

To start off, Keshav ordered tandooried fish, tandooried lamb, a vegetarian dish which he claims were lentils with some other vegetables (which looked like shit to me!!). That was enough to fill me up. And there was more to come!! Main course was 4 different naans, with aloo gobi (potatoes with cauliflowers), a pot of spicy dhall, a mutton kurma.

Surprisingly, this place did not offer any liquor. The name on it's drinks menu was roughly translated as Uncle's liquor shop - but NO LIQUOR was available for order!!

By the time we finished, I could hardly move. When I got back to the hotel room, I had a shock when I weighed myself - 115.5kg. For the rest of my 2 weeks stay, I ate like a horse for dinner - only apples and oatmeal for most days. In addition, I started a regimen of sit ups in the morning.

It worked!! I left India at 109kg!! Phew!!

India (Gurgaon) Today - part 1

It's almost 2 weeks since I am back in Gurgaon. During this trip, I noted some things that are similar and yet different. On my trips between the hotel and office and back, I observe many things which had remained the same since the first time I set foot in india and yet many changes.

One of those mornings, there was a bad traffic jam - all because this car knocked a woman on the street. Looks like everyone wants a piece of the action.

And everyday, I would pass by this police post which looks so run down that if not for the sign, I thought it was a building under construction!! They had the contact numbers of the officers listed outside in non standard fonts. A few days before I left, that sign was removed. Wonder why?

Begging at traffic is still prevalent. Here is a woman begging at a car in front of me. It seems that begging can be quite lucrative - earning quite a comfortable income for those who dares.

There are slums and hovels all along the road to the office. The office site is supposed to be some kind of an industrial zones, but the roads are bad - potholes everywhere. Migrant workers tend to setup homes along the road and every morning, I can see street urchins emptying their bowels in public view. This shot of a street urchin enjoying an ice cream on a hot Indian day is an image of your typical street kid - dirty and probably street wise.

Before I end this post, I would like to share with you how ATI prepares a cubicle to welcome new employees. That is surely a nice touch!

My home in Gurgaon for 2 weeks of April 2008

Today, my new team has to attend the company's orientation program for newbies. So I have a day of respite. Good time to catch up on some of the things I am suppose to follow up on and also to update my blog.

For these 2 weeks stay in Gurgaon, I am staying at the Crowne Plaza hotel. Nice place but right in the middle of nowhere. Comfortable, good food at their food outlets and very courteous staff. I thought I will share with you what my room loks like. It really made my stay a lot more comfortable.

Look at this bed. Not too hard, not too soft - just right (sounding like one of the 3 bears in Goldilocks). The hotel also put a kinda of a lounge sofa to the side. Great for lazing around to watch the TV or to catch up on my reading. Curtains in the room are electrically controoled. No hassle of pulling on the curtains to open or close them.

Then there is this very large LCD TV next to a work table. MOst of the popular international channels are available - CNN, BBC, Channelnewsasia, AXN, Discovery, NG, just to name a few. I had spent one Sunday watching Bionic Woman Marathon (the new series)!!

The bathroom is separated from the bedroom by a glass wall which has an electrically controlled venetian blind. Here is the view of the bathroom from inside the bedroom (with venetian blinds pulled up). This may be my home every 2 or 3 weeks for the next 3 to 6 months!!

Technical Support team in Gurgaon, India

My new team.

Now to fill up 2 more vacancies