sometimes nothing goes to plan
Aug. 10th, 2006 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookzombieWe'll, here I am in sunny Hyderabad. Well it would be sunny if it wasn't 11:20 at night, local time!
Yes, I am in the internet cafe at the airport where our 1:15 am flight has been delayed until 4:15. That's the good news. The bad news is that we miss our Frankfurt connection and the next flight that they can get us on is 4:20 pm. So instead of getting home about 11:30ish Friday afternoon I will probably get home at around 8pm.
Needless to say I am not feeling at my most chipper.
Still, overall it has been an enjoyable week, certainly a different experience. We have been very well looked after by our hosts - to the point of mania at times. Each night our account manager has taken us out for food and we decided last night that we really needed a quiet evening at the hotel. We had to explain to our account manager 3 times that this really was what we wanted. He accepted it in the end but with fairly bad grace!
Alas, we have not seen much of the country as we have been at work most of the time. Yesterday was a festival day however, so we got the day off. Our hosts took us to a film studio that was open to the public. Believe me when I say that it is not as exciting as it sounds. It turns out that in reality they make hardly any films there. The person who had it built (who sounds like a media tycoon in the Rupert Murdock style) hoped to attract major stars to come and film there and it didn't happen so he opened it to the public to help cover his costs. There really isn't very much there to get excited about, although the duplicate of the entrance to Bombay airport was quite funny.
We also went to the bazaar in the old part of the city to buy gifts. We were very pleased to have our hosts with us as they could do the haggling!
All I seem to have done for most of the week is eat! We have had some very good food, especially in the executive dining room at the Wipro HQ.
As a brit, the level of service takes a lot of getting used to. I haven't been 'sir'ed so much in my life. My post-imperial, working class guilt really kicked in at the restaurant where there was a servant in the toilets who turned the tap on for you and handed you the towels. That just creeped me out, frankly.
Oh yes, and the traffic. You really have to be born to it to drive in Hyderabad. Even the shortest trip is a white-knuckle ride as our driver (yes, we were driven everywhere) dived from lane to lane, hand constantly on horn, barely avoiding the little motorised rickshaws and the motorbikes. Many, many motorbikes, often with a man driving, a sari-clad women as a passenger, often riding sidesaddle and clutching a child or two. And, of course, no motorbike helmet (and it becomes obvious that it is frowned upon for women to ride motorbikes; I think I saw precisely one all week).
Another thing that strikes you very quickly is that there is no zoning (for want of a better word) in city. Expensive hotels and politicians residences exist side-by-side with hovels and huts made of bamboo and covered with plastic sheeting. The poverty is obvious everywhere. I'll probably want to say more about this when I have my thoughts in order (and a really good night's sleep - don't hold your breath folks).
Anyway, more later when I'm home and caught up with things a bit.
Yes, I am in the internet cafe at the airport where our 1:15 am flight has been delayed until 4:15. That's the good news. The bad news is that we miss our Frankfurt connection and the next flight that they can get us on is 4:20 pm. So instead of getting home about 11:30ish Friday afternoon I will probably get home at around 8pm.
Needless to say I am not feeling at my most chipper.
Still, overall it has been an enjoyable week, certainly a different experience. We have been very well looked after by our hosts - to the point of mania at times. Each night our account manager has taken us out for food and we decided last night that we really needed a quiet evening at the hotel. We had to explain to our account manager 3 times that this really was what we wanted. He accepted it in the end but with fairly bad grace!
Alas, we have not seen much of the country as we have been at work most of the time. Yesterday was a festival day however, so we got the day off. Our hosts took us to a film studio that was open to the public. Believe me when I say that it is not as exciting as it sounds. It turns out that in reality they make hardly any films there. The person who had it built (who sounds like a media tycoon in the Rupert Murdock style) hoped to attract major stars to come and film there and it didn't happen so he opened it to the public to help cover his costs. There really isn't very much there to get excited about, although the duplicate of the entrance to Bombay airport was quite funny.
We also went to the bazaar in the old part of the city to buy gifts. We were very pleased to have our hosts with us as they could do the haggling!
All I seem to have done for most of the week is eat! We have had some very good food, especially in the executive dining room at the Wipro HQ.
As a brit, the level of service takes a lot of getting used to. I haven't been 'sir'ed so much in my life. My post-imperial, working class guilt really kicked in at the restaurant where there was a servant in the toilets who turned the tap on for you and handed you the towels. That just creeped me out, frankly.
Oh yes, and the traffic. You really have to be born to it to drive in Hyderabad. Even the shortest trip is a white-knuckle ride as our driver (yes, we were driven everywhere) dived from lane to lane, hand constantly on horn, barely avoiding the little motorised rickshaws and the motorbikes. Many, many motorbikes, often with a man driving, a sari-clad women as a passenger, often riding sidesaddle and clutching a child or two. And, of course, no motorbike helmet (and it becomes obvious that it is frowned upon for women to ride motorbikes; I think I saw precisely one all week).
Another thing that strikes you very quickly is that there is no zoning (for want of a better word) in city. Expensive hotels and politicians residences exist side-by-side with hovels and huts made of bamboo and covered with plastic sheeting. The poverty is obvious everywhere. I'll probably want to say more about this when I have my thoughts in order (and a really good night's sleep - don't hold your breath folks).
Anyway, more later when I'm home and caught up with things a bit.
