Return to India - The Beginning

For some reason I feel most alive in India. Perhaps its the fulfillment of long held dreams to travel the world, perhaps its my good luck to do so at company expense. But whatever the reason I feel motivated to write again so here we go. Our plane left Seattle at 2:00pm and we took a polar route to Amsterdam on the first leg of the journey. There was a spectacular sunrise over Scotland, off in the distance the sky was ablaze. We dove into the clouds over Amsterdam and arrived at Shilshole intact for a layover which we spent in the NWA elite lounge. Its been awhile since I breathed that much cigarette smoke and I must say I haven't missed it. We had to relocate to the far end of the room to enjoy our stay. Arriving at Begumpet Rajiv Ghandi airport in Hyderabad many hours later we were informed that there was a general strike over labor issues so we had to use an old style rolling staircase instead of the skyway. Our bags arrived and we cleared Indian customs without incident arriving at our hotel around 3:30am IST (India Standard Time). Needless to say we were not in the office first thing the following morning although we did arrive before noon.

Last year we stayed at the Novotel which was a luxury hotel connected to a conference center. This time we were asked to save as much money as possible since the travel budget is exhausted. Ellaa Compass Suites is very nice, my only complaint was the absence of a US-India plug converter for my laptop and the lack of free wireless. There is a port in the wall that seems to work in most of the rooms but doesn't work in mine, so I'm working offline at night and blissfully unable to obsess about the latest news. Since most business guests stay in other places the Suites are very accomodating, employees are nice to the point of embarrassment. After the front desk was unable to find the right plug converter the manager personally tracked down a compatible one within a few minutes. My coffee was refilled whether I wanted it or not and the slightest question sent people scurrying. The breakfast buffet was outstanding with both Indian and Western choices available. I had an omlette with fruit and sausages. My colleague came down to breakfast earlier than I did and was disappointed with the regular brewed coffee so at his request they brought him a special steamed coffee. I asked for a refill a half hour later and was given the same treatment without asking, deliciously welcome but unexpected. We realized the connection later, seems we are educating everyone as to our preferences without realizing it. In the evening I was asked my opinion of a mixed drink and found myself giving a primer in Cosmopolitan preparation for which I was ill prepared. Hopefully they won't hurt anyone. The hotel has an indoor pool and workout facilities which I'll take advantage of tomorrow. They also have a day spa which would send the company accountants into hysterics so massage is on my own dime.

The work day was hectic as expected with several days of accumulated email and a million questions about our project. We were able to identify and partially resolve a number of key issues with the local project manager before meeting with the full team later in the day so our investment in travel is paying off already. Old friends and new ones stopped by to say hello, discuss technical issues and participate in that strange exercise called "team building". If I'm honest that's the biggest thing I enjoy about my job -- working with smart, motivated people who like each other and enjoy solving difficult problems. In our full team meeting we didn't have time for much content but were able to do the necessary interpersonal groundwork to build a solid project team. So far the engagement feels very productive. The previous dev manager even showed up to say hello so we are connected to our last trip and there's a feeling of continuity.

In the evening we went to dinner at Chutney's, one of my favorite Hyderabad restaurants. Getting into the car we wondered aloud whether we needed to wear our seatbelts which had worked their way under the back seat. The driver turned around and gravely nodded, evening traffic here is legendary and its reputation is well deserved. We wove in and out of oncoming cars at high speeds while pedestrians adroitly dodged around other vehicles. Amazingly nobody was killed, at least not by our driver. Chutney's is very informal with a family feel and the food is fantastic. We had Rogan Josh, Dal Makhani and Four Uppamas with different spicy chutney dips. The waiters tended our plates and made sure they were never empty which led inevitably to being stuffed. After so much travel that connected us both to exhaustion so we called it an early evening and returned to the hotel. All in all not a bad start to our trip.

Thanks for listening