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I started early - around 6:30 or so and I called one of the City Cab companies to come and take me to work. They were outside right on time at 7:45, and the commute took exactly an hour again, no worse than yesterday. Unfortunately, I thought it was going to be a bit cheaper than yesterday since it wasn’t the froufrou “Ambassador” taxi... NOT. He charged 1.5 times the amount on the meter (I knew he was going to in advance, since the booking agent told me) but I guess that was the only way to get them to come for sure. Or maybe just because I’m obviously not Indian
I was able to negotiate my way around the security at Infosys alone, got my badge printed up for the rest of the week, got Mehnoush’s laptop inspected and noted down so I can bring it (and subsequently all my e-mails and design documents for work) actually *to* work. And actually found my way to my cube (although for some reason I always walk into the wrong set of cubes almost every time) - truthfully, there’s no excuse for it compared to that mish-mash of curvy hallways we have in RTP! Most people were already having their coffee, but Abha had not gone for breakfast yet, so she came with me - I was just going to get a coffee but the fresh masala dosas cooking on the outdoor grill were just smelling toooooo good.
Quick work blurb: Contivity VPN is working well back to RTP, VNC to my Linux box is usable to check mail and do some quick stuff, but for everything else I’ll either telnet in and display nonGUI applications back to the PC, or else I’ll use a local version of the client. It is a pretty darn slow link. I must say that having direct access to Nortel’s network is a huge timesaver - there are all kinds of workarounds (not a direct VPN) that the contractors must use; for security reasons they aren’t given free reign on the corporate network.
For lunch today, I tried the north Indian line: a similar setup to yesterday, for just 5 rupees more! Aloo Mutter (potatoes and peas) and some kind of channa mutter (chickpeas and green peas) were the two main dishes, some naans (more like a squished roti, I think - not really a nice puffy fresh naan - cafeteria food is cafeteria food the world over, obviously!), two kinds of rice: plain and with yoghurt mixed in, the ubiquitous raitha, a sweet and maybe some pickle and chutneys available. I can tell that it’s cafeteria food for sure, but it’s really not bad. At this point, I like it a lot better than Marriott!
Around teatime Vinya and one of her friends set out to help me find the bus pass office. Since Infosys is the largest employer here in Bangalore, they needed a way to get their people to work on time; hence the corporate bus network. All over the city, for just 650 rupees per month ($15 direct conversion, or about 22 lunches using my own method) you can come from anywhere and get to work. The farther out you are, the more limited your choice of departure times: so mine from Whitefield here is 6:40 in the bloody A.M. Hmmmm. Yet, I just spent nearly 600 rupees in one day for taxi fare so it’s a really good deal. The bus leaves from International Technology Park (where Mehnoush works) so I could just ride in with her... uh, wait, what am I saying?! It’s 6:30 in the AM remember - no way she's gonna get up that early to give me a ride then!
Anyway, we get the pass, go have some tea, back to the cubes and soon it’s time for me to go catch my ride. Vinya walks me to the bus depot in Infosys - I swear, I feel like a kindergartner! “Okay mom, do I *have* to go to school?” Anyway, the MG Road/Commercial Street bus is not usually my bus, so we find the driver for tomorrow and say “please look for me standing on the side of the road at ITP” and I’m all set. I board my own bus for today, in the back corner of the lot - sure seems like quite a few busses here: as we pull out I can see there are 42 numbered slots here for the busses! Wow! And it’s very impressive to watch them pull out - everyone goes in order and takes their turn and they fit like a zipper going through the gate. This *has* to be the only place on this continent where you can witness 42 huge busses acting in harmony. Some kind of award is definitely deserved here!
On the bus, it’s pretty empty - in the heat of the afternoon, I find it a bit stuffy here, so I have my hand out the window when I notice quite an animated conversation going on between the drivers and some of the passengers. One guy behind me is nice enough to tap me on the shoulder and say that hands out the window weren’t allowed, please pull it in. I should have known better - you never know when the next truck is going to sideswipe you! Hand in then. Eventually, the guy behind me and I strike up a conversation - his name’s Adarsh, and it turns out he’s also going to Commercial street on a shoe quest, whereas my own purpose is to test-fit the formal pants I am having made for next week. Quite a cool phone system they have here: his cell phone would update every block or so with the name of the area we were going though! Must be tied to the cell towers, but man, what a lifesaver that would be for a tourist! He’s used it in Delhi (where he is from) and Bangalore and it works fine in both places.
Since Diwali was just over with, I asked if he had gone home: sure enough, for 11 days. He said that was really unheard of to get that much time off at once, usually infosys didn’t allow that much to be taken all at one time. Adarsh’s train ride home for Diwali was 40 hours, and he said the way to do it is to find 5 or 6 friends who all have to go back too, and book your tickets together, that way you can get one sleeper car almost to your own group. Great idea! Actually, such a trip starts to sound like a lot of fun if you did it that way. Just think of the number of games of spades you could fit in.
Anyway, our bus arrived downtown eventually - what a great difference it is to ride the bus: I feel like I’m on par with the Ashok Leyland’s now. And we’re at least 10 feet above the tailpipes of all the other cars, so it’s not quite as bad when stuck in traffic. Since both Adarsh and I were going to Commercial Street, he took over with the directions and asked around until we found my store; really so nice of him to do that. Commercial Street is quite a packed, bustling, hustling place. I tried on my pants in their rough-stitched state - going to have to let them out a little bit already! The shirt was not ready, so I’ll have to come back for a fitting for that.
After finishing quickly in the store, I walked around downtown a bit. Infantry Road is a major downtown road, and this part is obviously a furniture sales district - I walked through sidewalks filled with bedsteads, cupboards, chairs, etc. Mostly wood, but some steel work going on too. Interesting to see it all outside - at first I thought they were castoffs, but there were lots of people around and it seemed to be in fine shape.
I knew I wanted dinner down there, but wasn’t sure where, and in my wanderings I came across Samarkand, the Afghan restaurant we ate at on my first night in town. Since I’d been there, I passed it by wanting to try something new, but after walking for a half-hour around and not seeing anything that didn’t look too small or dodgy, I wound up going back. Got half the order to go for Mehnoush, but ate mine in the restaurant.
Now comes the question of how to get home! I am in downtown area, and have to get all the way out of town to the suburbs. Cabs are pretty expensive, and are going to charge double at this time of night, especially for foreigners. So I tried the Auto Rickshaw route: first guy said 1.5 times the metered rate, so I got out... next guy I tried wanted double! So of course I left him as well and wandered around looking for another one. I never found another who would go for less than 2x the price on the meter!!! Argh! Oh well, it will be an experience and I’m sort of getting tired of being downtown, so I jump in and go anyway.
Barely enough room for my legs, as I turn sideways, the back seat of this three-wheeler is really tight! And my head bumps the ceiling as well, which wouldn’t be bad since it’s made of fabric, but the frame is right there for me to hit. I will become a bit more intimate with this particular piece of metal a bit later when my driver hits a huge speed bump at nearly 40 or 50 kph - I bounce off the ceiling and the edge of the open doorway (doors on a rickshaw?!? No way). Mr. Andretti turns back with a horrified look “Oh, sorry boss! Sorry Boss!” What can you do? He was nearly thrown out the door himself - then I guess I would have gotten the chance to fulfill Scott Lynch’s dream of driving one, although this one didn’t have a stereo to blast the Hindi music so I guess I’m glad he stayed put.
We made it back fine after that, about 35 or 45 minutes, about the quickest trip I’ve ever had out here. Those little things can really move when there’s not too much traffic. It’s just quite a leap of faith to get in one - hope the Ashok Leylands aren’t hungry tonight!
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