Images from India

India was a different place to visit.  The training was being held at a hotel near the office in Gurgaon, which is a satellite city of Delhi.  Think of it like being in Geelong.  Gurgaon has been "developed" in the last 10 years or so from farmlands into an IT and business hub, as an alternative to Bangalore.  It is home to many shiny glass and steel office buildings and shopping malls, there to service the thousands of call center workers and IT staff.  Outside the privately developed malls, however, are pot-holed roads, dust, dirt, crowds and noise.  It was the epitome of contrasts/juxtaposition between old and new, rich and poor.  I personally found my first experiences of India interesting, but not particularly endearing.  The traffic was definitely crazy with constant honking of horns and no real adherence to concepts such as lanes or indicators.

Andy was also in Gurgaon with us for a few days and it's always fun to hang out with him.  Although he did lead one of my team members astray by taking him out Geocaching all day Wednesday.  I also had to educate my team member that, for future reference, if you're going to sneak off from work and go geocaching with Andy, don't ask your boss' permission!  I of course gave him my approval, hopeful that Andy might help him loosen up a little.

I did enjoy a visit on our last day to the Red Fort in Delhi which is a 400 year old army fort and palace. It was very beautiful in the setting sun.  Getting there was a challenge, given that first, we told our driver we wanted to go to the "Old Fort" (a different fort) and it gradually became apparent that we were heading somewhere else.  Then the driver stopped several times to ask for directions before heading in the wrong direction down a narrow street around a large mosque.  It was definitely the scenic route, as the street front shops progressed from live chickens in cages, to large fish on boards (with buzzing flies) and goats heads, and then to car parts and workshops for cars, auto rickshaws, bikes and motorbikes.  It was crowded and somewhat chaotic.

After a quick tour of the Red Fort with my colleagues Wai Chee, Mok and Michelle, we headed to a market spot called Dilli Hatt (more wrong turns and the driver calling his boss for directions) where we enjoyed some cheap and tasty Indian naan bread and curries before heading to the airport and back to Singapore.