The Khosla India Adventure 2.0

I was thrilled when I found out I would be heading back to India again for an extended trip this Winter.  I love my job and have had some pretty neat opportunities through it, but topping the charts is definitely India.  Already such an amazing opportunity, but to be able to share it with my family...twice...is truly amazing.

That's the update from the adventurous, "love my job, love my life" side of my brain...my realist side was thinking...how am I ever going to get Judsen to India again without a mental breakdown.  When we took the kids last year, Judsen was 7 months old on the way and 10 months on the way back.  At the time, I thought it was one of the longest days of my entire life; keeping a baby quiet and happy on a plane all the way to India was not an easy task and and returning with a crawling 10 month old was worse.  But like with all things in life, perspective is everything.   A year later, the thought of bringing a sleeping baby or a fairly stationary new crawler would be a breeze compared to the thought of bringing my always exploring, fun loving, "no"-saying, never stopping 21-month old Judsen.

I made a decision to not think about it.  Ignorance is bliss and denial would be best friend.

The Berliner

I have a long list of things that I will miss when we leave India.  One that would be somewhat close to the top of my list...

The Berliner.  It takes everything in me to pass by the display of these at breakfast every day. Today the temptation overcame me; I enjoyed every bite.  The combination of the icing sugar and the jelly filled center...delicious!  Now, I am aware that a Berliner is not native to India so I'm sure I can find these at home but the chefs at the Westin make these perfectly.

A long overdue update!

I was doing so well with my blog at the beginning of this trip!  Oh well, I will keep trying!

We are still here and all is well!  Having a wonderful time.  It's hard to believe we have just two weeks left.  It makes me sad to even think about it.  I am going to enjoy every minute of these last two weeks.

Isabel is having a great time at ABODE.  She's really settled in well there although she does talk about how she misses her friends at Purdy's.  She'll be excited to see them all again for sure.  Her and her new BFF, Annabelle, have been having lots of fun together.

Judsen is growing so quickly!  He's proudly shuffling his way around the furniture and seems to be practicing bending down to pick up things right now - too cute.  He's been sick with a bad cold the last couple days (which he caught from me) so the nights have been a bit rough!  Thankfully, I have the most supportive husband around and he's been taking care of the night shift to let me sleep.  He's doing what he does best;  spreading joy. The hotel staff take him for daily tours of the kitchens and take advantage of every snuggle and smile they can get.

Paul's doing great.  He has been working through his second-to-last class to complete his Theology degree while we're here.  He's been enjoying getting to know the staff at the hotel; I don't think there's a person who works at the hotel who doesn't know him by name.

I'm just wishing the days would slow down!  When we were getting ready to come I wondered if we would get to this point and be so ready to come home but now that we're here, it's quite the opposite.

Let's redefine "Line-up"

Many aspects of a chartered accountant's life feel the effect of "busy season"; family, friends, household chores, personal time.  However, nothing is bearing the brunt of this year's busy season more than my blog!  It's not for lack of trying; I think of my blog daily.  I am even accumulating a list of blog post topics so that I don't forget them.  The problem is finding the time to write them; I will continue with my best effort!

An incident at lunch time caused me to stop and take a few minutes to share it.  You know how there are certain concepts that are widely understood and observed around the world? I think of eating a meal, driving a car, riding a bike; all concepts that despite the language you speak, country you life in or religious belief, are widely understood.  I would have included the definition of a "line-up" in that list, until I came to India.  Some might call it a queue but the general idea is that one person goes in front of another or "to arrange a number of people in a straight row" (Google).  It turns out that the concept of lining up is simply not something widely observed in India, and in the cases where it appears to be, there are always exceptions to the rule.

I've observed this in many place; the airport, the grocery store and in traffic, but the place that I notice the difference the most; the Deloitte cafeteria.  I generally meet with some of my colleagues over lunch so I have them with me to navigate the cafeteria.  On other days, I grab a quick bite at the café downstairs but I am usually down there before the crowds as I prefer to eat lunch around noon while the typical lunch time in India is 1 or 1:30pm.  Today was the exception to the rule; I got caught up in what I was working on and lost track of time so I headed down to the café around 1:15pm. 

There was a little line (or more accurately described as a cluster) of people so I made my way to the back.  I was looking at the lunch options so at first I didn't notice how the new people joining the line somehow kept managing to join it in front of me.  Once I realized, I started to observe and it was really quite a amazing.  A few people would be coming towards the "cluster" and just like you would "inconspicuously" join a group of friends in a long line by jumping right into a conversation as if it was really a continuation of one, or by appearing to be looking at something they have and then deciding to stay; each person would glide up to the front of the counter and order their food.  If I had blinked I might have missed it; this is not a skill you can learn overnight.  I suspect children start working on this ability at a very young age here in India. 

I knew there was only one thing to do; push my way through.  My first attempt was a complete failure.  I snuggled up close to the people in front of me; wrongfully assuming that as they moved away I would automatically progress to the front of the counter.  Wrong! I still don't know how, but as if they were attached on a conveyor belt; as the people moved away in front of me, others filled their spots.  I had to laugh at myself.  Next, I considered leaving and coming back after the crowd had cleared when I could "line-up" in a way suited to my upbringing.  Again, I had to laugh at myself; that would be too reminiscent of when I started grade 8 at a new junior high and would retreat to the bathroom during break until the coast was clear.  Diana, you get up there and order yourself the paneer and pea patty that you have your eye on, I ordered myself. (Side note: I normally eat a more proper lunch but I forgot to exchange my larger bills for smaller bills before I left the hotel this morning and the café only takes small bills so I was limited to make a selection from the "snack" options for my lunch today). 

In a manner that was completely unnatural and uncomfortable for me, as the people in front of my started to pull away from the counter I finally pushed my way through.Success!  I have to admit, the paneer and pea patty tasted even more delicious knowing the effort that I exerted to get it.   

By James I mean Justin. By Justin I mean Jason...

Do you every have those moments that your brain just seems to be disconnected somewhere? I seem to have these moments with an increasing frequency which partly scares me but more often provides me with a lot of entertainment.

Today, was a classic example of Diana's brain short circuiting!

I'll have to back-track to last night.  I had heard from one of our teams back home that was having some IT related issues with their team here in Hyderabad; while IT is certainly not on my list of expertise, I had said I'd look into it today on their behalf.  It was perfect timing for an IT related issue because only yesterday I had met James; an IT guy from Canada who is here until March.  I probably shouldn't refer to him as an "IT guy"...I'm not sure how I'd feel about being referred to as an "Audit girl".  Okay, I just looked up his title so I will make the correction, he is a "Senior Analyst, IT Support Service"; that sounds better!  I knew James would be around today and I could talk to him about the issue.

When I met the team this morning to find out more I referenced James and noticed they all smirked. Hmm...always a sign that I've said something wrong.  They explained that I had noted "James" when I emailed them last night but it's actually Jason.  I could only laugh.  Last night when I was typing the email to them I could only remember that his name started with J...so I went with James.  Now that I think of it, that might be a little of Downton Abby coming through.  Anyhow...Jason, okay, now I wouldn't forget...or at least I thought.  What happened next, can best be explained by reading this...(Mahir is one of the team that I was talking to this morning)...

If nothing else, I'm providing people with a laugh...

Starbucks & Lost Keys

Last week I had a meeting with one of our other senior managers who is here on secondment, Mara.  She suggested we meet up at Starbucks which was perfect for me as I hadn't been there yet.  It was interesting that at 10am Starbucks was completely empty; a clear difference between home and here!  I ordered a Chai latte (seemed fitting) and settled in by the window to do some work until she arrived.  Another clear distinction between Starbuck here and home is that they don't have wifi at the ones here.  That was okay - I spent most of the time watching out the window at all the traffic; I could watch it all day long.  I'll have to do a post soon of all my traffic observations.

After my meeting, I went out to meet up with Ghouse and head to the office.  As I was about to get into the car I noticed Ghouse frantically checking all his pockets; India or otherwise, I know what that means...his keys were missing.  He checked everywhere.  He talked to his other driver friends who were around; I couldn't understand what they were saying but I could tell by all their body language that the missing keys were a bit of a mystery to them all.  Next thing I know, Ghouse is quickly heading down the street.  He later explained that he had gone around the corner for tea while I was inside and thought he might have left them there.  He came back still checking his pockets so I knew he hadn't found them.  He called for another driver to come pick me up, so I headed in for another latte.  I didn't realize my phone was off so I didn't know that Ghouse had called a couple minutes later.  Next thing I know, I see him peering in the windows waving his arms over his head trying to get my attention; at last, the keys were found!  When I went outside he had a big smile on his face.  He chuckled when I asked where they were; turns out they were in his back pocket...the pocket he never uses. We both had a good laugh; as someone who loses her keys on a regular basis, I completely understand how that can happen!

Kids Discovery House

Last weekend Amanda and I took the girls to the Kids Discovery House (KiDiHOU...have to love the acronyms here!)  I had heard of the "Children's museum", as it's referred to here and wasn't sure how much fun a museum for kids could be.  KiDiHOU is a wonderful place for kids - they have rooms with different activities combining fun and learning.  Isabel and Annabelle spent a lot of time playing "grocery store" with Isabel as the cashier (handling the money of course) and Anna as the shopper.  Anna played doctor to the animals at the veterinary hospital and Isabel cooked me up a delicious lunch in the play kitchen.  All and all a great outing!

We chose not to point out the paining room to the girls.  Nothing about letting 3 year-old go wild in a room that it's okay for paint to go anywhere seemed relaxing to Amanda nor I!

We'll keep KiDiHOU on the list of things to do for sure.

 A quick breakfast to go - didn't want to miss any play time!