What’s a Wicket?

The India vs. West Indies cricket match is going on right now and I know this because every few minutes the crowd in the cafeteria down the hall erupts into applauses and cheers. I just looked around the floor and it’s pretty empty. Half of the office must be in the cafeteria watching the match on TV.

Cricket is THE sport in India. No other sport matters nearly as much, despite how good a particular team or individual athlete might be.

I will not claim to be an expert, but I’m finally starting to learn the rules of cricket. Watching the sport on television has become so much more interesting, because I actually understand what’s going on. And now I can read the sports page (75% of which is about cricket) with some interest.

Lauren Rocks!

No story yet. Just wanted to share this GREAT photo of Lauren from Elodie's goodbye party tonight.

More to come....

Weekend Trip to Chandigarh

I spent this past weekend in Chandigarh, a city located 250km north of Delhi. It serves as the capital of Haryana state and Punjab state. But it's a "union territory," so it doesn't actually fall under the jurisdiction of either state. It's also the first planned city in India and was designed by Le Corbusier. The streets were all very wide and connected by large traffic circles. Of course, there were no less car horns in Chandigarh. You could still hear them almost everywhere. I was really impressed by the cleaniness of the city, especially when compared to other Indian cities and towns I've visited. Of course, there were parts that weren't as clean, but on a whole, Chandigarh was incredibly clean.

Chandigarh is home to the largest rose garden in Asia, as well as the Rock Garden. On Saturday afternoon, I visited the Rock Garden, which was designed by Nek Chand. It contains hundreds of rock sculptures and other sculptures made of recycled materials. My favorites were the sculptures of women made of the bangle bracelets that are found on the wrists of every Indian woman. Paths wind through the garden and past several scenic waterfalls and more rocks.

The last night, we stayed at The Fort at Ramgarh, a hertitage hotel, located just outside of Chandigarh. The Fort was built over 350 years ago by the Chandel Rajputs and was recently converted into a hotel. Two huge 37-ft high wooden doors serve as the entrance to the hotel and they are allegedly the largest wooden doors in India, as certified by Limca (India's version of the Guiness Book of World Records). Despite the all-vegetarian, no-alcohol restaurant, the food was very good. The rooms were great too and ours had the largest bathroom I've ever seen in India!

Bread and Butter

I just returned from a 3-day trip to Chandigarh, which is, in my opinion, the cleanest Indian city I've seen so far. It's also a fairly manageable-sized city and therefore, bicycle rickshaws are a very common means of travel. I've only been on a cycle rickshaw once before, in Old Delhi during my second week in India. I often think that it's one of the cruelest forms of transportation because someone is literally pedalling and you (and all your weight) around. And you usually don't go much faster than you would on foot. And the rickshaw wallahs do all of this pedaling and sweating for a few rupees.

As I was commenting on the cruelty of cycle rickshaws to Ani, he agreed and said that he often doesn't like to take them. But he also reminded me that this is how these men earn their living, it's their bread and butter, and my attempts to put myself above this form of transportation would also deprive these men of their ability to earn money and feed their families. That was enough for me. I kept my mouth shut and continued to take cycle rickshaws for the rest of the weekend.

The Quietest Day in Delhi

I have never heard Delhi as quiet as it is today. This is because today is Republic Day and there's a major parade in Central Delhi around India Gate. Roads within a several kilometer radius of the parade route are also closed. Almost no cars are on the streets, just a handful of rickshaws and bicycles. And you hear almost no car horns, a truly amazing thing anywhere in India.

How do I know all of this? I discovered it all during my foiled attempt to go to the New Delhi train station to catch a 10:50am train. I knew some roads would be closed, but I hopped in a rickshaw anyway and assumed the driver would be able to manueover around the road closures. He tried, but failed. Then I decided to take the metro to the train station, but soon discovered that it too was closed. Accepting defeat, I headed back to my apartment, where I then learned that there weren't even any trains running in the morning because of the parade!

And with all of this running around, I also missed my chance to watch the parade, which I really wanted to see. I had been warned that the crowds on Republic Day are tremendous, so I even developed a master plan that would allow me to see the parade AND avoid the crowds. Through a friend, I got a ticket to the full dress rehearsal of the parade on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, I failed to heed the advice of my Indian friends and I took my cell phone with me. With ticket in hand, I was turned away at the security gate. No phones, no cameras, almost nothing is allowed in.

So, after two failed attempts to watch the parade live, I'm now watching it on TV (and the special guest of honor is Vladimir Putin - scary). Currently, there is a group of young school girls with bows in their hair dancing and jumping rope on the screen. I'm waiting patiently for the "fly-past" by the Indian Air Force, which I assume is what I would call a flyover. This is one of the most talked about highlights of the parade. I hope it's half as exciting as everyone has made it out to be.

Happy Republic Day!

Damn Switches!

I've had the hardest time with the switches here because THEY ARE BACKWARDS! You flip the switch up to turn things OFF and down to turn them ON - just the opposite of switches back in the U.S. And to complicate things even more, all electrical outlets have switches. So, not only do you have the plug the cord into the socket, you also have to take an extra step and flip the switch on (down). Even after nearly 4 months here, I still forget this critical step. This has resulted in numerous uncharged cell phone and laptop batteries and even a few cold water showers. (Yes, you also have to turn the hot water heater on)!

Maybe by the time I leave India, I will have this process mastered...Just in time for my return to the U.S. where switches work properly, a land where up is ON and down is OFF.

Chanda Cassettes

For the first time in my life, I saw of store sign with my name on it today. Then again, I'm in India and my name means moon in Hindi. Nevertheless, I thought it was really cool.

Delhi Sightseeing

This afternoon, I decided to get off my bum and do some sightseeing in Delhi. Over the past 3 months, I've gotten so settled into life here that I haven't made much of an effort to see the sights. So, Sunday afternoon, I met up with Lauren and we headed out to explore the Red Fort and then to Humayun's Tomb.

The Red Fort is just across from Chandni Chowk, the bustling shopping bazaar in Old Delhi. Construction of the Mughal fort was completed in 1648. It's a huge symbol of independence and pride for India. Each Independence Day (August 15), the Prime Minister addresses crowds gathered on the lawn of the Red Fort. All and all, it was a nice visit and I'm glad I took the time to do it. But the crowds were large and slightly overwhelming, so I was happy to head out.

After getting our fill of the fort and stopping to do a little shopping at the bazaar inside, we headed to Humayun's Tomb back in New Delhi. It was built in the mid-16th century by the wife of Humayun, the second Mughal emperor. Humayun's Tomb could easy become one of my favorite places in the city to visit. It was incredibly peaceful and quiet and I was amazed at the amount of green space in such a crowded city.

Yamunanagar Field Visit

I returned late last night from a long day trip to Yamunanagar, a city in Haryana state. We are also launching the mobile PCO project here and we went to check on the 4 women that are currently using these handsets. PCO stands for Public Call Office and these are significant fixtures throughout India. They are essentially payphones, although only some are coin-operated. The remaining ones are operated by people, who collect money for calls made. Although most people in urban areas have mobile phones now, PCOs are still used a great deal to make interstate or international calls, because the rates are lower. The goal this project is to provide PCO service on a mobile phone and provide it to communities in rural or semi-rural areas.

First, we met 3 of the women in the office of a local NGO that has set up SHG (Self-Help Groups) to support the women. The purpose of our visit to see how the women were doing with their mobile payphone businesses. They were also given additional tips on how to generate business. Unfortunately, two of the women we met with are not using the phones as much as they could because of pressure of involvement from men in their families. One young woman showed a tremendous amount of interest and potential, but has run into problems from her older brother. He doesn't understand why she now has a mobile phone and thinks she may be using it to take to men. As a result, the young man is often scared to use her phone because of fear of verbal or physical abuse from her brother. Another woman indicated that her husband is using the phone for his personal use, instead of allowing here to use it for business.

Later in the afternoon we traveled to a small village to visit the fourth woman in her home. As we entered, we were greeted by the entrepreneur and several other members of the SHG. I immediately caused a stirred as people gathered in the streets and on rooftops of buildings to catch a glimpse of me. Louise traveled here in December and warned me of the buzz she generated. We sat for about an hour with the women to once again provide guidance on how to generate business. This particular woman was selected by her SHG to receive the mobile PCO because she is the poorest, but the rest of the group was reminded that they are also responsible for ensuring her success. They need to do their part to promote her and her business and help her to understand the phone and basic book-keeping techniques.

Below are two photos of the entrepreneur, Urmila. The first is in the entrance way to her home under her Mobile PCO Name Card. The second is her using the phone so she could then record the transaction in her log book.

Bollywood's Hottest Couple

By far, yesterday's biggest news story in India was the announcement of the engagement of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan. They are Bollywood's hottest couple and many have called them Bollywood's Brangelina.

Abhishek is the son of Amitabh Bachchan, affectionately called 'The Big B' and hands down, Bollywood's biggest star. His son is famous because of him, but has starred in numerous films of his own, including Dhoom: 2 and the just released Guru (which also stars his new bride-to-be). Aishwarya is, in my opinion, one of Bollywood's hottest actresses and she's also a former Miss World. I'm learning that the careers of model and actress overlap in India, where this is usually not the case in the U.S. Her film credits include the entertaining Bride and Prejudice, which was widely seen in the States.

In any case, they are engaged after much speculation and this was the ONLY thing that new channels and newspapers could talk/write about yesterday. I'm sure the chatter will continue over the next few weeks as a wedding date is set and the marriage takes place.

The Joys of Cable TV

For the past few weeks, I’ve been suffering from cable TV withdrawal. I don’t really watch that much TV here, but it’s so nice to flip it on and watch an episode of Friends every now and then. Or watch CNN. Or anything in English. But since January 1st, I’ve only been able to view a couple of free-to-air channels, which were all in Hindi, except for the Hallmark Channel. And there are so many Hallmark movies one can watch (none).

A new mandate went into affect the first of the year that requires the installation of cable boxes and most regular cable channels were dark. Like most things in India, the installation of my cable box took awhile. But on yesterday, I was rescued. My cable box by was installed. Now I can watch endless episodes of Friends, Seinfeld, ER, and Will & Grace.

Oh, and I have digital cable. Apparently this isn’t as common as it is at home, because my landlord gave me a 10 minute lesson on how to operate the TV, the remote and the cable box. Not exactly rocket science, but I guess it is to him.

Peanuts and a Country Day Reunion

On Wednesday, I met up with an old childhood friend for lunch in Delhi, of all places. I've known Elizabeth since we were kids. We'd gone to elementary school together at Sunrise Valley and even daycare together at Country Day.

Although I've only seen Elizabeth once since she graduated from South Lakes in 1995, I happened to run into her twice in recent months in Reston. I first saw her the week before I left for India and briefly mentioned my upcoming trip and work. Then, when I was back home in December, I ran into her and her mother in Best Buy. She asked me about India and also mentioned that she would be traveling there at the end of the month.

I quickly learned that at this time of year, India is overrun by American business school students. I've read about them in the newspapers - both before their arrival and during their stays. I even ran into some while I was in Goa for New Year's. The group from Harvard Business School, of which Elizabeth was a part, had 100 students!

In any case, Elizabeth is in her last year at HBS and was participating in school-sponsored trips to India and Pakistan, while also conducting research for her field project. During her time in India, she traveled throughout the country, visiting Delhi, Agra, Mumbai, Kerala, Rajasthan (and probably some others) and met a host of Indian government officials and business leaders. That day, she was off to Pakistan to visit, Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. They are even scheduled to meet Pakistani President Gen. Musharraf.

The highlight of lunch of me was remembering that Elizabeth is also allergic to peanuts! When we ordered our food, she notified the waiter and asked that he ensure there were no nuts in her dish. I laughed because I'd completely forgotten that we had our nut allergy in common. And then we traded stories about other foods we are allergic to and not allergic to (Elizabeth: soybeans, but not almonds; Chanda: almonds, but not soybeans). I mentioned how Kelly once tried to kill me by mixing M&Ms with Reese's Pieces. Elizabeth tried to convince me to take one of her epi-pens - just in case. This is definitely a conversation that can only be enjoyed by people that are used to questioning waiters about food content and having their friends taste their food before each meal!

Mewat Field Visit

On Monday, I traveled to Mewat, a district in Haryana, with one of the companies I am working with to continue their launch of the mobile PCO project. There, women entrepreneurs gathered for a training session where they learned more about the product and how to use it. At the conclusion, they signed up for their mobile phones and the phones were distributed. For most women in this region, mobile phones are only used by men so this was the first time they had the opportunity to use one.

For me, it was great to see the pilot in action. It makes sense of the work that my colleagues and I have done over the past several months and it was even better to see the people that are benefiting from this work.

Over the coming days, weeks and months, the team will continue to visit these women to ensure they are comfortable using the phones and to monitor their progress. While there are only 8 women with this phone to date with this particular project, the hope is that the we will be able to roll it out to 50 women in Haryana by the end of March. And if it's successful, the operator is considering a larger rollout.

Not One Blog, but Two

I now have a second blog. I've been asked to create and Accenture blog to be used as an online recruiting tool. There are currently two analysts maintain blogs about their career experiences, as I've been asked to do the same as someone who's worked for the company for a few (well, 6) years.

I just submitted my first entry, but it's not up yet because it has to go through the corporate sensors. I'm sure it will be up in the next day or two and I'll be sure to post the link for all of you to check out. The posts that are currently there are from a guy who used to maintain this blog.

I'm sure it won't be as thrilling and exciting as this one, since it's supposed to be focused on my career, not my personal life and trips around India. But in any case, you may find it kind of interesting, so be sure to take a look.

The Largest Employer in the World

Since I’ve spend a lot of time in the Indian Railway system, I thought I would devote a whole entry to this organization, which is often sited as the largest employer in the world. I haven’t been able to confirm this statement, but it sounds about right to me. Personally, I think I could bring a little efficiency to this organization. There are about 14 different railways in India, all under government control, that connect the entire country. An overnight train journey (not a trip) of 15+ hours is considered normal to the average Indian and most wouldn’t consider traveling any other way.

Employment with the railways provides a stable, well-respected job and there seems to be a fair amount of nepotism. Here’s an example. Ani works for the railways. So does his father (well, he’s retired), his brother, two of his sisters, one of his brother-in-laws, his mother’s brother, and two of his cousins. And that’s just a start.

Indian Railways has its own medical team and hospitals. They sponsor athletic teams that compete across the country and internationally. They sponsor Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops (actually I think they are called Guides here). In any case, their reach is wide.

On my travels from Delhi down to Goa, I had the pleasure of getting to ride in the three main classes of travel, 2nd class A/C, 3rd class A/C and Sleeper class. You will notice that Sleeper class does not have A/C in its name, therefore there is no air conditioning.

I didn’t experience much of a difference between 2nd class and 3rd class. There is air conditioning in both. And bed a sheet and blanket are provided for overnight journeys. And on the nicer trains, meals are even included that aren’t that bad. The only difference is that in 2nd class, there are 6 beds in a cabin, while in 3rd class there are 8. And – there are curtains in 2nd class. Maybe this is the important difference.

Sleeper class is VERY different story. The tickets are incredible inexpensive (even according to Indian standards). Because the train from Pune to Goa was virtually full, we were only able to get seats in Sleeper class. At first I thought the lack of A/C would be the major problem, but in reality, it was the fact that the windows were open (due to the lack of A/C). This resulted in lots of noise from the train and frequent foul odors coming through the windows throughout the night. In the end, I got used to my surroundings and managed to sleep for a few hours of my 14 journey.

All in all, the train really is the lifeline of India and the country would not be the same without it.

Train vs. Plane

Or you could call it time (train) vs. money (plane).

I recently made some significant travels in India via train, which is the lifeline of travel within the country. I traveled from Delhi to Mumbai, then Mumbai to Pune, and finally Pune to Goa, all by train. My return trip from Goa to Delhi was made via plane on one of India's "budget" airlines.

I thought this was a bright idea since the train trip back would have taken nearly two days. But as all Indian know and I now know, Delhi is plagued by fog in the winter, which results in huge air traffic delays. My evening flight was delayed for 3 hours and then cancelled. It was rescheduled for the following morning, but we then had to sit on the plane for another two hours. And once we arrived over Delhi, we had to circle around for an about.

All in all, I’d probably opt for the plane again, since it’s just easier, but here’s a breakdown of the distance, time and cost of both legs of the trip.

Train:
- Distance Traveled: 2149 km (1377+192+580)
- Time: 34 hours (17+3+14)
- Cost of Travel for Two People: $44 (2000 INR). Note: Ani traveled for free since he works for the railways. And he was somehow able to get my ticket from Pune to Goa for free.

Plane:
- Distance Traveled: 1904 km
- Time: 3.5 hours (Plus a 14 hour delay because of flight cancellation and a 2 hour delay while sitting on the plane)
- Cost of Travel for Two People: $424.73 (19113 INR)

Lessons Learned: Patience is required either way. The train is MUCH more affordable than flying, but it takes a tremendous amount of time. If you have the time to spare, but not the money, train travel is definitely the way to go. Plus, this is how the majority of Indians travel, so it's more of an experience.

Merry Christmas from Bollywood

Belated Christmas greetings from India. I’ve been offline for the past several days and have been unable to post anything on my blog. Fortunately, I have a host of stories to share from my travels, so stayed tuned.

On Christmas Day I went to see the Indian film Dhoom: 2. Not only is it the biggest movie in the country right now, it also has the hottest soundtrack. People are excited about the film because it’s the first big Indian action movie. Complete with death-defying, unrealistic stunts, it is Bollywood’s answer to our Mission Impossible and Bond movies.

But not only does it have action, but it has singing and dancing! I was incredibly disappointed to learn that these stars do not actually sing their songs. Instead, the tunes are provided courtesy of playback stars and this itself is a huge industry here. But I do have to credit the Bollywood stars with their dance ability. It’s hard for me to imagine Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise breaking into an elaborate dance routine ever.