Two Months in India, A Retrospective

Over the past two months I've had some incredible adventures (and many more to come). Some of the adventures I've talked about here, but so many things are too small, insignificant, to mention in their very own post. So this post is a collection of small, insignificant, things. Which are not altogether small or insignificant.

Bees. We had 'some' bees take up residence in the unoccupied apartment next to us. Not the nice friendly bees you get in NZ, nope, these are aggressive, mean bees. Over the course of a few days, they were thoroughly doused in poison, then the honeycomb chipped off and thrown out.

Angry bees

We had pigeons on the balcony, nesting. The eggs hatched, we had baby pigeons, which are the most alien, ugly creatures imaginable. They got bigger. They started squealing and chasing their parents around looking for food. The started flapping their wings and looking longingly off the balcony. One successfully launched its flying career, and we awaited the other. Then.... murder most horrid! One morning a headless baby pigeon was discovered, an explosion of feathers, blood streaked white tiles, and a eerie silence. Came home after lunch and found all that remained was the blood and feathers... the body of the pigeon had disappeared.

Baby pigeons are terribly ugly creatures.

 After a bit of Googling, we decided one of the local birds of prey had found the squawking youngster and killed it, eaten the head (apparently their favourite bit), and then came back later and retrieved the body for dinner. Nature is vicious.

Work. It's going well. The team has really integrated, helping each other out, training each other as they go.  I have struggled with the constant breakdowns in processes but from experience, I know that once you fix one thing, it shows the weakness in another. It's not unlike replacing a part in a car- the addition of a shiny new part will place another worn part under stress, causing it to breakdown. There are some good systems and processes in place now and with further work, I have no doubt we can continue to produce excellent work. The hardest thing has been (and will continue to be) communication. Between the staff and myself, between Christchurch and India. It's so important to have that in any business, but when head office and the boss is so far away, I've had to rethink how I do things. I miss sitting in my office and being able to yell into the office next door to talk to the boss. I miss being able to sit and talk problems and issues through, to brainstorm solutions together. It's not been easy and many evenings have been spent brainstorming solutions, or Googling how to fix problems I never thought I'd have.

Work has always been a big part of my life and I enjoy it. Over here is no different, I still love finding issues and resolving them, I like being busy and running around with my hair on fire (metaphorically). And I really like being able to manage a slick team that produces excellent results, yet still allowing them to grow as individuals too. It's hard work but we are making real progress.

Tandem NZ team as of today!

Demonetisation. On the 8th November, Modi (India's Prime Minister) announced that 500 and 1000 (about $10 and $20 NZD) rupee notes were no longer money. That's right, 86% of the cash in a cash-based country of 1.2 BILLION people, was rendered less useful than Monopoly money overnight. There was a new 500 rupee note that was *almost* printed, and a new Rs. 2000 note to replace the Rs. 1000. However the 2000 note was too big for ATM's, and because the next biggest note is a Rs 100, you can't spend it anyway, no-one has change. The country was given till the end of November to exchange their old notes (Rs. 4000 at a time maximum) or up until end of December to deposit their cash in a bank account. Estimations of how many Indians have bank accounts range from 40% to 60% of the population. You can imagine the queues, the chaos. I queued for two hours one Saturday and changed Rs. 4000, and then four days later they dropped the limit to Rs. 2000 and you could only exchange money once. The ATM limit was also lowered to Rs. 2000 (reminder that's about NZD$40) and my overseas transaction fees are about a quarter of that.

The reason behind the move is to destroy the money black market, to stop the Government's opposition party from using dirty money to buy the next election, and to bring India's currency back in the country. Roughly.

The result of this has been absolute chaos. A lot of the truly poor are illiterate and didn't understand the money could be exchanged. People killed themselves thinking they had nothing left. The queues in some centres were ridiculously long, and people died from exhaustion, literally died standing in queues. The constant rule-changing meant a lot of gossip and panic. However throughout it all, most people have been remarkably compliant. People have helped each other out. Asking me if I needed cash (I did get fairly low there for a while), if someone had change, swapping it for big notes for others. I've seen a lot of kindness over the past few weeks.

Anyway, current situation, I have cash, all is OK, and I think India will sort itself out by the end of the year. Before the next utterly crazy thing happens.

I'm RICH!... In an Indian way.

My everyday life is good... the food is amazing... the people incredible. I've made a few friends over here, most notably an Aussie traveler and a local Indian family. I'm well cared for by them and the wider community. More adventures with them coming up over the next few weeks!

To finish; here's something I regularly see on the streets- dead rats. This one was dropped down a hole and got stuck, leaving me with this view. Made me chuckle.

Rattus inahole-us

Beautiful Things In Bangalore

A Ramanchandran

Just a quick post of beautiful things. Visited the Bangalore National Modern Art Gallery yesterday. The price for locals to visit is Rs. 20 and for tourists, Rs. 500. I have no problems with paying more than the locals, I think it's good that it's accessible for locals to visit. The building itself is beautiful, light, airy, and cool. The first section is the more traditional Indian art, and the second half the modern.

 Disclaimer: I know nothing about art.

A Ramachandran

A Ramachandran - Earthen Pot

The current exhibition is A Ramachandran. He has a strong feeling in his works about the inequality that is evident here in India. Lots of colour, and the size of some of his paintings are massive (which I like). Anyway, I really loved his work.

One in particular is the line drawing above, so beautiful!

Then I found one of Jagdish Swaminathan's artworks. I came home and researched him a bit more. I love the colours and the sense of freedom (see disclaimer) in his art. Beautiful. I'd be happy to have any of these artworks hanging on my walls in my house.

And now your Indian art lesson (such as it is) is over for the day.

Jagdish Swaminathan

Jagdish Swaminathan

 

Jagdish Swaminathan

Indians Are Their Own Stunt-Doubles

Last weekend I ventured to the local market to find the freshest produce. A long, long, long row of produce stalls, selling a fairly standardised set of produce. Garlic, ginger, onions, chilli, potatoes, cauliflower, fruit and vegetables, and spices.

I'm a believer that you can't have too much garlic or chilli, and this market delivered. Cheap and plentiful and fresh. Mounds of fresh mint, coriander, tulasi, betel leaves, and others that I couldn't identify. The smells ranged from wafts of rotting produce and other unsavoury unmentionables, to heavenly spices, then drifts of incense, or flowers. The local cows (and a giant bull) were well fed and cruised around doing cow-type things. Tim and I were the only westerners there and we were watched with much interest. Everyone is very friendly and know who the Black Caps are (embarrassing) and lots of people want to say hello.

When we purchased a cauliflower, the owner suggested I take a photo of their son. He was all smiles until I took the photo, which required a serious face, then all smiles afterwards.

This market isn't far from the apartment, just a quick death-defying auto ride away, so I will be back. I hope one day they will treat me like a local and I won't feel quite so.... watched.

I've been reading a bit about India and after the little experience I've had here so far, a line from a blog really resonated with me: Indians are their own stunt doubles. How true this is. Their traffic is chaotic, every time you travel on the roads, you take your life into your own hands. The living conditions are varied, depending on your status and wealth, but all levels of living require a certain amount of living dangerously.

It really is a nation of entrepreneurs- you need to be able to think on your feet and sell yourself, to put yourself in a better position than the other people around you. At work, I would have more than ten people a week coming in off the street to sell me their product. Whether it is internet, food, recruitment, or e-waste disposal, they turn up and greet me enthusiastically, ardently wanting my business.

Every time I buy something here, I have to give the store my cellphone number. After being here three weeks, I get about five unsolicited SMS a day, selling me everything from shoes, to internet deals, to food, to Diwali gifts. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and you really do want to be on the top. Because here, being at the bottom is unfathomable.

Beggars on the street, variously using their children to sell pens or balloons. Or women simply sitting there with children passed out on them (allegedly drugged to ensure their compliance). Old, wizened women, palms open, looking for a few rupees. Various disfigurements or deformities that would ensure they wouldn't be able to live productive lives. How do you decide who to give money to? How do I pick between the child selling me pens at the stop lights, or the man who has a half a leg?

Week Two: IWA & Cultural Idiosyncrasies

I ostensensibly moved to Bangalore for a job. I needed that next career step in an operational role, and I love a challenge. I wanted to develop my skills and really push myself. So far, I certainly have achieved that goal. Every day presents new challenges to overcome and while the challenges are exciting, they can also be fairly tiring. 

The idiosyncrasies of India have been well documented. For example, in the gym I use in my apartment complex, it has all been finished to a relatively high standard. However at some point, tradesmen have needed to access wiring in the ceiling, so they’ve cut numerous holes in the ceiling and I suspect those holes will be there forever. In my apartment, towel rails have been installed as per the picture… and this is how it’s remained.

There is a ‘close enough to complete’ mentality which is prevalent, and combined with the Indian’s love of seemingly pointless officious rules, we have coined the phrase ‘India Wins Again’, or, IWA. Sometimes, battling the status quo is just too hard and it’s well worth admitting defeat and moving on to the next project.

The cultural differences between Kiwis and Indians at work are ensuring that I’m definitely developing some new skills as a manager. In New Zealand, a large proportion of staff have a ‘number 8 wire’ mentality- if it doesn’t work, we’ll fix it. We will think around the problem and come up with an innovative idea. We also don’t like authority very much and rage against the machine at any chance we have. So, in New Zealand, I’ve been blessed with staff who don’t want to be managed, don’t want to be told what to do, and fix problems before they are problems. They are not without challenges, but this is the culture I’ve grown up with and I understand it.

Over here there is a definite deferment to authority. They appreciate having time with their boss, being asked what they are doing, and there is the belief that the boss is the person who is paid to think and come up with solutions, they are just the person who carries out the work as instructed. Indians also take pride in being able to complete work, and they don’t want to say no and to lose face. This creates the perfect storm of staff being asked to do things they aren’t trained or comfortable doing, they say they can do it, and then spend a long time fruitlessly trying to do so. 

I maintain that a weakness and a strength are just opposite sides of the same coin. So while their deferment and inability to say no can be incredibly frustrating, they are also really keen to learn new things and will give anything a go. Generous, kind, and open to ideas.

It’s difficult for me because I’m used to being challenged if I suggest something that wont work. I expect people to be comfortable with telling me if a system or idea is terrible, because I have very general skills and they are the experts at what they do- they will know better than me. I’m having to change my approach completely because they will do precisely as they are told, even if what I’ve proposed is awful. 

So I’ve spent some time coming up with strategies how to best accept these limitations (both of myself and staff) and how to get the results I want- a job completed to a high standard, finished on time, and within budget. Our staff also seem more comfortable with us now and are more willing to talk to us. We have a fantastic, skilled team who are starting to collaborate and create some fantastic synergies… let’s see how this week goes!

A day in the life...

Hosur Road, along which I walk to and from work.

Almost a week completed here, and to be honest, it's all been a lot easier than I thought it would be. It's been easy I suspect due to having the apartment all set up and someone here that's done all the hard work of finding a supermarket, and learning the unique quirks that make this India.


For instance, my local supermarket, what I call the Kwik-E-Mart (it's actually called the Star Mart), has a security guard as you go in, and he cable-ties my bag shut. He ties it to another zip so I actually can still easily open in... but, he's done his job. Then, at the exit of the store, there's another security guard who looks at my receipt and checks through my groceries and makes sure they match.

We have regular power cuts. The UPS stops our computer system going down, but the AC and lights just abruptly turn off. There's a generator that kicks in and the power comes back on quickly, and I've been told if you're in the elevator that it takes you down to the bottom floor and opens but I'm not willing to test that theory!

In a way, it's not as "India" as I was expecting. I get up in the morning, shower, breakfast, walk to work. Work. Walk home, might do grocery shop on the way home, then I do my assignment for my post-grad stuff in the evening. Not very exciting.

Chicken Biryani lunch.

Food: I make drip coffee and fruit salad for breakfast. Pineapple, bananas, pomegranate, melons... cheap to buy and tastes so good. A watermelon cost me about Rs. 56, about NZD$1.20.

Dosa lunch, stuffed with vegetables

I go out for lunch every day, it costs less than $5 and I haven't finished a meal yet. I generally buy vegetables at the supermarket and then cook them at home for dinner.

I think the biggest challenges so far is trying to get stuff done at work. I've been tasked with setting up various things at the office and it's very challenging when I don't have ANY local knowledge around local shops, or how India works. For instance, sourcing embroidered polo shirts for staff. Sizing, fabric quality, how they do the embroidery. All things at home I'd have a rough idea of where to go and how much it should cost. here... nope.

"Office lunch" with two kinds of curry and roti.

I have had some wins. I've found an ATM that lets me withdraw money. I have managed to top up my Indian SIM card with data, so I have internet. I have found the gym in my apartment complex, so I will start going to the gym in the morning. I have managed to remember all my staff's names (a minor miracle even in NZ). I got a pedicure.

I'm going shopping this weekend with two of the women I work with. I've got a couple of salwar kurta that I bought last week but I need enough to last a full week. Because I don't know what's popular over here, I could inadvertently buy something I like which proves to be very uncool, hence the shopping assistance required!

I wake to the call to prayer, an eerie discordant sound that seems so fitting in this beautiful, chaotic city. At night, I fall asleep in the heavy warmth, under the fan slowly drifting above me, listening to the distant tooting on Hosur Road, the barking of stray dogs and yewling of fighting cats. And life is beautiful.