Ginger and American counts remain unchanged during this adventure, without a doubt.
As part of a project for work, I traveled with my boss to India this week.
I have always wanted to visit India. Starting with my love of Disney’s The Jungle Book (obviously not a technical representation of India) along with subsequent movies, tasty Indian food, amazing classmates in college and grad school, my time in Mauritius with families who had moved from India…my interest has continued to grow. I was fortunate enough to travel to this enchanting country in October for work. ABB has significant operations in the company and has been present in the market there for over 30 years.
Also important to note is how long it took me to get a business visa…nearly FOREVER! Seriously cumbersome process, but oh well, it worked!
I travelled first to Bangalore, which is only a 4 hour flight from Dubai. As usual, tons of food was served…hot meals of Indian cuisine. There were very few non-Indians on the plane…this is the start of my being EXTRA noticeable in a country of over 1 billion people where tall, white, redheads are not exactly common.
Bangalore is a very busy place, the IT hub of India, and a center for global commerce. The weather in Bangalore is milder and less extreme than other parts of southern India, which has helped the city to grow and attract talent. ABB has a beautiful office there and factories just outside of the city.
After a few days in Bangalore, I travelled to Vadodara in Gujarat state. I had a layover in Mumbai which meant that as the plane was landing, we flew over the largest slum in the world, Dharavi…the same one depicted in Slumdog Millionaire. Seriously, the slum stretched as far as I could see and had layers and layers of makeshift houses/rooms. It continues right up to the airport fences. The population is reportedly as high as 1 million people living in an area of 500 acres…that’s 2,000 people per acre. Unbelievable.
Most of the pictures you are about to see were taken from inside of vehicles as I travelled to and from factories in the area. You will see as I saw that India is everything, all at once….
Check out the trucks and the decorations on them
People are everywhere, working, bathing, sitting, talking, cooking, eating, urinating, praying, driving…It smells like various curries and masalas mixed with the “needed to shower yesterday” smell, plumeria trees, the droppings from holy cows (I exclaimed “holy cow” a couple of times and then questioned myself regarding the appropriateness of that…oops), incense, jasmine, exhaust fumes and countless other smells.
Quick stop at the pharmacy. Fire on the side of the road, no big deal.
View from the inside of a took-took
Check out these utility poles…think they might be a little overloaded
You see all extremes…poverty, wealth, beauty, sadness…the poorest women still look completely unphased and beautiful in their colorful saris, some of the skinniest children I have ever seen were on the sides of road without necessary complete clothing, other children happily road their bicycles or walked to school in their uniforms with friends…all in the same neighborhoods.
Airport in Vadodara…they wheel the steps out to greet you!
Ladies only security lines. Trust me no one was dressed like this figure on the sign…no legs showing on anyone
Along every road are small businesses bustling with life and energy…a woman squats to brush her teeth with water from a large jug, a small booth serves as a barbershop, an old woman cooks on the ground with large pots and serves meals to customers along the street…every truck and “took took” (maybe it should be spelled “tuk tuk” but either way in means the small three wheeled vehicles used as taxis) is decorated with colorful designs, fringe, banners, stickers, and upholstery….took-tooks and any vehicle including open bed trucks are overflowing with people, entire families are riding down the road on one motorbike.
A cow causes all traffic to stop until it has moved out of the street.
Cow cruising down the street
Stray dogs are a common sight…not so cute as they are covered in dirt and likely all types of parasites…but at least they get to roam free and seem to be tolerated.
I walked through the train station in Vadodara and saw elderly people sleeping on the floor, nearly skeletons…I don’t know how they survive or how they manage to sleep on a stone floor day after day.
I also visited a beautiful palace of the Maharaja of Gujarat state after work finished on Friday called Laxmi Vilas. I finally got my actual camera out for the tour…
Touring with my awesome audioguide headset!
After the palace tour I had some additional time until the drive to the Ahmedabad airport (two hours away) for the 3AM direct flight back to Dubai. I heard there was a large market in Vadodara and I asked the employees at the hotel how I could get there. The really nice guys that worked at the hotel were all Indian and from all different areas. I suddenly became their “project” after I had requested to leave the hotel gates again, in the early evening, to tour the market. I could tell they were nervous and I wasn’t sure if it was for my safety, for the fact that I would not be able to buy anything at a decent price but would be horribly overcharged, or if it was due to something else. Only a few of them spoke much English…everyone else would just smile and nod at me.
I finally asked if any of them could go with me…this obviously made them feel slightly better because basically they were all trying to find a way to tell me I shouldn’t go alone. But then the problem was they were all working. They has some additional discussions in languages I don’t understand….everyone in India knows at least 3 languages: Hindi, English (at least a little) and the local language of their state. There are 26 states in India. Whoa.
Finally they converse with the manager who agrees to send the guy who is from that town to go with me. Awesome. The took-took driver has been involved in these conversations as well, amazing. They are all trying so hard to figure out a way for me to see more of their town without anything bad happening to me. So sweet, much appreciated. The hospitality was seriously wonderful the entire trip.
So we get in the took-took and head to the market, we hop out and the driver leaves…he will come back for us later. As we enter the packed market I can’t take it all in fast enough. The people, the colors, the commerce that is happening. Simultaneously, a few people look up from their trading and do a head-jerk-double-take-who/what-is-that look…I smile back if we happen to make eye contact and huge grins erupt on the faces of children, women give me a shy smile in return. It’s nice, interesting. I am doing my best to remind them that I am normal too…just not in this setting where I am at least 6 inches taller than everyone, without considering my skin and hair color. There are no east Asians, no Africans, no Europeans, everyone appears to be Indian.
My guide helps me buy a few things for dirt cheap prices, but mostly we just wander through this place…fresh street food at different stands, everyday household items for sale, Barbies (why are they blonde and white everywhere in the world??!! Come on Mattel get it together!), cooking supplies, and clothing. Needless to say, I did not walk around with my camera so you will just have to use your imagination on this one.
I am very happy to report that the ABB manufacturing complexes were fantastic and seemed like great places to work.
Entrance to an ABB distribution center
Even the doorway is decorated
Beautiful ABB manufacturing campus
Just outside of ABB…average India
My favorite decorated tractor that brought supplies around the factory
ABB campus facing the canteen area where everyone eats lunch
Lunch at the ABB canteen
Artwork on the ABB campus
Thanks for reading and I hope you have been able to soak up India vicariously through me. It truly is an incredible place. I will go again, inshallah, and visit the huge parks and wildlife areas along with the Taj Mahal and other regions…I don’t think anyone could ever completely say, “I’ve seen all of India.”
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