The light at the end of the Chutney

Wow, it has been two weeks since I posted anything on this. Time flies when you are not isolated in a third world country clocking 16hr work days. I am writing now from my friends apartment in India. I incidentally moved apartments today and perhaps because of karma, even my new apartment does not have internet, an affliction shared with my old apartment. I have two more days before I am done here and just writing that is eerie. It is almost as surprising as how familiar it felt when I landed here from the US for the second time a few days ago. Could it be that our intrepid protagonist has conformed to this foreign wasteland? The answer is oddly "yes". For all I have mentioned and for as unsettling as much of this experience has been it has jarred me enough that I think differently now. This was most evident when I landed in Los Angeles, my first taste of Amedika in months. For the first few days I was in Balki Bartokomous mode.

(Before I go on I want to mention that I am going to retroactively add some posts to this because I want to have a full account of my jaunts before I close this nerdonic blogging chapter of my life)

It actually took me by surprise how much India had affected me when I was home. Just seeing our American way of life in person after much time in drastically different settings was a unique experience because I felt like I was a visitor now, even in places I had seen before a thousand times. It was like I had to reconsider many things in my life one would think are settled upon for life. Not sure if that made sense but let me try to explain. So my first meal back was Mexican food at a restaurant. Traditionally this is a joyous event. Natalie and i had a great meal and the food was just what I wanted but it was somehow not the same for me to be there. First of all I could not eat that much (I found out later that i lost 15lbs while I was out here) because my stomach was full about half way. When you are in a familiar setting and feel like its your first time is a rare sensation. Looking at the other tables, I couldnt get over how much people were eating and how much was left over to be thrown away. I was not shocked at all this, in fact I expected to feel it, and its not like I was in rural Africa starving for three years, but It was a really interesting feeling. Even paying brought on the sensation because he meal was a good price for Los Angeles but I was even taken aback at that point because I kept thinking how much the equivalent would purchase in food in India.

Driving around LA is a trip no matter where you come from but the same odd sensation was present while in a car too. The cars, the people, the streets, the shops, the scale of everything had new meaning. And how much money invested in all of it too! This may all sound weird or over-dramatic but what I kept thinking was do we need all of this?

Another week, another migraine....

So somehow it is Friday and i havent even loaded in my BKK (Bangkok) stories yet(wrote them into my bberry and they somehow went into the abyss). I am pretty exhausted right now, from that trip, this week, and this whole experience. Getting to work at 4am and leaving at 7 has taken its toll. Getting anything done here at times is like pulling teeth. Through your ear.

Luckily, I am going home, or rather homish. California is close enough for me right now. Even though i will be working I cant wait to speak english, know what people are saying, eat red meat, breath in are without smelling garbage, and swim in an ocean without fear of disease. Only twenty hours of flying between me and my oasis. But does that mean our intrepid hero is done with his venture? Is he leaving us with only a quip of a goodbye?

The answer is no, I will be coming back to India (in what promises to be a hellacious trip around the world - literally - in twelve days. Tonight is India to Germany to Los Angeles. Then San Francisco. Next Saturday San Fran to NYC. 50 hrs later NYC to India.) and that will be the end. next time I sit in front of this thing I will be filling in the blanks I have left so far because I want it to read smoothly and so far it does not encapsulate everything I have been through (and this is not even the good stuff).

bombay to bkk

i got back from bombay a few hours ago and now I am headed to thailand for the weekend...

stay tuned.... :)

Best work day of my life

This is not a forum for talking about work but I have to write this down. Yesterday was the best day of my professional life. Part of my job developing the team here is to announce what we do within the Indian market and yesterday we hosted a marketing event held in Bombay for a few hundred businesses that are potential clients.

I expected it to be casual and kind of underwhelming but our company rolled out the red carpet almost literally. There were signs fifteen feet high, a staff registering people in, a buffet for hundreds, and a 500 seat theater with a stage set up with lighting and huge screens. So basically I presented on what our company can do for them, what this team can do, and my experiences doing what I do for like 45 minutes and took questions for an hour afterwards. Being on stage like that was like lightning. making a conservative crowd of people who don't know you laugh like that is something special.
This was easily the most vivid emotion and real feelings i have ever felt from working.

In the rest of my life I have surpassed it countless times but i am never going to forget that. It is going to be a turning point for something i hope.

So to celebrate, since fun and wildness is not allowed in this country, i went back to my hotel and ate like a viking with room service; 5 entrees, 3 pots of tea, and a toblerone bar.

warrior sleep good.