Ok, so it was less of a shopping spree and more of window shopping.
I went to the Ambience Mall – the largest mall in Gurgaon – with good intentions. I wanted to find some authentic Indian stuff to bring back to Elaine and the girls. But after walking the entire ground floor I quickly realized that the mall is almost identical to one you would find in the US. I finally found a few stores where I could buy Elaine some authentic Indian clothes, but I went to a dozen different kids stores and every single one looked just like Baby Gap.
So other than the size of the place, it was basically like shopping at home. They even had a giant food court with McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Baskin Robbins. But the funniest store – by far – was the knockoff of Forever 21 called “Jealous 21.”
So much for shopping in an “Indian” mall.
My visit to Jaipur on Saturday and Sunday marked my first “solo mission” of my trip. I hired a driver to pick me up around 8am on Saturday, stay the night, then drive me home on Sunday. Although the trip could be done in one day, I’m glad I took two – not only was it an experience to stay in a smaller “real” Indian hotel, but it allowed me to see more of the city on Saturday.
Jaipur, also known as The Pink City, is the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan. The city was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, the ruler of Amber who was an expert in math, science, and especially astrology. Being such a nut about astrology, Jaipur was the first “planned” city of India – with the city layout being meticulously planned according to the numbers, signs, and symbols of astrology. In 1853, when the Prince of Wales visited Jaipur, the whole city was painted pink to welcome him (pink is the color of “royal welcome”). Although there’s no reason to keep the town pink, the city is probably the largest tourist destination of the state. In fact, the state of Rajasthan has mandated that all buildings be painted the same color pink (right now there are different variations) in preparation of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
I hired a friend of my driver as a guide for my trip – a bargain at $10. I was initially a little nervous about hiring my driver’s “friend” as a guide but it turned out he was a wealth of knowledge and took me to only one tourist trap. After picking him up on the way into town we started our adventure.
First Stop: Amber Fort
The Amber Fort is the ancient citadel of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amber, before the capital was shifted to present day Jaipur. The Fort is unique in that the architecture and design combine both Hindu and Muslim influences.
Before you even enter the fort you get an awesome view of the entire city from the hilltop – including the red sandstone wall which is apparently the one of the largest wall in the world at 19 miles. Inside the fort my guide told me tons of interesting stories regarding why some of the structures or “features” of the fort were constructed. Some of my favorites were:
- The windows to the outer courtyard are carved so that the queens could look upon the people down below, but the people could only see shadows in the windows.
- In a similar use of technique, the rooftop courtyard where the king was “entertained” by his mistresses and band, the windows were cut so that the queens could not see in, but he could keep an eye on them.
- Because of the weight of the clothing and jewelry, the queens were wheeled around in wheelchairs, so ramps can be found in the walls of the fort to move between floors. This makes the fort very handicapped friendly now!
- The fort had separate sections for different seasons – with different technologies used to keep the fort at an optimum temperature. For example, the summer corner had white marble flooring to keep the room cool, and had a fountain running through the wall with slots for fresh air.
- The Hall of Mirrors is a room where the king would meet with guests at night. The ceiling and walls are covered with small mirrors so the entire room could be lit with only one candle!
Second Stop: Jal Mahal
We made a quick stop after Amber Fort at Jal Mahal. This “Water Palace” sits in the center of the Mansagar lake and was built by the king as a place to entertain guests and to be entertained by his mistresses (are you seeing a theme here?) Also surrounding the small palace are small platforms that were used by the king as royal hunting platforms – for ducks and anything else that came for a drink at the lake.
Although the Water Palace was nice to look at, the shores of the lake were littered with trash and I couldn’t escape the people begging for money… hence the picture of the random girl next to me. I finally convinced her to leave after 10 minutes… with 10 rupees.
Third Stop: The Tourist Trap
I suppose since I got such a good deal on a tour guide I should have expected it, but the guide offered to take me to a place where I could see how carpets and textiles are made in Jaipur. What it turned out to be was an elaborate (and long) scheme to get me to buy carpets. Before the sales pitch I was able to see how block painting textiles were made, and even got to create one myself – but then the selling began. Luckily I was able to escape with only a few tableclothes and not a $500 rug, but that’s only because I told the man my wife would kill me if I bought a $500 rug without consulting her. The truth is, rugs just aren’t my thing.
Fourth Stop: City Palace
The City Palace complex covers a huge area, which is divided into a series of gardens, courtyards and buildings. Initially, Raja Jai Singh built the outer wall occupying a huge area but the additional buildings were constructed later by the succeeding rulers. A part of the exquisite palace is still the home for the current Maharaja or King of Jaipur (think British Queen… no power, just title).
The palace is broken up into several different museums, where you are unfortunately not able to take photos. I’ve found a few online to add to the photos below because some of the places were very interesting – such as the great hall where the king would sit and hear the complaints of the people. There were a few places I was allowed to take pictures, including the Diwan-I-Khas, the hall meant for private audience with the King. It has several peices of artwork on display, as well as the largest sterling silver vessels in the world – used by the king to carry the sacred Ganges water with him on his trip to London. We also saw the courtyard where the King’s children would play. Above the courtyard were a series of secret hallways where the misstresses and wives would climb up to the King’s room. In order to keep the women from finding out about each other, a series of watchtowers were built to keep an eye on the corridors. If one woman was already visiting the king, a lookout could warn other visitors that the king was “busy.”
Fifth Stop: Jantar Mantar
Close to the City Palace is Jantar Mantar – an observatory begun by Maharaja Jai Singh II in 1728, which at first looks like a collection of mammoth, bizarre sculptures. My guide provided very detailed explanations of how each of the instruments work, and how through watching, recording and meticulous calculation, Jai Singh measured time by place the sun’s shadow fell on the huge sundials and charted the annual progress through the zodiac. Each construction has a specific purpose, such as calculating eclipses. The most striking instrument is the giant sundial, with its 27m-high gnomon which creates shows that move up to 4m per hour.
Final Stop: Hotel Madhuban
When I travel, I like to know where I’m staying. And with hotels in the US I have a pretty good idea of what I’m getting when I check into a Best Western or a Marriott. However, this time I had to trust my handy Lonely Planet India guidebook to find the most recommended mid-range hotel in Jaipur – the Madhuban hotel.
Madhuban is the premier midrange hotel in Jaipur, run by the indefatigable Dicky, whose family once ruled Patan. It’s surrounded by high-head plants and decorated with bright frescoes. The rooms are fully decked out, the restaurant is smart and versatile, and there’s a small walled-in pool. It’s completely hassle free.
How can you go wrong with a description like that right? Well, what they didn’t tell me was that my room was as big as my bed, the hotel was right up against a busy road, and that I had to lock my door at night with a padlock. However, dispite all the surprises, the hotel was comfortable and my traditional Indian dinner of butter chicken and parathas was not too bad. The worst part about the whole experience was eating by myself – but at least I was able to overhear the other American couple in the restaurant fighting with each other… impromptu entertainment!
Epilogue: The Drive Home
After a short drive through the city to stop by Hawa Mahal, or palace of winds, we started the 4-hour drive home. About 2 hours into the drive the car started to shake and I realized we had a flat tire. Fortunately, we stopped right across the street from a tire shop in one of the small town along the highway. I waited in the car just watching people in their “element” as the driver carried the tire over to the shop and had it repaired. About 90km after leaving the small town the familiar sound returned and the driver shook his head and said we had another flat – apparently they didn’t do a good job at the tire shop. Luckily he had a spare tire and we were able to get on our way after a quick change. I just wish we had stopped in “monkey town” – the name I gave one town that is literally infested with monkeys… on the way to Jaipur and back I saw maybe 200 monkeys running around in this one town. Made me wonder if anyone had some as pets…
Since I had to work yesterday, today was my day to get out and see Delhi. Although I’ve been in India for a week, I haven’t seen much except for the slums along the way from the hotel to the office. The only other thing I’ve seen is the same route at night 
Needless to say I was excited to get out and see some of the sights of Delhi. Luckily one of my coworkers – Sahil – was annoyed enough with my begging and volunteered to show me around. Not so much to help me find the sights (the Driver knew most of those) but to make sure I didn’t get treated like a typical tourist. I figured having someone native to the area would go a long way to prevent some of the typical tourist scams.
First Stop: Akshardham Temple
This was by far the highlight of my day. The Akshardham Temple was built in 2005 out of beautiful pink sandstone and white marble as a tribute to Bhagwan Swaminarayan, a “torchbearer of Indian culture.” The temple occupies about 100 acres and includes gardens, sculptures , fountains, and of course the Akshardham Monument. The monument sits on a pedastal of 148 incredibly life-like sculpted elephants weighing over 3,000 tons! Before climbing the steps to the monument, everyone is required to remove their socks and shoes. It was such an awesome experience to walk barefoot on the cool marble on a warm day and walk into such a beautiful place. The monument contains around 20,000 carved deities, 234 carved pillars, 20 pinnacles, and 9 domes. The domes were amazing – each one was carved using a different technique giving them a unique texture and pattern. For example, one dome’s intricate pattern is carved up into the ceiling – making you wonder how they did that. Oh, and the entire structure is made without steel to preserve the traditional Indian construction methods.
Unfortunately, security is VERY tight (no cell phones, purses, cameras, etc.) and no pictures were allowed – so I grabbed a few pictures from the internet to show you some of the highlights. If you want to see more pictures, the English Brochure has some great ones.
Second Stop: Connaught Place
Connaught Place (or ‘CP’ as the kids call it) is a huge traffic circle in the heart of New Delhi with seven streets that radiate from it, which are divided into blocks. Originally built by the British during the occupation it has an architecturally uniform series of colonnaded buildings filled with shops, banks, restaurants, hotels and offices. Although I didn’t do any shopping (sorry Lanie) we did stop here for lunch. After taking a death-trap of an elevator up to the 2nd floor, we ate at a place called QBA. The place was set up as a lounge downstairs with couches and comfy chairs so we ordered some appetizers and drinks and we chatted. But in order to order some real food we had to move upstairs where all the tables were. We had some decent Chinese food, which of course had an Indian spin on it, but after lunch we stepped out on the balcony where I was able to take a few pictures of CP and the central park in the middle.
Third Stop: Red Fort
After lunch we headed over to the Red Fort in Old Delhi. The ride there was almost exciting as the Red Fort itself. I had thought the streets of Delhi were crowded and dirty – but Old Delhi took it to another level. The narrow roads were full of twice as many rickshaws and the sidewalks were full of people selling everything from textbooks to Nike shoes. I was told that most of the items for sale on the streets of Old Delhi are stolen – and that every time you enter the market to buy something, you will most likely lose something as well.
The Red Fort itself (called Lal Qila in Hindi) was originally the residence of the royal family. During the British period the Fort was mainly used as barracks and even after India’s independence, a significant part of the fort remained under the control of the Army until 2003 when it was turned into a tourist destination.
We spent about 1 1/2 hours walking around the fort, checking out the spots where the royal family would greet guests, take baths, and play in the yard. These old forts always just make me imagine what itwould have been like to own a place like that – to own a home so large that you’d need a golf cart just to get around. I had to pay the “tourist” price to get into the fort, and even had to stand in a separate line for foreigners – but I figured that $6 was a fair price to see the fort. On our way out of the fort we saw a large crowd gathered near the street and stopped by to investigate. Turned out there were two large elephants that were just walking down the road carrying a bunch of tree branches. The elephants stopped at the crowd to pose for pictures, and the bus of British tourists just went crazy… it was pretty funny to watch. It was just one more thing to add to my list of “things that are on the road in India but shouldn’t be.”
Final Stop: India Gate
India Gate is one of the largest war memorials in India – commemorating the members of the British Indian Army who lost their lives fighting for the Indian Empire in World War I and the Afghan Wars. Following India’s independence, India Gate became the site of Indian Army’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
India Gate turned out to be an anti-climactic end to our day. Not because India Gate is boring, but because we really couldn’t see it. India Gate is located on the road that leads through the city to the parliamentary houses – think of the area between the Washington Monument and Congress. The entire path is clean, green, and full of policemen. Unfortunately the entire area has been roped off and is under guard due to the upcoming India Independance day on January 26th. We could only walk up to the temporary gate – and even then the sky was dark and gloomy (or smoggy) so the pictures didn’t turn out that well. I’ve added one picture to the gallery below so you can see what it really looks like.
Even though I worked most of today, I was able to get one thing done… laundry. Ok, so I can’t really take credit for it. All I did was put all my clothes in a bag and fill out a little form… and 8 hours later my clothes arrived – but not how I expected them.
As you can see, every single piece of clothing came back pressed, folded, and packaged in plastic as if it were brand new – complete with the cardboard inserts you typically find in new dress shirts. Awesome!
There are a few big news stories that have been the topic around the ol’ water cooler here in India – with significant ramifications.
The first involves Ramalinga Raju, the CEO and founder of Satyam, was arrested on charges of criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, cheating, falsification of records and forgery. Raju resigned on Wednesday after revealing years of accounting fraud, including an admission that about $1 billion, or 94% of the cash balances on Satyam’s books at end-September, did not exist. This has big implications for India since Satyam was one of the largest IT outsourcing companies in the country. Not only will thousands lose their jobs (estimated at 10,000) due to the fraud, but it casts a large shadow of doubt for foreign investors looking to hire Satyam and other similar companies. The fraud, dubbed as “India’s Enron” will also have some impact on the accounting firms. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was the auditor of Satyam, and is coming under heavy fire for not finding the fraud. From what I understand it would be difficult to “dissolve” PWC here in India, but I would put money on some sort of accounting reform.
The other big story in the news is the fact that India has run out of gas. Well, technically that’s not true. The country has gas, but those responsible for delivering it to the gas stations, airports, etc. are on strike. As you can imagine, the otherwise chaotic India was thrown into a fit as thousands of people flocked to the gas stations to fill up their cars before the gas ran out. As I write this approximately 60% of Delhi’s gas stations are out of gas. The president of India has vowed to take action today, so hopefully he does something soon otherwise the country will grind to a halt. GSS, for example, depends on dozens of cabs to pick up and drop off employees at work. If the cabs don’t have gas then the GSS employees will not be able to get to work. On the other hand, having a day off wouldn’t be bad.
Finally, I thought I would comment on the American food in India. Since my normal “food guide” left for the weekend I was forced to order room service from the hotel. However, since I’ve been eating nothing but Indian food since arriving, my stomach was very grateful for the break. I ordered a bit of everything since it would most likely be my only relief for the entire week – pasta carbonara, fried rice, cashew chicken, and chicken satay (ok, so I didn’t abandon Indian food entirely). Although very welcome, I find that American food abroad is, well…. not American. Even some pizza I had earlier in the week was much different. Most of the differences come not from the way the food is prepared, but in the ingredients they have available. For example, pasta carbonara is made with ham – but the ham was fattier and stringier than normal ham – almost like bacon that isn’t crispy. The fried rice was made with an Indian white rice that is thinner and longer than normal and contained tons of an Indian form of green onions. So although the American food was a great treat… it’s just not the same as home.
The company’s market value has shriveled to $330 million, from more than $7 billion six months ago.
My intent was to post something everyday, but until my body gets over the time difference I won’t be able to. Every night I get back to the hotel I sit down on my bed and literally pass out until about 2am when I wake up alert and ready to go. I then have to force myself back to sleep until about 6am. Although it’s only been a few days, I’m really hoping that I get over this 12 1/2 hour time zone shift soon!
I thought for today’s post I would talk a bit about the food so far. From what I’ve heard from the people here is that people traveling to India fall under two extremes – they either love the food or absolutely hate it. In fact, one trainer that came out to visit GSS didn’t like Indian food so much that she packed nothing but PowerBars to eat during her stay.
So far, I’ve enjoyed the food. I say “enjoy” instead of “love” because I haven’t found a dish that I would call my favorite. Ever since I’ve arrived I’ve done my best to eat nothing but Indian food so that I can experiance everything here. After all, how many times am I going to come to India? Taking this approach has let me try a variety of dishes, but it has also caused my body to revolt in anger. I’m going to have modify my strategy and excersize moderation before I have a riot on my hands.
I haven’t tried breakfast yet – mainly because I haven’t motivated myself to get ready in time – so I’ve been eating mainly lunch and dinner. Lunch is actually catered every day here at GSS with what I understand to be standard cafeteria-quality food. Of course I don’t know any better, so it’s all been pretty good to me. Here’s a little run-down of the food so far:
Paneer
Paneer - A type of “farmer cheese” that has the same consistency of Tofu and tastes a little like cottage cheese. This stuff is everywhere and in everything, but it is very good cubed and covered in a few Indian spices and served as an appetizer.
Kofta
Kofta – Think meatball (or veggieball) in some sort of sauce. Again, Koftas are versatile and can be made with chicken (murgh), beef, lamb (gosht), or veggies (malai) and come in a variety of curries.
Flat Breads – I think over the past few days I’ve tried every kind of flat bread available. For the most part they are the same – but with varying thicknesses and made with white or whole wheat flour. Roti is made with whole wheat flour and is about the same thickness as a tortilla. Tandoori Roti is different because of the way it is cooked. Instead of being cooked on a flat skillet, it is stuck to the sides of a Tandoori oven. When the bread falls off the walls of the oven, it signals that the bread has been cooked long enough. Because of this cooking method Tandoori Roti sometimes has a burnt or charcoal flavor.
Tandoori Roti
is a flat bread made of white flour with the thickness of a pita but is much softer. Parantha is more flaky or more “elaborate” than some of the other flat breads.
Parantha is rolled out, brushed with oil, and folded upon itself so that during cooking the oil causes the layers to puff up and become flaky. This bread reminds me a lot of the Roti Prada from Straits. Mmmmm…..
Butter Chicken
Butter Chicken – A favorite of some of my colleagues, Butter Chicken is a Punjab dish that uses chicken marinated in a yoghurt and spice mixture. The chicken is then cooked and added to a Makhani sauce made from butter, tomatoes, almonds and various spices. I can’t imagine that this is very good for me – but it can’t be worse than Thanksgiving gravy right?
I’m still looking forward to a few other dishes such as samosas… so I’ll keep you posted.
Today was my first day in India. As I try and summarize everything that I’ve seen and experienced today, the whole experience is overwhelming. Landing at the New Delhi airport was like landing in another world. A dirty, crowded, and chaotic world.
Going from the pristine Munich airport and my business class seat to the Delhi airport truly felt like stepping into a third-world country. From the buildings that look like they could fall apart at any moment to the poverty that just surrounds me wherever I go… I truly feel out of place.
After arriving I flew through customs and picked up my baggage – grateful that the airport wasn’t too busy so that I could get my bearings. I then made a quick stop to pick up some Rupees before heading through the exit where I was stopped by the final customs agent. It was here that I realized this trip was going to be full of “firsts.” The man asked if I was carrying any laptops and I told him I was carrying two – one for business and one for personal use. Well, apparently when traveling to India you’re allowed only one laptop per person – regardless of use. You are then required to pay duty – approximately 40% – on any other laptop brought into the country. I asked how much duty would be, but the man simply said if I gave him $40 that he would look the other way. I talked him down to $20, handed him the money under the podium, and walked out the door. I still maintain that I got a good deal on the transaction – but bribing a customs agent was definitely a first.
I met my driver outside who proceeded to carry my bags to his car. A few other men ran over as he opened the trunk and “helped” him put in my bags and then demanded payment for their “services” in US dollars or Euros. Seeing that I was just out $20 for my laptop I simply stated I didn’t have any cash, only credit cards, which prompted them to walk away disappointed.
At this point I was definitely overwhelmed by the people, sights, sounds, and smells – but never scared. The fear began once I got into the car and we began driving down the highway. I call it a highway, but really it’s more of a free-for-all. Sharing the road with pedestrians, scooters, bikes, three-wheeled buggies, tractors, and semis we barreled down the road weaving in and out of traffic. The only rule on the road seemed to be “don’t die” but I’m not so sure the driver was following that one either. Instead of signaling for a lane change the driver simply drove where he wanted. If a car was in the way – he simply honked – and swerved around them. My favorite section of the road was about a mile away from the toll booth where the lane markings ended and 10 lanes suddenly converge into 3 – talk about chaos! It was definitely scary to be in the car, but I couldn’t imagine walking along the side (or middle) of the road in those conditions. Some folks were just standing 4-6 feet out into the road chatting – cars honking – but didn’t seem to have a care in the world. Even kids were playing in the median! And I thought I was an overprotective parent worrying about the girls playing in our apartment’s parking lot…
We eventually arrived at the hotel – which seemed completely out of place considering the surrounding buildings, empty lots, and tents of people huddled over a stove. I was comforted to see, however, that the driver’s car was searched by the guards at the entrance as well as my bags upon entering the hotel. Especially after the terror in Mumbai a few weeks ago, this demonstration of security did a lot to calm me down.
Since there were no “deluxe rooms” available when I arrived the hotel kindly upgraded me to one of their nicest rooms – and I can’t complain. I’ve included a few pictures here, but the room is very comparable to a nicer Marriott or Hilton hotel room. I did find a few interesting amenities in the room. For example, in order to turn on the power in the room I have to insert my room card into a little slot by the door – apparently to cut down on the electricity costs of guests who leave the TV on all day. There is also a little keypad by the thermostat where you can press “do not disturb” or “make up” which lights up the corresponding signs outside the door.
(Click to enlarge)
After a quick shower and change into some business casual attire I headed to the office where I was again greeted with more security and bag searches. There are guards at every door on every floor of the building who are quick to question you if they don’t recognize you – even if you have a badge.
Needless to say I spent the rest of the day at the office until about 7:30 when I left with a colleague for a traditional Indian dinner which was better than I expected. I just hope my body is forgiving of the Indian food I’ve been feeding it ever since I got here.
