The End

dear friends, im back in estonia since end of march. so thats it. 6 months of incredible india. the best memories with me and dear friends back there in delhi.. what a change it is to be home. when i landed in london airport first, i just stood there for half an hour and was looking at people and the clean airport and all the modern little shops and rushing white people. i was smiling but so much ready to just turn and run back to the plane to delhi. i miss delhi big times. really. or not just delhi. india. the colours mainly. the sun and loud people, noisy streets, vegetable sellers, little kids, everything.

so whoever will have a change like that in the future, dont consider twice. coming back home and reintegrating here is tough but with the help of friends we all manage.

namaste!
pictures: http://aire8190.fotopic.net/

Update

dear friends! i owe you one big appologize. last blog entry from 7th december, so no words from me since three months! well, actually i've been updating estonian friends and family by writing emails but always in estionian though.. i've been travelling in india since christmas time, that is for last 2,5 months and while travelling its not so easy to find good internet connections.. you know :)

but, yes, i quit my job here after working for 3 months and went travelling.. its been absolutely fabulous, i've seen so different india now. i started from south, went first to goa and stayed there with my delhi friends for about a week, then moved more south to kerala and after some time started to move up slowly, going through karnataka, stayed in bombay for a while, then up again, to madya pradesh, uttar pradesh and now im back in delhi. just for a short stop to pick up my two estonian friends who will land tomorrow. so we head to north-india together. to rishikesh, dharamsala etc.

i still read my email at least once a week: aire_n@yahoo.com

Varanasi

Dear friends, time to catch up again. This weekend we plan to go to Varanasi, holy city with Ganges River. From Delhi its 12 hours by night train. So it takes some time to get there, but should be worth it. There are so many new trainees in Delhi. In my flat there are 7 people now. All very nice, it used to be me and 4 guys, all pampering me, the only girl. :) To Varanasi we go with group of 6 people. New guy from Australia arrived whose going to join us. So much is happening in Delhi these days. How nice! And for Christmas if the budget allows we go to Goa. Which is the best place in whole India, it’s at the West coast, former Portuguese colony where beaches are nicest and you can swim and party and live simple life. I have to save up money to make this trip. Because there are definitely some places that are a must to visit in India, it’s Taj Mahal, Goa beaches, holy cities like Varanasi and Pushkar, holy temples like Golden Temple, Brahma temple, Hare Krishna Temple etc. India is so cool! :) One day you party in a very fancy club, like we did yesterday, where the male Indian models were serving free cocktails to ladies and the next day you take the cheapest train to Varanasi and experience life completely different. And it’s just some hours away, that different world.

Working life

Some observations:
- In my company people work 51 hours a week: 8,5 hours a day, 6 days a week. If they would move little faster and think little bit harder, this work could be easily done within 40 hours a week.
- Everyone here dreams of working for multinational companies where working hours are reasonable, salaries are normal and people have different mentality (written employment contracts and job descriptions, joint events with company people, nice office environment, habit of giving notice before you leave the company).
- I still find it completely ununderstandable how people are recruited and fired here. For the past 4-5 years the job market situation has changed because of fast development and foreign companies entrance to India. So now its quite easy to find a job for young people. Well, it’s a different question how easy it is to find a good job or to find good people for the company. But anyway, the demand for new employees seems to be higher than supply, so people really take hardly any responsibilty at work, its like they walk in one day, try to work a bit, if they don’t like, they just don’t come the next day. Same goes at company’s side, they hire people so inconsiderately. Its common here to fake the documents and info in your CV. It can easily be that you write in your CV that you are MBA and then you come to work and you are not able to type a letter in MS Word. So many funny things can be found in CV-s, for example, to write in CV that you have “2 years and 8 months working experience”, they write “2.667 years working experience”. :)

Pushkar Camel Fair

hey there, its another wednesday, so time to make plans for the weekend. this weekend for 5 days theres a camel fair in pushkar, in rajasthan. so we will make another trip to that region. pushkar is closer to delhi than these 3 cities we visited last time. camel fair is one of the most popular and colorful fairs of the thar desert, its the mass trading of camels. cattle and other livestock are also traded, but it's camels that hold center stage at pushkar. camel-traders and villagers from miles away converge to pushkar, over 25 000 camels are traded, making this world's largest camel fair. an interesting event is the camel beauty contest, where they are adorned and paraded. ehheee...

like varanasi, pushkar is one of the sacred places for hindus (lake at pushkar is one of the most sacred in India), with 400 temples of which the most important is dedicated to Lord Brahma - the creator of the universe. we also plan to see jaipur on the way.

things are cool otherwise. had some stomach ache and stayed home for some days. now recovering. turning into this every-day life here, things dont seem that amazing and exciting anymore, which is good i guess. adaptation.

Travelling in Rajasthan

hey, im back in work now, after 4 days of travelling in rajasthan - udaipur, jodhpur, jaisalmer. i will write about that travel later, was amazing, beautiful, most most pleasant. :))

but since im back in the office, there have been some interesting happenings here i wanted to write about. first of all yesterday we had the common lunch in the office. its like a big thing here, cause usually its the management who's dining together and rest of office takes their own food from home and eat in separate room. so yesterday, as its diwali times (like christmas back home) we had this common eating. i was so looking forward as i dont see some of the office people every day, so i thought i can meet them and chat a bit, you know. but the way that lunch was, i've never seen it before. around 15-20 people were sitting at the table. at the moment boss arrived, everyone stood up to greet him with horrified faces. after he sat down, everyone did the same. we had the food (eating bread and spicy mixed vegetables with hands as always) in complete silence and everyone with very serious face. only the boss was asking some work-related questions from some people and the answer to him was always "yes sir". it took 15 minutes maybe, then everyone seemed so relieved to leave the dining hall.

that is what we call cultural difference. at these moments i feel im happy im european. no judging, but still, people dont smile, dont enjoy. its this caste system, that your position in company's hierarchy makes all the difference. i always greet the kitchen boy in the morning with a smile and ask how he is and people look at me like im an alien. and well, i was told that this kind of lunch is an honor for the junior office employees, that they feel proud they can attend. the thing one should try to understand is that indian people are very different, its not that they are lazy, but somehow irresponsible. its ok for them not to show up to the office without saying anyone. or take leave cause one of your many relatives is sick on the other side of india or some other strange reasons. so i guess to be manager and run company the best way forces you to be tough.

and you know what? indian people believe its not good to photograph sunset. they never do it, cause that takes something away from you or shortens your life or something. did you know that?

anyway, tomorrow there is one important muslim holiday, so most offices have day off. we still work. :( the thing with holidays here is that offices can decide whether to give days off or not.

After bombing in Delhi

dear friends, just a short message to say that i'm all well and good and didn't stay in delhi at the times of bombing on saturday. we took the train to rajasthan on friday night and we are still here 12 hours away from delhi at the moment. will take the train soon and arrive to delhi tomorrow, that is wednesday, morning.

Christmas in India

so we have christmas here now. diwali is indian christmas, streets are in lights and everone gives you sweets and presents, so nice. this weekend we travel to rajasthan. takes 12 hours by train to get to udaipur. apparently its very nice place with nice people. we stay for 4 days.

Working moto for Indian company

The "will" is more important than the skill.

:-)

My day in Delhi

I wanted to tell you about my days, as I find it very amusing. Mornings are always the best part of the day. I wake up by the hard knocking on the door - the cleaning lady is coming. She comes every morning to do the dishes and to clean our rooms. Then after having quick cold shower (we don’t have warm water), I go outside across the street to the small shop to buy milk and bread. It’s very sweet - the shop owner and his little son, they always welcome you by shaking hands and smiling. Haa, smiling! Then sometimes I go around the corner of the same street to fetch my clothes from dobby-wallah (the guy who washes our clothes). He is ironing the clothes right there, on the street, on a small table. Hmm, then we have the breakfast on our balcony, while observing the busy life of our small street, vegetable and fruit sellers, some people rushing to work, children begging money, some people wiping the street (when doing so they have their faces covered to protect from heavy dust). I think our street is fun, people seem quite easy-going and cheerful. After breakfast me and the Belgium girl, we leave the house together to either catch a bus or take auto-rickshaw. Today we took a bus, god, it was crowded, like 100 people in the same bus, only Indian men and then us, 2 white girls. But eventually we got the seats, so it wasn’t too bad. And when your stop comes, then you have to jump out of the bus because the bus really never stops. But it’s lot of fun. Mornings are nice part of the day. Then when reaching work and cheerfully saying “Good morning”, my mood starts going down. No smiling, no laughing, nothing here in the office, just grumpy people..

There are 2 books that everyone who goes to India (especially Delhi) should read beforehand:
William Sutcliffe “Are you experienced?” (more fun)
William Dalrymple “City of Djinns” (more serious)

happy weekend

this weekend was nice. we wanted to go to agra to see taj mahal (4 hours by train) but as some people needed to be in delhi on sunday then we decided to postpone the trip to next weekend. well, instead we went to old-delhi, which is half an hour drive by auto rickshaw to see red fort, that is huge complex of old buildings and gardens surrounded by big wall. was cool place with nice architecture, greenery and jewelry market.

then saturday evening we got free passes to a fashion show's afterparty. haa, that was cool, free food and drinks and fancy fashion tv people. the place we went to was called piano bar.

gambling in diwali market

gambling in diwali market
Originally uploaded by aire_n.

Life in India

new list of observations :)

1. in delhi young men often walk hand in hand in the streets and hug and touch each other. its because of the traditional life they have, men are not allowed to sleep with women before marriage not to mention 2 single people living together, so single men get little desperate and then they search intimacy from other men. i mean students and people who have travelled abroad, they have different mentality and especially in bombay its not that strict at all.

2. most mornings i come to work by auto rickshaw. it was exciting in the beginning, not anymore as the drivers always want to cheat you. every morning you start bargaining from 60 Rs to get the fair price 30 Rs. in delhi its always like that, was so easy in bombay which is like far ahead of delhi in sense of honesty, there drivers are nice and use taximeter. here you can force them to use taximeter, but then they secretly turn on night tariff counter, which is 20-50% higer then day tariff.

3. indian girls and young women are very beautiful. also pakistan girls. and men here well not so handsome. why is it like that in so many countries? yesterday i heard from the radio that there are 20% more men here than women. so thats another reason why men get desperate eh. cause really in delhi its strongly recommended for a girl not to go out alone in the dark. and not to take public bus or auto rickshaw alone in the dark. and it gets dark at 7 pm. so it makes it a bit difficult to commute.

sikhi boys

sikhi boys
Originally uploaded by aire_n.

Basic Indian things

well, before these things will be too natural for me i write them down for you, cause this is really every-day delhi :)

1. its very warm outside, 30 degrees and sunny all the time, but you can not get suntan here in delhi cause of the pollution, the sun is in haze behind the thick layer of pollution. for sunbath and swimming people travel to goa beaches, to south india (3-4 hours by plane from delhi).

2. tea and coffee is always served with loads of sugar and milk. in every company there is servant for serving tea and coffee for employees and cooking lunch for management.

3. there is one very specific religious group here, called sikhi people. women are not so easily recognizable, but men are, they never cut their hair nor beard. grown-up men wear the turban, young boys wear sort of scarf over the head and the hair is put up on top of head in a bun. i attach a photo.

colourful indian woman

colourful indian woman
Originally uploaded by aire_n.

dussehra demons

dussehra demons
Originally uploaded by aire_n.

Dussehra - Diwali

well, yesterday was national holiday, end of this dussehra thing and beginning of new festival called diwali which is more like happy festival. no more howling behind the windows. last night everywhere in delhi there were big happenings at the sunset where huge wooden images of demons (5-10 meters high) were burnt. was pretty cool to look at. also lots of firework, so felt like new years eve. in delhi the living areas are called colonies, so there was this happening in every colony. we drove down south to one of the poorest colonies, where there were loads of people who gathered to watch the burning, which symbolized end of dussehra and beginning of happy diwali as the demons were destroyed and this back in the history was the day when good won the bad. the story goes like that: demons stole the wife of one god, this dussehra period was the time when this god was looking for his wife, was suffering and unhappy and then yesterday was the day when this god's friend (another god - monkey faced) won the battle with 10-headed demon (i think there were 3 demons all together). so they got the wife back and now for the next 3 weeks they celebrate this victory. by gambling and eating sweets and being happy.

well, that is something i need to see, happy delhi people. :)

Dussehra festival

well, main news is the dussehra religious festival in delhi which lasts for 7 days. its very weird festival. delhi looks like its christmas, all pray-houses are decorated and lit on lights and theres constant singing and praying and howling coming from pray-houses and and from homes also. our neighbours seem to be very religious, during this feast they start howling every morning at 4 am. and their window is just facing our bedroom window so its kind of scary every morning to wake up at this howling and clapping of some sort of musical instruments.

also these people who are serious about this festival, dont eat during the day, only potatos and some milk, but then at night they eat, imagine! and well, another thing, when they go to missas, then they get this red-orange coloured spot on their forehead between eyebrows (both men and women) and its like not only colour but also cereal bits. it looks so strange. image a businessman with a suit having this coloured spot and bits of cereal on the forehead. and then you should discuss work with him. haa, strange people.

After 14 days in Delhi

hey there. god, its been a while. i've been posting some emails but never managed to sit down and start this post entering into blog. so lets try it.

well, its been 2 weeks now. first week i was looking around, got to know people and flat and basic things to survive. this week i've been already working. well, the beginning of work was very promising. really, i got so fascinated by the way i was welcomed here and how my boss was so considerate, taking me out for coffees and lunches and patiently telling all about the company, the history, the idea etc. well, after this one week i'm not that positive anymore. as, well, people dont seem to be very happy. maybe its just that for them its easy to complain to me as im the one who should be helping them to make company run better and more effeciently. but i dont know. lets see.

so otherwise life here is very good. got one very good local friend here, whose showing me around and gets me to meet lot of people. so i've been out every night and been to bombay and amritsar (at pakistan border). and discovering fancy places in delhi. now i think im really done with the fancy part and people and can try to see more of the other side of delhi.

so far so good. was earthquake this morning in pakistan and north india. one friend who has a house in the low part of ground here in south delhi told me his house was shaking a bit, that he felt it. but i dont think any major damages in india's side. more in pakistan, i think kashmir got hit pretty hard this time.