Mike and Tony were to meet a local Schneider Electric employee, Gautum Jindal, for lunch. I recognized the name but couldn’t remember exactly why. I figured I was going to stay at the hotel, maybe work out, swim, work on the blog. The three of us hung out in the fancy hotel lobby punching away on our laptops for an hour or so until Gautum showed up. He clued me into the fact that I used to send sales reports to him (along with a big slew of people in the company worldwide). He asked whether I would like to join them...why not? I assume my ex-company would be picking up the tab.
Just a random camel we saw as we looked out of our room in the morning:
He took us to a fancy kebab restaurant in the bottom of a hotel. It was a fixed menu, all you had to choose was veg or non-veg. The waiter rambled off all of the items we would be served and I didn’t think I would make it through it all. The first item was a pseudo-salad consisting of watermelon slices, pineapple and cucumber (I think). We all kind of looked at each other and wondered what to do. Supposedly some watermelons get injected with water to make them seem better and it can be a possible risk to getting “Delhi Belly”. I avoided it while the other boys stepped up to the plate. Food item after food item kept showing up. We had to tell them to slow down at one point.
Practically rolling out of the restaurant due to all the food we ate, we hopped in Gautum’s car and headed back to the hotel. Tony expressed interest in a nap but I convinced him that we should go on a beer run (well walk...actually, a “beer subway and walk”). We got some instructions from the helpful but extremely fast talking concierges. Our plan was to head to the nearby subway station which was actually raised 50 feet above ground, head 2-3 stops and find a shopping area. I think we did fairly well dealing with the local, relatively new, transit system.
Tone on the subway (which by the way you are not allowed to bring any kind of manure with you on the train according to one sign...good to know!):
Exiting the station, we were slightly surprised by the dichotomy of the fancy shops in small multi-storied malls and the shanties and slum-like market where stinky fish seemed to be the hot commodity.
Mike and Tony walking towards the mini-malls:
Our first challenge was to cross a busy street. I had seen a video on Youtube of the technique one must apply. You walk at a slow but steady pace at a slight angle towards the oncoming vehicles. Occasionally you must stop or adjust your speed but generally they’ll avoid you. We lucked out as a local was crossing at the same time so we used him as a blocker...success. I only wish I’d taken a video of the whole affair!
Slums and stores together in harmony:
In a glass elevator of the almost vacant mall:
Every little mall required walking through a metal detector to gain entrance into it. It always went off and then there was a cursory wave of a metal detecting wand by a security guard. It seemed to be more of a formality than an effective security measure. We wandered into a few stores and Tony and Mike purchased a few clothes for their kids (hopefully they’ll find something for their wives before they leave the country). The store was incredibly busy, more so than Christmas time shopping in Canada...and this was a Sunday evening!
We headed to a closer subway station with a bounty of beer we purchased from a street vendor. The security guards asked to look in my backpack after it had been scanned by the X-ray machine. He asked how many beers I had and didn't seem terribly impressed but eventually let us go on our way. Back at the hotel we hung out in the room having a few drinks and then ordering pizza from room service. A good way to finish the day and for Tony and Mike, it was a “school night” so it was off to bed (granted it was close to midnight already).
Nice, clean and unusually quiet subway station:
We all remarked how open the subway seemed:
Yes...the Godfather:
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