The weather at 415am IST is 70 degrees F. The weather is amazing in Bangalore. It has been a week and the temperature stays between 70 and 80 degrees.
Let's begin Friday. There was nothing eventful on the taxi ride into the office other than the taxi driver scolding me. Why you ask he was scolding me! The day before Shibin came to drive me to the office. I had told the driver I was being picked. I got into Shibin's car and we drove off. He told me he waited for 1 hour. This is a language barrier.
At the beginning of the shift there was a Pooja. It is a prayer. There was a Hindu Priest, incense burning and fire in the room in the office. It lasted about 30 minutes. It was fascinating. I was worried the fire alarm or sprinklers would be going off any minute. Once the prayers were over it was time to get back to work. This was the first time I experienced a Pooja at the office.
Shibin, Preeti and I went for "smoked" chicken. What is smoked chicken? It is grilled. There was chicken that had a red outer coating. It had a wonderful spice to it. There was chicken with simple delicious flavor. Then there was Butter Chicken. We had butter and garlic naan as well. Preeti did not understand why I do not eat a lot of food. I am very careful of the amount of protein eaten at each meal. The naan was so yummy I was eating more naan then chicken. Smoked chicken is on the top of my list.
Now it is the end of the 1st week. I am in taxi #26. Swati and I were in the backseat with a male employee (I did not get his name) and male employee in the front seat (again I did not get his name either). The driver was trying to start the taxi. The taxi was not starting. I thinking do we have to wait for another taxi. Shibin, Celina and Nethra were going to be at the hotel at 430am IST to head to Nandi Hill. Why is this happening? The 2 employees who will remain nameless (since I don't know their names) jumped out of the taxi and started to push it. I have seen this in movies, but now I am living it. The driver headed to the down ramp, the 2 guys are pushing and I am asking Swati will the brakes work and how will the 2 guys get back into the taxi if we are moving? So many questions. We are heading down the ramp. The taxi has not started yet. There are 2 taxis parked at the bottom of the ramp. The 2 guys are still pushing. "Oh Jesus Help us!" is what I said aloud. Yes aloud. The driver pressed on the brakes, the guys jumped into the taxi and off we went. The taxi started. I did not realize it because I was freaking out about the 2 taxis we were heading towards down the ramp.
We were off and heading towards Keys Hotel. The road has been closed heading to the hotel so the taxi driver has been detoured to drive against the traffic. Yes! You have read this correctly. The first rule on the roads of Bangalore is there are no rules. We were heading toward the hotel driving on the wrong side of the road at 330am IST and a truck was parked across the road. The taxi driver was honking. (Honking in India is the natural way of communicating while driving.) The driver continued honking. The truck finally started to back up and head towards us. The taxi backed up to give enough room for the truck to drive in the correct direction. Off we were again. I made it to the hotel.
Let's begin Friday. There was nothing eventful on the taxi ride into the office other than the taxi driver scolding me. Why you ask he was scolding me! The day before Shibin came to drive me to the office. I had told the driver I was being picked. I got into Shibin's car and we drove off. He told me he waited for 1 hour. This is a language barrier.
At the beginning of the shift there was a Pooja. It is a prayer. There was a Hindu Priest, incense burning and fire in the room in the office. It lasted about 30 minutes. It was fascinating. I was worried the fire alarm or sprinklers would be going off any minute. Once the prayers were over it was time to get back to work. This was the first time I experienced a Pooja at the office.
Shibin, Preeti and I went for "smoked" chicken. What is smoked chicken? It is grilled. There was chicken that had a red outer coating. It had a wonderful spice to it. There was chicken with simple delicious flavor. Then there was Butter Chicken. We had butter and garlic naan as well. Preeti did not understand why I do not eat a lot of food. I am very careful of the amount of protein eaten at each meal. The naan was so yummy I was eating more naan then chicken. Smoked chicken is on the top of my list.
Now it is the end of the 1st week. I am in taxi #26. Swati and I were in the backseat with a male employee (I did not get his name) and male employee in the front seat (again I did not get his name either). The driver was trying to start the taxi. The taxi was not starting. I thinking do we have to wait for another taxi. Shibin, Celina and Nethra were going to be at the hotel at 430am IST to head to Nandi Hill. Why is this happening? The 2 employees who will remain nameless (since I don't know their names) jumped out of the taxi and started to push it. I have seen this in movies, but now I am living it. The driver headed to the down ramp, the 2 guys are pushing and I am asking Swati will the brakes work and how will the 2 guys get back into the taxi if we are moving? So many questions. We are heading down the ramp. The taxi has not started yet. There are 2 taxis parked at the bottom of the ramp. The 2 guys are still pushing. "Oh Jesus Help us!" is what I said aloud. Yes aloud. The driver pressed on the brakes, the guys jumped into the taxi and off we went. The taxi started. I did not realize it because I was freaking out about the 2 taxis we were heading towards down the ramp.
We were off and heading towards Keys Hotel. The road has been closed heading to the hotel so the taxi driver has been detoured to drive against the traffic. Yes! You have read this correctly. The first rule on the roads of Bangalore is there are no rules. We were heading toward the hotel driving on the wrong side of the road at 330am IST and a truck was parked across the road. The taxi driver was honking. (Honking in India is the natural way of communicating while driving.) The driver continued honking. The truck finally started to back up and head towards us. The taxi backed up to give enough room for the truck to drive in the correct direction. Off we were again. I made it to the hotel.
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