abolitionofman.com

Hello all. it’s been some time since my last post. primarily because I’ve been traveling in India and trying to get myself caught up after missing a week of work for the trip. My trip’s main purpose was to visit several off-shore software development facilities my company is utilizing to deploy a brand new operational system here in the states. But I managed to do quite a lot of sightseeing and touring, and of course, eating.

India is a fascinating country. If I had to sum up my experiences there in one word only, i’d use the word “CROWDED”. Imagine quadrupling the US population and then shrinking the country in size by about 60%. There are quite simply, people EVERYWHERE.

I managed to visit 4 locations in my 1 week trip:
1) The Capital City of New Delhi
2) Pune, a small to medium size city which boasts quite a large number of software development operations.
3) Goa, a coastal area on the Arabian sea
4) Agra, the home of the world famous Taj Mahal and the almost equally impressive Agra Fort.

Some of my general observations from the trip are as follows:

I) Bollywood Celebrity isn’t much different in India than in the US I was amazed at what I kind of consider the “bizarro-hollywood” culture that exists in India. There is great interest from the general population in the celebrity culture. News of Indian movie and television stars makes the front page of almost every paper. And just like in the US, the news either revolves around scandal (like this one) or around dollars ( what star is making the most for his/her movie appearances).

II) The Cows - there are cows EVERYWHERE. but i’m not just talking about in the fields as you drive down the highway. I’m talking about stray cows wandering through the streets and parks of India’s biggest cities. It takes some getting used to from a visual perspective. The cow holds a somewhat sacred spot in indian culture. Killing them is often taboo, so the dairy farms surrounding the cities tend to release them when they can’t produce or they get sick. Once they’ve been released, they methodically migrate into the cities. It’s a bizarre visual to see a big sickly cow wandering down the sidewalk in a densely populated city. But it happens all the time.

III)The Food - I spent a lot of my time in the country eating, it seemed. Indian food is great no matter what country you are in, but in it’s country of origin, it takes on a whole other level. Even in a week, I was addicted. Surprisingly, I slowly migrated to more and more of the vegetarian dishes, which have more variety and taste in my opinon. My local hosts kept trying to push meat on me as the standout American, but i fell more and more for the veg dishes.

IV) Sports – Sport tends to take a lower place in indian society, but all that goes out the window when it comes to cricket. I didn’t get to go to any live matches, but i did try and catch a bit of it each night on television. it’s a confusing game, but i started to pick it up after the first couple of nights watching. During my visit, everyone was riveted by a series of matches being played between the Indian National team and England.

V) Forts and temples everywhere - I managed to visit several forts and amazing temples through the country during my trip. Of course the highlight was the Taj Mahal. Definitely an amazing site to behold. Pictures don’t do it justice.

VII) “Off-Shore business model” - Western businesses are scattered throughout the country. Software development, IT consulting etc. has become a major economic force within India. I visited several facilities during my trip and saw it all first hand. I’m convinced even more that off-shoring of industries like medical care, information technology and manufacturing will continue. And my personal opinion is that it’s just as good for America as it is for India.

All in all, the trip was a great success. it’s good to be back in the states and to be back on abolitonofman.

Here’s a link to a flickr site with lots more of my photos. Enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/11998396@N07/2Q5Aa4