On Tuesday night if finally rained in Mumbai for the first time since I arrived on February 1.  Since then it rained Wednesday night and tonight.  For the last few weeks it has been getting more humid, windy and cloudy.  The winds of change were evident and it was only a matter of time before the skies would finally open up.

The rain represents the start of Monsoon season.  It will now rain almost every day for the next 4 months.  At that point Winter will set in and it will rarely rain until the next Monsoon 8 months later.  Here is a graph of the average rainfall from weather.com.  It is a incredible annual cycle of feast or famine.  Based on soil samples, scientists have traced the beginning of this weather pattern to 15-20 million years ago.

The most infamous Monsoon day in Mumbai is July 26, 2005.  It rained 37 inches in one day.  I find this almost impossible to comprehend.  Over 3 feet of rain in one day.  On average the Minneapolis, Minnesota receives 29.5 inches of precipitation for an entire year.  The most tragic aspect of this event was that more than 400 Mumbaikers died as a result of the rain.

Social engineering presents itself in many forms.  You might see it in government sponsored public messages.  You and your children participate in it first hand during primary and secondary school .  This includes how to treat one another, stand in lines, ask questions and give honor to your country by signing the national anthem.  In a country that is changing as fast as India, sometimes everyone needs some extra guidance to keep up.  Here is a list of rules posted to the inside of the bathroom stalls at an IT office.

• Please flush the toilet after use.
• Please use dustbins for disposal of tissues.
• Please do not step on the western commode.
• Please do not litter.
• Please help us to keep the surrounding neat, clean and healthy.
• Please spare a thought for the next person using it.

The bathroom posting has all the right intentions.  And I only wish that US office bathrooms were kept as clean and tidy as in India.  In the case of the Accenture office, almost every time I enter there is a member of the cleaning staff present in the bathroom running through their duties and checking-off the completion of each step on a log sheet.  With that noted, I can't help but share my reaction and questions.

• Please flush the toilet after use. (Is it common in India to not flush the toilet?)
• Please use dustbins for disposal of tissues. (The only tissue I saw was the toilet paper.  I'm sorry but no sign is going to stop me from flushing my used tp.)
• Please do not step on the western commode. (I still have yet to find a small set of drawers in a stall.  I will keep looking and report.)
• Please do not litter. (I have made sure to not leave any shoes, clothes or coins behind.)
• Please help us to keep the surrounding neat, clean and healthy. (Makes sense, no problem.  I can flush an extra time if that helps.)
• Please spare a thought for the next person using it.  (Like in the US I was going to scratch a phone number and a message about it.   Unfortunately, I do not know many Indian phone numbers and I do not want to accidentally putting down a real one.)

This year is the first year for the professional cricket league IPL 20Twenty.  It has been very successful, but it has also spawned a The Times of India front-page grabbing controversy.  This controversy is not about the organization's front office corruption.  It is not about performance enhancing drugs.  It is not about umpires betting on and fixing games.  It is about the cheer leading squads.

First I want to be clear that popular sports in India are not the same as in the US.  Watching ESPN Asia has opened my mind to an entirely new set of sports (Here is one expat's point-of-view about ESPN Asia).  Most of which do not conjure an image of a scantily clad cheering section.  Try to picture the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on the court side of the following ESPN Asia sporting events:
     Badminton
     Field Hockey
     Formula 1
     Golf
     Table Tennis

Second, the IPL cheerleaders are not what you might expect to see at an Indian sporting event.  They are not young sari-wearing Indian women showing off their Mohiniyattam dance moves.  Most of the IPL cheerleaders are actually from the NFL.  Yes, you read the correctly.  There are a bunch of scantily dressed athletic, large-busted Caucasian, African and East Asian women entertaining the hordes of Indian men (and a few women) that attend the matches.

This is the root of the controversy, and like any controversial topic during the India campaign season, it has been picked up by the politicians.  They have proposed banning the other teams cheerleaders at the Mumbai Indian matches.  Below is the Bangalore Royal Challengers cheerleading team.

 

Here is the Mumbai Indian cheerleading team.


Next to the image of the Mumbai Indian cheerleaders was an article tying this controversy to our 43rd President.  You have done it again George; your past will always be a source for lively commentary.
 

One politicians argument is that the cheerleaders are turning the matches into a strip club and encouraging illegal gambling.  That is quite a conclusion-I am picking up on the use of a strawman conclusion.  Anyone else?

As you can see from the picture the cheerleading teams are trying to appease the call for their removal by adding leggings and more fabric to their shirts.  India has a great knack for adding its own flavor to all things imported.

My final thought on this topic is the cheerleaders are not dressed any less than the dancers in the Indian music videos I see on TV or the actresses in the Bollywood movies.  If you are going to point a critical finger at the IPL, I think there is a larger net that needs to be cast.

Laundry is a ritual of life.  A common thread of humanity.  My first memory relating to washing clothes is from my primary school days when my sister, who is six years older than I am, took an entire weekend to distress her new jeans, wash them over and over until the frayed threads were just right and the bleached areas were the right size, shape and shade.  My personal laundry story starts around the age of 15 when my dad was driving a long distance for work and my mom returned to college to get another degree.  It was either do my own laundry or loose my standing in the "Preppies" clique.  During this time I used my parents washer and dryer.  This was a supportive situation for a launderer-in-training because the costs were subsidized and I learned the ins and outs of laundry technique under some adult guidance.

In college while I lived at the dorms I used the coin machines along with almost everyone else.  On Sunday night the laundry room was a popular place on campus.  People chatting with friends, exchanging stories about the weekend parties and talking about upcoming tests and papers.  The college co-ed laundry room experience is kind of a birth rite for young adults and especially young adult males.  For many it is the first time that they have had to do their own laundry-although I do remember some of my friends going home every weekend to deliver their dirty laundry to their moms.  For me it opened up my mind to the diverse and sequenced world of female garments.  Of course I and all the other males were very casual about this during the course of a laundry evening.  But behind the cool facade it made a lasting impression on all of us. 

During my last three years of college I lived in an apartment and still used coin laundry machines.  The activity was no longer a social gathering but a necessity.  In my $250 a month apartment complex, the washing machines were constantly out-of-order and the the dryer venting system was in bad need of cleaning.  Of course there was always the Hollywood inspired hope that a beautiful woman in an old white tank top and pink athletic pants would be doing laundry at the same time.  You would find an item of hers in your dryer and this would be the subject of your opening line to break the ice.  Add in the heat of the room, the presence of intimate clothing strewn about and you have just the spark needed to start a long and beautiful relationship.  This Hollywood story may inspire hope and dreams of many young men but I have yet to come to know a couple who met in the middle of changing the whites to the dryer and loading the darks into the washer.

When I purchased my condo I finally had my own washer and dryer.  At first it was bliss, but the activity of doing laundry quickly became mundane and an obligation rather than a chance with fate.  I thought my interesting laundry stories over and I would live on a two week wash cycle the rest of my life.  Then I moved to Mumbai.  During my first use of my washing machine I had to spend as much time and energy as I did when I was 15 and staring at the dials on washing machine wondering what spin cycle meant.

In my apartment there is a small covered balcony on the outside wall of my alley kitchen.  In the balcony is a small LG washer.  I found the manual online to learn how to use it.  Please see the pictures in the Laundry photo album to see a visual explanation of a typical laundry day in Mumbai.

I spent this past weekend in Bangalore visiting my colleague Kai Hildebrandt.  Bangalore was recently renamed to the pre-British Raj name, Bangaluru.  He is from Germany and is part of the same program that I am.  He and I have used each other as sounding boards for living the life of an Avanade expatriate.  He speaks very good English.  He also speaks German and Russian.

One of the highlights of the trip was Friday night dinner at Hard Rock Cafe-Bangalore.  It was first time I have had red meat in three months.  The first bite into my hamburger transported me back to Minneapolis sitting at Maxwell's (RIP).  I forgot how much I love hamburgers.  The Indian touch that is an all imported foods is the pile of sautéed  red onions near the front of the plate.

Another highlight of the trip was attending the India Premiere League (IPL) cricket match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Rajasthan Royals.  This is a new league this year and it has created a great amount of press and controversy (my next post will be about the cheerleading ban).  It is first large commercial cricket league.  Most games are played between countries representing their teams.  Now players from South Africa, Pakistan, UK, India, Bangladesh and other countries are all playing next to each other all in the name of capitalism.  I wish I had better pictures from the match but cameras are not allowed and they pat every one down before they can enter. 

India is relatively void of US restaurants, however they are becoming more common all the time.  Within 3-4 kilometers of my apartment flat there is a Subway, Pizza Hut, Domino's and KFC.  The most recent addition to this restaurant category opened last week, Papa John's.

In India Papa John's has the same logo, colors and decor, but the menu is not what you would expect.  Most Indians are vegetarian.  As a result, the new US campaign for the triple-decker meat lovers medium pizza deal would fail miserably. For a successful business model you need to adopt a simple strategy.  First, put some extra spice in the sauce.  Next, give the customers the option to add red pepper as a topping.  After that make sure you offer plenty of spice packets for customers to take and add on their own.  Below are the two packets of extra spice I received with my order.

What I am trying to say here is that even if I do break down and eat "American" because I am in a hurry or my housekeeper has a day off, it is not the same.  There are no hamburgers on the menu at McDonald's.  Pizza Hut has many more vegetarian options than non-vegetarian options.  I would do Jared proud at Subway with their limited choice of high calorie items like salami, pepperoni or steak.

Back to the topic at hand, Papa John's.  Below, the red dots mean non-veg (meat) and the green dots mean veg (vegetarian).  You will find this same labeling scheme almost everywhere in India; menus, grocery stores and Indian restaurants.   My pepperoni pizza box had the red dots and my garlic bread sticks box had the green dots.

I would show you a picture of the pizza, but I it tasted so good I ate it all before I grabbed the camera again.

This is my twelfth week in India.  I am half done with my Avanade program.  There is no special significance to this other than I am getting into a routine.  Now that I am 100% allocated to a project my days are longer and it is more like a typical week in the US.  The recipe is work, eat, sleep and repeat 5-6 times.  It is not monotonous because I am learning so much about the work style, approach and capability of our Indian teams.

In other news this week, the auto rickshaw drivers went on strike on Tuesday.  The roads were practically empty.  I would say about half of the traffic is auto rickshaws.  The reason for the strike is that they do not want to upgrade their meters from a mechanical meter (analog) to an electronic meter (digital).  My colleagues tell me that the drivers tamper with the analog meters to squeak out more profit but they will not be able to do this with the digital ones.

Mechanical                              Digital

The air-conditioning was out at my office building on Tuesday.  The temperature rose to 26 Celsius or 79 Fahrenheit.  It was hot.

I am heading to Bangaluru (Bangalore) to see a colleague that is in the same program as I.  I will take my camera and share what I see next week.

Mumbai is on the Arabian Sea.  My apartment is about 10 km or 40 minutes from the closet ocean beach.  The beaches in Mumbai are shall I say well used.  They are busy, the water is dirty and there is garbage strewn about.  Here is a picture of Juhu Beach during the Holi festival 3 weeks ago.  Can you find Waldo?

A few weeks ago, Keerti, Kedar and I traveled by car north of Mumbai to the border of Maharashtra and Gujarat.  We left at 7 am in the morning using Kedar's car.  They do not use it during the week, but use it to run errands or travel out of the city on the weekend.  Twenty minutes into the drive we picked up a driver.  This is a common practice in India.  Kedar knows him and calls on him regularly.  It allows Kedar to relax during the drive.

Four hours later we arrived in Bordi beach, like most of my excursions in India, was a new experience.  The most unusual feature was the tide.  It is very shallow very a significant distance from shore.  This creates a tide that retreats so far it almost vanishes into the horizon.  We arrived during low tide and I didn't believe we were at the ocean.  I thought it was some sort of salt flat.  After a few hours the tide began to rise and the break of the surf moved at an incredible pace.  Because the vertical distance was so minute, the rising water traveled very quickly.  Here are pictures.

We rented a state-run hotel room for the day.  It was the only way to get out of the sun and have a bathroom to use.  There only a dozen or so people on the beach and almost as many dogs.  It was very relaxing.  My head was buzzing from the void left by an environment of just the sounds of nature.

We left around 4 PM and arrived back to Mumbai at 9:30.  It was refreshing to get away.  Thank you Kedar and Keerti.

Panipuri is a snack that is available everywhere in India.  In Hindi, pani means water and puri means fried bread.  You can get it from street venders, at office cafeteria's and at weddings.  I know because these are all personal experiences.  When Jen visited, she joined Kedar, Keerti and I in a quick evening snack before dinner.

Panipuri is an all or nothing experience.  You can't bite off part of it and then decide if you want the rest-it is a bread bowl filled with water!  After grabbing the delight with your right hand you open your mouth as wide as you can.  You then place the snack on your tongue.  Close your mouth.  Bite Down.  You can't help but blow open your cheeks to make room for the explosion of water and filling.  But don't dwell on the surprise too long because it is spicy.  Keeping it in your mouth will only singe the few taste buds left from last night's masala.

Here is a series of pictures documenting the event.

Bag of bread                          -                  filler                      -              final product

Jen's sequence...

Thomas' sequence...

There are many reasons to love living in India, the food, the people, the energy and the unifying religion...cricket.  However, there are a few aspects of living here that could drive me to jump in the Arabian Sea and start swimming for the cape of Good Hope.  The most prevalent and irksome is the telephone dialing rules. 

To maintain my sanity I carry a crib sheet in my wallet to help me in my most desperate moments.  And those who know me well know that I have a lot of desperate moments.  Below is the crib sheet algorithm for everyone to use when you come to visit me in Mumbai.

Office Land Line Example: 91.40.4444.7766
If calling from India from a different city 040.4444.7766
If calling from India in same city using a mobile 040.4444.7766
If calling from India in same city using a land line 4444.7766
If calling from outside India 91.40.4444.7766

Mobile Number Example: 91.988.555.2222
If calling from India from a different city 0.988.555.2222
If calling from India in same city 988.555.2222
If calling from outside India 91.988.555.2222

One of the seven architectural wonders of the world is in the city of Agra in northern India.  It is the Taj Mahal.  Mumtaz Mahal is the name of the Muhgal queen for whom the building and surrounding grounds were created.  The mausoleum, commissioned by Mumtaz Mahal's husband Shah Jahan, took 10 years to build and the surrounding grounds another 12 years.

The total cost of construction has been estimated to be about 32 million Rupees at that time which now runs into Trillions of Dollars if converted to present currency rates [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_mahal].

Jen described the experience as mystical and breathtaking.  I completely agree.  The experience of progressing through the forecourt, into the garden and finally up the steps and into the mausoleum is a great example of the architecture concepts of procession and preparation.  The grounds and surrounding structures grabs your attention and doesn't let go.

The mausoleum is constructed of some of the worlds most dense marble.  Even this this characteristic it does yellow from the pollution and dust in the air.  The marble is cleaned every 5 years with a special mud.  Who would think that mud could do the job of 409 or Clorox?  Jen and I did witness workers using this on one side of the building applying this technique.  The mud is applied, sets for for 36 hours and is then washed off with water.

Another guest blog from Jen:

One of the most striking cultural differences between India and the United States is how men and women are addressed. A prime example of this occurred within 5 minutes of my arrival in India. After I exited the airport and met Thomas and his driver, Thomas offered to take a luggage bag. His driver then took the piece of luggage from Thomas to carry himself, to which Thomas responded by taking my other piece of luggage.

Another example is when we dine out at restaurants, we receive one menu….or shall I say Thomas receives a menu and I do not. After all, how could I possibly know what I want to order?!  Also, it is typical for the waiter to ask Thomas if I would like something else. “More tea for the lady” (as the waiter looks at Thomas)?  This sort of thing happens often in Mumbai (especially in the area Thomas lives in as there are no tourists). However, when we were traveling in Delhi and Udaipur, it rarely happened in the tourist areas.

When our tour of India ended last night, I knew we were back in Mumbai, because Thomas’ driver once again took his luggage.  Thomas and I looked at each other, laughed, and he grabbed my bag like the US gentleman he is!

Today I have a guest blogger contributing, my fabulous wife Jen.

Happy Holi everyone! 

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, was celebrated on March 21 and 22nd this year.  This multi-day celebration is observed in India and Nepal.  Although, the rituals only happen over 2 days, many Mumbaikers take a long weekend and get out of the city.  When I arrived in Mumbai, Thomas told me that several of the lights (similar to Christmas lights) were recently put up for Holi.  Then on television, on the corner of the screen was a "Happy Holi" along with a few "Happy Holi" advertisements.  

Our first sighting of the festivities occurred on the 21st (Friday night), as we saw many bonfires on our way to dinner, combined with people celebrating in the streets.  These bonfires signify the burning the demoness Holida, the king of demons sister. 

The next morning, we heard a lot of music and dancing in Thomas' flat.  He has told me that it is never quiet but the noise seemed excessive.  As soon as we got off the elevator we saw why it was so loud.  People were everywhere throwing colored powder and water at each other.  We were immediately greeted by locals who put red and yellow powder on our faces.  They then tried to spray water on us  - but we were quick and got away.  It was quite the experience!

The playful throwing of the colored powders has a medicinal significance: the colors are traditionally made of herbs prescribed by doctors.  The colors supposedly get rid of colds and other illnesses which people catch as the weather changes (which is occurring right now as winter is turning to spring). 

100 Rupees to the person that can correctly count the number of cars on the street first.

The traditional institution of marriage in India is unlike anything I previously could conceptualize.  My New Delhi wedding experience inspired me to do some research and ask some probing questions.  I do need to make a disclaimer that not all engagements/marriages are the same in India.  The options are as diverse as the people.  But some of the aspects of more traditional engagements are detailed below.

In a traditional engagement, when a young woman is of an age to be married, the father and mother will discuss with their village contacts to find a suitable groom.  If their inquires do not turn up a good man for their daughter they might then place an add in a paper highlighting the qualities of the bride and outlining the expectations for a qualified groom.  Below is a picture of the "matrimonial" section heading in the Sunday edition of The Times of India.

There are a number of categories by which the ads are organized.

By Caste (social status)		By Religion		By Language
By Profession		By Community		Grooms too

Who would argue this this one?
 
Beautiful...agree.  Well educated...agree.  Rajput girl...sounds exotic...sign me up.

Just this week I had an experience at the office that is a personal example of how these types of engagements work.  A woman that sits in my area returned from a long weekend with henna covering her hands and feet.  Everyone was congratulating her because she just got engaged on Saturday.  I joined the circle that had surrounded her and starting eating some some of the sweets she shared with the office in celebration.  After a few minutes I asked how the groom proposed-like any proper friend would in the US.  This question brought on a fit of giggles and stares.  Whoops, what did I say?

She explained to me that she was introduced to a man that responded to her father's matrimonial ad about 2 weeks ago.  During the week before the engagement, the potential groom picked her up from work and they spent time together in the evenings. They decided to get married after a few "dates" and made it official at a ceremony on Saturday.  The wedding will be in one month.  The bride is a little stressed because she doesn't have much time to plan the three day long affair.

When I was visiting the ghats (memorials) at Samadhi in Delhi I had run-in with the law.  The layout of a typical ghat includes a pathway that encircles an alter.  The alter is sometimes surrounded with polished stone that includes quotes or a biographical statement about the person for which the ghat is dedicated.

When approaching my first ghat, Samadhi of Indira Gandhi, I was very startled by a whistle.  I turned and saw a security officer with a riffle hanging on his shoulder jogging towards me.  I froze.  In that split second I thought about what a ride in a Delhi paddy wagon was like, how much bail would be, could I get bottled water in jail and how would I get back to Mumbai if I missed my plane.  As the security person approached he was pointing at my feet.  He then pointed at a small sign at the pathway entrance to the ghat that said "Please remove your shoes".

I got away with just a warning.  Lesson learned!  Take off your shoes when visiting Indian memorials to avoid state security running towards you yelling with a riffle hanging from their shoulder.

Walking on the paths of various material and design was a very enriching experience.  The connection to the earth and feel of the stones, wood and brick made it a more fulfilling experience.  In the US I think we could question the knee-jerk reaction to laying cement or tar for paths around sacred or important places.

During my visit to New Delhi for the Indian wedding extravaganza I took one day to visit some sites around New Delhi.  A day is not nearly long enough so I had to choose.  Because New Delhi has a history back to the 3rd century BC there are sites from many different ages.  New Delhi is the capital of India since 1911 when it was moved from Kolkata (Calcutta).

You can see the location where the mythical Lord Brahma found the Hindu holy scripture Vedas on the banks of the river Yamuna.  You can visit a excavated settlement from 1000 BC.  An iron pillar from the 4th century was relocated near a Qutub Minar from the 11th century.  Next you can see the expansive Red Fort from built during the 1630's.  Located near the Red Fort and on the banks of the Yamuna River are number of memorials, in Hindi a memorial is called a ghat.  The most famous is the Raj Ghat that is in memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

Other modern sites include the Lotus Temple, the Iskcon Temple, India Gate, Connaught Place, Presidential Palace and Garden of Five Senses.

If you have time, take a look at my pictures from my site seeing in my photo album.

Everyday at 8:30 my driver arrives at the apartment entrance to take me to work.  The Accenture M2B office is about 2.5 kms away. I live in the center of north Mumbai.  Everywhere you look there are apartment towers, houses, commercial areas and office buildings.

Even with this density there are still some surprising Mumbai residents.  Most mornings I pass a group of Hindu cows about 5 minutes after leaving.  They are just standing around and seem to stay out of the way traffic.  I'm not sure what they eat-Mumbai is all concrete, tar or buildings.  There are parks with vegetation, but they are surrounded with fences.  They seem harmless, although with horns like that (below right picture) I do not think it is a good idea to test their tolerance for petting.

One lucky day to work there was an elephant on the road (no picture, sorry).  It was not very tall, maybe 10', but it still had the presence of a semi-truck.  I wonder if you need to insure and license elephants in Mumbai?  Next time I see one I hope to have my camera.  If you don't hear from me for a couple of weeks, make sure you get my digital camera.  The last picture maybe of the bottom of an elephant's foot.