Missing India already

I had a dream last night that I was back at home and the trip was far in the past and I really missed India. I think I was a passenger in a car and I was thinking that it's so quiet (no honking, weaving, cows, dogs, carts, bicycles, motorcycles). I've really fallen in love with the place. Speaking of dreams, during my pre-dinner nap yesterday, I dreamt that Marcelo got tackled by Alicia Silverstone in a restaurant and I didn't try to help him. He was holding my camera at the time and I just knelt down, took my camera, and let her have at him. I'm not a good friend. I told this to Marcelo at dinner last night and this morning he told me that he dreamt that he got attacked by Molly Ringwald (as she looked in Pretty in Pink; not now).

Today was a beautiful, sunny day in Pune. Marcelo, unfortunately, has caught a cold. I feel like I might be getting it to, so I'm scarfing down vitamin C and echinacea -- I need to be healthy for the weekend. The hotel is much more crowded now with new 'howaito-san'. November/December is supposed to be conference season in Pune.

Are you all tired of hearing about everything that we eat? Breakfast is getting repetitive, I know. I'll put the picture in, but there was nothing that we haven't had before. Again, I'm so spoiled (ho -hum, Indian breakfast with 10 different items -- same old, same old).

I think that the SSS guys are getting saturated with information. I've been talking for about 2 weeks now, and I think we've reached critical mass. Tomorrow, we're going to quickly finish everything that is left (tickets, funds, utilities) and then I'll kick them out of the nest. They're anxious to start working, I think. A new resource is starting next week, but Marcelo thinks they should transfer the knowledge between themselves rather than me talking to this poor guy by himself for 2 weeks.

This has nothing to do with anything, but I noticed today that the security guards (one per floor) will stand up from their desks as we walk by them up the stairs. Again, it makes me feel like royalty. We' not worthy.

For lunch today, we went back to Sarjaa. I've thought about it, and this place that the best Indian food we've had so far. The naan is almost too hot to handle and is dripping with butter. I noticed today that my tummy has gotten noticeably bigger. Maybe we'll start skipping the butter...hmmmn...I think about it. We had our first aloo gobi of the trip. It was awesome -- large wedges of potato with cauliflower in a medium spicy sauce. Everything is good at this place.

In the afternoon, we had a meeting with one of SSS's automation experts and he talked in general terms about how they will approach automating our testing since the application is so configurable. It was so warm in there and I'm perpetually exhausted, so it was all I could do to stay awake, or at least appear awake. I kept drinking water, pulling my hair, digging my nails into my arm. I think I pulled it off, but I'm not sure.

Earlier on in the day, we noticed 3 young, slightly geeky, white guys and assumed that they were in software too. I met one of them in the elevator. Wesley is from South Africa, but he is working for MSN in Dublin with his two colleagues, Eamon and Peter. They are staying until Dec 15th just like us. At dinner tonight we ran into them again, so we had a drink and chatted. Wesley, Eamon, and Peter don't really like Indian food, so they don't heart India like we do. It doesn't sound like they are having a very good time. In describing life in India so far, Eamon kept saying, "Jesus F***ing Christ." With the Irish accent, it sounded pretty funny (that's funny ha ha).

For dinner, the maitre d' chose prawns with butter, lemon, and garlic for me. It was like having 4 lobster tails, but slightly smaller. I'd never had a prawn in my life. It was very much like lobster and it had these long, dainty legs draped everywhere. I'm so full.

On a completely unrelated topic, Darcy and I got our pictures back from the Toronto Half Marathon. There were photographers at the finish line who took at least one picture of every finisher and you could order them if you liked. We did because, hey, it was our first half marathon. Darcy gave me permission to post his picture. They are too big to insert, so please see today's photo album here.

Well, I'm slightly drunk and ready to drop. Goodnight all.

Cultural Exchange

Today while training, we got sidetracked a bit by talking about Indian and Canadian everyday stuff. It started when I asked the guys to write the correct spellings of their names for me so that I could send them on to Brian to create AV email accounts. Chandrashekar wrote his name in English and then I asked him to write it in his native language script. I knew from the presentation by the SSS VP that there are more than 10 different scripts in India, and I was curious to see how they looked written by hand. Chandrashekar’s mother tongue is Telugu, so he wrote it in that script first. It's really beautiful and when he's writing, his motions are as if he's doing calligraphy. Hindi is the national language (learned in order communicate across India), so everyone can converse, read, and write in Hindi in addition to their mother tongue. Chandrashekar wrote his name in Hindi below the Telugu and it's a completely different character set.

Shirish’s mother tongue is Marathi whose script is very similar to Hindi, so he wrote his name for me in Hindi only. Bhaskaran is from Tamil Nadu, which is in the very southern tip of India, so his mother tongue is Tamil. Again, the Tamil and Hindi scripts are very different from each other. All of them are so pretty. I tried to take a picture of the notebook pages they wrote on, but it's a little hard to make out (see album here).

This conversation led to many ignorant questions from me about schooling, work, and social structure in India. They sweetly humoured me, and this is what I learned:

School

Children start some type of schooling when they are 2 years old. The divisions are as follows:

• 2 years old: Play Group
• 2 ½ years old: Nursery
• 3 ½ years old: Lower KG (Kindergarten?)
• 4 ½ years old: Upper KG
• 5 ½ years: 1st Standard (Primary School)
• 6 ½ years: 2nd Standard
• 7 ½ years: 3rd Standard
• 8 ½ years: 4th Standard
• 9 ½ years: 5th Standard (High School)
• 10 ½ years: 6th Standard
• 11 ½ years: 7th Standard
• 12 ½ years: 8th Standard
• 13 ½ years: 9th Standard
• 14 ½ years: 10th Standard
• 15 ½ years: 11th Standard (Intermediate School)
• 16 ½ years: 12th Standard

Intermediate School is like junior college in the States or CEGEP in Quebec. You have to choose a major (i.e. medicine, engineering, commerce, civil service, etc.). All engineering students, regardless of specialty (chemical, civil, electrical, computer, etc.) have to learn about computers and know at least one programming language. After Intermediate School is university. You can earn a Bachelor’s degree in 3 or4 years, just like in Canada. 60% of the workers at a company like SSS will have a Bachelor’s degree; 30-40% will have a Masters (!). Children living in a city like Pune will attend private schools all the way through their education. In less prosperous areas, more government (public) schools are available and well attended.

Caste system and education/employment

There are approximately 130 castes in India. The caste system is at least a thousand years old and is based on occupation. So, in general, people who have the same occupation are in the same caste. Your caste is determined by the occupation of your ancestors from ages ago. When you are born, you get a caste certificate, similar to a birth certificate. Like a birth certificate, it’s a document that stays with you your whole life and does not change.

Admission to schools as well as employment depends on your caste and sex. Equal opportunity measures have been put into place, so at any given school/job, 30% of positions are reserved for women, 20% for SC (Scheduled Castes), 20% for ST (Scheduled Tribes), 20% for OBC (Other Backward Classes). SC, ST, and OBC are castes that are viewed as lower level.

Marriage/Children

If your parents agree, you may marry someone outside your caste, but this is unusual (they think 0.1%). Children from the marriage will inherit their father’s caste. When you are born, you are given a first name, but your middle and last names come from your father (e.g., my name would be Kaori Hiroshi Furue). As a woman, when you get married, you take your husband’s names. So, my name would be have been changed upon marriage to Kaori Darcy Fiander. Men have the same name their whole lives.

If as a couple, you have only one child and that child is female (and you cannot have more children – sterile, etc.), the government will pay for your daughter’s education and they’ll give you 10,000 rupees. This is only for families with one girl child. If you have two, you do not qualify.

Work and Family

Family is very important in India. Unlike in North America where we have mostly nuclear families (parents and kids), in India parents, kids, grandparents, and inlaws frequently live together. Because of this, daycare is not very common. Usually, grandparents or other family are available to care for the family's children. In addition, since women are the primary caregivers, in the workplace it is understood they can only work from 10-5 because they have to take care of their children.

Only in IT-related fields do people work Monday-Friday with weekends off. In most occuptations, everyone works 6 days/week. In manufacturing, they have Thursdays off because there is no power on Thursdays (a conservation measure, maybe?). In government, they have Sundays off. Someone like our cab driver works 7 days/week and is on call 24/7. Shirish says there is no part time work in India. People work a minimum of 8 hours per day, but most work more.

In turn, Chandrashekar had lots of questions about Canada, including the cost of living (housing, transportation, gas, food), vegetation, regional differences, weather, etc. I'm always amazed to meet people who are interested in Canada because it seems so dull to me in comparison, but as much as I think it's different and interesting here, they must feel the same way to some extent.

This morning I was seriously hung over from all the carbs and deep-fried food we had yesterday. I ended up having only cubes of watermelon and mineral water for breakfast, so no photo today. We went to a new place for lunch though. It was a restaurant inside an apartment hotel called Seasons. It was a Indian/Chinese buffet and they had lots of salad and lighter food, so that was a relief. I started with a clear vegetarian soup with garlic, bok choy, carrots, and cauliflower. Marcelo has a the lightest cream of chicken soup in the world. It was really chicken broth with a teaspoon of cream and some shredded chicken. At the buffet, I had: cucumber corn salad, egg and pineapple salad (classic, creamy egg salad with pineapple in it), raw carrots, raw cucumber, raita (yogurt salad), murg lahori (chicken), Mexican eggplant (eggplant slices with tomato and peas), adraki paneer tikka (cottage cheese), dal palak (lentil and spinach), veg hakka noodle (chow mein-like thing), batata song (potato), and methi mutter malai (creamy peas and fenugreek). And we had naan on the side, of course. All the curries were yummy. I really enjoyed the egg and pineapple salad. Since this is what we do now, we had dessert too. I had mud cake (dark chocolate square), fruit tart (chocolate-filled pastry shell with whipped cream, fresh fig, plum, kiwi, and pineapple on top), strawberry mousse, and an anonymous 'Indian sweet' that was like a small piece of sponge cake soaked in rose water. The mud cake reminded us both exactly of Duncan Hines chocolate cake.

We declared victory over bundles finally. Tomorrow is Venue Config and Legends. There is only so much you can take in, so I think we're going at a good pace. I really want to finish all the content by Friday though.

Something that Marcelo tuned me into was North American TV shows dubbed in Hindi (I think). So far, Marcelo has watched Scooby Doo, Mr. Bean, and Full House. Tonight, Sylvester and Tweety was on, so I took a little video snippet so you all could watch too. I think Speedy Gonzales is speaking Hindi with a Mexican accent. To see the video, click here.

We had dinner in the hotel at Dhaba again. It's an excellent place and a lot of locals come to eat there too. With the light breakfast and semi-light lunch, I was ready for the buffet. So, I had chicken kabab, paneer achari, subz makhani, sum aloo punjab, sarson da saag, dal pancharatna, steamed rice, and buttered naan. For dessert, the chef insisted we try the gulab jamun. He said it's made by boiling and stirring milk for a long time, cooling it, making a paste, rolling it into balls, deep-frying it, and then soaking it in rose water syrup. It was like a really good Timbit...in rose water syrup.

Tonight, for some reason, my Internet connection wasn't working. I told the Front Desk and they said they'd send someone up (it was 10PM). I was thinking, "What, do they have system administrators working around the clock?" So, a few minutes later, two IT guys came to my room, fiddled around, and fixed it for me. Wild.

A very exciting piece of news is that we are all booked for our weekend visit to the Ajanta and Ellora caves. We'll be leaving on Saturday morning, seeing the caves, and staying overnight at the Taj Aurangabad. Check it out! I'm SO drinking beside the pool.

Well, I'm spent as usual. Goodnight everyone and until tomorrow...

Working for the weekend

Okay, you guys, guess what?! Marcelo and I have the rest of our weekends in India planned already. Next weekend will be an overnight trip to the Ajanta and Ellora Caves, which are about a 5-hour drive away. The weekend after that we are going to Goa for a beach holiday (eeeeeeeeee!). Vijay, I know you think this is a waste of time for us since tropical beaches are the same everywhere, but we're suckers for the sun and sand. The hotel that we really want to stay at is the Fort Aguada Beach Resort, which is built on the ruins of an old Portuguese fort. It's very swank, but we may be able to get a corporate discount (fingers crossed). Now that I spent so much on pashminas, everything else in the world seems affordable. The next and last weekend, we are flying to Delhi and going to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. The Taj Mahal is the most popular tourist attraction in India and we couldn't miss it even though it is far from us. It worked out well because we were supposed to fly through Delhi anyways. So now, we'll have a weekend between our flight to Delhi and our flight to Toronto instead of doing them in a row. Should be much better. Sonia from SSS has been such a huge help in planning our leisure time. I hope there is someone helping the SSS guys at Casero?

Today began with our usual breakfast. The same little kitten from last night was there again along with an older, scruffier cat. They both tried their best to catch some crumbs off tables, but the waiters are tenacious and efficient in chasing them away. If I could get away with it, I'd sneak them up to my room, but I doubt I'll be able to pull it off. There were lots of new people at breakfast this morning. One thing we've noticed is that the travellers at our hotel are not very friendly. No one is introducing themselves or saying stuff like, "Where you from?" The woman behind Marcelo at the buffet kept on giving him dirty looks like he was holding her up. I'm thinking, "Hey lady, we were here first. You just checked in last night." Our code word for white travellers in India is 'howaito-san', which means 'Mr./Ms. White' in Japanese. Howaito-san was cranky this morning.

Breakfast was delish as usual. I had the familiar items (pineapple, potato corn croquettes, egg bhurji, creamed corn, aloo paratha, medu wada, upma) as well as two new variations on staples (masala uttapam and masala idli). Masala uttapam is a white, sour pancake with tomato, coriander leaves, onion, and spices in it. Masala idli is plain idli cut up into chunks, tossed in masala (spice) and deep-fried. What will I do when I go home and I can't have three different deep-fried foods for breakfast? Poor me.

There is a lot of construction going on in the hotel. They are completing redoing the lobby and central atrium. Up until now, the work has been hidden by large cotton dropcloths. Today, they exposed some of it, and they have this amazing wooden scaffolding lashed with ropes that starts on the bottom floor and goes all the way to the top (5th floor). We think the scaffolding was built piece-by-piece by physically climbing up the structure as it was being built. It is incredible (I had trouble uploading this picture, so please see today's photo album). Renovations and construction are done at lightning speed here in India. We drove by the new SSS office site last week and it was a shell. The plan is to move some people there within 2 weeks. At first, I didn't believe it, but now I do. Marcelo said that if his downtown Toronto condo was being built in India, it would be done already instead of being 1 year overdue.

Today at work was another bundle day. They're really getting it and asking all the right questions. They are now familiar with season ticket, family pack, flexible concept, fixed concept, Desktop bundle sales, and Online bundle sales. They are already thinking about usability improvements, which is great since we need fresh eyes to notice these kinds of problems.

At lunch, we returned to the same place as yesterday, Sarjaa. The menu is huge and everything so far has been spectacular, so we're probably going to be locals there. Marcelo made excellent choices for us again: murg reshmi kabab (chicken and vegetable kabab served with creamy slaw), jhinga koliwada (deep-fried prawns tossed in masala and served with spicy slaw), palak paneer (smooth spinach and cottage cheese blend), gosht bhuna (spicy mutton curry), plain rice, and garlic naan (butter-drenched naan, absolutely covered in fresh garlic). Um, I have to say that we haven't had ANY bad Indian food in India yet. Everywhere has been so fresh and delicious. And we're hard-to-please high-maintenance princesses now. So, lunch was no exception. The chicken was the best chicken I've had in my life bar none. Marcelo said that it must have been marinated in yogurt for a long time. The meat was velvet soft and the sauce was creamy and perfect. The prawns were a spicy contrast to the chicken and the spinach dish. The mutton's texture was like slow-cooked stew meat -- it fell apart when you touched it. The garlic naan was good, but I was so self-conscious afterwards. We both subtly had some of my Listerine Pocket Paks strips before going back to the office. I think we'll stick to the plain, buttered naan from now on. For dessert (yes, now we're having dessert at lunch too), we had something called cassata, which I think it actually an Italian word. It was a frozen ice cream dessert with a sponge cake base, three layers of different flavoured ice cream, and a top coat of nuts. This is my new favourite dessert. I like it even better than the kulfi.

The afternoon was uneventful except that someone I didn't know sat in my office while I was in the training room and used my phone. I barged in by mistake because I assumed only I was using that room. I just grabbed my bottle of water and left and didn't mention it to anyone. By the time I cam back an hour later, a little sign was put up on my door that said the room was reserved for me. I'm so coddled. Marcelo got a similar sign too.

In the evening, Marcelo had to interview a possible new resource from Bangalore, so we had dinner late. Just before we went down, it started pouring again. That makes 3 times in a little over a week when usually they don't get any rain at all in winter. We seriously brought it with us.

So, because of the rain, we had dinner in the hotel again. We thought we'd go to the poolside restaurant because it's not a buffet, so in theory we'd eat less. Here is what we ended up having: mulligatawny soup (Marcelo), sweet corn soup with chicken (me), chicken kerala kabab (chicken leg stuffed with minced lamb), jeera aloo (potato with cumin seeds), peas pulao (rice with peas, crispy onions, and peanuts), and buttered naan. Our line of thinking was that we wanted chicken and potato. Then, we thought we should have a vegetable. So, we picked the peas pulao because then we could have rice too. But, what happened was that the chicken was an appetizer. So, our main courses were rice, potatoes, and bread. Then we thought, "Hey, we should have dessert." Something called Honey Noodles with Ice Cream sounded interesting. I was honestly thinking it was vermicelli, honey, and ice cream. It turned out to be deep-fried rice noodles soaked in honey, dusted with powdered sugar, and topped with sesame seeds. With vanilla ice cream on the side. So, basically funnel cake. Nevermind trying to fit into the economy airline seat, I hope can make it through the metal detector archway.

Goodnight everyone.

SSS Rocks

I just got back from the SSS offices and I have to say that I don't think there is any way this automation project can fail. The team is so sharp and experienced. We took some time today for them to explain to me how they'll approach the automation project, what they need from us, and what their next steps will be. They've done this a million times before, so aside from the info they need from us, they know exactly what to do and how long it will take. When Marcelo first told me we'd be using Indian resources for automation, I wasn't sure how it would go, but now I can safely say it's in the best hands. We will learn a lot about QTP and automated test planning/execution from them.

This morning I had my first little spot of tummy trouble. Nothing serious, but I had to let Marcelo go down to breakfast alone and I joined him later. It was no big deal. It was probably that green chili pepper masquerading as a green bean. Since I was so rushed, I forgot to take my customary picture of breakfast, but it was pretty much the same as usual: paneer paratha with mango pickle, medu wada, plain uttapam, rawa upma (rawa is a particular grain; upma = raw), sezwan idli (sezwan = schezwan; in this case, with tomato and ginger), and potato croquettes. Yeah, my stomach wasn't really that upset. One of the maitre d's came over while I was writing stuff down and explained everything to me. I've noticed, here at least, that if you show an interest in food, the chefs, cooks, waiters, etc. are happy to explain things to you. It's so nice.

In the paper this morning, there were a few articles on the marathon. Apparently, we were mistaken before about the number of participants. There were actually 50, 000 runners; not 30,000! So, that would be almost twice as big as the New York City marathon. The men's winner was a Swedish man of Moroccan descent, Said Regragui, 32, who finished in 2:18:23. The rest of the top ten were from Tanzania, Eithiopia, Kenya, and Russia. I guess one of the really elite Tanzanian runners got sick in the middle of the race from low glucose levels, but he dragged himself to the finish anyways and came in 21st. Normal blood sugar is 70 to 150 mg/dl and his had dropped to 32. On the women's side, the top three finishers were Kenyan. Hellen Nzembi Musyoka, 19, came in first and this was her very first international appearance. I've seen her around the hotel. The runners are still in town and they were having breakfast with us again this morning. I took another clandestine picture of them. I am officially the papparazzi.

We've already started discussing our plans for upcoming weekends. We are either flying to Goa for a beach weekend, or travelling 300 or so miles to the Ellora Cave Temples. For our last weekend, we'll probably fly to Delhi on the Friday, stay for the weekend, see the Taj Mahal, and then fly from Delhi to Toronto on the following Monday (21.5 hour flight!). Needless to say, I am so excited.

For lunch today, we went to a restaurant around the corner called Sarjaa. When we exited the building, Pradeep automatically brought the car around for us thinking we'd be going far. I think that he waits outside all day and is on the lookout in case we need him. When you have a car service in Canada, is it like this? Again, I feel so spoiled. We're giving Pradeep an enormous tip at the end of the month.

At the restaurant, they had both Indian and Chinese food, but we opted for the Indian of course. We had paneer malai kabab (cottage cheese and vegetable grilled on sticks), gosht seekh kabab (spicy ground mutton sausage on sticks) , mutter paneer (peas and cottage cheese), murg adraki (chicken with ginger), and naan dripping with butter. The gosht seekh kabab was so good -- spicy and served with shredded cabbage and onions tossed in the same spices. The paneer kabab was bland, which was nice after the spicy mutton and it was served with the same slaw but in a mild creamy dressing. The mutter paneer and murg adraki were both excellent scooped up with the butter-soaked naan bread. We asked for medium spicy, but it was pretty mild. We're still getting the 'white people' spiciness, I think. SSS's holiday party is on December 9, so maybe we'll get to try the real thing there.

The afternoon was spent practicing bundle configuration. We did season tickets and tomorrow we're going to do family pack. Then on to venue configuration. All the formal training should be wrapped up by the end of the week, and then they can start planning the framework and writing actual scripts. I'm really excited to see what they can do. They said the scripts will reuse as many functions as possible, so they should be much shorter and faster than the ones we tried to make.

Next to the SSS building, two new buildings are being constructed. I took pictures last week because I was so impressed that there wasn't one piece of heavy machinery on the site. People (men and women) are using shovels to digs and sacks to carry dirt. Even so, they put up an entire floor in less than 5 days (see photos). Everything here is done so efficiently with little or no equipment.

At dinner tonight, we went to the poolside restaurant. I expressed an interest in lobster a few days ago, so the maitre d' has been wanting me to come by and have some. Chef Gomes from Dhaba was there tonight too and he said he would make it for me. It turned out to be Lobster Thermidor -- a very heavy, creamy, cheesy preparation. It has some lemon juice in it too, which I'm sure cancelled out all the fat. It was actually really good and I ate almost the whole thing. Even though I was having a French dish, I still got some naan bread, which was a good thing because if only Marcelo got it I would have been jealous. Marcelo had tandoori chicken.

While we were eating, the dirty little kitten that I mentioned last week was crawling under our table and meowing really loudly. She reminds me of those poor little kids who sell flowers in traffic when the cars are stopped. She had the same look on her face and she was really persistent. I really wanted to feed her, but I'm sure the waiters wouldn't want that, so I didn't. I was hoping my window faces that direction so I could throw down some stuff from my mini bar, but it doesn't.

For dessert (yes, I had a whole lobster and I'm having dessert -- don't judge me), I had something called Royal Falooda, which was a pink, rose-flavoured ice creamy drink with vermicelli and little tapioca-like globules in it. It was yummy and cold.

For some reason, the pictures of the kitten and my lobster are being inserted sideways. For more pictures from today, see here. I'm actually back in my room early tonight, so I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. Until tomorrow...

Marcelo and Kaori's Pune International Marathon

Today was a marathon in more ways than one -- we completely outdid ourselves. We got up at 6:15 in order to have breakfast and get to the start line by 7:30 AM. Breakfast was awesome as usual, and I had an especially big appetite. You are all familiar with most of the things (plain idli, creamed corn, papaya, pineapple, poha, banana pancake, vegetable cutlet, and medu wada). The only new item today was the aloo paratha, which was stuffed with potato -- there are no words for how good it was.

The theme of the day was being in the right place at the right time. One of the race volunteers was in the lobby, so she gave directions to the start line to the rickshaw driver for us. This was our first time in a rickshaw and it's not nearly as scary as it looks. It's like being in a golf cart/carnival ride. They are everywhere, so it's the most convenient way to travel. But, since rickshaws are so small (the steering mechanism is like a moped), the drivers tend to weave in and out of traffic and go through red lights, kind of like bicycles do. But, like I said, it's surprisingly not scary. To view a short video of our ride, see it on YouTube here.

There were tonnes of people both participating in and watching the marathon. The race began at one end of a bridge crossing the Mutha river. There were military-looking guards keeping people from walking across the bridge to watch, but he sweetly let us through. We made it in time to see the first start (wheelchair division), which was closly followed by the men's full marathon. Many of the runners were running barefoot. I got a short video clip of the front of the pack as they ran across the bridge, see here.

There were several different sub-races going on: women's half marathon, men's 10k, women's 10k, under-19 8k, under-17 5k, under-15 4k, senior citizens' 3k, as well as the enormous AIDS Charity Run. Marcelo and I stood and watched people cross the start line for 30 minutes and then we gave up -- they just kept coming and coming and coming. The paper said that there were 30,000 runners in total across all events.

We made our way through the streets on foot to get to the finish line at Nehru Stadium. This is the first time we actually walked around and it wasn't bad. One thing I absolutely love in India is the stray dogs. No one is threatened by them and they are allowed to roam free in the streets. They are skinny, but not unhealthy and they have such a relaxed attitude. They'll sleep anywhere (including in the street) and they don't beg for food. In North America, they would be stray dogs, but here they're just dogs.

We managed to find our way to the stadium. The entrance was way too narrow and there were so many people. We met one of the officials by chance when we went the wrong way around the stadium and he led us in. It was the worst crowd situation I've ever been in. People were packed tightly together and it was all I could do to keep up with our new friend. If it wasn't for him, maybe we wouldn't have gotten in at all. At certain points, the forward movement stopped but people kept pushing, so I started to think of the message that the hotel would have to send to AudienceView and our families along the lines of 'sorry to inform you, Marcelo and Kaori were crushed at Nehru Stadium'. Don't worry. It really wasn't that bad.

The stands held 20,000 people, but we weren't allowed to go up there unless we were in one of the races. So, we staked out a spot on the lawn that was blissfully spacious. The first finisher came across the line at about 2:20. I couldn't make out the announcement, so I don't know who won, but he looked African. The finishers were staggered quite far apart. I missed the winner, but I got some footage of some of the top 10 runners, see here. Some official-looking young security guards lined the last leg of the race for the first 4 runners, but after that they dispersed and not many people were paying attention to the runners anymore. The focus was really on the party in front of the grandstand where a band named Asma (?) was playing and a radio personality was entertaining the crowd. Everyone was milling around there, so it was relatively easy to slip out.

We set out again on foot for a little bit. I bought a strange fruit snack from a street vendor for 7 rupees. I think he totally fleeced me, but we're talking about 20 cents here. The fruit looked like a green apple, but it was soft inside kind of like an avocado. He cut it up for me and sprinkled spicy chili powder in it. It was interesting.

We caught another rickshaw (we're old hat at this now) to the Taj Blue Diamond Hotel, which is a swank 5-star that was totally booked when Marcelo was arranging our travel. It's definitely fancier than our hotel, but I like ours better -- more homey. We wandered around a bit and then had lunch at the cafe. We ordered fresh lime sodas (exactly what we needed) along with wada pav (deep-fried potato croquette on a white bun), mini samosas (our first samosas this trip), and aloo tuk (deep-fried potatoes tossed in spices). Everything was so good. The wada pav was like a little Indian burger. If you look at the picture of the aloo tuk, you'll see what looks like a green bean on top of the potatoes. I had thought this was a green bean, but actually it is a deep-fried green chili pepper. I popped the whole thing in my mouth and ate it in one fell swoop. The error of my judgement quickly took over my mouth and I had to leave the table and regroup in the bathroom. It wasn't that bad though. Could have been much worse with a smaller chili.

After lunch, the intention was to do a little walking/window shopping. This quickly turned into me spending a whole lot of cash, but I think it was worth it. First, we popped into the Nike Store and I bought an official India cricket practice jersey for Darcy as well as a t-shirt with one of the national team's player's name and number. They look cool. Then, and this is the really disastrous part, we popped into a store selling pashminas, silk scarves, blouses, jewelry, and rugs. I started by looking at the blouses and bought a nice one for myself. Then he showed me the handmade silk scarves and I just had to have 4. Then he showed me the pashminas. First he took out the cotton ones, then the cotton/wool ones, then the 100% Kashmir Pashmina wool (from the beard of a goat only) ones, then the 100% Kashmir Pashmina wool with embroidery. I've never felt anything like this Pashmina wool in my life -- it is other worldy. I ended up buying 4 of the most expensive kind. Vijay, I think they fleeced me here, but I couldn't say no. You'll have to tell me how stupid I was when I get back. The great thing with a foreign currency is that you have no idea what you are spending. I wouldn't let Marcelo tell me until we'd left the store. The people working there were so grateful; they gave Marcelo and I free jewelry boxes and small vials of saffron.

Lastly we went to a very North American-like department store called Central. There were multiple floors of men's clothes, women's clothes, shoes, housewares (lots of pressure cookers), and food. Marcelo bought some Indian sweets and I had the most delicious samosa.

By this time we had been out for 9 hours, so we grabbed another rickshaw back to the hotel. At one point, the driver had us smack in the middle of a huge intersection with traffic about to come in all directions. People are very alert here though. I haven't seen any accidents since that first night in Mumbai.

We had grand intentions to take a rickshaw and have dinner somewhere else in the city, but after relaxing at the hotel for 3 hours, we didn't want to go anywhere. Instead, we went back to Puran Da Dahaba, the traditional Indian restaurant on the first floor. The food here is exceptionally good -- we are lucky it is in the hotel. We started with the usual peanuts, pappadums, and appetizers (lentil soup, fried fish with vegetable slaw, and mutton liver). The mutton liver was great -- I'd never had it before. It was in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce. The soup was amazing -- fragrant, but with a latent spicy kick.

It was the manager's wedding anniversary, so he sent each of us a piece of pineapple cake. I don't have a photo because I inhaled it without thinking. It was a very light, moist sponge cake with whipped creamy icing and fresh pineapple -- best cake ever, I'm serious. I saw the same cake in the carousel in the other restaurant on my way back up to my room. I couldn't totally eat a whole one for dinner.

I was taking notes on the names of the buffet items, so the corporate (executive) chef, David Gomes, came over and explained EVERYTHING to me. Here are some of my notes:

Vegetarian

• paneer amritsari: a cottage cheese dish from Punjab.
• subzi khada masala: subzi = vegetable (cauliflower?), khada masala = whole spices. Khada masala comprises spices like cardamom, cloves, and ginger.
• kalonji ke baingan: kalonji = onion seed. This dish has onion and eggplant.
• sarson da saag: made from mustard leaves.
• rajma masala: with red kidney beans.
• dal vegetable shorba: this soup starts with vegetable stock made from cooking vegetables with khaga masala. After boiling for 2-3 hours, ginger, garlic, and chilies are sauteed together, then then vegetable stock is added. Sometimes white flour is also added, along with salt, lemon juice, and coriander leaves.

Non-vegetarian

• patayali shahi gosht: patayali = place in Punjab, shahi = royal, gosht = mutton.
• gosht biryani: rice with mutton and khada masala.
• dahiwala kukkad: dahiwala = curd, kukkad = chicken.
• gosht shorba = mutton soup.

Fruit (all of these fruit grow in India)

• pineapple
• papaya
• pomegranate
• sweet lime (very mild lime)
• bananas
• guava (this is what I had on the street!)

Desserts

• cham cham: milk-based spongeydessert from East India. Topped with pistachios and edible silver.
• pedha: small rounds made of milk and saffron.
• chawal kneer: chawal = rice. Rice with nuts.
• gajor halwa: grated carrot with pistachio.

Some other tidbits from Chef Gomes:

• khada masala spices are good for strengthening your immune system
• curry powder is not curry
• no preserved foods are used in his restaurant

He also let me watch them make a piece of naan and cook it in the tandoor. There was a tray of little balls of dough covered with cloth on the counter. The cook pressed it onto a disc, flipped it around a little, and then slapped it on the wall of the tandoor. It puffed up in no more than 10-15 seconds and he removed it with metals tongs. Chef Gomes says you should always have butter with naan unless you're allergic (suits me!). The naan is so good here. We get to eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven. Again, we're so spoiled! Marcelo and I both had two orders each tonight. I hope we can fit in the economy class seats on the flight back.

I took a tonne of pictures in addition to the ones you see here, so if you want to see them, click here. Well, it's been a full day and it's back to work tomorrow. Hope you are all well! Goodnight.

We kicked the ass of Pune today

What I mean is that we saw SO much stuff today. After consulting with the travel desk at the hotel, we decided to go to the Aga Khan Palace (where Gandhi was imprisioned), Parvati Hill (the highest point in Pune), Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Shaniwar Wada (a historical fort), and the Pataleshwar Cave Temple (a rock cut temple).

But, before I get into the details, let me start from the beginning. Last night I was absolutely spent, so I went to bed at 11PM and slept a glorious 9.5 hours until 8:30AM. I felt so much better. We just caught the tail end of breakfast at 10AM and I had an enormous appetite. As usual, there were many new things as well as variations on old ones. I had shira (a sweet grain dish that I can't seem to find any information about on the Internet), plain uttapam, medu wadas, puri bhaji (deep-fried bread with spicy potato curry on top -- crazy good), idli with green candied fruit (not really a fan -- too sweet), sambhar (a mild, watery, tomato-based lentil soup with vegetables that Marcelo says is for dipping idli into), potato corn croquettes, and a rose pancake that was pink inside and tasted daintily like a rose. Some more elite runners were at the next table. I think they were Russian. They were so young -- must have been teenagers. The six of them couldn't weigh any more than 600 lbs total, but they put away a lot of food. This is the best place to carb load. I do it every day, but without the marathon running.

On our way out, the man who cleans our rooms said hello to us and asked us how the service was. He told me that he's the one who cleans my room every day. Everyone at this hotel is so nice it breaks my heart.

Along the same lines, Pradeep drove us everywhere today and waited for us as we saw things. We weren't sure if we were supposed to call him on the weekend, but he didn't seem bothered by it. We aren't going to call him tomorrow though.

So, today we started at Aga Khan Palace. The palace is where Gandhi was imprisioned by the British in 1942 with his wife and secretary. He was arrested for inspiring Indians to resist their British-imposed participation in World War II due to the fact that they would be fighting for a democracy while being denied one of their own. This famous movement was called Quit India and is beautifully rendered in this painting (note the image of Gandhi in the mountain). The room that he and his wife slept in was on display as well as some of his personal effects.

Gandhi's personal secretary had died of a heart attack just six days after arriving at the palace. On one of the walls of the palace, this is what it said about his death:

Within a week of detention at Aga Khan Palace, Gandhi suffered a grievous bereavement. He lost Mahadev Desai, his faithful and able secretary who had served him nearly thirty-five years without any rest and who had "reduced himself to zero".

On the morning of the 15th of August 1942, he died of heart attack. Gandhi stood by the bedside calling out, "Mahadev, Mahadev". In anguish, Gandhi said, "if he only opens his eyes and looks at me once, he won't go". Mahadev never opened his eyes.

With trembling hands, Gandhi washed the body and annointed it with sandal and decorated it with flowers whispering, "Mahadev, I thought you would do this for me. Now I have to do it for you."

The authorities had brought a lorry with police and Brahmins. They wanted to take away the body and cremate it. But Gandhi would not have it. "No father can hand over the body of his son to strangers", he said. "Mahadev was more than a son to me. I would like to perform his last rites myself. But if the Government cannot take me outside, I am prepared to hand it over to friends, but I won't hand it over to the jail officials."

Gandhi sat thinking for a moment, then he said, "I do not want to make the death of my son into a political issue. If government will not allow me to go out and cremate the body nor hand it over to friends, I will have the cremation here."

Ultimately the Government yielded. In the afternoon a mournful little procession followed Mahadev's bier to a corner of the palace grounds. Gandhi followed the body with a staff in one hand and a pot of fire in the other. After a short religious ceremony, Gandhi lighted the pyre and soon there was a blaze. "Mahadev has lived up to the 'Do or Die' mantra", he asserted. "This sacrifice cannot but hasten the day of India's deliverance."

The gardens and paths around the palace were lovely and quiet. We passed underneath a stone tunnel where some fabrics and snacks were being sold. I bought the most beautiful silk sari for my mom. It is made of pure silk, but it was only 918 rupees ($26 CDN). I took way too many pictures to display in this blog, so I made a Rogers photo album, which you can view here.

Next we went to Paravati Hill, which is a hilltop temple and museum. It is the highest point in Pune (2100 feet above sea level) and has an amazing view of the city. We had no idea it was so big. To get to the top, one must climb 103 steps, which was challenging in the heat. There were lots of goats and kids trotting around the area. We also saw some birds that look like ravens only smaller with iridescent blue feathers. There was an Indian chipmunk that looked much like a Canadian one, but with prettier, more dramatic markings.

Before going into the temple area we had to check in our shoes, so we walked around the temple and museum in sock feet. Our soft, white soles got some splinters in them, but we got them all out before heading back. The temple was very beautiful, but I don't think we were supposed to take pictures of it -- a monk caught Marcelo and he got scolded.

The museum was interesting -- lots of artifacts like silver jewelry, wooden and copper utensils, and ancient coins. I was amazed to see ancient versions of what we think is a Swiss Army knife. I think the Swiss stole the patent on that one. The guard was super friendly and he turned on the overhead fans just for us -- I guess we must have been sweating a lot. I don't have any pictures inside the museum because after getting yelled at by the monk, we weren't sure if it was allowed. For the few pictures I did get (mostly goats), see here.

Next we went to the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, which is a huge museum housing the private collection of the museum's namesake. We had that problem that occurs at the Louvre where there is so much to see, you start breezing by a lot of really amazing things. As with the temple museum, there were many everyday living things like coins, utensils, combs, furniture, fabrics, clothes, lamps, and vessels. They also had beautiful, ornate dark wooden doors and windows. All items regardless of type had intricate decorative detail. Most artifacts were from the 18th and 19th century, but some stone statues were as old as the 9th century. I don't have any pictures at all because photography was 'strictly prohibited'. Poo. I bought some catalagues though.

By this time we had run out of cash (my fault for buying the sari and catalogues). We wanted to go to a bank, but Pradeep thought we should go to Shaniwar Wada first. It cost 100 rupees to get in, so we couldn't afford to enter, but we walked around the perimeter. Shaniwar Wada is a palace fort built in 1732AD that served as the seat of the Peshwa rulers. There were lots of Indian tourists and people relaxing around the grounds (picknicking, playing cricket). For more pictures, see here. Our tour around the perimeter was the first time we actually walked in the streets in Pune (we've been carted around everywhere so far). We thought it would be scary due to all the traffic and lack of sidewalks, but it wasn't. There's lots of people walking and the traffic moved pretty slow.

We stopped at Citibank to get a wad of rupees. The bank machine gave us our balances in rupees so it looked like we're loaded! Bank machines are a little hard to come by in the city. Or perhaps, we can't identify them because we can't read the script.

Lastly we went to the Pataleshwar Cave Temple. Apparently, it was carved out of a single enormous stone. There are stairs leading down to a sort of gazebo where university students hang out and study. Further in is a dark enclave with several altars. I saw one man praying in stages -- first ringing a brass bell, kneeling, and repeating this as he moved further into the darkness. It was a very quiet and peaceful place. The stone must absorb a lot of the noise because as soon as we left, the traffic sounds were deafening. For more pictures, see here.

Once back at the hotel we relaxed for a few hours. The runners were all trickling back to the hotel after picking up their race kits (they all had really low numbers, so they must be good!). I had sent my laundry out this morning and checked the 'Tomorrow' box (btw, the options are Today, Tomorrow, and Express), but it was ready this evening. I don't know what they do, but my clothes smell fresh, but not of detergent, and they look like new! I'll say again that I'm so spoiled. I wish I could send my laundry out at home.

For some reason, the managers wanted to treat us to a complimentary dinner at the restaurant where we usually have breakfast. I think today is the last day of the Oriental Food Festival that has been going on since we arrived. Tonight we had the usual starters (fried peanuts, pappadum) as well as some other appetizers (fried mackerel, deep-fried potatoes in spicy honey sauce, and baby corn sates). For our main course, we had the buffet (prawns in oyster sauce, deep-fried vegetarian balls, eight jeweled fried rice -- jewels are candied fruit, potato and corn mix, chile mushroom, chili chicken, and fried okra with red chili paste). Tonight one of the cooks, Shahbaz, introduced himself to me and showed me all the food, including the vegetable/fruit sculptures. What I had though was a bouquet of flowers was actually carved from zucchini with green onions as stems and a papaya as the pot. He also showed me some watermelons sliced with curvy vertical cuts. We exchanged email addresses and he promised to send me pictures every day of the sculptures they do.

Tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM, the gun goes off for the start of the 21st Pune International Marathon. We are going to go to the start line and watch them go and then travel to the finish line at Nehru Stadium. I'm am so excited. Goodnight everyone.

Elite marathon runners...at my hotel! We eat the same breakfast!

We found out the coolest thing today. The Pune International Marathon is the day after tomorrow (November 26) and a whole bunch of the elite runners are staying at our hotel. There were about 20 Kenyan runners having breakfast at the same time as us. They were so beautiful and tall. Mostly men, but there were a couple of girls too. Then, in the evening we saw more elite runners checking in, but they were a bunch of tanned, white guys. I'm not sure yet where they're from. Maybe we'll see them in the bar...but they're racing on Sunday, so maybe not.

I hope I'm not boring you all with the play by play of the food. I can't help it. They keep serving new things at breakfast, so I have to try them and find out what they are. I was feeling a little bit of fish hangover from last night, so I didn't have much this morning, but the new things that I tried were: egg bhurji (egg with peppers and green onions), cheese uttapam (soft, sour, white package with cheese), and mulli (radish) paratha. The mulli paratha tasted like it was stuffed with cabbage, but Google says it's type of radish. I made the mistake of taking my malaria pill after only eating a little breakfast. That in combination with the sleep deprivation made me feel like of nauseous and absolutely exhausted. Lesson learned.

We were supposed to do bundles today, but I couldn't face it. I need to make a real lesson plan first because I'm afraid of confusing them. So, we put that off until Monday. Instead, we took a look at the bug system, set up Online, and tried to run through some test cases. Everything was going wrong with the build though. We got a big, fat system error when trying to begin to create a new customer, which I know was not in the tagged version. Richard is going to look into it for me though, as usual. :)

At lunch, we were waited on hand and foot again by the office boys. They brought us paneer, biryani, roti, and pickled onions with lemon. We are so spoiled. Then, they brought us ice cream and sweet yogurt with pineapple. Marcelo had vanilla and I had macadamia, I think. To die for, as usual. The office boys are so adorable and sweet.

The afternoon was low key and we left fairly early. As soon as we left the office, it started pouring again. Apparently, it is very very unusual for it to rain ever in the winter let alone twice in 2 days. I think we're bad luck.

Tonight there was a banquet for the elite marathon runners. I was hoping to catch another glimpse, but they were behind closed doors. I want to try to watch some of the race on Sunday. Hopefully it won't rain. I can't picture how they will close the streets though. There are millions of people everywhere on these convoluted streets.


Marcelo and I went to the bar for dinner. I had a forgettable veggie platter. At some places, we've found that they make this faux spicy sauce out of ketchup that looks like the real thing, but is so disappointing. I really couldn't eat it. My first less than perfect experience. Marcelo had a lamb cutlet, which he said was very good, but heavy. And he had specifically wanted something light -- best intentions foiled.

So, tomorrow we begin our first weekend in India. We'll probably stay around Pune and explore. I can't wait. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night.

We heart India

Marcelo and I continue to lead the charmed life in India. We both overslept, so we had to rush a little bit through our daily poolside breakfast. This morning, the restaurant was full of people. Perhaps there is a conference or something. Usually, there is only 10 people tops. We've become so spoiled -- I was annoyed that I had to wait at the buffet. But, I powered through and got my share of methi paratha (Google says that methi is fenugreek), vegetable idli, vegetarian cutlet (deep-dried potato and corn croquette-like thing served, strangely, with BBQ-flavoured potato chips), onion uttapa, medu wada, and sabudana khichadi (a globular grain cooked soft and mixed with herbs-- very mild). What will I do when I can't have an Indian breakfast buffet next to the pool every morning? Sigh.

I realized today that I didn't know our driver's name and I was referring to him as driver (not to him, of course), just like Karen on Will & Grace. Our driver's name is Pradeep and he is an excellent and ridiculously punctual driver. When he says he'll be there in 2 minutes, he means it literally.

Training continues to go well with the team. We've gone over installation, online setup, customers, orders, series config, and performance config. They have been studying on their own, so I find that they know way more than I have told them. They're so quick. You know how they say that IT workers in India could take your job because the labour is cheaper? Well, not only it is cheaper, but it's better. They're kicking my ass. If Marcelo decides to get rid of me, I'll understand.

Santosh continues to take care of our every need. Today for lunch he made reservations for us at a place called Mainland China. It was a very upscale-looking restaurant that could have been in any city in the world. We had the most delicious prawn dim sum appetizers. It was upscale-type dim sum (like you'd get at Lai Wah Heen), but it was priced like in Chinatown. Then we had mapo tofu (a Chinese spicy tofu and ground meat dish) made from lamb, stir-fried 'buddhist' vegetables (zucchini, bamboo shoots, baby corn, black fungus, broccoli, cauliflower, and bok choy), and steamed rice. The food was dished out for us by the waiter and my tea cup kept on being magically replenished without my knowledge. The bill cam to 788 rupees, which is like $22 CDN -- insane. The bathroom was amazing too. Marcelo said that in the men's bathroom, there was a sign saying that you could purchase things like reading glasses of varying prescriptions, contact lens solutions, and woollen shawls from the restaurant if you needed them. Wild.

So, after our customary 2-hour lunch, we returned to the office and continued with training. At about 5PM the skies opened up and it started to pour. It rained for probably about an hour, which is very rare for winter. The team told us that usually it only rains during monsoon season, which is 4 months long ending in October, I think. So, this was special. We all went up to the covered rooftop cafeteria and watched the rain. The team told us that it can rain for up to one week solid during the monsoon season.

The rooftop cafeteria is awesome. They have free homemade chai tea up there that was so good. Very milky and sweet with ginger. I loved it. They also sell snacks up there, but that will have to wait for another day. The team had lots of questions about what Canada was like. They asked what kind of national cuisine we have and we said that there really isn't one. I think they didn't get that. Answers to that question are always about Canadian ingredients (Maritime lobster, Alberta beef, etc.) and not Canadian preparation. I hope to get angry comments from you all in Canada along with a list of our national foods because I can't think of anything. And don't say poutine. I mean, I love it too, but I don't think we should brag about it.

Marcelo and I were wondering what they would think if they visited Canada. There is so much to see in India (temples, forts, hill stations, tombs, caves), but what would they possibly want to see in Toronto? Niagara Falls? CN Tower? That's all I got, so please, send me your ideas.

Well, Vijay, I got a picture of the team for you, so you can see who everyone is. From left to right is Bhaskaran, Shirish, and Chandrashekar. Bhaskaran and Chandrashekar said that they are from the same area as you. Maybe when you come to India for your brother's wedding you could meet everyone?

For dinner tonight we stayed in and went to the poolside restaurant where we have breakfast. We were admiring the display of whole fish and shellfish next to the chef's station and the maitre d' sweetly identified all the fish for us (pomfret, sardines, small mackerel, large mackeral, lobster, crab, and something he translated as princess fish). Then he asked us if we wanted to eat a whole fish. Of course we said yes and it was whisked away and cooked sort of Chinese-style. It was cut into pieces, stuffed with garlic and herbs, battered, deep-fried, topped with a slaw of red pepper, carrots, green onions, and garlic and displayed with the head and tail. I know I've said this about everything, but it was incredible. The fish was really fresh so even though it was mackerel, it wasn't fishy. The sauce was sweet, a little bit spicy, and full of garlic and the batter was light and crisp. It was huge. We ate almost the whole thing and didn't have anything else on the side, so unlike the rest of our meals, it was all protein.

I took a lot of pictures of the chef and cooks. They kept on setting the wok on fire (to clean it, maybe?). After a bit, I think they were performing for my camera. :) I noticed from the pictures I took of the team and of the cooks that the people here do not smile for photos. Japanese people don't either...I'm not sure why. It makes my toothy grin stand out even more.

Marcelo said that before dinner he watched a live yoga class on TV. It was held outside by a famous yogi whose names escapes me and there were what looked like thousands of people there. Apparently, the yoga classes that we take in Toronto are very similar to this one, so we're actually getting the real deal, which is nice to know.

I think that the people at SSS are planning weekend sightseeing for us. I. AM. SO. EXCITED. I'll take pictures and blog, of course. Goodnight everyone.