Bye Bye Bombay

Here is my Michael Mann impersonation...



It is a quarter ‘til 9, local time. I slept the entire flight here from Mumbai to Bahrain. It started at 6am. That means I had to be at the airport at 4am, leaving my hotel in South Mumbai at 3am. Of course, I decided to just not sleep. Another rep helped me with this. We ate pizza at a place on Marine Drive that I always hit when staying in South Mumbai. Just as we arrived outside the pizza place, all of Marine Drive was shut down for the motorcade of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister. He was having dinner at our hotel. We got out of there just in time. After the pizza, we went into the bar next door for a few Bombay & tonics. Had to do it. Next we hailed a cab and went to a shopping and nightlife center known as Phoenix Mills. Some prospective grad students at the fair earlier that day had told me about it. Two of the clubs that we’d been told to go to were closed for private parties. The first we tried to weasel our way into. Didn’t work. The second we just tried to crash. That didn’t work either. Might have been because we were the only ferengi in the joint. The place was popular, but not with foreigners. For our third try we settled on a sports bar, had some more drinks, and played some pool with some rich locals. One gave us quite a ride, back to our hotel in his chauffeured car. I then packed, showered, and was off.

Is this perhaps the last time that I will exit India? Part of me hopes so. I’m tired of runny nose, irritated throat, and loose bowels.

So I sit in the Bahrain airport again. Last time I was here, I believe that I was on my way to a few days off in Goa. This time, I’m headed in the opposite direction, to Istanbul. I’ll have one day there, tomorrow, a Saturday, with nothing scheduled for work. I’ve never been to Istanbul, or Turkey, before. Luckily, one of my infamous exes, the Turk, is there to be my guide.



Here are some views from the rooftop venue where our fair was held…

Sri Lanka

I almost skipped this last stop on the tour. Last year it was no good for me. Very few prospective students visited my table. I’m glad I decided to participate in the end. It was much more productive this time ‘round. I had some time off on the day of my flight out. I went downtown with a couple other reps to try to do some shopping. No good. It was largely shut-down and deserted. There is a big festival somewhere else in the city, and the place is on lock-down – lots of armed military patrolling about. Still, we walked around a bit, then took a stroll along the seaside promenade. Got a couple of interesting videos…

Here is a 360 of where downtown meets the beach...



And where the run-off meets the beach...



Sri Lankans enjoying a nice afternoon...



Sri Lankan-style fast-food at the local mall (okay, I still had Pizza Hut)...



This last one I took at a food break on the way to the airport. Again, I'm disappointed with the quality of the transfer (so much better on my computer!). Make sure to get a look at what the last one leaves behind.



And your moment of zen...

Entertaining Moments in India

That last entry was repetitive, I know, but I wanted to show what a recruiting tour like this feels like at its worst - fair after fair after fair after fair. There have however, been some entertaining moments to help break up the monotony...



First we have the tour of Bollywood, the center of India's film industry, which is the largest in the world. That clip shows a nightclub set where they are preparing to film a bar/dance scene. The girl in the black dress on the right at the end of the clip (I know it's fuzzy) is the female lead. Here are two stills - one of the dance set, and a close-up of two starlets.





Our 15 minutes on-set was the only good part of the "tour." 4/5ths of our time was spent in transit (horrible traffic, that is) betweens the stops. At the same locations as the nightclub set, we saw a variety of other sets not currently being used. Actually, some looked (and smelled) like they had not been used in years. We had lunch at a Chinese chain restaurant that our guide tried to tell us was popular with Bollywood types (yeah, right). Finally we went to a minor post-production facility where they do editing and visual effects. Nothing spectacluar, especially considering the university I work for. Not once did we actually step foot in Film City proper. I got the feeling it was just a hastily arranged sequence meant to fleece us of our money.

OK, cheer up, here is another view of the elephant walking down the busy street in Pune...



And a colorful shot from our bus of a market in Bangalore...

My Oh So Exciting Travels

This is pretty much what I have been up to the past couple of weeks...

PUNE FAIR


MUMBAI FAIR
sorry, no video - left the camera in my room.

BANGALORE FAIR


HYDERABAD FAIR


CHENNAI FAIR


COLOMBO FAIR
Left the camera in my room again, and boy am I kicking myself. Not that the fair was incredibly busy (it was typical), but there were some stunning women in attendance.

OK, so the first leg of my trip is done, but I'm not quite finished with India. I have to return to Delhi and Bombay for two more fairs. And, lord have mercy, I will have a full day with nothing to do. Thank you Ghandi, for being born on this day.

Ah, Ahmedabad - 9/19/06

I was a bit harsh on Ahmedabad last entry. I actually have nothing against the city itself, I just had some bad dealings with some people here in the past. The city itself is actually quite vibrant and bustling with commerce. The surname “Patel” that most Americans associate with India in general is actually endemic to the state of Gujarat, of which Ahmedabad is the old capitol. The majority of Indian immigrants to the US come from this one state. As I have mentioned before, it is a dry state – maybe that helps contribute to the industriousness of its citizens. I can’t complain, I have abstained so far this trip anyway.

Upon arriving at our hotel I was once again wiped out in the early evening. I fell asleep in my clothes at about 8:30, then woke up at 2:00 am. Rather than stay up until morning, or just get a little more sleep, I made myself go back to bed and didn’t wake until 7. Maybe now I will finally be on track. At least there is only one time zone in India.

Here are some street shots from my car ride to and from a university visit.



This is a great shot of what a mall looks like in India…



Small business ownership is rampant, as you can see from the ubiquitous “cubicle shops” lining every thoroughfare. They are stacked like Lego blocks, with residences above…

And on to our second fair later on that day. This shot is from early in the fair…



And this one is a couple of hours in…

Updates Coming Soon!

For now, check out this video I took in Pune...

Doorman, former Doorman