Swine Flu, Making the News and A New Arrival

One thing that I did not mention in my last blog was that the girls in our group have been ill for a few days. At the time of writing it just seemed like it was a fairly mundane thing and they would recover in a couple of days. Millie had been ill on Thursday and gone home from work. She went to the local hospital and they gave her a test for swine flu. Jasola Apollo Hospital has a bit of a reputation for giving people unnecessary tests to make money so we thought nothing of it. That was until her test results came back positive on Monday. Jess had been ill from Friday morning, but we thought that as she was sharing a room with Millie it was probably the same thing. So both of them had to have a week of work and wear masks when they were in contact with any other people. Swine flu is not actually that serious as the strain of the disease has weakened, but it is still very infectious. At the start of the week I felt as if we were just waiting for the virus to pick the rest of us off. The hotel staff went into panic mode and were visibly taking a step back in fear when they came into contact with Millie or Jess. As it turned out, Jess did not have swine flu and both girls are now fully recovered to go back to work this week. But it had been a bit surprising and of all the things to get in India, swine flu would have been one of the last I would have thought of.

The other thing that I forgot to mention in my last blog post was that the BBC had filmed a piece in the Sannam S4 canteen. Ahead of David Cameron’s visit to India they did an interview with Sannam S4 Chief Executive Adrian Mutton. At the time we were all told to go to the canteen to make it look busy. So in the footage you can see the back of my head as I am eating lunch.

This week Pritesh arrived in India. He had been with us in Dundee and so it was good that he was finally able to join us. His flight arrived at 5am in Delhi, but rather than sleeping when he arrived he had to go to an orientation session at Sannam S4 in the morning. To make things worse he had drunk the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine during the plane journey and so he was a little worse for wear during the orientation. To wind him up the staff at Sannam S4 told him he had to deliver an hours presentation on what he had learnt during the orientation session. It was good to be on the other side of the joke after the incident with the food last week.

Pritesh was able to have a couple of hours sleep before we went out for the evening. Arun, who is the University of Dundee’s representative at Sannam S4, took us to a surprisingly nice roof top bar called Cafe 27 in Kalesh Colony. I say surprising because I would have hardly noticed it existed from the outside, but it was quite a large space upstairs. Arun had arranged a special deal which gave us unlimited food and drink for the night for Rs.1100. The waiters kept coming over with more food and there was a bucket full of bottles of beer in the centre that was constantly being re-stocked up. After finishing at the bar Arun took us to see India Gate at night which was quite special because it was so different seeing it without all the tourists. He then took us to a Sikh temple which, despite it being past 2am, was full of worshippers.

On Saturday I went to visit Humayun’s tomb, which is the third most popular attraction in Delhi. The nearest Metro station was at the JLN stadium, which is where the 2010 Commonwealth Games were held. The Metro station there seems like a ghost town as it was clearly built for the games, but is now not used at all. The tomb was a 10 minute auto ride away, but I think most of the tourists were arriving on coach trips or by taxi. Humayun’s tomb is considered a precursor for the Taj Mahal and the architecture is very similar. The tomb is currently undergoing renovation work so it did not look that good from the front. Fortunately all sides are symmetrical. Sadly, on the second side there was a couple posing for photos and it looked like they would be there for a while. On the third side it was facing the sun so it was not suitable for pictures. Luckily, as can be seen in the picture below, there were no obstacles and so the photos came out ok.

Yesterday we decided to go to Tughlaqabad Fort, which is one of the few sites of interest in Delhi that is south of Jasola. The fort was built in 1371 and is now mostly in ruins. It is a huge complex, over 6km in diameter, and so there was lots to explore. The most exciting thing about the fort was the presence of monkeys. They were running about amongst the ruined walls of the fort and looked like they were teasing us by hiding when I tried to take photos. After the fort we went to Khan Market for lunch and on to Lodi Gardens. We bought a football at Khan Market and started playing a game with some kids who were playing in the park. Annoyingly, after a short while, a warden came and told us we were not allowed to play, despite the fact that there were hundreds of others playing ball games. It is possible we were playing a bit more competitively than most and, as we were clearly foreign, we are always going to attract a bit more attention.

Today I booked the train tickets for the group to Jaipur. We will leave on Friday evening after work and get a 5 hour train to Jaipur. On the train journey we get a meal and a bunk to sleep on. We will then return on Sunday evening so as to get to work the next morning. I am also trying to organise a trip to Goa as we get a few days off for Holi, but it is a bit of a nightmare trying to get flights because it is, in effect, like booking at Christmas in the UK. But I’m hoping to get that sorted as soon as possible so I have something organised at the end of March.

Starting Work

Two weeks ago I had my first day working at Sannam S4. To make sure we all arrived on time at our respective workplaces breakfast was arranged to be served at 6.30am. I took the metro into Nehru Place and managed to remember how to find the tower block where Sannam S4’s offices are. I remembered that it was on the 4^th floor so made my way up in the lift. I got out to find that I was on the wrong floor. I tried going up a floor in case I’d got the wrong number. Still the wrong office. I was starting to wonder whether I was in the right tower block when I realised that it was the 3^rd floor and not the 4^th. Fortunately I had left with plenty of time to spare and so got to the office on time, if a little more flustered than I had intended.

My role at Sannam S4 is as a researcher. Many of their clients are educational institutions from the UK, Australia, the US and Singapore who look to recruit students from India. My first project has been to work on a report on why Indian students who study abroad often struggle to get work when they return to India. Only rarely do graduates from foreign universities earn wages that are higher than graduates from domestic universities.  Surveys have been done on Indian students studying abroad and employers in India and I have been working on analysing the data that has come out of those surveys. From the results of those surveys you can tell what the perceptions of employers are of Indian students who study abroad and, therefore, suggest solutions that will make it easier for returning graduates to get good jobs in future.

The staff at Sannam S4 have been really friendly and welcoming. I cannot say too much about them because they have already found this blog and will almost certainly read it. I had to introduce myself in front of a meeting of all the staff, with those who were in the Bangalore office listening in over the phone. That was a little scary, but mostly the atmosphere has been quite relaxed. On Friday I was told that it was an office tradition that new members of staff cook everyone lunch on one day. Given the number of staff I was reassured that it was only to supplement everyone’s lunch, but I still went round asking all the staff members what they wanted. They were going to get pasta with a tomato sauce regardless, but it is nice to ask. Anyway, it was only after I got home that I got the message that it was a wind up. But as I’ve already promised that I’d provide lunch on Tuesday I’m going to have to do it anyway now.

Last Saturday we started exploring the city on our own. We went to Khan Market which has a lot of the shops that you would find in the UK. It is in quite an affluent part of the city and is very expensive. We did end up getting some food there and we have not stopped talking about how good the Afghan chicken was that day. After Khan Market we visited Lodi Gardens, which was originally called Lady Willingdon Park under British rule. It is very peaceful and I could not quite believe that it was still in Delhi. With the design of the park it would not have been out of place in London, except for the larger variety of wildlife and tombs from the Lodi period.

  

Yesterday, we explored the centre of Delhi, taking in India Gate and the Parliament Street. I had seen both these places as part of my rushed tour of Delhi in 2011, but it was nice to see them at a much more sedate pace this time. In the evening we tried to find a bar in Hauz Khas Village which we had been recommended to go to because that was where the ‘young people’ go. It is a nice area with a lot of restaurants and art shops, but it did not have any bars in the way that you would find in the UK. It was also quite pricey, with it costing Rs.250 (about £3) for a small bottle of beer, which is quite a lot compared to the Rs.64 (about 75p) that I paid for a 650ml bottle of Kingfisher at the local Beer Shop. People in India seem to go out a lot earlier than in the UK, with bars closing at the latest by midnight. I don’t think we were in the right place for what we wanted, but I’m sure over time we will find better places to go.

Today I visited the Lotus Temple, which is one stop on the Metro away from my work place at Nehru Place. The Lotus Temple is a Baha’I House of Worship that was completed in 1986, so it is a lot more modern than most of the religious buildings that I have seen so far in India. I visited this with Harry, who is working as an architect so he was in his element trying to work out how the building was designed. Inside you supposed to stay silent and photography is strictly not allowed. It was amazing being in such a beautiful building with loads of other tourists, but in complete silence. Before going in you have to remove your shoes. I made the mistake of taking off my socks as well, forgetting that the marble floor would be cold. My feet were freezing and I was very jealous of the people who were wearing woolly socks.

During the week we have so far been too tired to do much after work. Whilst I get home before 7, Jess and Harry have got a two hour commute and so do not get back until quite late. At the moment we are still mainly ordering in food, but now know where to buy groceries so have been cooking a little bit. I think we will end up cooking more and the hotel have offered a tiffin service in the evening with a set menu on each day which will cost Rs.60 (just over 70p) each which will be good on the days we don’t want to cook on. Pritesh, one of the members of the course in Dundee, had visa problems which meant that he could not come out with us. But that has now all been sorted and so he should be coming out sometime this week. So hopefully by the time of my next blog he will be in India and we shall have some definite plans on travelling outside of Delhi in the weekends ahead.

New Surroundings

The most surprising thing about my first few days in Delhi has been the fog. When I woke up on the first morning it become apparent that everything outside the hotel room was buried under a thick haze. It does lift towards mid-day and I’m told it only hangs around to this extent at this time of year, but it has been a bit of a surprise to all of us. Partly due to the thick fog the temperature in the mornings is a lot colder than I had been expected. It is obviously still warmer than Dundee, but I had not expected to use my jumpers much in Delhi. Again it warms up towards the middle of the day as it becomes brighter, but it does mean that, at least for the time being, the hectic commute to work on the New Delhi Metro will take place in conditions of relative comfort. The crazy driving, the overzealous use of the hooter and the wealth of contrasting smells and colours were all expected. So it was the fog that took me most by surprise in the first few days.

The journey to Delhi from Dundee took a lot longer than anticipated. Our flight from Edinburgh to Dundee was delayed because of strong winds which meant that we missed the connecting flight to Delhi. To make matters worse, Millie, one of the girls on the programme, was travelling directly from Heathrow and so had to get on the plane on her own. Fortunately a representative from Sannam S4 met her at the airport and she arrived at the hotel ok. In fairness to British Airways they pulled out all the stops to look after us and make sure we got on a flight the next day. We were put up in a fairly nice hotel, given dinner and then breakfast in the morning. On the flight itself we were all split up because the flight had been rebooked. Part way through the flight I got up to go to the toilet, but when I returned a man had taken my seat. He did not seem to speak any English and so did not understand when I tried to explain that it was my seat. So I had to find another seat which was in the middle of a row and so was a lot less comfortable than before.

We finally reached the hotel at 3.30am Indian time on Thursday morning after leaving Dundee at about 2 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon. Having arrived we were told that breakfast would be served at 8am the next morning before a long day ahead of us. Due to the adrenalin of arriving in a new country none of us got much sleep, but had to get going regardless. To go to Sannam S4 we had to take the Metro system to Nehru Place. The Metro in Delhi is very similar to the London Underground except that it is mostly above ground. The first line was opened in 2002 so it is obviously very new and, unlike the London Underground, built to handle a large number of people. That does not mean that the trains themselves are not crowded, but it does mean that it is a lot easier to walk between the different lines. At Sannam S4 we were given a basic induction and then given directions to the Red Fort in Delhi so that we could learn to navigate the system on our own.

From the Metro station we took a cycle rickshaw to the Red Fort. There were three of us on the rickshaw, with one of us on the back facing the traffic. The rickshaws seem quite heavy, particularly with three of us inside, and so it seems remarkable that one cyclist can take the load. The Red Fort in Delhi has a large amount of open space and a lot to look round. We only had an hour there because we had to get back to the hotel so we did not have enough time to do it justice. Around the streets we were getting a lot of attention and could not say anything within conversation without it being picked up by the traders as interest in their stalls. In our group of six in Delhi there three ginger people and two with blond hair so we are not exactly going to blend into the background.

On Friday most of the group had to go to meet their employers, but as I had already been there on Thursday I had a day off. I used it to catch up on sleep and start one of the assignments for the university course. In the afternoon a couple of us walked round the local area. There is really nice sports complex with facilities squash, tennis, table tennis, badminton, cricket and football which we are considering joining, but it costs double the membership fee for foreigners and we do not know at the moment how tired we will be after working. We also tried to get sim cards for our phones, but that is easier said than done. Foreigners are only allowed one sim card so they require a copy of our passport, visa and passport size photos and then it takes a few days for it to register.  I will therefore find out on Monday if the sim card works.

This weekend we were taken on a trip to see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. I visited a year and a half ago, but I was hoping to get to see it when it was sunny. Sadly I was disappointed as the thick fog that had formed in Delhi was even worse in Agra. The Taj Mahal is still a magnificent building and, even though I have seen it before, the first view takes your breath away with its scale. Unfortunately the extent of the fog meant that the photos are not that good. Arun, our co-ordinator in India, seems to obsessed with taking group photos and so everywhere we went we had to line up for photos. Agra Fort was built initially as a fortress to keep people out, but was finished and utilised by the son of the king who commissioned the Taj Mahal to keep his father locked up. Evidently the Taj Mahal had cost a lot of public money and so the King was ousted in favour of his son to stop him spending the people’s money so lavishly. Whilst the Taj Mahal was expensive to build I am fairly confident there has been a very good return on the investment with all the tourists visiting in the subsequent centuries.

We are staying at the Green Leaf Hotel in the south of Delhi. As a group we have a floor to ourselves with a kitchen and lounge. I am sharing a room with a fellow ginger guy called Rob who is working with Control Risks. The wi-fi is reasonably good, but does not work all the time which could get a little frustrating. We get breakfast provided in the morning and have so far had food delivered to the hotel in the evening which usually costs less than £2 each. It is possible that when we get to know the markets better we will buy our own food to cook in the hotel, but it makes sense to get it delivered while we are still getting used to it. I have generally found the spice levels not to be a problem. The issue has been the level of salt in the food. Indians seem to have a lot of salt in their diets and I really do not like too much salt in my food. But apart from that the food is fine and I think I am getting more vegetables in my diet because it is spicy and so I do not realise they are there.

Tomorrow I start working for Sannam S4. I visited their office on Thursday and so know how to get there. It is about a 40 minute commute, but that is not too bad compared to the 2 hour commute that Harry and Jess have to undertake each morning. The people at Sannam S4 seem really friendly and the organisation appears to be quite informal. But until I have been there to work for a day I am slightly nervous. I am working from 9am to 6pm so it will be a long day, but it should be great opportunity to learn a lot about an area that I do not know that much about. Equally, by working with people who have lived in Delhi for a long time I hope to pick up the best local knowledge on where to go in the city and in the country as a whole. My next blog post should provide more information on what I am doing for the bulk of my time in India as I expect to find out quite a lot in the next week.