A day in the life...: Hyderabad

Today/Yesterday was a little different. After all the celebration last night, there weren’t a whole lot of people interested in meeting in the morning. I met with a couple of folks and then went out to do a little sight seeing in the afternoon before returning to the hotel to get packed and rested.

I’ve talked about the driving here. Last night, as we were returning to the hotel, I asked my driver why the guy was driving the wrong direction coming toward us in our lane. He just sort of laughed and said, “No problem. No policeman, no problem.” I said, “So, you mean that nobody gets tickets?” He repeated, “No problem. No policeman.” Speaks volumes. :)

As we were heading to the airport last night, Mohammedarif seemed in a hurry. I couldn’t understand why, we left a little after 1AM for a 4:20AM flight. Plenty of time right? Well, after getting to Ghandi airport and spending almost 3 hours getting through security and the million boarding pass checks, I understand why he was in such a hurry. Anyway, he got caught between a huge truck with a bumper that was just at the height of my head and a motorcycle on the other side. While trying to thread the needle, the truck slammed into the car, the bumper dinging the car’s fender right by my head. I thought this meant that we’d be pulling over, exchanging insurance cards, calling the police, and ultimately a long delay. We pulled over, Mohammedarif got out, looked at the damage, let out a sound something like an overstuffed leather chair when you plop down in it. Got back in as the trucked passed and drove away. He caught up to the truck and I thought he was going to tell them to pull over or something. He didn’t we just kept going to the airport. I’d wondered what would happen if there was a fender bender in India. Now I know. Nothing. Everyone just goes about their business.

I asked Mohammedarif if he was OK. “Yeah, yeah. Isz OK. Isz OK.” While shaking his hand like he’s trying to get a post it off and moving his head not unlike a bobble headed doll. There’s a lot of things I don’t understand about India. This was one of them.

I went to one of the famous sights for Hyderabad. It was an old castle and a mosque. I will just say here that it was a very, very interesting experience. I drew a lot of attention and not all of it welcoming. Most were interested in begging for money. The little kids running around in the courtyard playing some form of cricket came up and shook my hand many times. The older gentlemen in the area just stared at me as I walked through with a volunteer guide. There was a table made of black granite he insisted I sit on. He said that it is the seat of power and that when visitors from other lands sit there, it gives them power to return in the future. For all I know, it was where they made the foreigners sit so everyone could see how silly they look sitting on the coffee table.

There was one fellow, a muslim following me around everywhere. Sort of like, checking to make sure I didn’t do something wrong. I turned and faced him and smiled and put out my hand to shake his. Suddenly his face changed from a threatening grimace to a happy, toothless smile.

Poor people were everywhere begging. Mohammedarif told me not to give them anything or we would be accosted by everyone. “No give. No give. Everyone come. Not goo. Not goo. Everyone come. No give.” On my way out, a cute little boy was following me around with a cute smile on his face. I couldn’t help myself. I slipped him a 10 rupee, which is like a quarter. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by people grabbing me and Mohammedarif begging for chocolate or money. I regretted not listening to my driver and guide a little better.

Just as a final piece of information. I asked Mohammedarif how much he gets paid. He said, 6000 rupees a month. I did the math and was shocked. That’s roughly $150 a month. He drove me to the airport. We said our goodbyes, I gave him a one armed half hug. He looked embarrassed. Drivers aren’t supposed to get hugs from their clients, I guess. I handed him a white Ista, Hyderabad Hotel envelope with his tip. He had a big smile on his face when he drove away.

The airport was crazy. Terrible process. As a guy who gets paid a lot to figure out how to do things better, more efficient, use human resources better, and streamline processes so they are smoother, I was appalled at the way things were done at the airport. I think my boarding passes were checked at least 15 times. Not an exaggeration here folks. At the boarding location, they were checked while I was seated, then, when going through the boarding gate, then just on the other side, then at the bottom of the escalator, then at the outside gate, then inside the boarding tunnel and finally at the door of the airplane. Each time, I put the boarding pass back in my pocket thinking I was good to go. It reminded me of a saying, “Throw enough mud on the wall, and you’re bound to cover it all.” It also reminds me of the old cathedrals I saw in Portugal. Instead of designing them for strength, they just over designed them with 10 foot thick walls at the based and 3 foot thick walls at the top. Why design anything when you have enough manpower to simply cover every conceivable eventuality.

The filghts were uneventful. The A380 is a fun plane to fly in. Even in coach class, it’s pretty comfortable with huge windows and fairly comfortable seating. I barely made my connection in Dubai, so didn’t even have time to stop for a drink of water. Landed to partly sunny weather in England.

Bumped into the guy I’d met on the way out in Dubai. He was a CTO of a small software company that builds solutions for managing ports. Seems like that happens a lot when I travel on business. I meet someone on the flight over and then see them on the way back. This particular fellow was from Ireland and flew to Koala Lampur. Met people flying to Africa, all parts of Asia and Malasia.

Anyway, saw Stonehenge this afternoon. It’s quite a site, really. I wasn’t expecting it to be so striking. As you drive up, it’s right there on the hillside, boom. Looks much bigger than I thought it would. I was too late and couldn’t go in close to it as they had closed it off already. But, did get a pretty good look at it from the fenced off area. Here are some pictures.

If I look a little non-plussed here it’s because I was really hoping to get in. And, I’m a little tired and jet lagged. After all, my day started at midnight in Hyderabad.