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| From Q4 In Hyderabad |
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Extra Spicy or Original Recipe?
One interaction of particular note from the market today. After turning a corner, we ended up in the meat district. As I was snapping pictures, a guy skinning chickens half-jokingly asked if I wanted to buy one. He and I both chuckled a bit before he asked me to take a photo of him.
An Overnight Celebrity
Brian and I went to the Golconda Fort today. It's a massive place -- 7km around (roughly 4 sq km for the non-geeks out there who didn't do the math themselves). Between a partial tour and walking to the top of the hill, we probably spent a bit over 2 hours there. In that time, I think we had five different groups come up and take pictures with us and at least another dozen ask us our names and where we're from, welcome us to India, and shake our hands.
We then headed back to the Old City to walk around and explore the shops again. This time, we got off the beaten path a bit more. The same thing continued with random people coming up and introducing themselves. Brian and I were both pretty engaging. We posed for everyone's pictures, talked with people, asked them questions. It feels strange to stand out so much. Though, the attention is all positive, which is nice.
At the end of our shopping in Old City, we sought out this place called Hotel Shabad, a restaurant recommended by my guide book and some co-workers at Amazon. It was phenomenal... definitely the best meal I've had in India.
As we finished up, a group of three students visiting Hyderabad sat down at the table next to us. They stared at us for a while before one came over and introduced himself. We said hello and exchanged names before he went back to his table. Brian, who's been very anxiously seeking out a "talk with the locals," suggested that we go over and sit down with them. Wanting him to enjoy his time in India, I hesitantly followed him to their table.
After a bit of commotion, we sat down and the five of us talked... sort of. They didn't speak very good English. We figured out they were students from some place towards Mumbai, that they were enjoying Hyderabad, and that they wanted to visit America. That was about the extent of our five minute conversation. They also took pictures of us.
I get the whole "wanting to interact with locals" thing. But, forcing the interaction seems a bit strange and disrespectful to me. I guess Brian got something out of it: a "real" conversation. And I think the students got something out of it: a photo with a bunch of Americans. But, I definitely felt like we could have left the interaction at the initial hellos before we made a scene switching tables, moving chairs around, etc... I can't help but fear that others in the restaurant might have been turned off by the behavior.
I feel like there's a fine line to walk here, a line I've certainly crossed myself at times. It's important to treat people as people. Part of that is being open, engaging, and friendly. There's a lot of misunderstanding in this world, much of which I believe can be solved with things as simple as a smile or the word "hello."
The other part is realizing that they're not attractions on your sightseeing tour. It's one thing to engage with someone because of some shared moment. It's another to do it because you're trying to gain some experience for yourself.
We then headed back to the Old City to walk around and explore the shops again. This time, we got off the beaten path a bit more. The same thing continued with random people coming up and introducing themselves. Brian and I were both pretty engaging. We posed for everyone's pictures, talked with people, asked them questions. It feels strange to stand out so much. Though, the attention is all positive, which is nice.
At the end of our shopping in Old City, we sought out this place called Hotel Shabad, a restaurant recommended by my guide book and some co-workers at Amazon. It was phenomenal... definitely the best meal I've had in India.
As we finished up, a group of three students visiting Hyderabad sat down at the table next to us. They stared at us for a while before one came over and introduced himself. We said hello and exchanged names before he went back to his table. Brian, who's been very anxiously seeking out a "talk with the locals," suggested that we go over and sit down with them. Wanting him to enjoy his time in India, I hesitantly followed him to their table.
After a bit of commotion, we sat down and the five of us talked... sort of. They didn't speak very good English. We figured out they were students from some place towards Mumbai, that they were enjoying Hyderabad, and that they wanted to visit America. That was about the extent of our five minute conversation. They also took pictures of us.
I get the whole "wanting to interact with locals" thing. But, forcing the interaction seems a bit strange and disrespectful to me. I guess Brian got something out of it: a "real" conversation. And I think the students got something out of it: a photo with a bunch of Americans. But, I definitely felt like we could have left the interaction at the initial hellos before we made a scene switching tables, moving chairs around, etc... I can't help but fear that others in the restaurant might have been turned off by the behavior.
I feel like there's a fine line to walk here, a line I've certainly crossed myself at times. It's important to treat people as people. Part of that is being open, engaging, and friendly. There's a lot of misunderstanding in this world, much of which I believe can be solved with things as simple as a smile or the word "hello."
The other part is realizing that they're not attractions on your sightseeing tour. It's one thing to engage with someone because of some shared moment. It's another to do it because you're trying to gain some experience for yourself.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Charminar, Laad Bazaar, and Emissions from Car
My Saturday got off to a bit of a disappointing start. A bunch of people at work invited me to play in a cricket match, which I was really excited about. After I went to bed relatively early last night and woke up at 6:15 this morning, the match got canceled due to rain.
After heading back to sleep for a while, Brian, another Seattleite, and I headed down to the Charminar, the iconic landmark of Hyderabad. The Charminar is located in the "Old City," where Hyderabad was originally founded, now the predominantly Muslim area of town.
Getting out of our auto-rickshaw in front of the monument, we were immediately surrounded by dozens of children, half of whom were shouting things like, "hello," "bonjour," and "como estas" in an attempt to figure out where we were from, half of whom were grabbing our arms and pointing to their mouths indicating they wanted us to give them money for food. I quickly realized my mistake in engaging them and started walking straight to the monument; poor Brian was left behind.
It costs 5 Rs to see the monument, 100 Rs if you're not from India. We paid for that and a tour guide which, although I was initially skeptical of, turned out to be a wise investment. I learned things like (feel free to skip over these :-)
The most noteworthy story was trying to shop (or not shop) for bangles. Quick summary, bangles are these inflexible bracelets, typically worn by women of India. Their most common use, I think, is to symbolize matrimony. Anyway, I had no idea as to the worth of bangles so I dragged Brian into a shop to just see what it would cost.
First, imagine a shop that's about 5ft x 12ft. The walls are covered with bangles of every color. The salesman, who speaks only a little English, starts frantically grabbing bangles and handing them to Brian and me. Within about 30 seconds, Brian and I probably have about 80 of these in ours hands. The salesman is showing us bangle combination after bangle combination. We can't make sense of what's going on.
We start trying to hand our bangles back; nobody will take them. We set them down on a chair; some guy comes over and yells at us. We try handing them to him; he won't take them. We start forcing them into his hands; he gives us a funny look. Brian and I start trying to leave, but the salesman puts his hand into my chest, asking us to give him a chance on a price. We're cornered at this point, so we figure why not.
He offers us 12 of them (people tend to wear multiple ones) for like 1200 Rs (~$24). Having no real interest in these bangles, we both say no. The salesman starts slashing the price until he gets to like 600 Rs, at which point he asks me to make him an offer. Again, not really interested in them, I said I'd give him 50 Rs. He looked flabbergasted, saying that's an unreasonable offer. We eventually compromised on 120 Rs. It's pretty easy to bargain when you don't actually want what he's offering.
I wanted to keep walking around the shops, but Brian was getting hungry. So, we went in search of food. We ended up getting an auto-rickshaw to take us to Lumbini Park, situated at the southern end of the lake in the middle of the city. After lunch, we walked around the city for a few hours.
Big mistake. We were downtown and traffic there is unbelievably bad. So, bad that I was actually having trouble breathing from all of the pollution. We wandered around for a while before both of us got really grumpy and decided to take a cab home. But, now I'm home, showered, in my bed, and happy :-)
So, after today, I've decided that (1) the Charminar market area is the highlight of the city (2) I need to go back and (3) other than that area, there isn't really a good place to just "hang out" and get lost in.
Here are some pictures from today:
After heading back to sleep for a while, Brian, another Seattleite, and I headed down to the Charminar, the iconic landmark of Hyderabad. The Charminar is located in the "Old City," where Hyderabad was originally founded, now the predominantly Muslim area of town.
Getting out of our auto-rickshaw in front of the monument, we were immediately surrounded by dozens of children, half of whom were shouting things like, "hello," "bonjour," and "como estas" in an attempt to figure out where we were from, half of whom were grabbing our arms and pointing to their mouths indicating they wanted us to give them money for food. I quickly realized my mistake in engaging them and started walking straight to the monument; poor Brian was left behind.
It costs 5 Rs to see the monument, 100 Rs if you're not from India. We paid for that and a tour guide which, although I was initially skeptical of, turned out to be a wise investment. I learned things like (feel free to skip over these :-)
- Charminar means four towers. Char is the Hindi word meaning four; minar is the Arabic word for tower (think minaret).
- It was built to commemorate the "defeat" of the black plague.
- There are four entrances to the Charminar, one of which has no steps. This was the King's entrance as he would arrive in a chariot of some sort.
- There's a fountain in the middle of the Charminar. But, it used to actually lead into a tunnel that served as the escape route from a nearby fort.
- The Charminar has a mosque on the third level, but it's now closed down because people would jump off of it in suicide attempts.
- Just north of the Charminar, there is a plaza. From each direction, a road with an archway leads in. The one from the east was the royal entrance; the one from the west was the peasants' entrance; the one from the north was the fish entrance (where merchantsbrought in fresh fish to sell); the one from the south was the fruit entrance (where merchants brought in their fruit).
- Just south of the Charminar is the second largest mosque in India.
The most noteworthy story was trying to shop (or not shop) for bangles. Quick summary, bangles are these inflexible bracelets, typically worn by women of India. Their most common use, I think, is to symbolize matrimony. Anyway, I had no idea as to the worth of bangles so I dragged Brian into a shop to just see what it would cost.
First, imagine a shop that's about 5ft x 12ft. The walls are covered with bangles of every color. The salesman, who speaks only a little English, starts frantically grabbing bangles and handing them to Brian and me. Within about 30 seconds, Brian and I probably have about 80 of these in ours hands. The salesman is showing us bangle combination after bangle combination. We can't make sense of what's going on.
We start trying to hand our bangles back; nobody will take them. We set them down on a chair; some guy comes over and yells at us. We try handing them to him; he won't take them. We start forcing them into his hands; he gives us a funny look. Brian and I start trying to leave, but the salesman puts his hand into my chest, asking us to give him a chance on a price. We're cornered at this point, so we figure why not.
He offers us 12 of them (people tend to wear multiple ones) for like 1200 Rs (~$24). Having no real interest in these bangles, we both say no. The salesman starts slashing the price until he gets to like 600 Rs, at which point he asks me to make him an offer. Again, not really interested in them, I said I'd give him 50 Rs. He looked flabbergasted, saying that's an unreasonable offer. We eventually compromised on 120 Rs. It's pretty easy to bargain when you don't actually want what he's offering.
I wanted to keep walking around the shops, but Brian was getting hungry. So, we went in search of food. We ended up getting an auto-rickshaw to take us to Lumbini Park, situated at the southern end of the lake in the middle of the city. After lunch, we walked around the city for a few hours.
Big mistake. We were downtown and traffic there is unbelievably bad. So, bad that I was actually having trouble breathing from all of the pollution. We wandered around for a while before both of us got really grumpy and decided to take a cab home. But, now I'm home, showered, in my bed, and happy :-)
So, after today, I've decided that (1) the Charminar market area is the highlight of the city (2) I need to go back and (3) other than that area, there isn't really a good place to just "hang out" and get lost in.
Here are some pictures from today:
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| The Charminar |
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| Looking out on the fruit archway. |
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| Looking out on the Mecca Masjid |
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| The Laad Bazaar |
Friday, November 28, 2008
This Land Is My Land
Land usage in Hitech City is pretty interesting. As I've talked about earlier, you've got this area of very modern looking buildings. These were created because the government gave the land away very cheaply, allowing international corporations to develop. Here are a few snapshots to give you a feel for the area (the one below is Amazon's building).
In the area surrounding and at points in between these buildings, the land is surprisingly undeveloped. There are two main reasons for this. Both stem from the time of Nizam rule, the era after the Mughals gave autonomy to the city in 1724. For a little over two hundred years, Hyderabad enjoyed a lot of prosperity. During this time period, various individuals came into possession of plots of land around the city.
Fast forward to modern day. With the emergence of Hitech City, the land surrounding the offices of all of these corporations has skyrocketed. The owners of this land realize the value of their property, but aren't giving it up. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm guessing it's because they're being given unreasonably low offers. Regardless, you end up getting areas like the ones below, both looking out a window in Amazon's office.
In the image above, you can see some Hitech office buildings in the distance, including Motorola's. But, in the area in between, you see tons of sectioned off little areas. These are the little plots of land that have been passed down for hundreds of years that nobody wants to give up. The image below is a close up of one of these plots. This is a pretty small one compared to some of the others, but in each one you'll basically see this one room shelter that was constructed out of metal or brick and then a mostly unused yard.
Most of the people who live in these areas work for the Hitech companies. Either in the kitchen or as a taxi driver. Apparently, some of them will be personal chauffeurs for employees of the companies. For the equivalent of $10 a week, you can hire someone to pick you up in the morning, hang out outside your office all day, and take you home in the evening.
Oh, and don't miss the little Where's Waldo gem in the bottom picture. If you look closely in the rocks, you'll see a satellite dish. Many of these plots of land have them. Only the bare necessities...
In the picture above, you'll also see some areas that have no plots of land, but also aren't developed. They basically look like rock quarries (see the middle left of the photo). In 1948, a year after Indian independence, the Nazim signed over control of the city to Hyderabad. Around this time, disputes arose over the ownership of much of this land. I doubt people generally cared back then. But, with the value of this property so high now, people are making a bigger fuss. So, this isn't being used because they're trying to figure out who even has control of it.
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Fast forward to modern day. With the emergence of Hitech City, the land surrounding the offices of all of these corporations has skyrocketed. The owners of this land realize the value of their property, but aren't giving it up. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm guessing it's because they're being given unreasonably low offers. Regardless, you end up getting areas like the ones below, both looking out a window in Amazon's office.
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In the image above, you can see some Hitech office buildings in the distance, including Motorola's. But, in the area in between, you see tons of sectioned off little areas. These are the little plots of land that have been passed down for hundreds of years that nobody wants to give up. The image below is a close up of one of these plots. This is a pretty small one compared to some of the others, but in each one you'll basically see this one room shelter that was constructed out of metal or brick and then a mostly unused yard.
Most of the people who live in these areas work for the Hitech companies. Either in the kitchen or as a taxi driver. Apparently, some of them will be personal chauffeurs for employees of the companies. For the equivalent of $10 a week, you can hire someone to pick you up in the morning, hang out outside your office all day, and take you home in the evening.
Oh, and don't miss the little Where's Waldo gem in the bottom picture. If you look closely in the rocks, you'll see a satellite dish. Many of these plots of land have them. Only the bare necessities...
In the picture above, you'll also see some areas that have no plots of land, but also aren't developed. They basically look like rock quarries (see the middle left of the photo). In 1948, a year after Indian independence, the Nazim signed over control of the city to Hyderabad. Around this time, disputes arose over the ownership of much of this land. I doubt people generally cared back then. But, with the value of this property so high now, people are making a bigger fuss. So, this isn't being used because they're trying to figure out who even has control of it.
Thanksgiving, Indian Style
Celebrated Thanksgiving last night. My co-worker and former mentor, Anand and I decided to grab dinner after work. Two of his directs also joined us.
Anand had me pick up a bottle of Glenfiddich for him at the duty free shop on my way to India. Apparently liquor is absurdly expensive in India. So, we swung by a restaurant on the way home, grabbed tons of takeout, and went back to his flat for a night of Indian-Chinese food and scotch.
A traditional Indian experience? Hardly. But, I gained two new friends and had a pretty authentic Thursday night in Hyderabad. I'd say I'm pretty thankful for that.
Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Anand had me pick up a bottle of Glenfiddich for him at the duty free shop on my way to India. Apparently liquor is absurdly expensive in India. So, we swung by a restaurant on the way home, grabbed tons of takeout, and went back to his flat for a night of Indian-Chinese food and scotch.
A traditional Indian experience? Hardly. But, I gained two new friends and had a pretty authentic Thursday night in Hyderabad. I'd say I'm pretty thankful for that.
Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Office Reaction to Mumbai
"The stock market's gonna go down today," quipped one of my co-workers.
"Actually, the stock market's closed today," responded another.
The reaction to the bombings in Mumbai by my office-mates was a bit surprising. There's sort of a "eh, another bombing" tone by most. People seem more concerned they can't trade stock than with the bombing itself.
Since the government changed over about four years ago, bombings have not been terribly uncommon. Most of them seem to be centered in Mumbai and Delhi, but there have been several around the country. There was one attack in Hyderabad about a year ago that struck Lumbini Park, an amusement park at the south end of the lake that sits in the middle of Hyderabad.
The general consensus is that India is just not prepared to deal with these problems. About two or three days after most of these attacks, it comes out that the government actually knew about them in advance. They're just not in a position to do much.
A few years ago, a plane was hijacked in Mumbai in an effort to get a Pakistani held prisoner by the Indian government released. India tried to mobilize the NSG to go after the plane, but were unable to do so effectively because the NSG wasn't anywhere near Mumbai. They've since stationed members of the NSG near every major city, which I guess explains why they were able to respond to yesterday's attack as quickly as they did.
But, people seem to doubt the government's ability to do much about it. Someone told me that the Hyderabad government actually staged a mock bombing at a train station earlier this week to see how people would react. I'm not sure if they were aware of what was going to happen in Mumbai, but this highlights how the Indian government is more reactionary and takes less preventative measures.
"Actually, the stock market's closed today," responded another.
The reaction to the bombings in Mumbai by my office-mates was a bit surprising. There's sort of a "eh, another bombing" tone by most. People seem more concerned they can't trade stock than with the bombing itself.
Since the government changed over about four years ago, bombings have not been terribly uncommon. Most of them seem to be centered in Mumbai and Delhi, but there have been several around the country. There was one attack in Hyderabad about a year ago that struck Lumbini Park, an amusement park at the south end of the lake that sits in the middle of Hyderabad.
The general consensus is that India is just not prepared to deal with these problems. About two or three days after most of these attacks, it comes out that the government actually knew about them in advance. They're just not in a position to do much.
A few years ago, a plane was hijacked in Mumbai in an effort to get a Pakistani held prisoner by the Indian government released. India tried to mobilize the NSG to go after the plane, but were unable to do so effectively because the NSG wasn't anywhere near Mumbai. They've since stationed members of the NSG near every major city, which I guess explains why they were able to respond to yesterday's attack as quickly as they did.
But, people seem to doubt the government's ability to do much about it. Someone told me that the Hyderabad government actually staged a mock bombing at a train station earlier this week to see how people would react. I'm not sure if they were aware of what was going to happen in Mumbai, but this highlights how the Indian government is more reactionary and takes less preventative measures.
Mumbai
Mumbai was attacked last night, India time. A group of terrorists targeted 8 different locations -- hotels, hospitals, and transportation centers. Over 80 are currently reported dead with another 900 injured. The Army and NSG have been brought in to help the police.
The media is linking the attacks to Lashkar-e-Toiba, an Islamist organization based in Pakistan. Apparently, this group has attacked India before in an attempt to free Kashmir from Indian rule.
Not to say that this group isn't responsible. But, I haven't seen the papers give any actual evidence that would show that this group is to blame. It kind of reminds me of being in Spain when Madrid was attacked. The initial reaction was to blame ETA, mostly because of historical precedence. It turned out to be a Moroccan national who carried out that attack. There was a lot of speculation then that ETA was blamed because it would be more favorable to the PP getting reelected -- the attacks happened 3 days before elections -- while an Islamist attack would be perceived as due to Spain's association with America following 9/11. There are some elections going on in India right now, but I'm not necessarily sure how this would tie into it.
People are starting to come into the office now. Hopefully I'll get some interesting perspectives from them. Will report back later...
The media is linking the attacks to Lashkar-e-Toiba, an Islamist organization based in Pakistan. Apparently, this group has attacked India before in an attempt to free Kashmir from Indian rule.
Not to say that this group isn't responsible. But, I haven't seen the papers give any actual evidence that would show that this group is to blame. It kind of reminds me of being in Spain when Madrid was attacked. The initial reaction was to blame ETA, mostly because of historical precedence. It turned out to be a Moroccan national who carried out that attack. There was a lot of speculation then that ETA was blamed because it would be more favorable to the PP getting reelected -- the attacks happened 3 days before elections -- while an Islamist attack would be perceived as due to Spain's association with America following 9/11. There are some elections going on in India right now, but I'm not necessarily sure how this would tie into it.
People are starting to come into the office now. Hopefully I'll get some interesting perspectives from them. Will report back later...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Musical Chairs
On Sunday, I randomly came across this bazaar on my 15km trek through Hyderabad. When I first walked in, there was this open grassy area where some kind of a party seemed to be going on. A group of women were playing musical chairs to 2 Unlimited's "No Limits." Makes you appreciate how similar people really are...
Development of Hyderabad
Amazon's offices take up the top two floors of a nine story office building. Our cafeteria is on the top floor and looks out over a portion of Hitech City. As I walked up to lunch today with a few co-workers, we were discussing the food options in the area. It turns out that there are two: the cafeteria (which bores everyone) and a little sandwich place in the office building next door (which is overpriced and barely a step above the cafeteria -- note I still like the food in the cafeteria).
Looking out of the window of the cafeteria, you see several square blocks of these very modern buildings; the rest of the land is made up of either rock fields or little shanty towns I asked some of my lunchmates how Hitech city has been developed. It turns out that the government basically gives the land away very, very cheaply to these big corporations. The corporations in turn spend their own money developing these offices.
The corporations get cheap, educated labor. Hyderabad gets tons of job creation and a place on the map. Everybody wins.
But, I can't help but feel like there's a real opportunity missed here. You've got all of this money pouring into this area with tons of educated, middle class workers congregating together. Yet, they have nothing to spend their money on (at least while at work). Listening to the stories of my co-workers, I've got to believe that if a nice restaurant opened up right next door, it would make a killing. Yet, there's no ecosystem being developed here -- just tons of office buildings.
A large part of that is that while the government is giving these huge breaks to encourage companies to come in, they won't bend at all for other businesses. And few people in Hyderabad have the capital to just come in and open a restaurant.
The Indian government has apparently made many efforts to move the country forward. But, a lot of them end of failing. With the amount of poverty in India -- about 1/3 of the population subsists on less than $1 per day -- initiatives that might have long term benefits have huge short term implications for many.
The Indian government is then caught in this situation where they're trying to change the country without actually disrupting people's lives. Hitech city has worked out so well because it was funded entirely by the outside. The government just provided the land and the international corporations took care of the rest. There was no need to siphon funds from anything else. And the new corporations didn't disrupt an already existing market, but rather created a new one. It was possibly the least intrusive way to bolster the economy.
The local government has done a great job of advancing Hyderabad by promoting Hitech city over the past 10 years. And I know it's a complex situation that I'm only begining to understand. But, there seems to be an untapped opportunity here to transform this area from a bunch of office buildings into a very integrated economy.
Looking out of the window of the cafeteria, you see several square blocks of these very modern buildings; the rest of the land is made up of either rock fields or little shanty towns I asked some of my lunchmates how Hitech city has been developed. It turns out that the government basically gives the land away very, very cheaply to these big corporations. The corporations in turn spend their own money developing these offices.
The corporations get cheap, educated labor. Hyderabad gets tons of job creation and a place on the map. Everybody wins.
But, I can't help but feel like there's a real opportunity missed here. You've got all of this money pouring into this area with tons of educated, middle class workers congregating together. Yet, they have nothing to spend their money on (at least while at work). Listening to the stories of my co-workers, I've got to believe that if a nice restaurant opened up right next door, it would make a killing. Yet, there's no ecosystem being developed here -- just tons of office buildings.
A large part of that is that while the government is giving these huge breaks to encourage companies to come in, they won't bend at all for other businesses. And few people in Hyderabad have the capital to just come in and open a restaurant.
The Indian government has apparently made many efforts to move the country forward. But, a lot of them end of failing. With the amount of poverty in India -- about 1/3 of the population subsists on less than $1 per day -- initiatives that might have long term benefits have huge short term implications for many.
The Indian government is then caught in this situation where they're trying to change the country without actually disrupting people's lives. Hitech city has worked out so well because it was funded entirely by the outside. The government just provided the land and the international corporations took care of the rest. There was no need to siphon funds from anything else. And the new corporations didn't disrupt an already existing market, but rather created a new one. It was possibly the least intrusive way to bolster the economy.
The local government has done a great job of advancing Hyderabad by promoting Hitech city over the past 10 years. And I know it's a complex situation that I'm only begining to understand. But, there seems to be an untapped opportunity here to transform this area from a bunch of office buildings into a very integrated economy.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Day 1 in Office
The differences between the Hyderabad office and mine in Seattle were quite remarkable.
First, there's the general layout. Whereas my office is made up of these windy hallways, with very high cubicle walls that you can barely see over, the Hyderabad office is basically one gigantic room with cubicles that come up to about my waist. The result is this very open feel. Instead of communicating over email (which is by far the preferred mode of communication in Seattle), people in Hyderabad seem to opt for face to face conversations. It provides a very communal atmosphere.
There was a bit of debate before I arrived as to where I was going to sit. People went back and forth over email trying to decide whether I'd be by the support team or the gifting team or whatever. Ultimately, all of these desks are within a few feet of each other and with the open feel of the room, the whole discussion seemed kind of silly.
I felt like a celebrity at the office today. I arrived at 8pm and sat around doing email related tasks for about an hour. Once everybody in the office started arriving, they come straight to me and introduce themselves. Many of them referenced issues I had worked with them on. I barely recognized everyone. A little embarrassing, but I guess that's the life of a celebrity...
Everybody had questions for me. Most were related to stuff that I work on. Some were just random questions about stuff that they were working on. Didn't have context for some of it, but it was kinda cool that everyone wanted to get my thoughts on it.
At one point, somebody asked me about these icons I had on my phone tool regarding some "broomball" championships. Oh yeah! I explained the game to a crowd of about half a dozen people, showing them pictures online and stuff. One guy suggested that we organize a game over the weekend. They normally play cricket on Saturday mornings, but he doesn't think he can get enough people given the operational load during the holidays. So, broomball would be a cool alternative. I'd personally rather learn cricket, but who am I to turn away my adoring fans, right?
Ok, ok, I'm definitely getting a bit of an ego, I know. There were plenty of humbling moments throughout the day. For example, I went to lunch at the cafeteria and was so impressed with the quality of their food. The India delicacies were truly delicious. Everyone around me laughed, saying how sick they were of the cafeteria food. Makes you wonder what foreigners think of the hamburgers at the Seattle office...
But, seriously the atmosphere in the Hyderabad office was truly refreshing. I absolutely love working for Amazon. It's a great company and I work with great people. But, I don't think my office is nearly as warm as the office here. Maybe those are just the novelties of the first day. But, I do think there's something to be said for the smaller teams and the open physical structure.
Some other random, non-work related thoughts...
It's been interesting dealing with the language barrier here. I went to grab some food tonight and couldn't communicate with the waiter beyond one word sentences, hand gestures, and smiles. There's something simple and beautiful about responding "yes spice" to his question "no spice?"
I'm amazed at the attitude of people in serving positions here (waiters, doormen, taxi drivers). Their level of service is unbelievable. My waiter tonight transfered my food from a serving bowl to my plate, and then did it again when I was half done what was on my plate. You don't get that in the States unless you're paying $80 a plate (I paid about ~$3 for dinner). I'm not entirely sure what to attribute it to, but I can't help but ponder the sense of entitlement that many Americans feel.
I mentioned in an earlier post the conflict between forces trying to move the city forward and the pressures preventing that. Today, I read an article in the local paper that said smoking has been banned in the city of Hyderabad in all public places. The article also pointed out that a polling of people seen smoking in public indicated that nobody actually knew this was a law. There's obviously no enforcement of the law either.
Last point I wanted to make. I got some responses from people indicating that some of my posts made them worry about my safety. Don't. I feel completely safe here. I think the mention of all of the security check points in Hitech city made some anxious. None of these security guards were armed. I think it's more to keep out the poor to give the campuses a sense of prosperity.
The only fear I have is the stray dogs seen wandering all over the city. My travel guide made some mention of 30K people dying of Rabies in India annually. I've been walking as far away from these dogs as possible.
First, there's the general layout. Whereas my office is made up of these windy hallways, with very high cubicle walls that you can barely see over, the Hyderabad office is basically one gigantic room with cubicles that come up to about my waist. The result is this very open feel. Instead of communicating over email (which is by far the preferred mode of communication in Seattle), people in Hyderabad seem to opt for face to face conversations. It provides a very communal atmosphere.
There was a bit of debate before I arrived as to where I was going to sit. People went back and forth over email trying to decide whether I'd be by the support team or the gifting team or whatever. Ultimately, all of these desks are within a few feet of each other and with the open feel of the room, the whole discussion seemed kind of silly.
I felt like a celebrity at the office today. I arrived at 8pm and sat around doing email related tasks for about an hour. Once everybody in the office started arriving, they come straight to me and introduce themselves. Many of them referenced issues I had worked with them on. I barely recognized everyone. A little embarrassing, but I guess that's the life of a celebrity...
Everybody had questions for me. Most were related to stuff that I work on. Some were just random questions about stuff that they were working on. Didn't have context for some of it, but it was kinda cool that everyone wanted to get my thoughts on it.
At one point, somebody asked me about these icons I had on my phone tool regarding some "broomball" championships. Oh yeah! I explained the game to a crowd of about half a dozen people, showing them pictures online and stuff. One guy suggested that we organize a game over the weekend. They normally play cricket on Saturday mornings, but he doesn't think he can get enough people given the operational load during the holidays. So, broomball would be a cool alternative. I'd personally rather learn cricket, but who am I to turn away my adoring fans, right?
Ok, ok, I'm definitely getting a bit of an ego, I know. There were plenty of humbling moments throughout the day. For example, I went to lunch at the cafeteria and was so impressed with the quality of their food. The India delicacies were truly delicious. Everyone around me laughed, saying how sick they were of the cafeteria food. Makes you wonder what foreigners think of the hamburgers at the Seattle office...
But, seriously the atmosphere in the Hyderabad office was truly refreshing. I absolutely love working for Amazon. It's a great company and I work with great people. But, I don't think my office is nearly as warm as the office here. Maybe those are just the novelties of the first day. But, I do think there's something to be said for the smaller teams and the open physical structure.
Some other random, non-work related thoughts...
It's been interesting dealing with the language barrier here. I went to grab some food tonight and couldn't communicate with the waiter beyond one word sentences, hand gestures, and smiles. There's something simple and beautiful about responding "yes spice" to his question "no spice?"
I'm amazed at the attitude of people in serving positions here (waiters, doormen, taxi drivers). Their level of service is unbelievable. My waiter tonight transfered my food from a serving bowl to my plate, and then did it again when I was half done what was on my plate. You don't get that in the States unless you're paying $80 a plate (I paid about ~$3 for dinner). I'm not entirely sure what to attribute it to, but I can't help but ponder the sense of entitlement that many Americans feel.
I mentioned in an earlier post the conflict between forces trying to move the city forward and the pressures preventing that. Today, I read an article in the local paper that said smoking has been banned in the city of Hyderabad in all public places. The article also pointed out that a polling of people seen smoking in public indicated that nobody actually knew this was a law. There's obviously no enforcement of the law either.
Last point I wanted to make. I got some responses from people indicating that some of my posts made them worry about my safety. Don't. I feel completely safe here. I think the mention of all of the security check points in Hitech city made some anxious. None of these security guards were armed. I think it's more to keep out the poor to give the campuses a sense of prosperity.
The only fear I have is the stray dogs seen wandering all over the city. My travel guide made some mention of 30K people dying of Rabies in India annually. I've been walking as far away from these dogs as possible.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
First 15 Minutes At Office
Two random thoughts from my first 15 minutes in the office.
First, I talked in my last post about how astonishing the difference between Hitech City and the rest of Hyderabad was. Those thoughts were based completely on a 3AM visit to that posh hotel. Driving around in the day makes the difference even more unbelievable. There is an entire campus here with some of the most biggest names in technology (I noticed IBM, Oracle, Accenture, among others). The architecture of the buildings is very modern, but doesn't look generic. Rather, it appears that some thought went into personalizing many of the office buildings. Each building has multiple security checkpoints. With the amount of moeny being poured into here, this is clearly the future of Hyderabad.
Second, I'm astonished at how difficult it was for me to get into Amazon's office. Part of the problem was that I showed up at 8am and nobody was in the office besides the night shift for frontline support. My badge doesn't work here. The security guards, despite me showing a badge, naming 3 people I was here to visit, and showing my business cards, did not let me in until they got in touch with an employee who works here who could vouch for me. The employee told me to set up shop at his desk until he gets in, but finding his desk was pretty difficult as well. They clearly don't have a system down yet. No big deal, but highlights at least one small challenge of have decentralized campuses.
First, I talked in my last post about how astonishing the difference between Hitech City and the rest of Hyderabad was. Those thoughts were based completely on a 3AM visit to that posh hotel. Driving around in the day makes the difference even more unbelievable. There is an entire campus here with some of the most biggest names in technology (I noticed IBM, Oracle, Accenture, among others). The architecture of the buildings is very modern, but doesn't look generic. Rather, it appears that some thought went into personalizing many of the office buildings. Each building has multiple security checkpoints. With the amount of moeny being poured into here, this is clearly the future of Hyderabad.
Second, I'm astonished at how difficult it was for me to get into Amazon's office. Part of the problem was that I showed up at 8am and nobody was in the office besides the night shift for frontline support. My badge doesn't work here. The security guards, despite me showing a badge, naming 3 people I was here to visit, and showing my business cards, did not let me in until they got in touch with an employee who works here who could vouch for me. The employee told me to set up shop at his desk until he gets in, but finding his desk was pretty difficult as well. They clearly don't have a system down yet. No big deal, but highlights at least one small challenge of have decentralized campuses.
Hyderabad: Day 1
Well, I've been in Hyderabad for about 18 hours now and it's been quite the whirlwind adventure already.
I landed in Hyderabad's new fancy, schmancy airport (just opened in March) at around 3AM local time, after almost 24 hours on a plane or in an airport. The trip went by fairly uneventful, mostly because I slept through almost the entire two flights. The 18 hours since landing have been quite the opposite.
After picking up my baggage, I walked outside and, despite it being well into the wee hours of the morning, the area just beyond the airport entrance was mobbed with people. Hordes of them were clinging to the fences that protect the open-air walkway that extends from the airport doors. Everyone is yelling: many for their family members; taxi drivers for their fares. I don't think I would have known what to do if it weren't for the fact that some guy was holding up a sign with my name on it.
I pointed at him, visibly disappointing a large contingent of taxi drivers hoping I'd pick them. He runs around to the exit of this walkway where I meet him. I started talking to him about how busy the airport was before I realized he didn't speak a word of English. I resigned myself to just follow him to the cab. When we reached the parking lot, a group of young men approached us and started saying something to the taxi driver. The taxi driver seemed to get uncomfortable as he scurried away. I really wish I knew what they were talking about :-(
As we headed out of the airport, we approached a sign that indicated we should stay straight to go to Hyderabad or turn left to go to Bangalore. As perhaps you should have expected, we went left. Before long, the driver turned down a straight with a handmade sign that read, "Way to Hyderabad." The road was mostly dirt, with blockades every few kilometers. The driver, naturally went through each blockade. Eventually, we navigated our way to Hyderabad.
The driver approached what looked like a 5-star hotel with a gated entrance around the compound. Now, I was originally booked at this hotel, but someone at Amazon decided I should be moved to lower cost housing because of my length of stay (I think most people only stay for like 2 weeks). Of course, I couldn't communicate any of this to him. So, we waited until we pulled up to the hotel itself before I could ask someone at the hotel to sort it out. The person there was very helpful, calling up my actual housing (luckily I had printed out all of the information). We got back in the cab and drove to the new housing which was located down a dark alley. Quite the opposite of the posh experience most Amazonians get... I don't think I would change it for the world though.
I finally got to bed around 4:30 AM. I woke up this morning with no real signs of jet lag (don't quite understand that one) and decided to tackle the day. I asked the person at the front desk what to do, but he wasn't terribly helpful. So, with no real idea of what to do, I just started walking. I ended up walking about 15km (I know because I cabbed it back and saw their meter) into town (yeah, I'm way out in the middle of nowhere).
The walk was a very interesting experience. Hyderabad is a very confused town in a lot of ways. It seems like there are forces trying to make it a modern day city, but real pressures that make that difficult. Signs everywhere encourage people to keep the city looking nice: "Hyderabad is a beautifyul place; let us keep it clean." Yet, I didn't see a trash can to throw out my empty soda bottle until I reached a shopping mall. Other signs indicate the police want to reduce the madness on the roads: "Ensure safety on roads. Follow rules." Yet, nobody does. There are high-end clothing stores springing up everywhere. Yet, you see children lying on the streets right next to them. There seem to be many jobs pouring into the city, especially with the rise of the hitech city (aka Cyberbad). Yet, that seems like an ivory tower with its gated community (the hotel was just one of many buildings in that gated area) and there is extreme poverty all over the city.
Speaking of the madness on the roads... I've never experienced anything quite like the roads in Hyderabad. I pretty much spent my entire walk on this relatively major road. And what you typically find is two lanes going in each direction and then whatever is left is shared by cars, motorcycles, auto-rickshaws, pedestrians, bicycles, stray dogs (any of which could be going in either direction at any time). You also have people crossing back and forth through this madness as if they were playing a game of Frogger (I followed one guy who crossed this madness three different times with a camel!!!!). I was pretty timid at first, but within minutes, found myself just walking wherever I felt like it. There's this pretty interesting system where every car seems to constantly be honking. I think they're mostly honking to indicate to cars or pedestrians that they're approaching from behind or passing. But, this happens so frequently, that it pretty much becomes white noise; I found myself desensitized to horns pretty quickly.
Then there are these auto-rickshaws. They're kinda like taxis, except they're 3-wheeled, struggle to make it up hills, have no doors, and probably make up 40% of the traffic on the road (another 40% is probably made up of motorcycles). A bit prideful and determined to do my walk, I must have turned down at least 50 of them today.
I eventually gave into the auto-rickshaws because I wasn't about to ride the 15km back to my hotel. After some confusion, he and I eventually sought a translator who helped me explain where I needed to get to (apparently the map wasn't good enough). You wonder briefly about your safety while walking through the street through this traffic; you get in one of these auto-rickshaws and it's a whole need ballgame. My driver was weaving through traffic, blew through every red light, and almost hit about a dozen cyclists. I paid about $3.00 for the 15km taxi ride and the thrill of being in that rickshaw was well worth at least 10x that.
I also stumbled across a bazaar today. The 20RS (~$0.50) charge to get in was enough to keep out the poor (I didn't necessarily realize this until a group of beggars jumped me the moment I left). Inside, kids played cricket, families had picnics, people rode around on paddle boats. I walked through a bunch of the stands where vendors sold scarves, pottery, jewelry, etc... I sat down with a number of them and was probably duped into spending way more than I should have. But, I found myself getting into some real conversations with these people (though I wouldn't be surprised if some of what they told me was fabricated). I found it hard to bargain too hard when you know these people are working for their livelihood.
Anyway, enough with my boring stories. I need to get to bed so that I'll be ready for my first day in the office tomorrow... though, I can't imagine 9 hours at a desk will compare with today.
I landed in Hyderabad's new fancy, schmancy airport (just opened in March) at around 3AM local time, after almost 24 hours on a plane or in an airport. The trip went by fairly uneventful, mostly because I slept through almost the entire two flights. The 18 hours since landing have been quite the opposite.
After picking up my baggage, I walked outside and, despite it being well into the wee hours of the morning, the area just beyond the airport entrance was mobbed with people. Hordes of them were clinging to the fences that protect the open-air walkway that extends from the airport doors. Everyone is yelling: many for their family members; taxi drivers for their fares. I don't think I would have known what to do if it weren't for the fact that some guy was holding up a sign with my name on it.
I pointed at him, visibly disappointing a large contingent of taxi drivers hoping I'd pick them. He runs around to the exit of this walkway where I meet him. I started talking to him about how busy the airport was before I realized he didn't speak a word of English. I resigned myself to just follow him to the cab. When we reached the parking lot, a group of young men approached us and started saying something to the taxi driver. The taxi driver seemed to get uncomfortable as he scurried away. I really wish I knew what they were talking about :-(
As we headed out of the airport, we approached a sign that indicated we should stay straight to go to Hyderabad or turn left to go to Bangalore. As perhaps you should have expected, we went left. Before long, the driver turned down a straight with a handmade sign that read, "Way to Hyderabad." The road was mostly dirt, with blockades every few kilometers. The driver, naturally went through each blockade. Eventually, we navigated our way to Hyderabad.
The driver approached what looked like a 5-star hotel with a gated entrance around the compound. Now, I was originally booked at this hotel, but someone at Amazon decided I should be moved to lower cost housing because of my length of stay (I think most people only stay for like 2 weeks). Of course, I couldn't communicate any of this to him. So, we waited until we pulled up to the hotel itself before I could ask someone at the hotel to sort it out. The person there was very helpful, calling up my actual housing (luckily I had printed out all of the information). We got back in the cab and drove to the new housing which was located down a dark alley. Quite the opposite of the posh experience most Amazonians get... I don't think I would change it for the world though.
I finally got to bed around 4:30 AM. I woke up this morning with no real signs of jet lag (don't quite understand that one) and decided to tackle the day. I asked the person at the front desk what to do, but he wasn't terribly helpful. So, with no real idea of what to do, I just started walking. I ended up walking about 15km (I know because I cabbed it back and saw their meter) into town (yeah, I'm way out in the middle of nowhere).
The walk was a very interesting experience. Hyderabad is a very confused town in a lot of ways. It seems like there are forces trying to make it a modern day city, but real pressures that make that difficult. Signs everywhere encourage people to keep the city looking nice: "Hyderabad is a beautifyul place; let us keep it clean." Yet, I didn't see a trash can to throw out my empty soda bottle until I reached a shopping mall. Other signs indicate the police want to reduce the madness on the roads: "Ensure safety on roads. Follow rules." Yet, nobody does. There are high-end clothing stores springing up everywhere. Yet, you see children lying on the streets right next to them. There seem to be many jobs pouring into the city, especially with the rise of the hitech city (aka Cyberbad). Yet, that seems like an ivory tower with its gated community (the hotel was just one of many buildings in that gated area) and there is extreme poverty all over the city.
Speaking of the madness on the roads... I've never experienced anything quite like the roads in Hyderabad. I pretty much spent my entire walk on this relatively major road. And what you typically find is two lanes going in each direction and then whatever is left is shared by cars, motorcycles, auto-rickshaws, pedestrians, bicycles, stray dogs (any of which could be going in either direction at any time). You also have people crossing back and forth through this madness as if they were playing a game of Frogger (I followed one guy who crossed this madness three different times with a camel!!!!). I was pretty timid at first, but within minutes, found myself just walking wherever I felt like it. There's this pretty interesting system where every car seems to constantly be honking. I think they're mostly honking to indicate to cars or pedestrians that they're approaching from behind or passing. But, this happens so frequently, that it pretty much becomes white noise; I found myself desensitized to horns pretty quickly.
Then there are these auto-rickshaws. They're kinda like taxis, except they're 3-wheeled, struggle to make it up hills, have no doors, and probably make up 40% of the traffic on the road (another 40% is probably made up of motorcycles). A bit prideful and determined to do my walk, I must have turned down at least 50 of them today.
I eventually gave into the auto-rickshaws because I wasn't about to ride the 15km back to my hotel. After some confusion, he and I eventually sought a translator who helped me explain where I needed to get to (apparently the map wasn't good enough). You wonder briefly about your safety while walking through the street through this traffic; you get in one of these auto-rickshaws and it's a whole need ballgame. My driver was weaving through traffic, blew through every red light, and almost hit about a dozen cyclists. I paid about $3.00 for the 15km taxi ride and the thrill of being in that rickshaw was well worth at least 10x that.
I also stumbled across a bazaar today. The 20RS (~$0.50) charge to get in was enough to keep out the poor (I didn't necessarily realize this until a group of beggars jumped me the moment I left). Inside, kids played cricket, families had picnics, people rode around on paddle boats. I walked through a bunch of the stands where vendors sold scarves, pottery, jewelry, etc... I sat down with a number of them and was probably duped into spending way more than I should have. But, I found myself getting into some real conversations with these people (though I wouldn't be surprised if some of what they told me was fabricated). I found it hard to bargain too hard when you know these people are working for their livelihood.
Anyway, enough with my boring stories. I need to get to bed so that I'll be ready for my first day in the office tomorrow... though, I can't imagine 9 hours at a desk will compare with today.
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