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.