Shaking Things Up in India

Driving to the Office

Namaste,

Okay folks, this is the last installment of my Indian saga.  After our adventurous trip to the Taj Mahal on Monday, we were ready to get about the business, for which we came to India.  We both put on our business best to make a good first impression at the IBM offices.  The hotel transport was waiting for us when we got to the lobby.  By the way, I was thoroughly impressed with the impeccable service of the Leela Hotel.  As we headed to the office, we could see the IBM building from the expressway. 

I've seen 15 people in this

Now, let me tell you about the expressway.  Those of you in the States, think of driving down I-95 during rush hour, sharing the road with bicycles, auto rickshaws and people.  Yes I said people.  The buses let people out on the expressway.  All at once, you can see droves of people crossing the expressway to get to the overpass.  Shocking!  I would hate to know the mortality rates of those who drive and walk on the expressways.  The remainder of the trip to the office was a repeat of the day before, minus the animals on the road.

Right outside the IBM office

Once we got to the office, the driver was only allowed to take us as far as the security gate.  As beautiful as the IBM building was, the roads around it were a mess!  There was water and mud everywhere.  I was not amused considering the fact that I had on black suede peep-toe pumps.  Ugh!  It was the first and last time I wore the shoes during the trip.  The locals were very casually dressed at the office.  I felt like it was casual Friday on Tuesday.  The first day at the office went off without a hitch.  As we were waiting for the hotel driver to come and pick us up, we saw a warthog walking, unattended, through the IBMers going home from work.  Kangai and I were the only people amazed by the site. 

The second day at the office, September 7, 2011, proved to be a little more exciting.  Another member of my Africa team joined us at this point.  She was coming from the States and had been in India previously.  This tall, blond powerhouse is my second in command.  She is more G.I. Jane than Barbie, although she can be mistaken for the fictional American icon.  Blondie is a heritage IBMer and very knowledgeable.  She’s not phased by much and is willing to jump into anything.  I definitely brought my A Team to India. 

Shortly after I arrived at the office, I was summoned to the client site, which was a short drive from the office.  I jumped in a waiting taxi with two of my Indian counterparts and left my A Team behind.  Now I was dressed for business, but I had on sandals that day.  As we were barreling down the back roads, rearranging my internal organs in the process, one of my Indian colleagues got a phone call.  He answered the person on the other end of the line with some very nonchalant, “uh huh, uh huh…okay.”

He hung up the phone, and as if he was saying, “The sky is blue,” he said, “There was a bomb explosion at the court house.” My head snapped in line to face him and I said, “Excuse me.” He repeated what he said in the same blasé tone.  I was like, “should we be heading back to the office?” I wasn’t sure what direction we were headed in or how close it was to the courthouse.  I followed that with, “Should we be trying to get flights out of the country.”  He poo, pooed my concern and said, “It will be fine.” We continued on to the client’s office.  No one there seemed to be concerned either.  There weren’t any crowds of people around the water cooler discussing the explosion.  At that moment, it dawned on me that this was a regular occurrence for them.  They had become numb to these types of events.  Well, since I don’t believe in lightning striking in the same place twice, I went on with the show as well. 

It wasn’t until I got back to the hotel that evening that I found out 11 people died and 91 were injured.  OMG.  While we were doing more work in the hotel and watching CNN, the hotel shook.  It wasn’t like a door slamming or someone jumping on the ceiling above us.  It was enough of a rumble to stop us in our tracks and ask, “What the hell was that.” A short time later, the story came across the television. 

There was a 4.9 earthquake in Delhi.  Now although this was a very minor earthquake, I had to ask myself if something was trying to tell me to take my ass home.  Since both stories had hit CNN, I figured it was time to call my mother to let her know I was okay.  So I called her up.  When I told her what happened, she said, “So when are you coming home?” Mama is not use to me being in these types of environments. 

I wondered the same thing myself, but again, thinking that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, I felt we would be okay.  So, we stayed until Saturday morning.  We actually enjoyed the remainder of our time.  The Leela Hotel had a WONDERFUL spa that we took full advantage of.  Those of you who know me; you know this was right up my alley.  We ended the week on a high note by going out with the Indian team for drinks Friday.  I haven’t had this much excitement in my life in years.  India was definitely a trip I won’t soon forget.  This journey is changing my view of the world.  I’m excited about what comes next.

Join me next week when I will get back to my adventures in Nairobi.  Stay tuned folks.

Asante sana,

Della Rochelle
Copyright © 2011 by Della Rochelle Williams