Goodbye, India!

In less than 24 hours, a cab will bring me to the airport and after some more hours - packed like sardines in a tin - I will already be back in Switzerland on January 31; I still cannot believe that the past months passed so fast. I happened to experience so many exciting things, learnt new people and made friends, visited different places and, to make it short, just enjoyed my time in India. I hope you found pleasure in following my blog.

Goodbye, India!

The Karnatakan flag is waving me goodbye too...

I don't want to bore you too much at this point but still like to cast a glance back. I don't have the ambition to present you a well-structured summary but would like to shed light on some of my most distinctive impressions and findings of the last months:

Contrasts and discrepancies: the root cause of culture shock per se! The range from the poorest to the rich people is inconceivable and seeing all the miserable circumstances people are living in can be depressing. Even more shocking is the helplessness you are faced with. It takes quite some time to get along with it and to start accepting this kind of injustice. Sometimes I will still find myself having bad conscience when i.e. spending as much money for a meal as some families will spend for a week's living.

In Bangalore you find places such as the super-posh UB (United Breweries) City Mall as well as...

... miserable tent-colonies, huge slums, people defecating on the roads as sanitary facilities are missing, burning garbage piles, etc.

A lot of contrasts can be found in people and their behaviour, too: there are many extremely friendly but as well many rude people. Some are officious, some are very shy, a lot of people try to cheat foreigners whereas others are very helpful, some are arrogant and don't respect fellow human beings while others show too much respect, some will immodestly stare at foreigners and others are very approachable etc. In general it is difficult to evaluate people and sometimes you unfortunately have to be mistrusting. Nonetheless I got to know a lot of nice people. Especially the people of lower castes can be very sympathetic! A lot of this "low-class labourers" at Bühler are still flabbergasted and very happy when I greet them or do some small talk - things that local high-class people would never do. I will always remember people like the Chai Wallah (tea boy) or our employee in the lab who are extremely friendly, help wherever they can and kept smiling.

Anyway, working in this country is very special and can unlikely be compared to what we are used to in Europe. There are several factors which complicate working such as a strong hierarchy, lots of idling actions, empty promises by co-workers but also many practical sources of interference like power or tap water break downs, long shipping times and delayed supplies. I also feel that the intensity of labour and the outcome per employee is not as high as it could be, which my Indian friends would certainly deny, though!

As you may have sensed in the posts about traffic, the Indian understanding of safety is a totally different one. I often had the feeling that any possible safety measurement will be ignored on purpose. Apart from road traffic this applies also to the safety at the work place or even in air transportation. Have you ever seen a flight attendant desperately trying to reach her seat while the plane has already started the take-off run?! Or can you imagine that parents refuse to secure their children with the seat belt?

Anyway, this stay has changed many of my views. And a lot of things, which are perceived as problematic in Europe, I don't see as narrow anymore: pollution, emission guidelines, waste management, food safety, delays in official transportation (the total delay of all my domestic flights exceeded the flight time by far!), complicated officialdom and so on. Hence, I am also anxious how I will experience the (over-)regulated and controlled life back in Switzerland; the chances are high that I will undergo a culture shock the other way round!

There are so many other things which I could point out here; but actually I promised not to bore you... So, let me put one last statement:

Before departing to Bangalore last September I heard and read on various occasions that India is one of these countries which you will either love or hate. More than four months, lots of working hours in the Bühler analytical lab, 33 blog-posts, several trips through the country, countless rice meals and chai-teas later I cannot tell you if I rather love or hate it. In my eyes it is not possible to simplify this answer. Sure, there were some frustrating days at work where I would have been ready to take the next flight home. But on the other hand side, there were so many beautiful moments which I am happy not to have missed. Sure, India is not a country which I like every aspect of it and its culture is just too different from what I am used to. But I am sure that I will have nostalgic feelings soon because I spent a fantastic time abroad. Thinking of the delicious Indian dishes for example makes me feel melancholic already now!

At this point I would like to pronounce a big thank you to my family and my girlfriend who cared for my things at home while I was away. Without them my stay would not have been so trouble-free! And thanks a lot to all my readers; I am proud to having registered more than 1700 page views. So far, I have no precise plans for the blog's future but I can imagine publishing pictures and reports of upcoming holidays or the like. So, please stay tuned!

Let's conclude the blogging from India with the local tourism slogan that has accompanied me over the last months and which accurately formulates my feelings and experiences:

The meaning of "incredible" is as multisided as India itself; it reaches from "wunderbar" to "unglaublich"...

Last pictures from Bangalore

The countdown is rushing now - only four days to my departure from Bangalore! Hence, I am trying to make the best out of my remaining days: visiting places, spending time with friends, shopping souvenirs, thinking of how to put all my stuff into my bags and last but not least bringing the project at Bühler to an end. As you might expect I am quite busy at this time and thus I was more than happy that the "Indian Republic Day" was celebrated today, resulting in a day off and permitting to post some recent pictures.

Earlier this week I visited the Lalbagh Botanical Garden - one of my favourite places - again. There was a special flower show which made up for great photo opportunities:

Lalbagh's fantastic flower show 

a field of roses 

Indian youth in front of a shrine in Lalbagh Botanical Garden 

a woodpecker in Lalbagh

Today afternoon I joined my German friends Claudia and Ramon to see a sports day of Parikrma Humanity Foundation. Parikrma is a non-profit organization which offers education to unprivileged children in urban India. Claudia is doing voluntary work in one of these schools and offered to take me with them. The children were very cute, happy despite their difficult youth, disciplined and full of motivation. But let's see for yourself:

I will report back before I leave India on January 31. Have a good time till then!

Transportation in India 4

As some of you have enjoyed the recently presented traffic-movies I cannot resist to post an addendum:

I have heard that Indian driving tests are silly and that driving licenses can be bought at governmental boards. And watching this movie it occurs to me that this is much more than a rumour! Could this at the end be the reason for the sky-high number of road traffic deaths?

Authentic Indian haircut

Getting one's hair cut at a foreign hairdresser is inevitable when being abroad for such a long time. In India, this is not especially difficult as every area has plenty of hairdressers for every kind of budget. There are basically three options to choose from: 

1. The luxurious way: posh saloons which try to imitate European establishments. At 200 to 300 Rupees per haircut (about 4.50 to 6.50 CHF), the prices are very moderate for our standards but naturally exceed most of the Indian budgets.

2. The middle and lower class way: a lot of small, simple and sometimes dingy barbershops offer their service for about 30 Rupees (0.65 CHF); they are very popular and respectively well frequented.

3. The lowest class way: some barbers offer their service directly at the roadside for probably as less as the price of a chewing gum.

So far I opted for solution nr. 1. I have to admit, though, that the haircuts of my colleagues who normally choose option nr. 2 are really good. And this - apart from the "adventurous" urge - made me trying it out myself! Some days back I went for a walk in my neighbourhood and stopped over in one of these barber shops. The experience was priceless: even though I interrupted the hairdresser in the middle of a TV-movie he concentrated on my hair (most of the time...) and he was extremely friendly and most happy to have a foreign customer. Needless to say that the result looks very presentable and I like it much better compared to the much more expensive haircuts I've got in other places. I will certainly stop over in this barbershop again before I leave India in two weeks.

Transportation in India 3

A long time back in October I tried to introduce you to the Indian traffic "system" which is probably impossible to put in words. Lately, I have found some illustrative youtube-movies which I don't want to keep from you.

Rush hour in Bangalore - this is what I go through day in and day out:

Another pretty normal scene in Bangalore:

A typical downtown street view scene:

Especially rural roads are problematic and probably the most unsafe terrain to be on:

My Indian colleagues keep telling me how safe Indian roads are or how attentively Indian drivers behave and according to them only few fatal accidents occur. Unfortunately, all the road safety statistics are against my colleagues and what they are telling is one big (bad) joke! Statistics such as the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety present a totally different view: in India, more people die in road accidents than anywhere else in the world, including the more populous China. According to the National Crime Records Bureau at least 13 people die every hour in road accidents in India - a hair-rising number in my opinion! For further information please refer to this informative Times of India article.

Unfortunately the trends in road traffic deaths are not promising either 

(source: Global Status Report on Road Safety - Time For Action, WHO, 2009)

Holiday in North India, December 25 to January 2

Once again I have the honor to introduce a guest author: my girlfriend Fabienne was in India between Christmas and New Year and - after kindly asking her to do so :-) - was ready to write a blog post about our holiday. You see, maintaining this blog is getting very easy for me... Thanks, Fabi, for your nice work! Under this link you'll find a selection of our photographs.

On Christmas Day, Philipp and I both took the plane to meet in Delhi.  Due to thick fog, Indian domestic flights were even later than the usual delay and the flight from Switzerland ultimately landed well in Delhi and not alternatively in Mumbai. Luckily, waiting 5 hours for clients is seen as petty evil by Indian taxi drivers and we arrived at our hotel in Paharganj at sunrise. After a good hour’s sleep, Delhi’s liveliest neighborhood revealed all its splendour, priorly swallowed by the fog and night: honking auto rickshaws passed cycle rickshaws and placidly trotting cows or water buffalos, beggars slept peacefully on the edge of pathways and street hawkers claimed their business heatedly. As a first timer in India, such street life struck me hard but was a good preparation for the market scene in Old Delhi, which followed next. At the Red Fort the pulsing atmosphere lessened and let room to interact with some of Delhi’s citizens. Taking a picture with a Western tourist seems to be more attractive to many Indians than the respective sight itself. After some initial snapshots, we terminated our rising shooting career and started to authoritatively refuse posing for photos; otherwise we would still stand there and our portraits could be found all over facebook. Nonetheless we often noticed to be secretly filmed by some proud mobile phone holders! At Jama Masjid, the mosque in Old Delhi, we planned to close our first day in Delhi, however the mosque was already closed to non-muslims half an hour before sunset due to prayer.

Delhi: The Red Fort

Our friends which we've already met in Africa last summer liked Delhi too

Which is your most precious asset when visiting India? Time. Planning your vacation in India is a challenge if you are on tight schedule. Early in the morning – or less early in the end because the train was delayed for 4 hours… – we took the train to Agra. After Delhi’s skyline started to vanish in smog and fog, the darkness submerged. On immense garbage fields pigs, sheep and water buffalos were peacefully „grasing“ while children played games along the rails. Some minutes later we passed green rice fields and villages with mud huts. „Incredible India“ – India’s touristic slogan described many experiences on this trip best. In Agra we were delighted by the symmetric architecture of the Taj Mahal. The white marble is dazzling when catching sight of it from the dark entry gate. Have you seen the film „Slumdog millionaire“? The movie is highly recommended by the way! The platform that harbours the narrow canal in front of the Taj serves many foreign and domestic tourists to take pictures with the monument. Numerous guides patiently explain story and architecture. Lady Mumtaz and Sha Jahad’s rest in peace however is interrupted by shrill whistles from the guards that move the crowds around the two tombs. We preferred to spend some time in the beautifully laid garden and the two impressive mosques that flank the Taj. The huge crowd is not the only factor adding to the “Incredible India” experience: Can you imagine the entrance fees to the Taj to be more than 20 times higher for foreign tourists than locals, resulting in a ticket price which is even high by European standards? Most likely this kind of practice is unique to India.

Agra: the Taj Mahal, a classic which does not fail to impress

Fabienne shortly before entering the Taj Mahal premises

Philipp in front of the Taj's silhouette

Aside fog and obstacles on the railways, discrepancies in politics affect the Indian train schedule too. Our night train would not stop in Jaipur due to strike. We left our comfortable 4 bed first class compartment around 100 km after Jaipur and continued our journey in a second class wagon (together with a bunch of workers that commute to Jaipur in the early morning). Take a look at the picture and make an educated guess about how many people fit into this wagon ;-)? 

On the way to Jaipur: an empty compartment of a second class, unreserved wagon

Jaipur is as lively as Delhi but the „pink city“, also known for its jewellery artwork, offers a variety of sights. The City Palace, where the royal family still lives, is decorated with filigrane ornaments and represents a city within the city. At Hawa Mahal the women at court used to watch parades from behind coloured glass. The pink front of Hawa Mahal with its numerous windows is Jaipur’s landmark. Our rickshaw driver also took us to „friends“ that happen to be carpet manufacturers, jewelers and painters... his friendliness however vanished with his foregone provisions. From the monkey valley we enjoyed the view over the city. The Byriani at the hotel’s restaurant added to another culinary Indian experience of mine aside Dhal, Thali, Masala Dosa and Sambar etc. Although we enjoyed the local food a lot we also happened to be victims of it: we still have no idea where we ate spoilt food. Anyway, the last days of our holiday were unfortunately mostly spent in our hotel. But this is said to be part of the “Incredible India” experience too…

Jaipur: The Hawa Mahal Palace from outside

Jaipur: the reason why the Galta valley is better known as "monkey valley"

New Delhi around Connaught Place and down to the India Gate was laid out by the English. Shopping malls encircle a park where laser shows are presented during night. Wealthy Indians enjoy the various consumption options together with Western tourists. On New Year’s Eve the newly built subway is crowded up to bursting which cannot be expressed in words – getting in and out is an adventure! We ate dinner at the Coffee House United at Connaught Place and then moved back to our hotel in Karol Bagh while crossing cheerful people who strolled underneath the arcades and bought party articles. Happy New Year 2011!

Delhi: The India Gate

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Dear readers, I would like to take the possibility to wish you a nice festive season!

People often asked me about Indian Christmas habits and atmosphere. I have to disappoint you: there is simply not much to write about except for some knickknack in the supermarkets, Christmas tunes on the radio and special adverts in TV. Furthermore Bangalore's climate or the fact that December 24 is an official working day don't intensify my Christmas mood either. Anyway, I found a funny movie which relates Hindi music to Christmas. In case you've never heard a classical Hindi or Bollywood song: the below Hindi Jingle Bells version imitates the local blockbuster songs very well!

At the same time I thank you for your constant interest in my posts; I am proud to having registered more than 1200 visits on my blog so far. There is still capacity for an increase in reader's comments, though ;-). Don't expect too many news in the coming weeks: my days in India are soon to be counted and I am slowly starting to think about my return at the end of January. Time is running so fast these days!

In less than two days, however, I am off to North India for a visit of the so called "Golden Triangle" consisting of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. I will be back with a report in the New Year. Stay tuned!

Best wishes.

K R Market (City Market), Bangalore

After having stayed in Bangalore for three months and having visited most of the city's major sights, I didn't expect that there is much left to see. How wrong I was! Today I visited the K R Market (also known as City Market) which was a pure festival of colours. The gigantic market is divided into an open-air area and a big hall. Its countless market stands, pretty flowers and other appealing goods, shouting merchants, people who carry goods on their head or shoulders, smiling children but also plenty of dirt, garbage everywhere, bad smells, homeless people sleeping in corners, beggars and many other aspects truly make up for a genuine - but exhausting - Indian experience.

Please feel free to have a look at some of my pictures in my gallery.

India's "axis of evil"

A part of the market hall's ground floor, the florist's centre

Delicious lime fruits, unfortunately presented directly on the dirty street as many of the goods

Talking about streets and dirt...

A compilation of funny things

I would never dare to claim my English to be flawless. Judging by some signposts on shops, buildings or advertisements my orthography is quite ok, though. Let's have a look at some examples:

Writing terms the exact way they are pronounced is a common practice in India. Why should one care about spelling? 

It took me some time until I realized what "flore" means. Fortunately Bühler's milling business unit knows how to write it correctly. 

Another example of Indian spelling. Even funnier is the fact that "mutton" on restaurant-menus is in fact goat.

But there are also other funny objects around Bangalore:

A tree in Cubbon Park: For once nature has won over human interests!

Have you ever seen a yellowish Mozzarella cheese like that? I can assure you, the color is not the only parameter which sets this cheese far apart from genuine Mozzarella...

Holiday in South India, November 27 to December 5

I have the honor to introduce a guest author: my brother Martin was kind enough to write an extensive report of our recent holiday in South India. A very big thank you to Martin for coming to see me in India, spending some great time together and for writing down our experiences! Under this link you'll find a selection of our photographs.

It was at 3 o'clock in the morning when I met Philipp in a Mumbai hotel room. He had managed to get a week-long holiday, allowing us to travel through the southern part of India. By a lucky coincidence, our father was in Mumbai too for a weekend which allowed us to visit the metropolis in a threesome.

Having spent a few preceding days in the North Indian cities of Delhi and Agra, I have been warned several times by Indians that traffic and pollution in Mumbai are 'just crazy' - even compared to India's capital city. With these words in mind, we started our sightseeing in this immense 20 million inhabitants metropolis. Though the streets are crowded, traffic was not as bad as expected. Surrounding southern Mumbai, the Arabian Sea gives the city a nice backdrop and some quieter places like the famous Chowpatty Beach. Mumbais main sights date back to the colonial area and include the Gateway of India - a basalt arch facing the harbour - as well as the enormous Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station (formerly Victoria Terminus).

Peter and Philipp in front of the famous Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai

The Victoria Terminus, Mumbai

New skyscrapers - lots of which are still under construction - make for a bizzare contrast to the fish market at Sassoon Docks or the Dhobi Ghat, an outdoor laundry, washing all kinds of linen and clothes, mainly by man-power. After a one hour ride from Mumbai harbour in a boat-like construction made entirely of thick wooden planks, we reached Elephanta Island a few miles offshore, well known for its cave-temples cut into the rock. One of the less pleasant things about Mumbai are its huge slum areas as well as the thousands of homeless people and beggars, highlighting the incredible difference between poor and rich in India.

Martin on Elephanta Island

On an overcrowded night train - its coaches reminding us of cars used for cattle transport in Europe - we left Mumbai heading south, reaching our next destination Goa some twelve hours later. As high the pace of live was in Mumbai, as low it is in Goa; local tourist brochures recommending to put of and stow any watches. Perfect beaches (almost empty at this time of the year), blue sky and peak temperatures around 35 °C offered some relaxation after the days passed in the city. Whereas most of the staff in hotels and tourist sights in the rest of India seems to be less than friendly and hardly motivated, Goans showed to have better manners: we lived in simple but well maintained lodges surrounded by lots of palms and close to the beach. Staff was very friendly and welcoming, food in Goa was exceptional. To see a bit more of Goa than just the local town and beaches close to our hotel, we opted for hiring bicycles. After riding them for a few meters we had to re-adjust our plans for the day, as the maintenance of these bikes did not seem to be that intensive. Saddles were much too low and not adjustable, one chain kept falling out of its gear and braking action was almost inexistent. Indian bicycles are obviously not made to ride distances of more than a few kilometers. Even though we passed an excellent day and saw interesting things as the local fishermen spreading their fish on streets to dry them.

Drying fish on the road

Sunset at the Goan beach in Benaulim

After another journey on a night train (this time more confortable) our program was again dominated by cultural sights. After a thrilling ride in completely overcrowded buses with some people even travelling on the roof, we reached Somnathpur, a small town consisting of some small sheds and houses linked by unpaved roads. Besides the shabby town, offering an insight view into the 'other', less spectacular India, a splendid Hindu temple was constructed here in 1286. All walls are richly decorated, illustrating different scenes and figures ranging from Hindu lords to elephants carved into the stone.

Details of the Hindu temple in Somnathpur

The famous Maharaja Palace in Mysore, strolls in the same city as well as a walk up to Chamundi Hill concluded our trip. Nevertheless, the bus ride back to Bangalore was again some kind of an adventure: the brand new bus on this route was fitted with a powerful engine, allowing the driver to overtake other vehicles in quite a risky manner. We were both somehow surprised to reach Bangalore without having smashed some other car or motorbike to pieces.

Mysore market

A giant bull statue - a place of worshipping - on the way to Chamundi hill

So, what are the main impressions of a tourist after staying in India for some 15 days? Besides exceptional buildings and cultural sights, some regions as Goa attract people with their beautiful countryside. Immense social differences as well as the enormous pollution (Indians throw their rubbish just to the ground) are a downside of this country. Furthermore, the behaviour of some people towards foreigners is quite special: lots of taxi drivers, street vendors or tourist guides try to cheat you, others try to get you into certain shops or restaurants to get a provision from the respective owner. Therefore you may have some difficulty in recognizing those people who really want to help you.

As I am leaving Philipp and Bangalore towards Switzerland, I can summarize, that we spent excellent and impressing holidays we won't forget. A last hint: if you plan a trip to India, do not miss to read "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga, discussed by Philipp in an earlier thread of this blog; besides guide books it is a perfect preparation for a visit to this country.

Building sites

It is always interesting to see Indian building sites and to compare them to Swiss standards. The differences couldn't be bigger!

It starts with the number of employed laborers: for a huge building like the newly built Bühler application lab at least 100 to 200 workers were involved every day. The grade of mechanization is generally very low; whenever something can be done by hand, it will be done by hand. Machines like excavators or cranes seem to be more expensive than employing some more workforce. People dig big holes or foundation trenches by hand, women haul building material into the 5th floor on their head or back, trestles - which normally are wooden constructions - are built in highly dangerous maneuvers etc.

A cleaning equip, which tries to get master of produced waste and dust, is always part of a building site. At this point the Indian broom has to be mentioned. I have never seen such an unpractical tool: it basically consists of the front part of a broom we are all used to. Now imagine all these poor women bending down to whip the floor...

Unfortunately the dust is normally rather moved to some other place instead of removing it. Thus, you can be sure that some hours later the wind will do its work and the same dust will cover the whole place again.

Even for building a normal house, at least a whole family is employed. Next to the Guesthouse a house is built and the builder family is living directly at the building site in a small and improvised hut. They don't have access to neither sanitary facilities nor drinking water. Witnessing these huge economical differences make me thoughtful and I would have never expected that wealthy and poor people live so near together.

Paint-jobs are another aspect of building worth mentioning: I have the feeling that the quantity of paint is the essential factor and wins over quality. Instead of a proper surface-treatment before painting, the laborers just try to fill all the cracks and gaps with paint; they don't even hesitate to paint wet walls. Covering surfaces, which should not be painted, is not done either; instead people will try to remove excess paint and splatters with strong solvents. You can imagine the result yourself!

The following pictures cannot show the whole story:

The house which is built next to the Guesthouse

Laborers must be tough guys to trust these a wooden construction. At least you can read the predominant wind direction from this trestle ;-).

Happy Birthday Buhler 2

In the meanwhile I got hold off some official photos which were taken on the festive event on October 27. A small selection can be found here.

Chairman Urs Bühler, Group Manager Stefan Scheiber and CEO Calvin Grieder are visiting the analytical lab -what a honour :-).

Happy Birthday Buhler

"From the local iron foundry to the global corporation: the unifying thread of success

When Adolf Bühler set up an iron foundry in Uzwil in 1860 with two employees, he is unlikely to have imagined in his wildest dreams that his venture would ultimately produce a global corporation with 7500 employees in more than 140 countries who generate annual revenue of about 1.8 billion Swiss francs. But looking back on the numerous development steps over the past 150 years, it is fairly easy to identify a unifying thread running through the entire history of Buhler." (excerpt from www.buhlergroup.com)

Besides a huge festive event in Uzwil on February 12, the anniversary is celebrated in all offices around the world. More than three weeks back it was Bühler Bangalore's turn: A newly built application lab was inaugurated and South Indian customers were invited for a gala dinner. The event was attended by a high-ranking delegation consisting of Chairman Urs Bühler, CEO Calvin Grieder and Group Manager Stefan Scheiber.

the newly built Bühler Bangalore application lab

Our new analytical lab was part of the on-site inspections too and hence I had the pleasure to shortly talk to Bühler's top management and to several customers. As some of the guests wanted to see the lab after diner, my colleague Vadivelan and I stayed at the party while most of the other employees were not allowed to attend the festivities. We enjoyed an excellent meal, good drinks and nice traditional dance shows; late-night we were driven home in a cab. It was a nice and entertaining evening, only clouded by heavy rain which turned the terrain of the factory premises into mud and destroyed some displays.