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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Critical Mass in Bangalore

Hey, look: there's a Critical Mass ride in Bangalore! What with their choked traffic and lack of sidewalks, it makes sense.

technorati: bicycles, commuting, critical mass

Labels: Bangalore, Bangalore infrastructure, bicycling, Critical Mass

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Escape from Bangalore

Writing from the Frankfurt airport on Sunday morning German time and Sunday night Bangalore time.

I will go back and blog about my last afternoon and evening in Bangalore but I want to describe the truly third-world conditions at the Bangalore departure terminal.

Like most international airports, the departure scene in Bangalore was somewhat of a clusterfuck, with a United Nations of thousands of departing passengers all being forced through the same bottlenecks. Narita in Tokyo is no better, so I have no complaint there. And I had already known that the departure waiting area was bare-bones. Passengers are fortunate to have a coffee stand that stays open, as nearly as I could determine, all night.

No, what was truly bizzare was that when a heavy cloudburst hit the airport, the ceiling started leaking. Streams of water poured down onto the floor and then into some strategically placed buckets, right among the seats where people were exhaustedly waiting. Because flights were delayed due to the weather, all we could do was stand and watch the filthy water filling up the buckets as mosquitoes buzzed us. One of the buckets was nearly full -- it was at least 7 gallons -- before we were allowed to board our flight, about 90 minutes late, so I never got to find out what the staff´s response would be to the overflow.

Someone with a European accent who was watching the leak said to me philosophically, "Well, it rains all over the world."

"Yes," I said, "but usually not inside the airport terminal."

Update: Read this news story on the rain that night and its effects.

Labels: Bangalore infrastructure, Bangalore trip, Bangalore weather

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Metblogger brunch with Ravi

Metblogger RaviKumar met me at a restaurant out on Airport Road, near the Domlur bus stop, called Shanthi Sagar Hotel. (As I've written before, "hotels" are often just restaurants.) There he treated me to what he called a traditional Indian breakfast. Imitating my host Charles, I did take a picture of the food. We had something like an idly, and we also had dosas. Really good! He also informed me that local coffee comes from Karnataka state and that I really should take some home, though he added that it requires a certain kind of coffeemaking equipment that I don't have.

I had a fun conversation with Ravi, who was curious about my book and about the impressions I've posted here. He explained that the cow-blessing scene I encountered in Malleswaram yesterday was a new house blessing. According to him, they actually do lead the cow into the house as part of the ceremony.

Then we went to a huge hotel/mall called the Leela Palace. This is a so-called 7-star hotel that is truly on the scale of a hotel on the Las Vegas strip. We didn't even get into the hotel part, since the photo exhibit was in the mall. I was amused that when we entered the mall and asked the security guard where the photo exhibit was, he had absolutely no idea what we were talking about, and then I walked twenty feet over to a railing and saw the exhibit directly below us on a lower floor. Security guards are not reliable sources of information in general here, I think.

Also in the mall was the first really nice bookstore I've encountered yet -- the others have been dusty and poorly stocked. And the bookstore had several browsers. I was able to get a map of the city, not that I need it now on my last day here, but for reference purposes as I go back to work on my book.

As a crowning gesture, Ravi led me to one more new experience: a bus ride. This was one of the new Volvo buses that are air-conditioned and very comfortable and modern; they are also, according to my research, a symbol of the new middle class of IT and BPO workers, and have been attacked in the past. (News story from Oct. 2006.) And in fact, one of the windows of the bus was cracked, as if a stone had been thrown at it.

I appreciated Ravi's time and conversation so much. Thanks Ravi! (Update: Ravi later interviewed me by email.)

Labels: Bangalore infrastructure, Bangalore trip

Socializing through eating

The dinner on Thursday was only the first of a series of celebratory meals. Friday night I took my hosts Debbie and Charles out to dinner at a restaurant of their choice -- the Karavalli seafood restaurant at the Taj Gateway Hotel on Residency Road.

All three of us piled into an auto for what should be a short 2 km ride, but due to the one-way streets, the trip was actually about three times that distance. That's probably the maximum I would like to ride in an auto with two other people no matter who they are. Two passengers are no problem, three is definitely pushing it.

The meal was super good, but as I am not a gourmet I will leave it to Charles to describe the meal on his blog -- I have the feeling he's going to, as he took pictures of the food.

Charles and Debbie's hospitality was so important to me this trip. Not only did they save me a ton of money on hotels, but they provided me with invaluable local knowledge. Without them, I might never have had the courage to take an auto on my own.

As we were seated and the maitre d' was handing out menus, the power failed. Total darkness for about seven seconds. No one moved or spoke. Then all the lights came back on, whether from a generator or from the main current I don't know. The maitre d' resumed handing us the menus with an unflappable smile, as if it happens every night. Come to think of it, there are probably seasons when it does.

Labels: Bangalore infrastructure, Bangalore trip

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Current problems

Today the power (in local parlance, the "current") went out in mid-afternoon for the third day in a row. That's three out of three weekdays. It stays out for an hour or two and then comes back on -- so far. I expected this when I came; it's all part of the infrastructure challenge. You'd think that a place with a reputation as the tech capital of India would have the power thing figured out by now. Not.

Mid-afternoon is, of course, the hottest part of the day. All you can do is find some shade and hopefully a little breeze and wait it out. All things considered, I'm just glad the power does come back on each time.

Labels: Bangalore infrastructure, Bangalore trip