Another day dawns here in Noida...to the din of traffic horns on the street outside of my apartment complex....dare I say that I'm starting to get used to it?
I spend a good part of the day at Drishtee interviewing different folks on the leadership team as I try to fully understand the organization's business model which is multi-faceted and somewhat complex. I feel a bit like a consultant, parachuting in and trying to identify opportunities. I've never done consulting work (but dealt with many consultants in my career), so it's interesting to have the tables turned.
In yesterday's blog, I forgot to mention a bit of a funny experience. So I'm here in Noida, which is a distant suburb of New Delhi. Noida has a bit of a growing office park that is attracting larger companies, both Indian and multinational, however, the section where I'm staying is decidedly working class and a bit (more like totally) scruffy around the edges.....which means that there are few dining or entertainment options nearby, with the exception of the local mall. This shopping center seems to have either seen better days or has yet to see its good days (I can't quite figure out which one), because it's quite run down. On the top level, they've got a food court, but 3 of the food vendors appear to have gone out of business - perhaps related to the fact that the escalator doesn't work and the dim lighting does not exactly scream "come visit, and stay for awhile".
So after trudging up the escalator, I rolled into the food court, eager to fill a very large void in my stomach. India can be a challenging place for visitors, but I was convinced that food would be the least of my worries. I love Indian food, and thought that I was somewhat versed in what's what......so as I approached the counter, I was a bit overwhelmed by the menu on the wall which was full of dishes that I never heard of. As I was one of only about 5 customers in the entire food court that night (really bad food? or perhaps I just missed the rush hour dinner traffic?) and there were 4 gentlemen standing there ready to help me, I figured that this would be easy. So I started to ask questions, but soon found that the language gap was formidable. The servers were having a very hard time understanding my English and I returned the favor and had a very hard time understanding their English.....so eventually, I moved to the time-tested pointing methodology....I've been a bit surprised by how English has not worked very well for me in lots of cases (there's good 'ol Raben - the office chai wallah and caretaker of Drishtee Guest House where I'm staying (see Day 2), rickshaw and taxi drivers, security guards, food court servers, etc).
So here I was in the point and choose game.....it all seemed so simple: I just wanted some of that nice-looking lentil mix up, some curried veggies and some naan....5 minutes later what came out was a plate full of bread - three different types, no lentils, no veggies. I kind of stared at the plate, quite perplexed, but resignedly trudged back to my table content in the knowledge that: 1) I'd definitely be full at the end of the meal and 2) I never was a fan of the carb-free South Beach diet anyway! The story does have a happy ending, though, as the store manager realized what had happened and brought me out a bowl of the lentils which greatly elevated my spirits :-)
Tonight I got a cab to New Delhi to meet up with Rajiv, my Western Union colleague who is completing his Ashoka placement with an organization called Going to School - very cool organization which is doing phenomenal work. Had a great meal in a nice restaurant in a nice neighborhood, just the escape I needed from Noida. Thank you Rajiv! Don't want to steal Rajiv's thunder, but if you get a chance, visit this website: http://www.goingtoschool.com/
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