"When did you get back from the US???????"

The title of this post: "When did you get back from the US????" not only left me laughing a little, but also highlights the incredible struggle to implement change in India.  Today while having a conversation about driver safety in India and just how common it is to witness an accident, even a serious accident, and then simply continue on your travels rather than stop to help, elicited this response from a colleague when an intern stated that one should be compelled to stop and provide assistance to the injured motorist.  The comment was a clever quip that I hope it was intended to be funny, but deep down I suspect that this underlies the resistance in some Indians for true change, rather than just cosmetic change.


I recently finished reading a book entitled Games Indians Play; why we are the way we are by V. Raghunathan.  Mr. Raghunathan is a professor of finance at IIM Ahmedabad that cleverly used game theory and behavioral economics to help understand why the citizens of this nation have a lower regard for public cleanliness and hygiene, the concern for quality is rather "Lilliputian", why the ambition levels of most are "at the level of a centipede's belly button," why there is a need for additional airport staff at gates which have departures to India, why people don't retaliate against social ills, why drivers routinely block the left lane when their intention is to turn right and so on and so on.  


A very interesting read, which draws heavily on Dresher and Flood's prisoner's dilemma model, which includes a very simple payoff matrix to highlight in general we humans are selfish and rational beings.  However, here in India, while a very communal society in some senses it seems that overall the nation tends to think more selfishly in regards to policy, public hygiene, regulation, etc. than do other nations  I would definitely recommend this book for anyone that works closely with Indian customers or suppliers.  While it doesn't solve the problems here it does help to let the reader know that these issues are known by some locals as well.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

It's that time of year again!  Or is it every four years like the Olympics?  Maybe every two years?  Who knows, but the ICC Cricket World Cup kicked off on Saturday in Bangladesh. Cricket is like a really slow game of bad baseball.  Every cricket match I have watched is like an All-Star Game between the Cincinnati Reds vs. the Toledo Mudhens!  


Somehow though people here LOVE cricket!  Driving through the city yesterday it was like I was traveling in a time machine rather than a Tata Indigo.  All over the city there were crowds of people in front of the electronic store fronts watching India take on Bangladesh in the opening match it was reminiscent of 1930's Americana.


I only watched a few moments of the match while at dinner and I don't know much about the sport, but it looked like India was doing well having scored a touch down, a homerun and a 3-pointer in the few minutes I watched!

I'll take unpasteurised beer, but pass on the unpasteurised milk!

Saturday one of my neighbors came over with a surprise.  If you look closely at the beverages below you will see Chimay Red and Hoegaarden, two of my favorite Belgian brews!

I was surprised to find that when I took this snap of the delicious Belgian trappist that the infamous purple shirt was in the background.  While in Antwerp last fall I left the Crowne Plaza to walk across the lot to a petrol station that was next door, wearing this very shirt.  While waiting in the checkout line a group of guys began speaking in Flemish and tugging at this shirt.  Things got a little heated and I was beginning to think about how I would explain to Roger that he had to bail me out of a Belgian jail!  Eventually the cashier asked the guys to leave and things settled down.

Initially I was puzzled as I had believed Europe was far more progressive when it came to....men wearing purple shirts and I was right.  It turned out that there are two local soccer clubs in Antwerp and apparently these guy's favorite team, Royal Antwerp, had just been beaten by their rival; the Germinal Beerschot which have PURPLE team colors!

A tale of two Vijays....

Many of you may know Vijay Gopalan and Vijay Gurumurthy, but I'm not sure how many of you know the REAL story of the two Vijays.  In honor of Vijay Gurumurthy joining Cummins in a GLIG role last month I will walk my audience through the tale of two Vijays....


Exhibit #1 - Vijay Gurumurthy aka "Cool Vijay" aka "CV"
Favorite Drink - JW Black or Green Label
Favorite Dance - The Robot, The Worm
Favorite Movie - Scarface
Most Memorable Moment - CV taking his shoes off, after having spent the whole day touring the MDC, and resting his hooves on the dashboard as I drove the two of us back to Cincinnati from Memphis!


In this photo CV decided he was too cool to stand in the line for the iPhone 4 and instead opted to sleep in the midst of hundreds of Apple fans at the Kenwood Mall (mind you, this was in the afternoon)

Here CV gives Regular Vijay's car some "detailing."

Exhibit #2 - Vijay Gopalan aka "Not So Cool Vijay" aka "NSCV" aka "Lame Vijay" aka "Regular Vijay"

Favorite Drink - Shirley Temple

Favorite Dance - The Watermelon Crawl or River Dance

Favorite Movie - The Notebook or anything with Justin Bieber in a starring role

Most Memorable Moment - Dinner at Palominos and Vijay decides to try one of the delicious "fried bread rings" (calamari) I was eating.  His response; "It's FISHES!" and spits it out!

In this photo NSCV displays the beautifully, hand-carved signage I had made in Gatlinburg to pay hommage to the living arrangement CV, NSCV and Praveen enjoyed last summer...

I miss you, Vijays!

Another nice restroom story.....

This afternoon while making a pit stop to the restroom in a certain diesel engine manufacturer's office I couldn't help but to notice a nice sign with some words of wisdom.  I tried to discreetly snap a photo of this posting, but the photo is a little blurry so I'll translate for my faithful readers below:

• Use alternate urinals
• Keep your eyes forward on your own business
• Urinals are not the place to chit chat
• Respect the rights of the next occupant to a clean, DRY & stink free environment
• Keep unnecessary noises to a minimum (nobody likes groaning, grunting, sighing, etc.)
• Absolutely no touching, patting or handshaking before washing your hands

I hope these pearls of wisdom will come in handy at other restrooms around the world and that you've all learned some helpful pointers for your next trip to the restroom ;-)  On Saturday I actually had to leave my Blackberry with a restroom attendant in Pune while I went to the ATM so that I could use the restroom since I did not have the 5 rupee fee to use the facility!

I remember finding a raccoon at the EDC.....

Last year while working second shift at the EDC I remember coming into the DC and all the excitement of the discovery of a raccoon that had travelled on a AAA Cooper trailer from Cincinnati all the way to the EDC in Walton, KY.  This was quite a feat and certainly caused some excitement for Paul Stanton, our resident raccoon hunter or Steve Irwin if you will.....


Today while taking a potential new hire from Recon India on a tour through the Lonikand Warehouse I was graced by another wildlife invasion.  However, unlike the cute, dazed and apparently sleepy raccoon that I tried without much luck to get Vijay to "pet" that we found at the EDC this wildlife encounter was with a russell viper!!!  


Yeah a russell viper, you know the #5 on the list of the world's most deadliest snakes, the one snake responsible for more human deaths per year than any other snake, the snake that is easily irritated, the one with the lightning fast striking speed?!?!  This little gem was in an aisle at the warehouse apparently taking a break from the hot February sun.  


Fortunately, just like Paul "Raccoon Wrangler" Stanton, the Lonikand warehouse has a snake charmer (Bedekar or "Little Pauly" as I will now call him) that captured this snake.  What you can't tell from the pictures is just how ghost white I was from seeing this snake or the way my hands were trembling while taking these photos!  

Rambo Circus & Odds and Ends from the Past Week

This weekend I decided to take in the "Rambo Circus" here in Pune.  It was quite an event....  Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos at the circus, but I was allowed to eat awful popcorn, have the overhead lighting come crashing down two seats away from me and watch the audience (including myself) squirm in our seats and duck soccer balls that were being batted into the crowd at what seemed like 90 mph by an elephant with a cricket bat!


While I think most of our readers are aware that safety standards in India are a "bit" lower than in other parts of the world the circus took the cake!  Having an elephant with a cricket bat is already a bad idea, but hitting soccer balls into the crowd was a new experience for me!  Also, as is the case with almost everything in India, only about 50% of the stunts and acts at the circus were a success.  All and all it was an interesting experience and I'm glad I got to witness this spectacle.

Leaving the circus was another story.  There were dozens of street children grabbing onto me with their tiny, dirty little hands asking for money and Coke.  It was sad, but extremely aggravating as well.  No matter where I turned there was another set of little hands grasping onto me.  While sad and hard to witness over time it only leaves you angry at the adults that organize these begging schemes.  Just like in the movie Slumdog Millionaire for every poor, little child you see there is a sleazy adult that is orchestrating the whole show.

This week I also was tearing up the streets of Pune on a motorcycle!  Doing wheelies in front of CIL, picking up biker babes and causing chaos for all the innocent bystanders!  Well....not quite....  I actually rode on the back of a motorcycle, with my intern, scared for my life to take HIM for a chocolate milkshake.  Not as hardcore as my original story, but it still took guts ;-)

(I'll probably end up looking like this Hells Angel after the "EDC Inspired Move Beard" I've promised my team.   Judging from my initial meeting with Pragati, the current 3PL, I may not be shaving for a while....)


I also FINALLY received my care package from Vijay!  After nearly a month I received a notice from the India Post Office that I had a package and needed to come to the PO to pay the 2000INR to claim it. So after paying $53 to expedited the packaging here I had to pay another $40 or so to get it a month later!  Regardless, I was happy to have the package and even though Vijay stuck to the tradition of being 50% correct and sent black licorice he is still my favorite person from Chennai in the US ;-)  I'm also getting another care package courtesy of the Vijay Express this week since one of his buddies has "smuggled" in more goodies from the US to me while here on a visit.


Finally, I've been sticking to a pretty decent workout schedule which is tough with my schedule, but I feel so much better with this on my agenda.  If Craig Barnes can squeeze it into his schedule, so can I! It's also really tough to eat healthy here since almost everything is fried and oily so I've been trying to teach Lata to cook with light olive oil and make more paneer and tofu so I can get some protein in my mostly vegetarian diet.


It's hard to pass on getting some yoga in also with my amazing "yoga studio!"