Wanderlust Heaven!

For a couple days after the weekend trip to Hubli, I was bloated and sluggish…South Indian food is not easy stuff to take.  I have to laugh when Westerners go on about loving Indian food – they probably eat the stuff once a month, or quarter, and they eat heavily sanitized/Westernized fare.  When I left India after my stint in ’92 I stayed away from Indian food for months, if not longer, and now I remember why…

Got a voicemail on Skype from Dad, on Patriots’ Day.  He mentioned the Boston Marathon, and I thought about what a great day that is in Boston every year.  A morning Red Sox game, then the Marathon mayhem all over town the rest of the day.  Being in Mumbai and thinking about the Boston Marathon – talk about an out-of-body experience.

Flew up to Delhi for some meetings.  The domestic airport here is in a neighborhood called Santa Cruz, which sounds decidedly non-Indian, and a lot nicer than the reality.  It’s a crappy place full of shanties. Not sure where “Santa Cruz” came from, but it sounds pretty good…

Hard to stay clean here – every day I notice some stain on my shirt, or dust (or worse) on my shoes.  Gotta focus on other things and benefits from being in India – if you’re a neatness freak, don’t come.

Kingfisher Airlines has alluring flight attendants…I try to fly that carrier whenever possible, despite the annoying ‘welcome video’ they show at the start of each flight.  The owner, a booze baron called “Dr.” Vijay Mallya, is the subject of the video and is a windbag who thinks he’s god.  He has as much money as god, but after seeing the video a few times, you want to retch.  Talk about lacking any sense of self-awareness or humility.

In Delhi, my taxi was a huge, classic old Ambassador.  Nice change of pace from the little dumpy cabs in Mumbai…with doors that only open 45-50 degrees, thereby necessitating yoga-like maneuvers just to enter and exit.  Good thing I just got my yoga practice going again after 3 months off…it’s depressing to get a sense of how badly your body can deteriorate when you’re not using 95% of the muscles.  Even running isn’t enough when you get older…you’ve gotta do 3-4 different sorts of exercise just to stay toned.  Needless to say, not many people here are doing that…

Had an odd client meeting in Delhi – the client reversed direction on an important program element and threw us a real curveball.  He seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole matter and I’m not sure he grasped the implications of the change.  We tried to help him with this, but he’s with a large bureaucratic organization and I think he’s now content-free and is focused on process.  Ugh.  A huge different from my current gig and the “old days” is the nature of the clients – corporate folks are far nimbler and aggressive, whereas the NGO/foundation/government types (admittedly, there are a few segments in that lump) are often unfocused paper pushers.  That will take some getting used to…

Had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to make my early flight back to Mumbai.  Four hours of sleep – I wasn’t looking or feeling all that spry.  Got in my taxi and headed to the airport.  We were chased by dogs for the first kilometer or so – not a fun way to start the day.  I’ve had at least two dangerous experiences with wild Indian dogs and am not seeking a third anytime soon…

Read that Mark “Bird” Fidrych passed away.  He was a quirky baseball pitcher who captivated the sports world in the mid-70s, then faded away as quickly as he came on the scene.  Seems he had an accident on his farm, and was crushed under a vehicle.

Have been hearing of other youngish sports figures with poor health – Danny Ainge, the 50-year-old Celtics president, just had a mild heart attack.  And Dennis Johnson, a former Celtics player (like Ainge) died of a heart attack a couple years ago, in his early 50s.  What’s going on?  Was it drugs…are these guys not staying in shape…or what?  You’d think that athletes would not be dropping dead at such young ages.  Perhaps it’s simply that you hear about these deaths, and that the overall incidence is nothing out of the ordinary.  Still, it’s a bit unnverving to hear about men 10 years older than I having heart attacks.

There are two Indian states – West Bengal and Kerala – with “Communist” governments.  In these two states there are few NGOs and other “outside” agents, unlike the rest of India…and I wonder why.  Kerala in particular is quite well-off for India – nearly 100% literacy, decent health statistics, etc.  West Bengal is not as successful, but still better off than some other states.  This is a chicken-and-egg question – do the Communists do a good job with education, health, etc., or do the people, having a good life, feel free to elect Communists because they feel able to move beyond fixation on the basics of life?

The doormen at my building seem to have “adopted” me.  They look out for me when I’m coming and going, getting the elevator for me, etc.  I detect the hidden hand of my landlord, Mr. G., in this, and appreciate his fatherly ways.  A very lucky man I am…

Met colleague/friend Nikhil at Trishna, the city’s best seafood resto.  Have been meaning for weeks to catch up with Nikhil, and to do so at Trishna.  The stars aligned and here we were.  He’s a big boy and so am I , so we left no plate unturned – rock-salt prawns, Hyderabadi pomfret, and the signature dish, butter black pepper garlic crabs.  Awesome stuff – I was oozing butter and garlic as I waddled out.  One of my favorite places to eat on the planet…

Next night, was invited by Mr. G. to his pad for dinner with the family.  Nice gesture, I went over there at 8 p.m. and spent some time chatting with his extended family, while they plied me with whiskey.  I’m still getting to grips with the fact that I have a landlord who likes to sit down and get drunk with me – I think back to past landlords, who were all either eminently forgettable or completely detestable individuals.

Had a great veg meal with Mr. G. and much of his family.  Superb flat – there’s a wing for each of his sons’ families, and some very nice art and artifacts all around the place.  I won’t venture to guess what the flat is worth.

Was looking forward to getting away on the weekend, to Goa, finally.  Had been planning this for weeks but had been too busy.  Friday looked to be a slow day, and the morning was indeed quite manageable – then, by midday, I was nose to the grindstone.  Part of it was external factors – I had to change my Hong Kong mailing address to India, and that involved paperwork, scanning, and mailing, for a few institutions.  Ugh.  Also needed to do an online visa application, as I’ll be in NYC shortly and need to get my work visa while there.  In line with that, had to fill out some contract paperwork.  Everything seems to happen at the same time – and unfortunately, even a good assistant can only handle so much, you need to personally do most of these types of forms.  I loathe administration so was in a black mood as I raced to finish things up and get out of the office to head to “Santa Cruz” airport.

Was running a bit late…and had to move some things to in-cab phone calls.  Would have been nice to chill in the taxi and listen to some music (that practice has fallen off my map lately), but spent the entire cab ride on calls with clients and colleagues.  Was completely spent by the time I got to the airport…rolled out of the cab and up to the check-in counter and was hardly able to speak.

Friday traveling is for suckers, really.  While on sabbatical I had assiduously avoided traveling on Fridays and Sundays, but now I was back in the cattle ring.  The traffic en route to the airport was awful, and the airport was mobbed.  Didn’t have time to do more than wolf down a chicken burger before getting in the security line…was hoping to buy an iPod speaker system but that fell by the wayside.

Slept on the 45-minute flight to Goa.  Was really looking forward to some time there, even though it was just a weekend and I’ve gotten tremendously spoiled by my time off – my unit of measure during my sabbatical was months, not weekends.  Oh well.  Gotta be happy with your lot.

Took a cab from the airport to Vagator, to Lisa and Richard’s place.  You’ll probably recall Lisa and Richard as the proprietors of Bean Me Up, and good friends of mine from all my time there.  They’d closed up the hotel/resto for the season and were now enjoying well-deserved downtime.  Got to their place around 8 p.m. and it felt like home.  Gin and tonics were produced, we caught up and gossiped about Lisa’s staff, and eventually drove down to Calangute to tackle some kingfish tandooris at Souza Lobo, a Goa institution.  Had a few beers along with our prawns and fish – it had been a very nice week as far as seafood ingestion was concerned.

Slept soundly that night.  Woke up on Saturday, had some breakfast, and moved over to Little Vagator Beach for a few hours.  Got a beach chair and umbrella, read the paper, listened to some music, and just retreated from stress.  Swam a couple times, but otherwise did nothing.  Later on I walked on Vagator Beach, to the far north end, where few people go…I watched five cows/bulls walk single-file over some rocks to the main beach.  Cows and Indian beaches – talk about an absolutely classic scene.

Back at the house, watched some CNN with Lisa and Richard and discussed what’s happening in Pakistan.  Quite concerning to them – if the Taliban takes over, and gets their hands on Pak’s nukes, it won’t be pretty.  They’re thinking of moving from Goa if that even becomes remotely possible – and are spending a couple months in the States starting shortly, seeing family but also doing a bit of scouting.  They’ve been in Goa for 25 years and that is a long long time.  India (even Goa) can grate after a while – as you’ve no doubt picked up from my jottings.

That night, went to the Saturday Night Market/Bazaar, another Goa institution.  This was the final one of the year…earlier in the year, during high season, these things are totally mobbed and somewhat annoying, but now it was petering out and it wasn’t crowded.  Perhaps the best market I’d attended in Goa – felt relaxed, and the vendors were cutting prices to move merchandise.  Bought a few posters for my flat, and saw a few old friends.

Lisa found a package I’d given her to hold the year before.  Inside were “America’s Boy,” a great book on the Marcos regime, and some motorcycle goggles.  Also there was the most recent Lonely Planet Goa guide.  All decent stuff to have in hand.

Got back to the house and crashed fairly quickly.  Between the sun, the beers, and the enticing cushions and mattresses that Lisa and Richard have strewn around the house, I was always a step away from snoozing.  All well and good.  On Sunday I got up, had breakfast, and drove around on my rented motorbike for an hour.  Bought some beers and brought them back for lunch…Lisa made salad and pasta and we had a nice little feast and said our goodbyes.  Then my cab came and I headed to the airport, feeling pretty good about the weekend and about having friends in some obscure places.

Into Mumbai.  Listened to A.R. Rahman’s “Mumbai Theme Song” as my taxi rolled into the city.  Spotted an old Lincoln Continental Mark VII up on blocks.  Odd.  Headed to the office to check emails, etc.  Had a call with a senior colleague overseas, who updated me on how things were going globally.  Not terrific news, but helpful to get this context.  We’ll see what the implications are for India, and for my own situation.

Had dinner Monday at Kobe Sizzler, an institution here, the last time I’d visited was in ’92.  They specialize in huge sizzling platters of chicken, veggies, etc.  Great stuff – not lacking in grease, but it’s a fun meal and you don’t leave hungry.  You really need to know Mumbai to find places like these – thinking back, I really have spent a lot of time in this city and know it better than most visitors do.

Walked off my meal on Chowpatty Beach, another place I haven’t set foot in since ’92.  Got some funny looks from local kids malingering thereabouts – made sure I didn’t touch my wallet or phone.  At one point a young woman sitting with her beau asked me to take a photo of them – which was perfectly fine, but she said ‘uncle, will you take our photo?’  Uncle.  I’ve been called that before, and probably blogged about it, but still cannot get used to that honorific.  I “did the needful,” as they say in India, but was in a crap mood and left the beach.

Got a cab and went back to my flat to relax in the aircon.  Did some reading, then the phone rang – it was friend Naomi, from the Hindustan Times, wanting to know more about Israel’s upcoming Independence Day.  I answered her questions, gave her some ideas, and then went back to my reading.  Also watched an episode of “24” on my laptop.  Have been somehow managing to keep up with podcast and TV show downloads, and finding a bit of time to work through them on weekends.

On Tuesday went to a social investing forum called “Sankalp.”  Loads of people in the social investing space were there, including nearly everyone from the weekend in Hubli.  This is starting to feel familiar, finally.  Chatted with Parth from Technoserve…wished Deepti good luck with her business case competition.

That ran till 6 p.m. or so, then had a meeting for a couple hours afterward in Bandra.  Didn’t get back home till 10:30 that night – quite a long day.  Saw online that Senator Specter switched parties and joined the Democrats – excellent news.  Now, if Al Franken get seated, the Dems will have 60 Senate seats and the sparks will fly.  Feels like teen spirit…

Was supposed to have dinner the next night with some friends of Johann’s, but wound up having a late call, then learning that I had another call at 7 the next morning.  Plus my stomach was a bit off, might have been the grease from Kobe Sizzlers.  So cancelled the dinner – I hope I didn’t piss off Johann’s friends too badly.  Sometimes India can beat you down and this was one of those instances.  And I think I’ve generally gotten less social – some nights I just need to kick back and read, or listen to music.  I don’t want dinners every single night…

My 7 a.m. call, for what it’s worth, went nicely.  One of the projects I’m running involves some pricing work, and I introduced a new methodology here that worked wonders and gave us a raft of proprietary data.  Now we need to figure out what to do with it, since we went well beyond the client’s scope and in fact did some of this work expressly for our own IP.  It’s gratifying when an experiment like this one turns out so well.

Had lunch that day with a new friend, Michael, who works at the US Consulate.  Friend Bettina in Manila introduced us, Michael used to work at the Embassy in Manila.  We had lunch at the Breach Candy Club, and we sat there and looked out on the mammoth subcontinent-shaped saltwater pool while we chatted.  Michael and I both love the Philippines so we had lots to discuss.  He’s about to visit the States for 3 weeks of holidays…I’ll be there for 10 days myself.

Given my upcoming 20^th university reunion, I’ve tried to get back to my former exercise regime, going beyond running.  Finally broke out the yoga mat, as I mentioned earlier in this post, and I also did some resistance cord and abs exercises.  Today my stomach is sore as hell, but I guess that indicates progress.  Running is my foundation but it’s just not sufficient.

This weekend was a long one, Friday was May Day/Maharashtra Day.  Spent it lying on my couch, reading.  Had dinner on both Friday and Saturday nights at colleague Naina’s flat – she and her family live in a very nice flat near the Taj President Hotel.  Friday was also Election Day in Mumbai, and no booze is served, so the dinner was partially intended to be a drinks fest.  In India the elections go on for an entire month, each locale is designated a single day to vote.  In mid-May they’ll announce the results.  There are 700 million plus voters, it’s an incredible undertaking.

On Saturday I went to Crosswords Bookstore, near my flat, to have a coffee and something to eat at Moishe’s Café.  Ran into a friend of Rajan’s there – small world.  Sat there and read the Asian Age newspaper for a good hour – felt almost like being in HKG, or NYC.  Not a better way to spend a Sat or Sun morning, IMHO.  Went home and did a bit of yoga and reading, then went to meet friend Harsh at Geoffrey’s Pub at Marine Plaza Hotel.  Harsh is an entrepreneur starting up English language accreditation programs, and is early in the game.  Super-nice guy – I hope his business makes it.  Gotta admire someone who could live in the US and make a very nice living as a banker or in business, but instead, with a huge b-school loan hanging over his head, chooses to come back to his homeland of India and start a socially-focused business.  Snaps to that.

Then went to the Bombay Gymkhana Club to meet Johann’s parents, finally.  Johann and I worked together in Oz and East Asia for many years, and is originally from here.  Met his parents at the Gym and we had a great time getting to know each other.  Dinyal, his father, is a retired pilot, and his mother, Umaima, is involved in the political scene and seems incredibly well-connected.  Had a few drinks and some great food (the garlic pepper prawns at the Gym are sensational), and hung out for a few hours chatting.  Umaima was keen to hear about my travels, so we talked about my Mongolian adventures in particular.  They seemed intrigued by my tales of jeans smuggling on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

This morning, en route to the office, saw a fellow on the back of a motorbike, studying a paper on “Reproduction and Health in Plants” while in traffic.  Wow – I find it hard enough to study/read while sitting in a quiet room, much less on the back of a noisy bike in the hot sun amidst honking cars.  India, arise – the focus on education here will pay massive dividends.  I can only hope that the USA will finally figure this out and ensure that every American gets a good education and has a real chance in life.  We’ll see how that goes.

I have 5-6 books on my shelf.  Had a depressing thought on that – it will probably take me a year to work through them.  When I was on sabbatical, I was plowing through 30-40 books a year.  Now it’s back to reality – gotta stop ordering from Amazon.com and focus on the stuff I really want to read.

Ok, enough for this week, am eager to get out of the office and breathe some fumes.  Over and out.

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