Today was the first real work day in the office. I woke up at 4:30 am thanks to my time zone adjustment, worked out, did some e-mail, caught up with Julie (who had just arrived at 5 am on a flight from London) and Melissa for breakfast, and hopped in the fancy Toyota SUV with Julie's driver (name unknown) so he could drive us to the Manyata Tech park. We didn't get far because the 'head of security' was chasing us down wanting to ride with us to make sure that Julie (aka the Queen) was safe. He stuffed himself into the 3rd row of our SUV and we were off. I couldn't take pictures on the ride out (my backpack was stuck behind our (#2) protector and I felt bad asking for it). But I did manage to take these on the way home. Scenes from the craziness that is India/Bangalore. Before we leave, I am going to be super brave and sit in the front seat and try to video the adventure here that they call driving. You need sound (for the cacophony of horns) and moving pics to fully capture the number of near death experiences that happen.
I won't bore you with the work details except to say that my brain hurts from all the new info I was absorbing. Everything from details about the growth of our India operation (now nearly 1000 people), our recruiting effectiveness (or lack thereof), and the talent market here. All interesting enough, but frankly the most fascinating info came from one of our newer female associates, who escorted me to a meeting mid-day and gave me the 411 about arranged marriages, the India version of 'Match.com' (very popular with the progressive female crowd), and the huge differences in culture between the various India 'states'. She talked about how she did her own research (dare I say shopping) for a future spouse but did so knowing the minimum requirements of her parents (no sense in bringing someone who would never get approved). Boys, it is a VERY DIFFERENT world.
I also learned a bit about dowry differences (from a different informer). Amounts vary based on the groom's occupation (possibly other things too, but this was the example he provided). A basic Software Engineer might command a dowry of $5mil rupees. But add 'manager' to his title, and suddenly the dowry value goes up significantly... to ~$8mil rupees. No wonder the culture here seems fixated on a management career path.
I am sure there are equally unique aspects to western culture, but it's hard to recognize them when that is all you know. Here's the view from the 8th floor of our office building. Note the giant construction site, with construction worker shacks conveniently located on the plateau to the left of the hole. When I have a chance, I will take a close up picture of the scaffolding they build up the side of some of their construction sites. It's made of sticks. The scaffolding on these buildings was a little sturdier, I am happy to report.
I won't bore you with the work details except to say that my brain hurts from all the new info I was absorbing. Everything from details about the growth of our India operation (now nearly 1000 people), our recruiting effectiveness (or lack thereof), and the talent market here. All interesting enough, but frankly the most fascinating info came from one of our newer female associates, who escorted me to a meeting mid-day and gave me the 411 about arranged marriages, the India version of 'Match.com' (very popular with the progressive female crowd), and the huge differences in culture between the various India 'states'. She talked about how she did her own research (dare I say shopping) for a future spouse but did so knowing the minimum requirements of her parents (no sense in bringing someone who would never get approved). Boys, it is a VERY DIFFERENT world.
I also learned a bit about dowry differences (from a different informer). Amounts vary based on the groom's occupation (possibly other things too, but this was the example he provided). A basic Software Engineer might command a dowry of $5mil rupees. But add 'manager' to his title, and suddenly the dowry value goes up significantly... to ~$8mil rupees. No wonder the culture here seems fixated on a management career path.
I am sure there are equally unique aspects to western culture, but it's hard to recognize them when that is all you know. Here's the view from the 8th floor of our office building. Note the giant construction site, with construction worker shacks conveniently located on the plateau to the left of the hole. When I have a chance, I will take a close up picture of the scaffolding they build up the side of some of their construction sites. It's made of sticks. The scaffolding on these buildings was a little sturdier, I am happy to report.
and a view the opposite direction.
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