Day Three

Today was the first day at work . . . It was a tough start getting up so early . . . I had to trust the driver to take me to the right place. He was confused as to where I wanted to go at first . . even though I left it in the concierge’s hands . . So, we travel in the dark through some strange areas and at times thought we were going in circles . . . About 30 minutes later we arrive at Manyata Embassy Park, a major Technology hub in India. Whilst I did not know it was, I felt secure that we had arrived at what looked like a Tech Park with security guards standing around in booths with checkpoints.

Anyway, the driver drops me off outside a building. Being dark (with only minimal street lighting) I had no idea where I was . . I made the pre-arranged call to my colleagues already (hopefully) inside. They answered and asked If I was outside . . I said yes, I’m outside but if I’m outside the right place I have no idea!! . I waited and with some small relief saw Jenny and Shiju come outside . . . 8-)

Numerous Large I.T companies including IBM have buildings and offices here in this Tech Park . . It's amazing . . 

Anyway, it was a long but interesting day. . .  

I joined the local team in their ‘breakfast’ which is our lunch at a canteen over the road in another building. Tucked away in the corner of this food-court is a bank. I only realised that when I walked past a security guard sitting pretty relaxed in a plastic chair smiling at us with a bolt-action rifle casually pointing to the ground . .

Some of the team had North Indian and some had South Indian style. I tasted the North Indian which was really nice. They were amused that I wanted a serviette to clean my hands after my tasting. . . I suppose it would be funny as they eat with their hands. In fact, there is a special washing area with a heap of hand-washing basins where they all go after eating to wash and clean their hands. This is not to be confused with the bathrooms . . . They are totally separate.

I hit the wall half way through the day and popped outside . .

Grabbed a picture of the entrance to the building. I wanted to take some pictures in the foyer but was not permitted to due for security reasons . . .

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I also grabbed a shot to show the standard security procedure for cars entering buildings, hotels and just about every other building containing people!!! The below pic shows a pair of security guards about to do 2 things: 1- Check underneath the car with a mirror-on-a-stick for ‘devices’ and 2- Check the boot and visually eye the inside. Sometimes at our hotel they bring out this vacuum like device which sucks air out of the boot and analysis it for explosive materials. Mind you, I look at the state of it and truly wonder if it’s not merely an old Electrolux in the shed with a long tube with a fancy intake head . . ?

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This next pic was of one of many many vans that operate around the clock, dropping off and picking up people at various buildings within the precinct. Most people who work in this Technology park don’t own a car or motorbike or at least don’t drive it to work. As part of their employment, they will be picked up from home and dropped off at work and vice versa at the end of their work shift. The numbers or cars and how many people they take obviously depends on where people live geographically and the timings of their shifts. Sort of an advanced, more organised form of car pooling?    Enjoy . .

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