Lately I have been loving the fruit here. I thought that I had tasted every type of fruit known to man, having been a regular shopper at Whole Foods and the like. Boy was I wrong. Every few months there are new fruits in season that I had never heard of or seen. No need to go to a grocery store either. They appear on roadside carts around every corner, and for less than 100 rupees you can get a bagful of whatever, weighed using actual scales and lead weights. My favorite so far is lychee. This is also mango season. I had no idea there were so many varieties, and the quality is far superior to anything that has endured shipment to the US.
(this is not my picture, it was taken in Hyderabad, but it is the same here)
Thursday I rode my bike to work. My front tire went flat halfway there, in the middle of nowhere in rural Gujarat. Last time it was my back tire. It is my punishment for purchasing such an old bike. A nice stranger helped me push the bike to a nearby shop and asked the owner if I could park it there for a few hours. Someone from work rescued me, then one of the company drivers helped by driving to the bike, replacing the tube, and delivering to bike to work. He did this out of kindness, and didn't charge anything (of course I gave him 50 rupees to be nice). Once again, a bad situation was no problem because of helpful people here.
Speaking of my old bike, many people ask me why I bought such an old bike. I make more money here than most people, plus I had a good paying job previously in the US. They know I could afford a new bike. I am not living like a rich person here though. I wanted to come here with no money from the US (aside from a small sum to get settled). I want to live on my Indian salary alone, with no help from anyone. And I also travel a lot here, so that doesn't leave me with much. So I make sacrifices that many people in my salary range would not. More importantly though, I want to experience real indian life here. Not the life of a priviledged person with a car and driver, hired help, and the newest and best of everything. I like the hard work of life here, and surviving without the conveniences of my old life. No one really understands that here. I can appreciate that, as these small struggles are a novelty for me, but a fact of life for indians that the upper middle class has only recently been able to rise above. Indians sometime seem greedy or materialistic, but I have to remind myself that I would probably be the same if I came from here.
On my way home from work Thursday, the monsoon finally started. I was excited that I made it back for the first rain, but I was not happy that it hit while I was on my bike. It was dark, windy, and pouring like crazy. It was similar to being in Atlanta when a hurricane comes through. Of course, combine that with the poor state of indian roads, haphazard traffic, and a bike headlight that is not bright enough, and it makes for a scary ride. Thank goodness traffic was light since most others had the sense to pull off the road. I made it home safely after 1.5 hours, after a few close calls. I was soaked and cold, but never so happy to be home. No more riding to work until monsoon season is done. Now is it cooler, overcast and drizzly. It will be like this, with occassional heavy rains, for the next 3 months.
Work is starting to go really well. I finally am getting into my groove. I don't want to talk about any details - since this is a public blog. But I really enjoy interacting with all of my coworkers, we all laugh a lot at work. Many here are looking for new jobs, as the pay hikes are not competitive with other pharma companies. I hope that most of them stick around for a while...
I have many other things to blog about, so check back soon!
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