my new bike

My "new" bike is not new.  Although it is a 2005, by Indian standards that is ancient.  I think the road and weather conditions are so rough that bikes don't usually last 10 years, if that.

So I have wanted a scooter for the last 2 years.  However, it just didn't make sense to have one in Philly.  I tried driving a scooter in Ankleshwar a month ago.  It was super fun, so I was revitalized to get one.  Then 2 weekends ago my fiend Krupal let me try driving his bike.  This was my first tme driving a real motorcycle.  I was not a great student, but I was able to drive.

So on a whim this weekend I decided to buy a bike, a real one!  I found some used bike dealers in the old city using justdial.com.  I took a friend with me and picked a small old bike.  As expected, everyone encouraged me to get a scooter instead of a bike, or at least a newer bike that would be easier to manage.  I said no!  I want an old beater!

So I drove for 3 hours in the last 2 days.  Some with a friend on the back (good for signalling turns and telling me when to go through intersections), and some alone (easier to manage bike without the extra weight).  I got hot (it is 110F here), dirty, and sunburned, but it was so much fun.  So far I have taken mostly left turns only, to avoid going through large intersections (traffic lights are just suggestions here).  I love that everyone laughs and waves at me, since I am a whitey.  Even when I stall in intersections, the people just laugh and drive around.  I am given forgiveness for my poor skills since I am so obviously not from here.

I have trouble starting the bike (it is a kick start), and trouble getting it into neutral.  I tipped the bike over once when I was taking it off the stand, but I am strong enough to pick it back up.  If I were in the US, I would have no trouble driving around, but the "rules" are different here.  I hope I get better at it.  I also have no license yet, no helmet yet.  I make sure to carry a few hundred rupees whenever I ride, as that is the way to handle trouble if a cop stops me.  :)

I am badass!

Women in India

First, an addition to my last blog:  Indians can learn from americans something about keeping a bathroom clean.  Even in high end restaurants, I go into a bathroom and it looks like an alien just gave birth in there before I entered.  Even in people's homes it can be like that.  I think it might have something to with the prevalance of housekeepers in India.  Since no one cleans their own bathroom, residents don't bother to try and be neat when using the bathroom.  And since housekeepers here only do the minimum standard of job required to not get fired, no one knows what it is like to have a truly clean bathroom...

I digress...

I have come to learn something about myself living here.  That is, if someone says I can't or shouldn't do something, it makes me want to do it even more.  This is especially true when it comes to men vs. women.  Here in India, there are many things that women are not expected to do.  I will divide them into categories.

Rules for women in India that I follow:

1. Do not expose too much skin.  I never wear shorts, skirts, or show cleavage.  Of course, I didn't do this in the US either, so I shouldn't say that I am being purposefully PC.
2. Do not talk to random men.  At first when coming here I would keep to myself but engage in converstation if anyone spoke to me.  I figured people were curious and friendly.  Now I know to smile and walk away if a guy starts talking to me.  The guys are harmless but annoying, and definitely are not looking to discuss international politics.

Rules for women in India that I relish ignoring:

1. Women do not drink.  I was so pissed when I went to Mt. Abu and was told not to go to the beer store because I am a woman.  I hold my head high when going to the alcohol store now.  Keep in mind that drinking is illegal here, but I got my consumption license because I am a foreigner.  I was embarrassed at first, but with a little confidence and determination I can now joke around with the workers.  Also, I don't bother triple bagging my trash when it contains beer bottles now.
2. At work and in a society, a woman should only socialize with the other women.  What the crap is this?  This leads to a lack of bonding with coworkers, and a general view that women are not equals (especially since women in technical roles are only about 10% of the workforce).  And the conversation at the women's lunch table is the most boring converstaion that I could ever imagine.  Nothing but food, husbands, food, inlaws, food, movies, and food.
3. Don't lift heavy things or put yourself in any "danger".  Some people like being treated like royalty, not me.  I want to lift my own water bottles and hang off the back of a 6-seater auto.
4. Give up career ambitions in order to have babies.  Nothing else to say on this point.
5. Move in with your in-laws.  Hahahhaahahaha
6. Don't drive a motorcycle.  I bought a motorcycle today!!!!  Women do drive scooters, but I will be a an anomaly driving a bike.  This would be a big enough challenge in the US, but in India with the crazy (lack of) traffic rules, this will be a challenge and a half.  I have only about 1 hour of total bike riding experience in my life total, but I will practice every day.

Things that Americans and Indians can learn from each other....

This is just a brainstorm of the best things I can pick out from both cultures so far...

Indians can teach Americans:

• Be more earth friendly:  clean with reusable rags, serve food on plates that can be washed and reused, share transporation, use a fan instead of AC.
• Don't be so scared of germs.  You don't see Indian kids with allergies, because they aren't raised in the land of Purel and Lysol.  A strong immune system needs to be built.
• Don't smile so much, people will take advantage of your friendliness.  (I don't like this one, but it is true)
• Don't say "thank you" unless you really really mean it.  The phrase loses its meaning if it is over used.  Plus, if you are friends with someone, it is expected that they will help you out, and vice versa.
• Bargain!  No one should pay full price.
• Be comfortable with your emotions.  Indians are not afraid to be passionate and honest.
• Take care of your family.

Americans can teach Indians:

• Don't believe everything someone tells you.  Get some evidence for health remedies before blindly following them.
• Don't be so lazy, walking is good for you.  (disclaimer- there are a whole lot of lazy Americans too)
• Know directions.  No one in India has a map or could tell you which way was north.  People get to where they need to go here, but often not in the most direct way.
• Stop being so dependent.  Boys are often spoonfed (literally and figuratively) by their mothers until they marry off in their late 20's or early 30's.  This is frankly a bit creepy.
• Stop littering.  This is your home, do you want it to look like a dump?

Thats it for now.  But be assured that I love both India and the US!

Ankleshwar

I decided to visit my friend D in Ankleshwar.  She is only 3.5 hours away by train.  However, many of my fiends and coworkers warned me against it.  They said "trains aren't safe", "Ankleshwar is too polluted", and "her in-laws won't appreciate you imposing on them".  Not a single person in Ahmedabad was supportive.  I went anyway.  D needed some distraction from her boredom, and I was super homesick and needed a distraction from that as well.

As it turns out, everyone in Ahmedabad was wrong.

I took "sleeper class" for my train ride.  It is non-air conditioned, but there are open windows.  Even in the 106F heat, it wasn't bad at all.  It only cost 130 rupees each way (less than $4).  I could have easily afforded a first class AC coach, but I am getting sick of associating with the stuck-up upper middle class segment of India.  The people in sleeper class are more fun and friendly.  I made friends each way.  I bought tea for my train friends on my way there, and was given peanuts by neighbors on the way back.

Ankleshwar is a small city.  It is termed a "village" even though it has 60,000 residents.  The city is known for its chemical plants and oil refineries, but I didn't notice any smells or pollution duing my visit.

D's new family is Punjabi.  I had great food at their home (lots of non-veg, a nice change).  I practiced my Hindi and they seemed to appreciate my attempts.  We toured the neighborhood, went to an engagement ceremony, visited the temple that D was married in, and I learned to make roti and paratha!  I am thinking of even making roti at home for myself.

Before going to Ankleshwar, I got so homesick, I was thinking seriously of going back to Philly and leaving India for good.  Even though Ankleshwar is not a "tourist location", it was so nice to see some new sights and just the genuine goodness of families in india.  D's neice was especially sweet and friendly.  I now have a renewed excitement to stay here for a long time!

On the train

Riding scooter with friend, the ladies all wrap up like this to protect themselves from the sun and dust

Random ladies wanted pics of us

Boys playing cricket

Neighbors are moving out

Engagement Ceremony

Sikh temple will feed anyone, I love this...

D's family auto parts business

I rode a scooter, not yet ready for Ahmedabad traffic...

 

Sugarcane juice, yum

American Girl's Weekend

I had my first American visitor!  I met "D" on the expat-blog website.  She has a very interesting story.  She came to India as a tourist and impulsively married an Indian boy back in December 2010.  Now she is here in Gujarat staying with him and his family for 2 months, trying to learn to cook and speak hindi (her blog:  http://youareanindianwife.blogspot.com/).

I had so much fun playing the role as local in Ahmedabad rather than my usual role as newbie foreigner.

I picked D at the train station (side note: I'm starting to speak like an indian.  They "pick" someone instead of "pick up" someone from somewhere.  I will henseforth denote all my new indian phrases with an underline).  My proudest indian moment came next.  In a great crowd of auto drivers and arriving travelers, I drove a hard bargain and negotiated a very fair price from a driver for the trip to my flat.  Of course, I knew how much the trip should cost by meter because I had just made the trip from my flat to the station.  It was my first successful bargain.  Having never bargained for anything in my life, I suck at this.  Plus, the indians here know white people have no idea what anything should cost here, and try to charge even more.  I will try and develop this skill.

Since D has spent much time in India (5 weeks in Dec, and has been here this trip for a month), she didn't have much interest in Indian tourism - temples/mosques/Gandhi Ashram/step wells.  She is now staying in Ankleshwar, a "village" of 60,000 people, where there isn't much to do.  Therefore, she was excited to go to the Ahmedabad malls where there was a great bookstore and western stores.  The mall also had a "scary house", which was the funniest haunted house that I have ever visited.  We ate sandwiches (my favorite food when I am sick of indian), dinner from my favorite non-veg joint - Chawla, and even lunch at McDonalds.  I hate McD's, haven't eaten there in US in over 10 years, but had to see what it is like here.  I had the salsa paneer wrap (80% of the items are different than the US menu items).

Another funny food story.  We got ice cream.  When we paid, they gave change to the nearest 5 rupees, as it is common that small change is not available.  Technically, we were owed an additional 2 rupees.  That is only 4 cents, so I wasn't worried, but D asked for it.  I suggested that we get a small tasting spoon of another flavor to account for the money owed.  The ice cream shop workers agreed and we all had a good laugh about it.

I had so much fun talking to D about her experience here, and everything that is different and funny here.  We both love it here.  I think she should move here, but in Ankleshwar it would be hard for her.  I will try to convince her and her husband to move to Ahmedabad.

It was also so nice to walk around and know that everyone was staring at her in addition to me.  It took some of the self-conciousness away to have someone else "different" with me.  I hope more Americans will visit me soon (hint hint!).

I will be visiting D in Ankleshwar in 2 weeks, should be fun.

Us after the Scary House

McD's delivers here, how strange!

Work....

OK, I have been working for 2 months now.  There are a lot of differences between work culture in US vs. India.  I noticed many differences right away, but wanted to settle in before making any hasty conclusions.  I have worked at 5 different pharmaceutical companies in the US, but only 1 in India, so take my generalizations with a grain of salt.  Below are a few of my random thoughts regarding the differences.

• Who works harder?  People work a little harder in India.  Work day is a little longer in India, but there are longer breaks (free breakfast and lunch in canteen, outdoor stroll after lunch, and afternoon tea break).  Most companies have Mon-Sat work week, but at my company we work only Mon-Fri.  My new friends here are jealous.
• Personal tasks.  Facebook or personal email at work?  Forget about it!  I admit, in the US, I took care of a lot of personal business at work.  Here, all those sites are blocked.  However, everyone has a smart phone here, and they are all on facebook during boring meetings.
• Calendars.  Don't try to schedule anything.  No one uses Outlook (or Lotus) calenders.  Meetings are called on the fly.  It is a huge waste of time and energy to try and gather everyone and then find a meeting room.  My biggest pet peeve for sure.
• Technical Skills.  It is a misconception that the workforce is less skilled here, because the labor cost is low.  People here are very well trained and knowledgeable.  Certain skills are better here and others are better there, but I've been very impressed by the formulators and analysts and their understanding of the science.
• Turnover.  Indians with less than 10 years of experience generally only stay in one company for 2 years.  This is very frustrating, as an analyst with less than 6 months experience is not very usefull.
• Fun.  The relationships between coworkers here are more friendly.  I have a lot of fun talking to my coworkers.  I'm sure it has to do with the curious nature of Indians, they will ask you anything that is on their mind.  I like this a lot, and I am laughing all the time.
• Perks.  The good:  free breakfast/lunch, free transportation to work, more vacation days (10 holiday, 24 vacation, 5 personal/sick).  The bad:  I wanted tissues and tape for my desk - had to buy myself at the store and bring to work, health insurance is a huge mystery - I've received no paperwork and don't know what is even covered, reimbursement of personal expenses in not very official and takes months.
• Details.  Indians love to talk.  This translates to their documentation.  SOPs and methods that could be 2 pages long are 20 pages long.  They will kill themselves with the details.  Americans worry about efficiency, Indians care about "worst case scenario" preparation.
• Inefficiencies.  Official documents are paper based, and take forever to get officialized.  Other examples exist, in procurement and administration.
• Men vs. Women.  My site has 60 employees, only 5 are women.  I think this is still a society that thinks women should stay at home when they have a family.  More on Indian women in a future post.  The expectations of women in society here are not fitting with my own expectations for myself.  I am acting very conservative, and I am a quiet person in general, but this may pose a problem for me here.  :)

I'm sure for you non-pharma readers, this was very boring.  But it was probably interesting for my Merck friends sending there projects to India!  Next post will be interesting for all, I promise.

Holi

Holi is the best holiday ever.  People throw colored powder at each other.  We need to bring this to the US.  I have made some new friends here, and we went to each of their families homes, played with colors, and they welcomed us into their homes (even though we were covered in dye) they gave us food and were so kind.  I love it here!