Delhi Days

Breakfast in Bed

And it's Sunday night...so I find myself at the helm of my computer once again. This routine is starting to kick in, but if you talk to any of my Indian friends, you will find that I am sometimes lost in a complete time-warp confusion.

I have been keeping track of my daily routine on two clocks. The way the conversion works is this: Take Delhi time, add 2.5 hours, and switch the AM/PM and you get Eastern time.  That means, it is 2:00am Monday morning in Delhi right now but 4:30 PM Sunday Night in Virginia. It seems easy, but I have found that translating one to another and back again can be a little flustering. My daily routine goes something like this:

•  3:30PM IST ( 6:00AM EST) - Wake Up, Call Puni
•  4:00PM IST ( 6:30AM EST) - Shower, Eat Breakfast
•  4:30PM IST ( 7:00AM EST) - Call Anil, Leave for the Office
•  5:00PM IST ( 7:30AM EST) - Get to the office and catch up/prepare for the day
•  6:30PM IST ( 9:00AM EST) - East Coast Shift officially begins
•  9:30PM IST (12:00PM EST) - Lunch Time
•  3:30AM IST ( 6:00PM EST) - Shift ends
•  3:45AM IST ( 6:15PM EST) - Cab home
•  3:50AM IST ( 6:20PM EST) - Arrive home, socialize, prep for work, phone calls
•  7:30AM IST (10:00PM EST) - Bed Time

It seems easy, but when you factor in that all of the other people who are in the apartment are on completely different schedules, it starts to be a lot to juggle.

This week was pretty straight forward, after the exciting weekend in Risikesh, tasks at work kept on pressing forward. I shifted gears a bit and am acting as a full time mentor to Prachi. She was hired in January and is showing a lot of potential for going "live" in the next few weeks. I have been working with her to round out her product knowledge and critique her calls. All has been progressing well and she is going to be a great addition to our phone team in India.

On Friday, I went straight home and got in bed so that I could enjoy the weekend. This is the part that makes the time shift confusing:

•  3:30AM IST ( 6:00PM EST) - Shift Ends
•  4:30AM IST ( 7:00PM EST) - In Bed
• 12:00PM IST ( 2:30AM EST) - Alarm goes off, Call Prachi
•  1:30PM IST ( 3:30AM EST) - Leave for CP Market and shopping in Delhi

Caitlyn and Brendan arrived early Saturday morning and joined me for a shopping trip at CP Markets in Delhi. After several recommendations from many people, the three of us met up with Prachi and she showed us a mix of what Delhi has to offer. High end Saris and gifts at the Emporiums, jewelry vending from  street carts and rows and rows of tents with everything from home goods to everyday clothing.

Prachi took us around to her favorite spots and helped us bargain for the best deal. We would pick out something that we liked, she would argue with the vendor for a few minutes, then name our price. I am so grateful for her skills, because otherwise I would have absolutely overpaid! We grabbed a few drinks and lunch at an upscale lounge called QBA. I walked away with a purse/satchel, an onyx ring, 2 necklaces, a bangle and 2 Kurtas--A successful day.

My Kurta! Photo by Ana Usmani

It was getting dark and we decided it was time to head back to familiar territory--Gurgaon. The new arrivals started getting sleepy as we navigated our way home. Prachi stopped at every corner to ask for directions--and people willingly provided them--navigating us through the twists and turns of Delhi. We stopped for coffee at the Costa near the office and made our way for dinner at Rt. 04 - An American Bar in Cyber City. We met with Bharat, Sam, Aman and Javed for a few drinks before heading to Striker for dancing. To top off the evening, we made a pit stop at a 5-star restaurant for a late night snack of Briani--fried rice.

This morning I woke up at 2:30PM IST ( 5:00 AM EST) and met up with Caitlyn and Brendan. We lounged in the apartment for a few hours as they were awaiting their missing luggage from their flight on Friday. Caitlyn and I went to Spencer's to pick up some essentials: Cookies, Crackers and Gatorade. For the most part, Spencer's seemed like any normal grocery store. The only thing that was a little awkward were the employees that were crowding the aisles. I not exactly sure as to their purpose, but it seemed like they were getting paid to encourage you to buy certain items. They were helpful when we asked where to find certain items, and then they would ask us if we wanted to buy lotion that we didn't need or respond to a survey. I think the two of us were targets.

We made our way home to watch the cricket match and eat a wonderful home-cooked dinner by Puni. "Chicken and Gravy" was delicious, but nothing like what you would find on Thanksgiving. I bought a thermos at the store today, and plan to ask Puni to fill it with tea so I can take it work. I also plan on asking him to prepare dinner for me for when I get home tomorrow.

I think we are planning to go to Agra and Jaipur next weekend, so there is much planning to do!

Catelyn