The Holy Dip in the Ganges

Potpuri at the Har Ki Pauri markets

I cannot believe it has already been a week since my last post! At the rate things are going, it seems like this is going to be a weekly thing here...so look back on Sunday nights and hopefully you will have yourself a treat in the form of a new Adventure of Catelyn.

I feel like India is already starting to blow away my expectations. So many people gave me great advice before I left, but I just could not picture it until now, and everything is fitting into place. I guess I will start right off with my first impressions then tell you about my camping/rafting trip to Rishikesh.

So I guess I am nocturnal now? Sunday night, after unpacking and writing my post, I went to bed at 10pm ET (AKA 7:30 am IST). The sun was rising outside my window, the birds were chirping and the morning commute was beginning. I am glad I brought my eye mask and ear plugs because black-out curtains don't really block out everything. I was tired enough that I was able to drift off eventually, and I did not have much trouble sleeping through the day.

Morning (or evening?) came (5:00am ET/ 3:30pm IST) and I was excited to make my way to Cyber City. I met Jayme in the upstairs apartment and Puni presented us with "Egg Toast" and Chai before we jumped in Anil's car to drive to work.

Driving

An auto rickshaw passes us during the morning commute.

For those of you who complain of traffic in Northern Virginia--you ain't seen nothing! This is more than traffic, it is survival of the fittest. On a two lane road, the driver must push his way past vehicles of all sizes from an overflowing truck piled high with grains to a tired bicycle rickshaw driver carrying a lone passenger to work. Commuters line the streets waiting for buses, taxis, trucks or rickshaws to pick them up and road-side vendors hawk delicious (but deadly to Americans) street food.

It is considered rude to pass someone without honking a warning and drivers have hand signals and honks that help them communicate through the madness.The most surprising part of the drivers is that, although each one of them honks their horn at someone or something every 15 seconds or more, none seem to be aggressive or bothered by it. If I were the driver, that honk would signify that I was very angry or upset at what was going on before me, but nobody seems to mind.

I am not sure what the real law is, but it seems like the biggest vehicle has the right of way in India, even over pedestrians. A man will cross the road 100m ahead and Anil doesn't even think about putting on the breaks. There are no cross walks, that I can tell, and crossing the road becomes a game of frogger for many people.

The part of this driving experience that I am MOST surprised about is my own reaction toward it. In the States, if I was in a car that was weaving in and out of traffic, braking at the last possible moment and nearly running over dogs, children, spare tires etc. at ever turn, I would be gripping the handrests and sweating through my shirt in 10 mins. Here, I am just genuinely impressed by the skill and maneuverability of the Indian drivers. Seeing that this is just so far beyond anything that I have ever experienced before, even Tyson's in rush hour, I feel like I can trust Anil to do his job and deliver me safely to work.

Working

March 2012 Batch showing their "Bleed Blue" spirit on Friday.

The routine has been basically the same everyday, after waking up and fighting with traffic, I head to work a few hours early to prepare for the training class to arrive. The Cvent headquarters is located in DLF Cyber City. A collection of state of the art high rises home to top companies like Microsoft, PWC, Alcatel-Lucent and our neighbors on the floor, the Beam Companies. We have space on the 12th and 15th floors, and there are 20 elevators to choose from when making your way up. The walls and floors are lined in marble, and other than the slight layer of dust, you would think you are walking into a wealthy bank in NYC.

I spend most of my time with the CS team on the 12th floor. Because the day shift is leaving as I am coming in, I often have to hunt for an open desk until the Marketing team clears out for the day, relieving their seats for my team. The desks are compact and there is not much room to spread out, but it seems to invite team work and participation, so I am growing to like the close quarters. There are no windows in the CS corner, which would normally feel awkward, but it allows me to pretend that it really is 2 in the afternoon when it is dark outside!

I have been spending most of my day with the March training batch. It consists of 12 people who have learned the basics of Cvent from their previous trainer, Jess. Last week was a mix of review and new material and I was blessed to have AJ as a strong leader of the group. The first 2 days seemed a little uneasy, as I was trying to connect with the group and make progress in their training. By Wednesday, I felt like we were really getting to know each other and I have enjoyed spending time with all of them. They are teaching me Hindi as I am teaching them Cvent, and they give me pop quizzes to make sure I am on top of my game!

The week flew by so quickly, I can already tell that my time here is limited. Because the training batch is allowed a 30 min lunch and three 10-min smoke breaks throughout the day, I hardly get the time to breathe as I am prepping for the next item on the agenda. I haven't even had the chance to meet everyone on the CS team yet and am going to make an effort to do that early next week.

During the 20 mins or so that I actually take for a lunch, I walk downstairs with one of my colleagues to grab something quick from one of the cafes. I had Subway for lunch 3 times last week, coffee from Costa Coffee, and a personal Sbarro pizza on Friday. I was very hesitant initially to eat anything that I could not recognize, for the fear of having a bad reaction. I am trying hard to allow my stomach to adjust to this new area slowly, but everything looks so delicious.

After wrapping up each evening, Jayme helps ensure we leave right at 3:30am IST to catch our ride home to the apartment. Depending on the night, we may or may not see another living soul because our apartment mates work a different shift. We chat for a bit then part ways to finish up some work in our rooms and get to sleep. One of the nights I came home to find some of my apartment mates (Julide, Chris, Brian and others) eating Butter Chicken (Yum!) and staying up to watch the sunset. I joined them for a few hours, before cozying in my room for a full night's (or day's?!) rest.

I really enjoy spending time with the other people from HQ that I have never worked with in the past. It is interesting to hear about their views of Cvent and India, and you know that people who are willing to take the same opportunity to live in a foreign country for an extended period of time have to be pretty cool. It's too bad that starting next week I am going to be the only person on my shift because Jayme will be working a hybrid.

Rishikesh

Tent facing the Ganges

Friday night (or should I say Saturday morning) we met a driver in the Cvent parking lot and headed straight to the mountains. The trip was organized by Sumeet (my colleague in CS)and her husband, Aman (Sales). Nitin and Prachi (CS) joined Chris, Julide, Pat and me from the US office. We packed into a 12 person van and made our way onto the highway, which was jammed with overflowing trucks that chose to drive during the less-busy nighttime hours. We enjoyed ourselves for a bit before making a pit stop at McDonalds for a true Indian breakfast of hotcakes and coffee. We let ourselves doze off until reaching our final destination.

During the trip, I enjoyed looking out the window at all of the activity that was going on along the highway. Farmers were harvesting their crop, shopkeepers were eagerly awaiting customers and cows were roaming freely to rummage through the garbage along the road. If you happened to make eye contact with a pedestrian, there was often a look of surprise and wonder about seeing us in the van.

We reached camp by 12am [yes, that is 8 hours later] and loaded our gear into a paddle raft to take us across to the campsite. Tents lined the banks of the Ganges in several rows, there was an area for volleyball and a shaded area for resting in wicker chairs. We changed into our bathing suits and headed straight for the water. It was cold, but wading to my knees was refreshing. The rest of the evening we played volleyball, rested and listened to music while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Dinner came in the form of bar-b-que delivered to your tent area, and was the most delicious chicken I have ever tasted. We statrted with Peanut Masala as an appetizer--the Indian chips and salsa. We made our way to a buffet for even more delicious treats. I did my best to try everything available, even though I was concerned that my first Indian meal was on a campsite with no easy access to a proper restroom. Luckily, I made it successfully though the night--thank god because I am really loving this food and want to continue enjoying it!

We lounged by lamplight under the clear starry sky until late in the night. Prachi and I bunked up in our tent and nestled into our cots for a good night sleep. Morning came and a cool breeze hit me as I exited the tent, but that was soon replaced by the warm sun on my shoulders. We packed up our things, ate a quick breakfast and boarded the boat to white water raft on the Ganges!

The rapids started off slow. Our guide was instructing us on the proper ways to paddle and we could jump into the drifting water as long as we kept a hand on the boat. As we paddled along, we encountered several other boats and instigated splashing fights. We were getting used to people staring at us, because we had four white people on board. I guess that is uncommon.

After 20 mins we hit some of the bigger rapids, locked our feet into the seats and powered forward as the waves tossed and turned us, soaking us all! The guide said the rapids were 3+ and 4+ and some of them launched our boat pretty high into the air before plummeting us back down, straight into the next wave.

Holy Dip in the Ganges!

We felt refreshed and accomplished for a hard day's exercise, as we brought the raft out of the water and made our way back to the van. We tried to dry off a little bit as we made our way to Haridwar to take a holy dip at Har Ki Pauri. Our friends described that this area was a holy spot, and home to a pilgrimage. It is believed that your sins will be washed away after a dip in the holy water. Turns out, the 4 white people doing the dip was quite a spectacle and we were bathed in inquisitive glances and people even asked to take pictures with us. Sumeet, Nitin, Prachi and Aman safely guided us through the tents of sellers and beggars and watched out for us as we were distracted by the incredible sights and sounds (Thank you!).

After making it back to the bus, we drove to another town where Sumeet's uncle owned a restaurant. He fed us an amazing lunch of paneer, chole chick-peas, dal, butterd naan and more. We stuffed ourselves before baording the bus for the long trek back to Gurgaon. Puni greeted us with another amazing Indian meal and we welcomed Jasmin to the apartment. I finished dinner, hopped into a nice warm shower and sat down to spill my head into this blog!

I have a busy week upcoming and am excited for week 2! Post a comment and let me know your thoughts!

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