One month in Bangalore

I think we finally had a "normal" week.  Normal in the sense that no trips to anywhere, planned or otherwise, just working and hanging out at home and sleeping. Working should be in capital letters.. I think I put in 50 hours by end of day Thurs, which was apparent on Friday, as I don't think I was too productive! We've been going into office around 11 or 12, working until somewhere between meetings around 7pm-9pm and then on conference calls from the minute I walk in the door until anywhere between 10 and midnight. Sleep fast, then do it again the next day. I had my dinner while on a call and in a meeting more than once last week. I'm also not waking up at 6am any more  ;)
In my spare time :) I am trying to finish my book that I brought along a month ago.  I'm not getting very far very fast. When I do read, it's about a page or 2 and my eyes are already closing.
It's good work, though and I love it. I haven't made it through a day yet without laughing well, more than once. My team has expanded to about double, so I've been playing catch up with the new additons' processes and procedures and practices (the 3 P's?), and looking for and finding opportunities for efficiencies so we're off to a running start. The old, familiar part of the team is also busier than heck with preparing for a couple tidal waves I see coming at us, so no wonder we're working so hard and long.
Yet, we did find time to go to lunch all together on Friday. Harish and RaeDean back in Mpls. had sent some money along so that I could take the SES team out to lunch or dinner, and to include Pallabi with whom Harish has been working on another project. All 12 of us went to lunch at the Savannah Hotel (here we pronounce SAH- vannah, not my midwestern Sa-VAN-ah, which I realized when I saw the spelling ;) and had a grand Friday buffet of great Indian food.

Moi, Naveen, Chandra, Pallabi, Padma, Naseem

Savitha, Meenakshi, Harish, Parna, Mythili, Satheesh

One other side job I have taken on is teaching 1 billion people the meaning and purpose of doing a pinky swear. I think I'm at 3 down, a billion minus 3 to go.   What percentage is that?  :D

Saturday morning, we got up early to go view the highlights of Bangalore. We began with the ISKCON temple. Beautiful place, peaceful, open, breezy, calm.  But it didn't take long till I had a flash-back right to the 1970's. Chetan caught me smiling as I had wandered back to a different place that had the same decorations of brass lanterns and incense and the sounds of mantras of Hare Krishna. And another smoky type of smell that was missing at the ISKCON  ;)  It also has a restaurant, as noted in below pic. 

But God doesn't serve breakfast, and we didn't want to wait 1.5 hours, although i was sure tempted!

We also visited the Bangalore Palace, which was beautiful, but deeply in need of restoration which is going on, but needs a kick in the pants or something. Unbelievably, beautiful woodwork inside a smaller replica of Windsor Castle. 

And there are flowering trees everywhere.  This one is my favorite, common name is Copper Pod due to copper/red seed cases, but it's bright yellow and just lovely.  I LOVE yellow flowering trees!  Hell, I love flowering trees of any color.  Here, the flowers tend to last for more than 2 weeks though, unlike my Minnesota lilacs and flowering crabs. 

I love this pic.  The dogs all sleeping in the shade on the grounds of the Bangalore Palace.  So, just imagine how hot it must be for all of those dogs to be sleeping there in the shade in the middle of the day. Just imagine.  It was freakin' HOT!!!

We also went to the Cauvery, where one can buy much beautiful sandalwood carving.  I think I spent an hour in there just looking at all the art.  Too expensive for my blood, but I did buy a few things including a copper vessel, and a little something for that kid of mine back home.

We had lunch at a place called Three Quarter Chinese.. I think the other 1/4 was Indian.  Whatever, it was really good. Drove around a bit more, as much as we could in that damn traffic which was mostly in jams, saw the government buildings, the high court, the library, museums, but it was just too hot to get out and wander, and too difficult with that traffic, so we didn't. We were quite spent by this time and decided we'd view more later. So, we then headed home to a nap.

Rest of the weekend was peaceful, hanging out getting to know Madhav the caretaker some more, viewing pic of his wife, of Anand's little daughter. These guys are here, have been for years, but their wives and in Anand's case child are back home with the family. They see their families maybe once a year, and I know this kind of thing has been going on for decades with the many separated and traveling families of Indians looking for better life, but not so sure I could do it, or agree to it!
Even on Sunday, I needed hair cut so made appointment at a salon close by. While there I had a pedicure that lasted nearly an hour and a half and it was OMG divine! The haircut was equivalent to $13.00 and the OMG wonderful pedicure and massage and reflexology and polishing and.. OMG.. was about $9.00. I'm going back, and brought the list of services back to Lisa.   But, I digress.. the owner of that salon is a young woman with 2 young children, and her husband was in IT and is now opening a store in the U.K. for a large retail chain there. He'll be there for 3 years. And she'll be here with the children and her very thriving business. More power to them, but that's got to be tough, not seeing your partner for long periods of time.

Anyways.. I'm off to bed and to begin another week.  Next weekend, we're heading to Mysore.

Final word... please, please someone tell me that this says "wash me".   :D  It just has to!!