Yue’s Yappings

Picking up from Part II.

I was relieved to finally step of the plane when we arrived in Bangalore. It was a  warm and breezy day, which felt great after leaving Denver in a blizzard.

Since I had a nice nap on the plane, I felt like a new person.   My business partner picked me up at the airport, and then we went for a late night snack at a trendy restaurant in downtown Bangalore.  Sitting in a big, comfortable chair, I ordered a local favorite - lime soda with sugar, India bread and vegetarian curry dish. Everything tasted very yummy, especially after my long exhausting trip.

It was very late when I made it to my hotel. I opened up my airline toiletry bag and found some facial cleanser, lotion and a white cotton t-shirt which I used as my pajamas. I took a shower and went straight to bed, but of course couldn’t go to sleep. Jetlag finally caught up with me, and I tossed and turned all night. India is on the opposite side of the glob from Denver, and thus the time is 12 hours different.

At 6 AM I gave up on sleeping and decided to try and get my luggage. I dialed the number that Lufthansa gave me and talked to the baggage department at Delhi airport. A friendly man answered the phone.  I gave him my name and asked if my luggage had arrived from Frankfurt.  He said yes.  But of course there was a problem.  Customs had x-rayed my bag and decided they had found something in it that required I pay a customs fee.

I figured it was probably the sample RFID modules I always carry with me when visiting customers.  The agent told me that Lufthansa can’t help with clearing customs, so I needed to personally go back to Delhi and open the luggage for customs.

“But I am in Bangalore right now. ”

“I know, Maam. Do you have any friends who can do it for you in Deli”

“No, I will gave you permission to open my luggage, the PCB board inside are samples, which have no commercial value”

“No, we can’t do that”

“What should I do then?  I can’t come back to Deli to pick up my luggage, and I have already wasted one day due to the delay”

“Yes, Mam. What we can do is send the luggage back to Frankfurt, and resend the bag directly to Bangalore.

“You must be joking. I’m leaving Bangalore in two days.  By the time you send the luggage back to Frankfurt and then to Bangalore, I will be on my way to Taipei”

“We have a problem, Maam”

“No kidding”

While I was thinking what I should do next, I looked at the calendar.  It was February 7, 2008, Chinese New Year. So I started calling my friends in China to wish them a “Happy New Year”. But I didn’t feel any happiness myself. When I told them about my so far disasterous trip to India, they all suggested that I need to call my local connections for help. I figured my other choice was to pray.

I finally decided to call my business partner, Mihir, for help. To my surprise, he had a friend in Delhi who can help me. I faxed him a copy of my passport and a letter of power attorney to represent me in claiming my bag. I was so thankful for this help - it let me stay in Bangalore and spend the day with my business partner - the whole purpose of the trip.

After a good, productive working day, I received some good news from Mihir.  His friend was able to clear my luggage through customs and it would arrive around midnight in Bangalore.

After the meeting, a woman named Anitha, who worked for my partners, offered to show me around Bangalore. Anitha is a beautiful Indian woman with bubbly English and and Indian accent. Instead of taking a taxi, we took a moto taxi which looks more or less like a rickshaw with a lawnmower engine.  It can fit two passengers in the back.

Anitha and I hopped in the moto taxi, told the driver where we going, and negotiated for a good price.  Then the driver pulled a cord that started the engine and away we went to Gandhi Blvd, the main shopping district in Bangalore. It was rush hour, so the streets were packed with moto taxis, cars and scooters. Looking outside the auto-rickshaw, I saw people walking, women pumping water from the street, women wearing saris and carrying huge baskets on the top of their heads and men sitting on big rocks meditating next to the road.  Along with the sights was noise of all sorts - car engines, cars hooking, and above all, loud modern Indian pop music - all mixed together in a very dynamic world.

Lacking any changes of clothes without my luggage, Anitha suggested I should buy a Sari, a traditional Indian dress. She took me to a one of the best Sari shop in Bangalore. Walking in the store, I was surrounded by many beautiful saris, in a wide range of colors,  embroidery patterns and price ranges. The sales clerk asked for me how much I wanted to spend, and then picked a few out for me to try.   They were all beautiful - I finally settled on a saffron color one in georgette fabric.

I learned that when one buys sari, you also need to take it to a tailor so they can cut small piece of fabric to make a matching blouse. Since I was leaving the next day, I needed to pick up my blouse in less than 24 hours. Anitha took me to a tailor in another part of town. The tailor did a quick measurement and said he’d be done the next day before 5pm. Amazing service. I only wish Lufthanza luggage team can do the same.

After shopping, Anitha took me to a traditional Indian restaurant for dinner.  The first thing I noticed was that the restaurant was full of men, there were only a few women. After we got seated, we walked to an area where you wash your hands.

Anitha ordered two vegetarian meals, that came with two types of curries and rice and several side dishes, including yogurt, soup and chutney. Since India food can be spicy sometimes, drinking the yogurt help settle your stomach.

The food was served on a banana leaf.  I  have to admit I was confused at first, I thought the banana leaf was going to be my placemat, not my plate!  My meal was simple, light and delicious. And it was all you can eat.  After 3 servings of rice and curry, I was stuffed.

Exiting the restaurant, we decided to get an auto-rickshaw to take me back to the hotel. Anitha started negotiating the price with the drivers nearby.  But at the end, she decided they were all drunk and didn’t like any of them. I suggested that we walk back to hotel since it was close. Walking on street in Bangalore at night was an adventure. The sidewalks aren’t evenly paved, and there are plenty of in-between there sections of nothing but dirt.  So you have to watch your step. We passed by a number of vendors selling snacks, women washing their clothes next to a water pump and many moto taxis and scooters zipping by.

It was late when I got back hotel and I was exhausted. I put my cotton t-shirt back-on and fell asleep quickly. But two hours later, jetlag reared its ugly head and I found myself wide awake again.