Well that's the marketing slogan but I wouldn't disagree. I am back home in familiar surroundings and will be at the game today.
It's been a long week one way or another but probably easier than the previous two trips in the last year, largely because I planned it myself. I didn't have to keep to anyone else's ridiculously macho schedule. I visited three new cities on this trip, although I only really got to see Delhi and Mumbai because I headed away from Pune after landing on Wednesday morning.
I am pleased to say that my overall impression of India has improved another couple of notches. I work with many Indians in the UK and speak with plenty more in India on regular conference calls. By-and-large I have a lot of respect for them which has only been enhanced this week by ever improving opinion of India.
In Delhi my business was in Gurgaon, a suburb to the south-west of the city where we have our offices. The new colleagues I met were all 25 to 35 and mostly second or third jobbers looking to cement their careers. You can't help but be impressed by their knowledge of our business from relatively short experiences elsewhere or by their absolute commitment and professionalism about doing a good job. After a long day in the office and a fantastically rich "north-west frontier" meal in the evening, I was ready to take advantage of the holiday on Tuesday, at least until the afternoon, when my phone and blackberry came alive with work starting in the UK.
My taxi driver, Suresh Kumar, took me into central Delhi and drove me around for several hours. The government of India is run from here from a series of large and impressive dual-coloured sandstone buildings set in appropriately sized gardens. The picture below is of South Building - there is a symmetrical copy (North Building) a 100 or so metres from this one but capturing both were beyond the limitations of my i-phone camera. All are connected via well-planned wide avenues with well maintained borders that provide a colourful backdrop at this time of year (what did the British ever do for us, eh?).
Delhi has a population of 12m although the city didn't give the impression of being quite that large (unlike Mumbai, more of that another time). I was also surprised to learn that Delhi is one of the three oldest cities on Earth having been permanently inhabited for 5000 (five thousand years). It has actually been destroyed and rebuilt no fewer than 11 times.
I stopped at the Red Fort with the intention of going in but was taken aback at the size of it and, frankly, didn't have the time to even make it to the entrance let alone do it justice. Suresh told me it would take 3-4 hours to tour it properly as it is filled with a myriad of white stone buildings and pavillions that once comfortably housed 3000 people in recent times and could house a tented army. The photo below is of the main entrance, the Lahori Gate, from the road. The wall you are looking at is one of what looks like maybe a dozen sides than form the outer perimeter which must be several kilometres in length. The fort is also protected by a moat which is fed from the Yamuna river. Just in case you when wondering, this epic construction was built by a Mughal Emperor in the first-half of the 1600's.
From there, I went to India Gate to pay my respects to India's fallen dead (90,000) from World War One. I think we often forget the sacrifices of other countries who gave so much in the war effort for "their King."
India Gate looks like L'Arc de Triomphe in Paris and also burns an eternal flame at the base, although I understand it first housed a statue of King George V which has since been moved to a local park.
Other than that, like, everywhere else in India in my experience so far, you can't fail to be impressed by the quality of the big chain hotels. All are represented and for around £100-£130 a night, you get marvelously well designed and equipped rooms with all of the facilities you would imagine and a service from the staff that is second to none. I say this having a much longer knowledge of hotels elsewhere in Asia where the service and standards have always impressed me and, frankly, made me embarrassed by the rubbish that is typically available in London.
I stayed at the Leela Kempinski in Gurgaon. You can take a look from the link but what you can't see is the service and commitment of the staff. Everyone they employ understands the true meaning of exceptional Customer Service and it really is quite humbling. How long before "attitude" catches up with them I wonder?
More on India at another time but thoughts turn to this afternoon's match against Huddersfield Town. I expect them to bring a noisy 2000 following who will make their presence felt in SE7 this afternoon and will likely be celebrating later today as they collect three points and maintain their battle with Southampton for the second automatic promotion spot. It's good to be home.
It's been a long week one way or another but probably easier than the previous two trips in the last year, largely because I planned it myself. I didn't have to keep to anyone else's ridiculously macho schedule. I visited three new cities on this trip, although I only really got to see Delhi and Mumbai because I headed away from Pune after landing on Wednesday morning.
I am pleased to say that my overall impression of India has improved another couple of notches. I work with many Indians in the UK and speak with plenty more in India on regular conference calls. By-and-large I have a lot of respect for them which has only been enhanced this week by ever improving opinion of India.
In Delhi my business was in Gurgaon, a suburb to the south-west of the city where we have our offices. The new colleagues I met were all 25 to 35 and mostly second or third jobbers looking to cement their careers. You can't help but be impressed by their knowledge of our business from relatively short experiences elsewhere or by their absolute commitment and professionalism about doing a good job. After a long day in the office and a fantastically rich "north-west frontier" meal in the evening, I was ready to take advantage of the holiday on Tuesday, at least until the afternoon, when my phone and blackberry came alive with work starting in the UK.
My taxi driver, Suresh Kumar, took me into central Delhi and drove me around for several hours. The government of India is run from here from a series of large and impressive dual-coloured sandstone buildings set in appropriately sized gardens. The picture below is of South Building - there is a symmetrical copy (North Building) a 100 or so metres from this one but capturing both were beyond the limitations of my i-phone camera. All are connected via well-planned wide avenues with well maintained borders that provide a colourful backdrop at this time of year (what did the British ever do for us, eh?).
Delhi has a population of 12m although the city didn't give the impression of being quite that large (unlike Mumbai, more of that another time). I was also surprised to learn that Delhi is one of the three oldest cities on Earth having been permanently inhabited for 5000 (five thousand years). It has actually been destroyed and rebuilt no fewer than 11 times.
I stopped at the Red Fort with the intention of going in but was taken aback at the size of it and, frankly, didn't have the time to even make it to the entrance let alone do it justice. Suresh told me it would take 3-4 hours to tour it properly as it is filled with a myriad of white stone buildings and pavillions that once comfortably housed 3000 people in recent times and could house a tented army. The photo below is of the main entrance, the Lahori Gate, from the road. The wall you are looking at is one of what looks like maybe a dozen sides than form the outer perimeter which must be several kilometres in length. The fort is also protected by a moat which is fed from the Yamuna river. Just in case you when wondering, this epic construction was built by a Mughal Emperor in the first-half of the 1600's.
From there, I went to India Gate to pay my respects to India's fallen dead (90,000) from World War One. I think we often forget the sacrifices of other countries who gave so much in the war effort for "their King."
India Gate looks like L'Arc de Triomphe in Paris and also burns an eternal flame at the base, although I understand it first housed a statue of King George V which has since been moved to a local park.
I stayed at the Leela Kempinski in Gurgaon. You can take a look from the link but what you can't see is the service and commitment of the staff. Everyone they employ understands the true meaning of exceptional Customer Service and it really is quite humbling. How long before "attitude" catches up with them I wonder?
More on India at another time but thoughts turn to this afternoon's match against Huddersfield Town. I expect them to bring a noisy 2000 following who will make their presence felt in SE7 this afternoon and will likely be celebrating later today as they collect three points and maintain their battle with Southampton for the second automatic promotion spot. It's good to be home.
Great post Dave, India is certainly on my bucket list but clearly it needs more than a few visits to do it any kind of justice.
ReplyDeleteHow did the food differ from the different places?
CA - There is a good variation as you would expect although my experience is that all varieties are typically available in each city and most restaurants typically serve a choice. With such a large vegetarian population, there are obviously far less meat-based dishes than we would see. Seafood is largely coastal although you get a selection in all the big city hotels. Dal in it's various forms and colours is a staple across India and bread (Chappatti, Roti, Parratha and Naan) is far more popular than rice. The food typically gets hotter the further south you go and peaks in Tamil Nadu where they serve fiery soups (Rassan) as well as largely chilli-based dishes. My only other observation is that people in the UK invariably tell you that UK Indian restaurant food is "nothing like they eat in India." Not my experience at all. If you are familiar with an Indian restaurant menu (largely all Bangladeshi run), you will have little problem navigating your way through a menu in India. the Indians I have eaten with have always been impressed by my knowledge of their food and my ability to tolerate chilli. All that late night lager-fuelled dining over the last 30 years has not been entirely wasted.
ReplyDelete