On the Government of India and Stifling Bureaucracy

Please, if you are a member of the Indian Government, stop reading. I just became an official resident today, and am REALLY happy about it. But I would like to share some observations, as I find myself with a new appreciation for the stunning efficiency and agility of the MN DMV.

Forms- yup, there is a form for everything – there are even forms for getting forms. A couple of examples just to clarify: Wade went to the bank, not to open an account, but just to find out what forms and supporting documents would be needed to open an account (there are plenty). Even Caden’s school requires a number of documents that I don’t think the US foreign service requires; getting the application for Harvard filled out should be a breeze. Just to mix it up a little, they also require photographs in two different sizes – Passport and stamp.

Other examples: Caden has become enamored with motorcycles, having observed a myriad of them swerving around our car. We went to purchase a small toy version - his mom and dad are pretty adamant that he can’t have a full size one until he is 43 years old, especially not here. We had to go through three people to purchase the item; one to run the money transaction (she marked “paid” on the receipt which also indicated as much), one to put the toy in a bag and hand it to Caden (he had to stamp “delivered” on the receipt), and then the security person by the door who reviewed the receipt to make sure that it had all the right stamps (he only used a punch, though).

At the OWC bar (even fancy Western-style hotels suffer), one had to purchase tickets to purchase liquor. The tickets were in comparable denominations as the money – the price list was available only for reference in case one wanted to plan ahead. Then step forward five steps, to turn in the tickets for your selected drink. Say you had purchased a bottle of wine (for example), you would then get the wine to take to the table, where someone else would appear to open it. Then the waiter comes by to pour it (you actually don’t do anything yourself here).

And back to what gets me thinking of it today. I submitted every slip of paper every given to me (passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, letter of assignment, itinerary and proof of my intended travel to and arrival in India, photos and on and on) in order to get my Indian visa. Still, upon arrival, one needs to register with the Foreign Registration Office (FRO). Should be simple – show up, I’m here as planned, retrieve my ID card and be on my way back to the office inside a half hour. NOPE. First, fill out the forms in quadruplicate. No kidding, I didn’t even know that was a word. More photos (FOUR copies again). Another form with largely the same information (but only in duplicate). Yet another copy of my assignment letter. A statement that I’ll support my son here. Copies of my passport. Copies of the visa they issued me. (At this point, I hope you’re thinking, well, at least once all that was assembled, it must go well from there.) NOPE. We left the office with our “guide” through the process about three hours behind schedule out of the gate (at noon). Arrived at the same FRO another ex-pat had successfully utilized the day before after sitting in a mid-day traffic jam for 45 minutes (but found McDonalds – a bonus silver-lining to the story). I so wish I could have taken a picture for you as words won’t describe the movie-quality office – small, dusty, dimly-lit room with piles of musty paper, swarms of mosquitoes barely stirred by a fan that doesn’t really circulate air and two curmudgeon-like men behind big wooden desk. But, once it was our turn here, we were told to go to the “other” office today – across town. So we did. We waited in one line to have our papers reviewed by a crabby man who seemed annoyed at our existence. (It was at this point that Caden choose to scream at the top of his lung – “Don’t pinch my cheeks!”) He stapled our papers together with a stapler not designed for the task (why in quadruplicate if they all go to the same place I wonder?). Done, I thought. Not. We walked to the building next store where a presumably more important crabby man signed our paperwork with a green pen after reviewing our passports and visas for the 19^th time. We then took this package to another room, where we waited in line to give our papers to a guy that gave us a form. We would need this form to get our registration – the next day. Today we went back, with our passports and form, and finally got our registration paper – a typed letter-size paper stating that we arrived here on the visa as indicated. Mission completion.

Seriously, if you didn’t think that qualified, I could go on and on. It’s really something to behold. I might come home patient yet. Or insane. Tomorrow I go to try to get our stuff through customs…

Making friends / OWC Charity Ball

Overall, we’ve had a pretty easy time in settling into life in Palm Meadows. The neighborhood is great and really friendly. But most of all it helps to have a great network through Target and the other ex-pats (especially the neighbor ones). We’ve had such fun meeting people with all different backgrounds and from all over. In fact, having just landed in Bangalore from Minnesota, with a 3-year old in tow makes us some of the most boring people we’ve met! There are so many people from all over, on multiple ex-pat assignments, with varying family constraints – even a single mom here working! It’s really wonderful to have such a great support network of people that have all been through what you’re going through. I was checking out from a store, and the woman in front of me paid with a Target Visa. She was from Texas, and had some good advice – surround yourself with positive people, and enjoy it! So that’s what we’re trying to do…

Pretty much everywhere we’ve met great people. One highlight was last Saturday’s Overseas Women’s Club Charity Ball. One of my team members took me out shopping on Saturday afternoon and I procured complete Indian outfits for both me and Wade. So we went in Indian formal attire. (I wasn’t able to wear my sari, as apparently it takes time to stitch proper undergarments. And I sure didn’t want to head out to my first party without proper underwear!) We met more great people there, and Wade “won” a brass elephant at the silent auction – for luck.

Most recently, one of my co-workers at Target invited Wade out to play golf on Saturday. I’m a little jealous to not be included, but glad to see Wade getting out after so patiently (ok, not so patiently) looking after so many of the household issues the past two weeks. More importantly, it’s just awesome how great the people are here, from ex-pats to the Target team to the local residents (like my new boss and his wife). One thing you can’t say about here is that the people aren’t nice. It would give “Minnesota Nice” a run for the money! (Except on the road. :) )

Mobility in Bangalore

On Monday night, we were assigned our car, “Peanut,” and our driver, Lokesh. Our car is a brand new Honda City (think smaller than a Civic) and nice, but we couldn’t help but make a quick comparison to Ricky, the beautiful Pathfinder that we’d just “sold” (given) back to the dealer on the 15^th. It’s great to have a car now, but is definitely going to be a change going from two cars to one that we can’t drive without help! (Wade did drive it around the block of our silent-street, gated community just to prove he could move it, but I don’ think this will help us outside these walls.) Driving in Bangalore is definitely different so even though it’s been done on every other blog I’ve seen, I’ll take a stab too.

First, I know you’re laughing mom that we would name our car even here, but hey, it’s tradition. And Peanut is a good name. Wade likes it because it gets good gas mileage and has a manual transmission. Lokesh took care of the traditional details on the India end, with a ritual called puja, a blessing typically done as soon as possible after a purchase (but only on auspicious days). We weren’t able to attend, but here is a photo of the car post-puja. Lokesh also installed a small Ganesha (god for good luck), and some air freshener. I’m glad for this attention to detail, because really, a little luck can’t hurt when you’re driving around here.

It really lives up to expectations. It’s crazy. The sheer volume of traffic isn’t even the start of it (although that is incredible). There really are no lanes, and the roads clearly aren’t just for cars. We’re one of the largest contraptions on the road in our Peanut. There are tons of motorcycles, auto-rickshaws (the three wheel motor carts), bicycles, pedestrians, cows, tractors, some buses, some trucks and an occasional policeman, directing/adding to the madness by trying to stop traffic, which results in pole-position stye jockeying for the front of the line. They do generally drive on the left, unless that is full, in which case the right is also an option. Lokesh keeps the mirrors folded in so that they don’t get hit, and tells me that if someone is coming, they will honk – no need for mirrors. The commute really does help one reflect on faith and physics.

Back to the honk, at night sometimes substituted by the bright light-flash…this is used (I think) to say hello, greetings fellow-traveler, move it *@^hole, I’m not stopping for you and occasionally just to fill in, for seemingly random effect. Honking and physics are also separate… clearly you can honk and run around a pedestrian or stray cyclist. But they won’t necessarily move, or acknowledge the honk, or laws of physics. Same for us on the other end, we travel past the airport fueling station. And we are not afraid to honk at the (presumably full) fuel tanker that looks to have been built and last serviced in 1962. I’m not sure what this is “saying” to the truck. I think it’s just a tribute to democracy. Or a really stupid game of chicken.

Actually by Indian standards, Lokesh is a very conservative driver. He occasionally stops for a pedestrian, uses his signals, and almost always slows down on the speed bumps or really rough roads. I will try to take some pictures of the “road” we use to drive to work. It’s indescribable – rough, off-road, should only be one lane but isn’t… it doesn’t tell you what a few pictures will. Our camera is out of battery though – hopefully our shipment will arrive soon. Many more pictures to come.

Updates from the work week

I cannot believe it’s Friday tomorrow. Where did the week go? If this is any sign, I’ll be home by Tuesday… or so it will feel. I make a mental note to remember to enjoy it… and keep this updated! :)

I went to work in fine time on Monday, riding in with Tracy to arrive by 10am. Off to orientation… Target orientation that is. I wanted to experience what our new team members will be experiencing (there will be a lot of them with our growth plan!), and wanted to learn a little more about what questions, etc. they would raise. It was a good decision… fascinating how something I TOTALLY take for granted (aka Target) would be foreign to them. I’m not talking about the finer points of our org structure or details of supply chain systems. For example, I mean the idea of modern retail – so many things under one roof, and people at times would actually go in and “sign-up” for the gifts they wanted (aka register), and guests at weddings would come and buy the things the happy couple had so graciously self-selected. (At this point, I made the chatter and sense of amazement in the room worse by pointing out that we also carry out this ritual in advance of babies.) Actually, I think I have to give them this one – it is a little weird. But orientation was interesting and it was a good first day.
Other observations on the office…

• It is Target, and looks like it. Same look and Target dog in the lobby. See picture.
• The lights really do go out frequently (several times each day, albeit briefly). The computers stay on though and minimal lighting and no one even slows down or pauses conversation.
• There is no Caribou and no Starbucks. There is a coffee machine in the service area, but it dispenses glasses of coffee in two-ounce shots and you aren’t allowed to remove it from a designated area just outside.
  We’ve eaten lunch in the cafeteria most days. The food is free and not bad – limited selection of vegetarian options and not too spicy. There is no diet coke. In fact, there’s no beverages at all. Not even a water fountain. Apparently, it’s not usual to drink with lunch. Anything.
• The lack of coffee, lunch options and soda will save a good deal of money – but the adage coming to mind… you get what you pay for.
• Office supplies really are at a premium, and I suppose that keeps waste down! Very little is printed which is good. The paper is slightly differently sized than back home (longer).
• Everyone is really, really nice. It’s definitely a new experience to stick out so much around the office, and crazy how much everyone is accommodating. I’m sure we’ll get more comfortable with each other soon, but right now it is a little awkward.
• I think I’ll work a lot. There is so much to do, and so fun to be a part of a “start-up” but it definitely leaves plenty to be done. I’ll have to push myself to keep sane and have a reasonable balance (even if it does go fast). I’m thinking of getting back to yoga once our stuff arrives.

So overall, it’s going well. I’m really excited about this job and what we can accomplish over the next year. I think it will be a great move for us personally, and also for me professionally. I am already really learning a lot, about the job and about myself. So wish me luck and we’ll see you soon!!

(More on the non-work updates soon!)

Pictures of the house, part 2

Ok, Wade laughed at me for taking this picture, but amidst the beautiful home, I feel inclined to point out that I have a "squatty potty" in my home. Really - right off the main entry living area. They tell me it's for the help, but I say they can use whatever potty they want to. I suppose it's sweet of the house to offer something for everyone!

Caden in his new bedroom - happy as can be, and he has a neat little patio off his bedroom (which we'll keep locked).
View from the front of the rooftop patio, which wraps around the top. A nice big space, where we're planning for some chairs and a grill. :)
Wade on the back side of the roof... by the clothes line.
View down the other side of the lane...
That's all the pictures I took of the house... I'll take some more soon of the neighborhood, and the office too. (I just didn't want to be that girl snapping photos at the office like I've never seen a cubicle before.. just yet!)

Have a good day/night everyone!
~Angela

Pictures of the House, part 1

The front of the house... Our front "yard" and view down the road...


Wade standing in the front foyer...so much natural light!! The guest bedroom... bring on the guests!!! (Not to worry, we're shopping for some furnishings.)From the front door looking in at the dining and kitchen...there's really beautiful tile through the house, especially in the kitchen.

Day 3: Recovery...

Wade has tirelessly done laundry most of the night while I sit on Caden’s four inch “mattress” trying to support him so he stays a little upright (remember no pillow supply). But Wade has also figured out the key to the shower and I decide to take one, just in case I missed a spot on the last, cold, round. I step in and turn it on as instructed only to scald my feet – literally. Safety standards are apparently different, so I wrestle with the nobs from outside and get it figured out to take a nice hot shower (at least for the first 3 minutes).
We had been planning to go out for brunch at 11am and had thus arranged a driver. I really want to go nowhere, but here is this guy at my door wanting to take my somewhere, and heck, I do need sheets. So Wade and I decided I should go “shopping” while he took a turn resting with Caden.

Out into the city again is still a feast for the senses, and if not always pleasant, still really enthralling. And the drive does force one to contemplate the value of life. It’s refreshing even as my eyes and throat sting with the pollution. I have instructed my driver to take my somewhere they sell sheets and that I don’t care where (yes, I know the sensibility of this trust). He has selected a small shop some 45 minutes from home, but gives me a mini-tour of Bangalore the whole way. It was actually really nice. The shop I can’t help but think “catered to tourists”, but it was fun, and chock full of handicrafts and treasures of every sort. I find a sheet for $80 and barter it down to $42. Still ridiculously expensive I’m sure, but heck, it’s my first time shopping. It’s blue and had elephants on it for Caden’s room. I won’t be buying the sets for all three rooms here, but I feel a sense of accomplishment. The sales lady offers to show my around the shop, including several statues of Ganesh. She assures me this is something every home needs, for luck. I flash back to the hotel, and the large Ganesh statue and fountain in front. I decide I agree, and surely this will make my house a home, with better luck for our second night.
We stop at a grocery store on the way home, where I find some staples and a couple other ex-pats shopping (one with a Target visa) – welcome validation, friendly conversation and knowing smiles. I decide I like this place, and the adventure and variety of experience. I can do this.

I head home, to find Caden and Wade playing on the playground, no visible illness and happy smiles. We spent the afternoon in the beautiful sun out on the playground while Wade went back for a much-deserved nap. Then we took a walk through the palm tree-lined neighborhood, stopping at the shops up front for a few more staples (Caden finds they have plain, Barilla penne noodles, and for only $6 we can make him SO happy). We can’t get the stove to work though (still struggling apparently with the nob combination issues). And we don’t have a pot yet anyhow. We make Caden a grilled cheese for instant gratification and order a pizza from Pizza Hut for us. It arrives speedily, and with extra seasoning that I decide is actually a really good substitute for my familiar parmesan. We got settled for bed then watched Diego and I’m writing this. So, all in all, it was a good day. I’m off to bed, as tomorrow is my first day of my new job. And I need to be there by 10am. :)