[ add comment ] | permalink |
( 3 / 15 )In a previous update I mentioned that I'll have a 180 day tenure here. It's actually only 120 days and I'm now 25% complete. India, in these 30 days, has been a life changing experience in many ways. There is a wonderful commercial on TV here that shows their national sport "Cricket" being played in a US sized stadium. The massive crowd is chanting and moving their arms to a song called "Mind, & Body, Heart & Soul". I thought I would rattle off some of the ways that India is having an effect on my mind & body, heart & soul.
Mind
India is a sensory overload.
- The sounds never stop. From the constant vehicle horns, to the endless amount of people moving chaotically around and following no traffic or pedestrian laws.
- The colors and beauty. My eyes almost convulse as I look at and contemplate everything I see.
- The pungent smells. Both good and bad, they penetrate deep into your soul at many levels.
- The food. Every fruit, vegetable and even the meat in India is different. Even those of similar genus (Carrots for example) are of a different species and taste different. Food you see and expect to taste like home, is often vastly different.
Body
- This assignment has required a change in work schedule from 5:30am - 2:30pm to 11:00am to 9:00pm and later, "frequently later". It's easy to get worn down physically.
- The Food. Oh boy, the food! I had a simple pallet before arriving. I don't know what I have now and don't think I will until I return and try American style cooking again. I’m definitely more open to experimenting now.
Heart
- I'm gaining a completely new perspective on cultural awareness. Different rules, customs and values. These experiences are teaching me to “style-shift” and participate in the local culture in ways I would never have considered in the US.
- I miss my family. Since marrying my wife and having children, I've never been away for more than 3 nights. While I’m not home sick thanks to technology, it is challenging and their never far from my thoughts.
Soul
So many things here move me to my core. The kindness, the poverty and the beauty to name a few. India has been one of the most challenging and valuable experiences in my life. I know I'm already a different person and I'm looking forward to sharing these experiences and challenging my family and co-workers to see the world in new ways.
India is an assault on my senses and at times completely exhausting. I sometimes feel like I'm not in control and that I'm just moving with the flow in a chaotic river of people. Then, there are those moments of clarity when I see everything. I recall why I'm here. I understand what needs to be done and I know what’s waiting at home when I’m done. In those times, I feel how special this is and I remember why I've been with Bank of America for 15 years (Since my 22nd birthday). I've grown up in the company and it's treated me like a son. Providing the opportunity to be here, having the trust in my skills and ability to help the company be successful, and always being there for my family.
India, as the commerical so correctly states, is all about Mind & Body , Heart & Soul .
[ add comment ] | permalink |
( 3 / 15 )This weekend Gulshan is flying to Delhi to see his brother. Mike and myself are staying behind and plan to do a number of interesting activities from buying backpacks for our planned travels to seeing the Hyderabad zoo (Largest in India).
We’ve been researching where we can go inexpensively to get away from Hyderabad on the weekends and have the following destinations in mind.
1. Sri Lanka (2 hour flight - $300-$400 weekend tour package)
2. Thailand (3 hour flight - $200-$300 weekend tour package)
3. Mysore (1 hour flight - $100-$200 weekend tour package)
4. Goa
5. New Delhi
6. Mumbai (Bombay)
We’re starting with Mysore next weekend (first weekend in September). I found an amazing tour through discussions with one of the locals we work with (Hi Naval and Thank You!). If you’re interested in our first stop, you can check it out here Jungle Lodges . We’ll be going to Kabini specifically as it was the most impressive read. You can find a direct link to this location here Kabini .
Seeing Hyderabad has been a great experience but there are only so many things to see in an industrial city and my idea of Wildlife just isn’t the club scene!
Look for some excellent pictures and outback stories in the near future!
[ 1 comment ] ( 4 views ) | permalink |
( 2.9 / 11 )I knew when I accepted this assignment that 4 months was a long stay. I convinced myself to look at a longer scale, like a calendar year so it might seem shorter. I thought about it as “only” ¼ of the year or that I’d be back before Christmas or that I wouldn’t miss either of my children’s birthdays. It’s been a pretty effective technique so far but there are days “like yesterday” where your heart really longs for home and the familiarity & touch of your family. Sometimes, when my daughters eyes well up over our video conference, its all I can bear to be strong and teach her to be as well. I’m 27 days into a 180 tenure and time, at least yesterday, was motionless.
As your days grow shorter and fall approaches, mine seem to be getting longer. With the tragedy here on Saturday, we were in lockdown and not allowed to leave the hotel all day. That made for a very long day as there is no entertainment to redirect our attention outside of the weekends. Just a familiar hotel with a static and expensive menu. I spent most of Sunday with my mind on family and politics, laying around my room contemplating things I’d never put energy toward before.
One idea that passed my mind was related to the attacks and how I’ve never considered myself a target before. I don’t think I’ve even had a legitimate enemy since high school (20 years ago). While I don’t feel like Americans are a specific target we can’t avoid the violence and it won’t avoid us. All day yesterday, I had this odd feeling that I might be a target of opportunity. We don’t typically deal with situations like this in the US. It’s so new to me that I can’t explain the emotion at all. It‘s not fear, nor is it despair and it doesn’t trigger an fight or flight response, but it definitely has my subconscious contemplating it. I find myself a little mentally exhausted and my brain a little cloudy which typically only happens when I’m really stressed about something.
So today starts a new week and as the last week in August, completing it will be my first assignment milestone of 25%. One month down, three to go. Hopefully the violence will not continue and life here will return to normal for the remainder of the assignment.
[ 2 comments ] ( 34 views ) | permalink |
( 2.8 / 12 )Weekend crowds targeted; tension mounts in the Andhra Pradesh capital; When terror struck: Bodies lie strewn at the Lumbini Park in Hyderabad after a powerful bomb explosion on Saturday night
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone on assignment here is fine however, it was a significantly close call.
Gulshan, Mike, Divium (Our Friend from UBS) and I were out near Saga lake at a place called "Eat-Street" last night. This is about 1 mile from Lumbini Park. When we were finsihed exploring Eat-Street, we took a rickshaw past Lumbini Park. We saw an excellent multi-colored light show and many people. We really wanted to stop and check it out but Gulshan made a comment about eating and we all agreed that we should continue traveling and find a place to sit down and eat before it got to late into the evening.
It was about 15-20 minutes later that each of our cell phones began ringing in sucession from concerned family, friends and co-workers. It was truly amazing how quickly the news traveled back to the US. Everyone in the states seemed to know what had happened long before we did.
Today the city is being locked down to foriegners by their companies and the police are on high alert as they expect more violence given the magnitude of last night. As I understand it, some 27 other explosive devices have been found and disabled across the city and the death toll is up to 37 at the time of this post.
I want to thank everyone who reads my blog and either called or thought of me and the other Deliver Leads over the last twenty four hours.
-Jason
[ add comment ] | permalink |
( 2.9 / 15 )Back Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Calendar
