Benjamin Chodroff

Our Extreme Blue project in Pune, India has been finalized! It is titled “Second Life Gadgets with Real Life Connectivity.” Because of the sensitive nature of the project, I cannot reveal many details. However, it’s beyond cool and Second Life is all the rage. Check out the website if you have not heard of Second Life.

For those of you who remember my AJAX room.benchodroff.com, it’s going to be something along those lines, but much much more.

As I walk around, I realize that I stick out quite a bit. I have not run into another American since landing here. In fact, it is very rare to see anyone other than Indians - no Africans, Asians, or Europeans. While riding around in rickshaws, people stare at me and I smile. They smile back and do an “ok” type nod - where they rock their head back and forth and smile. That nod is fairly common here - unlike the American up and down “yes/ok” nod.

It might be 41 Celsius here, but nobody wears shorts. Men all wear working slacks (brown and blue are popular) and a long or short sleeve button down cotton shirt. Women almost always wear a very colorful sari - pink, yellow, and purple are popular colors. Men and women in malls wear western and European style clothing such as silk screen print t-shirts and ripped jeans.

My caretaker is adamant about me being the guest and he the servant. I tried to help him out by bringing my dinner plate back to him after eating and he refused. He also insists on eating in the kitchen while I eat at the table. If I near finishing a meal, he will bring out more food unless I tell him otherwise. He is very nice and is glad to have me here because he will improve his English. I love the fresh juice he keeps making me - mango, lime, orange… It’s really too much. We talk about America and life in India. Next week, he will move into the apartment and will live with us full time. He is married and has two children. I have not asked but I wonder when he gets to see them.

While riding in the rickshaws, it is not uncommon for young boys to come up with a begging bowl asking for change. Women with small babies will stop you on the street asking for rupees. In the central city, many homeless sleep on the street. Many of these people are disabled with lost or broken limbs and clear malnutrition. Life is not all bad. Most of the people that I have seen here are much happier and social with each other than Americans. The pace of life is mixed – the streets are so fast, but people on the sidewalks take their time to shop for food and other items. It is certainly different and good.

The smells here vary. In the morning, you smell the street vendors’ deep frying onion goods – it is an incredibly great smell. As the morning heats up you smell pollution - oil smoke from all the busses and rickshaws forms a bluish haze in some of the main roads. It is very dusty. Walking down my quiet street you smell the blooming large purple flowers on the bushes. There are a few small abandoned lots full of trash which smell of urine and rotting debris off of the main roads, but mostly, it isn’t bad.

The sounds around the road are invariably honking and two cycle rickshaw engines and motorcycles buzzing. At night you hear many crickets and the occasional dog barking.

Unlike most of the places I have been in America, kids are actually out playing in the parks. Some are playing cricket and others are watching. I read in a paper today that Starbucks plans on entering India sometime next year with a 100 stores. Sad? Kind of. It’s very nice to be in a place with no Starbucks. Pretty funny, actually.

There was a big blackout yesterday. We have a battery backup unit in the apartment, but the blackout lasted an hour or so. I decided to go without AC part way through the night just to see what it was like and I ended up liking it off as long as the fan is on. I’m going to go without AC for awhile.

We have a washing machine and there is a clothes line outside our window for drying.

One of my suitemates, Rakesh, showed up this morning. He will be working on a different Extreme Blue project with Lotus Notes and calendaring. We went into work today but both of us had problems with our paper work which they are sorting out. It was a bit of a hassle to us both, but we’re hanging in there. He won’t be able to start working until May 7^th, but they said I should be ready tomorrow morning.

I have plenty more to say, but I need to get back home. Hopefully I will soon have internet in my apartment and I won’t have to keep doing this from a cyber café.

OK – final review of Gordon House Hotel: it’s expensive, but very luxurious. I am disappointed that they charged me for a half day since I moved in early without notifying me. That really jacked the price up. I am very happy that they provided me a liter of Aquafina twice a day, had a very comfortable bed, and an excellent bathroom with great hot water and pressure. Still, too pricey for my budget (which is damn cheap) and I think overpriced for the area – but I could be wrong. There was also a lot of street noise and the workout facility woke me up at 6am. I wouldn’t recommend it – I think you can do better for the price.

Samrat Hotel, which is located right in the heart of Pune’s Central Rail Station, was actually quieter than Gordon House. Even more attractive was its price – over three times as cheap! Of course, you get what you pay for – a very stiff bed (read: foam pad on wood) and a moldy shower curtain. Nonetheless, the place had AC and only cost about Rs 2200 (about $50 a night). No internet available…but you are very close to many shops and there is a cyber café within 10 minutes walk. It’s not luxurious, but its properly priced. It comes with a free breakfast which, just like the Gordon House, had absolutely fantastic Indian food. I’d recommend it if you’re on a budget and only have to deal with the bed for one night. Make sure you ask other hotels if they have a mattress or a foam pad…

I moved into my apartment in the Kalyani Nagar region in Pune, India today. It’s a very nice guest house accommodation where they will be hosting all of the extreme blue teams. Our apartment has a caretaker, Bahadur, along with 1-2 assistants who cook our meals and oversee the place. It is quite nice and the food is outstanding. Bahadur is very friendly and has agreed to teach me to cook Indian food as well as he can cook it – which is very exciting! I am the first to arrive, but there will be eight of us total in this suite. I will have one roommate. I think it will be quite packed, but the place is nice, has AC, and I am looking into getting broadband. There is a cyber café which I’m at right now only 5 minutes away that charges 15 rupees/hour.

I’m still trying to download photoshop so I can process my photos and upload them. Unfortunately, download speeds to my American server are incredibly slow. Hopefully IBM will have some fast connections and I’ll get photoshop by the end of the week. I have some fantastic pictures. I met up with my boss today and he showed me where the IBM facility is located as well as saw that I was settled in alright. He says I might start an orientation session tomorrow. My project is still being finalized, but he said it looks like I will be doing work with Second Life – the incredibly hot new game/world/buzzword tech thing that everyone wants a part of. More details soon J

Ask questions, or pay the consequences

Yesterday I checked into my hotel 4 hours earlier than the posted checkin time. Today they charged me a half day fee for doing so. At least they forgot to bill me for my internet use. At my next hotel (which costs 3 times less), I asked if it was OK to check in early - no problem and no fee. Unfortunately, no internet - but there is a cyber cafe a little ways away that charges Rs 20/hour for internet. The other downside of this place it the bed - 1/2 inch foam pad on a wood frame. At least I’m only here a night.

<>Never part with anything that you wish to keep
Today I visited Pataleshvara Stone Temple. As per policy, I removed my shoes before entering. It was very serene and beautiful. I spoke with a number of Hindus and a woman who was praying gave me a small plastic bag of rock sugar. I didn’t understand what she was saying to me, but she let me take her picture. After leaving, my running shoes were gone. I walked in my socks down the street and caught a rickshaw and found a street vendor selling chappals. I bought a pair for Rs 250 and then went to another store and bought a shirt. I didn’t plan on running anyways. So it goes.

Be firm
I wanted to catch a rickshaw to Aga Khan Palace this afternoon. I was outside my hotel at Pune Central Rail Station. I told the first rickshaw that came up I wanted to go there. He quoted “only 150 rupees.” I asked him to use the meter instead - but he said no. “Okay, no thanks.” The next rickshaw that came up, I asked “Aga Khan Palace, meter?” The ride only cost me 50 rupees. Aga Khan was very interesting. They had a few rooms set up showcasing photos of Ghandi which depicted his life, travels, and the Quit India movement. They also have his ashes in a memorial there.

Shop smart, shop around

I stopped into a few cell phone stores before purchasing a SIM card. In order to purchase a SIM card, Indian government requires a passport, Xerox copy of the passport for their own records, and a passport photo (Xerox copy costs 1 rupee, 8 passport photos cost 40 rupees at any photo store.) Each place had a few different prepaid plans, but I finally found one that lasted 3 months with Air Tel and gave me some decent minutes for 500 rupees. I purchased an additional 440 rupees of minutes for another 500 rupees – which should last me awhile. It’s good to be connected again. I called IBM and set up a time to meet tomorrow to move into my apartment. Tomorrow is a national holiday, so I have at least one more day to explore Pune.