'India Bandh!' and my last day in India

This blog is actually one day late. I am in Doha now and chilling in my dorm. However, I still need to talk about my last day in Delhi.

We started the day off at around 8 and were all set and ready to go to the market place, Chandi Chowk, to do some last minute shopping before we head to the airport. We had also planned to go see Jama Masjid and the Red Fort.

However, as you know, sometimes you just plan for things and what happens is something completely different, thats how this day was. Dad switched on the TV before leaving and saw that there were protests all over the country and people were going crazy on the streets. They were protesting against the rise in fuel prices and other commodities. All the big opposition leaders were on the streets in different big cities in India and were telling the shops and all the businesses to shut down for one day. They named it India "Bandh" or shut down in english.

Few minutes after we watched all this, I looked out of the window in our hotel and saw that the protesters had reached our area! Honestly, at that moment, I was more excited about watching the protests then pissed at the fact that our plans had been changed. However, what happened was that we went down and stood on the side street watching what was going on. Dad got bored after some time and went into the hotel. I had my camera with me and I took many videos and pictures. By then, I had completely forgotten that we had other plans and I focused on getting the most out of this insane experience. I am currently finding difficulties uploading the videos so here is a picture I took. You can look at the album at the end of this blog and see all the pictures. I will try to work on getting the video uploaded soon.

After standing outside for about an hour, I went in and decided with dad that we were going to get the first taxi to the hotel since we might not be able to get a taxi if we waited any longer. Now this was around 1pm and our flight was at 7!

We checked out of the hotel, grabbed a taxi, and were in the airport by around 2. Now to waste time, dad was online on his laptop, and I was busy reading my book. The take off time came and I said good bye to dad, since he was going back to Oman and I was coming to Qatar. I boarded my plane and said good bye to India.

The plane ride was nice. I unfortunately did not get to ride on first class this time, but the economy seats were not bad. On the plane, I watched " Wake Up Sid" which is honestly one of the best indian movies I have seen. I actually did not complete the movie by the time I had reached Doha, so I asked a friend to give me the link to watch it online. It amazing people, go watch it if you didn't.

With this, I am going to end my posts about India. My last few words about India would be that its really an amazing country. If you are young and willing to travel and take some risks, India is perfect for you. The best thing I loved about the country is how friendly the people are. They are always willing to help and show you around. The country is dirty for sure, but I personally feel that this gives it a special flavor!

I really hope that you all enjoyed reading my posts about India. I will be stopping this blog temporarily until I find another place to travel to. I am sure it wont be for long, since I already have some travel plans in my head. Lets hope everything goes well. Please leave a comment if you have reached this far and let me know which country you think I should put on my "countries I have to visit before I am 30 " list!.

If you want to see all the pictures I took from India, you can click below!

India Trip July 2010

Lets talk business!

Before I start talking about my first day in India, let me tell you about the amazing flight I had. I check in the airport at Doha and everything is fine. I don't check my boarding pass for my seat until I get into the plane and notice that it says 6C. I look around and see that 6C is the last seat in the business class! I was upgraded to business class without even knowing! Jet airways, you guys rock!

After an amazing 3 hrs 40 mins flight in the business class, I got to India. After getting done with passport control, I found myself a taxi and head to the hotel. On the way, I told myself that I would put my urdu (hindi) to the ultimate test and see if this local indian taxi driver will notice that I am not desi ( from the sub-continent). I start talking to him and after a while, he says in hindi,' so you are from punjab?'. In my head, I was thinking, why in the world punjab? I instantly reply, ' yes of course I am from Punjab'. My Urdu has passed the test! This is amazing.

The hotel was easy to find. After meeting dad and talking about the two days he spent in India before I came, he told me to head to bed since we had a business meeting at 10.

Before I continue, can someone please tell me why in the world did the hotel put a fan in the toilet! This is the most random thing I have ever seen.

The business meeting was really cool, but I am sorry to say that I wont be able to disclose any of the content of that meeting because its confidential. So let me just say that I learnt a lot about business and how deals are made. A good switch from the engineering world I have been living in for so long. The meeting went from 12 to 4 and by the time we got back home, it was 6pm.

Me and dad decided to have a walk around the area we were living in. Nice little town with small shops and people everywhere. Then we got back to the hotel and watched the world cup games. (Go Holland).

Here is a picture of the view from outside our hotel room. The thing on the top is the Delhi Metro rails.

Its true that we didn't go out any where but the plan for tomorrow is to go around the famous sites of Delhi and on Sunday, head to Agra and check out the Taj Mahal and the cool sites over there. Then on Monday, well no plan yet for Monday!

My first impression of Delhi is that I am really surprised by how developed this city is. I did not expect to see such a huge metro network. The roads are not as bad as I expected them to be. The food is amazing, I love it! The people are really friendly and especially when you talk to them in Urdu, they really feel comfortable and willing to help.

However, I cant say everything in India is amazing. The insane traffic, the pollution and the dirt every where are just some of the things I could list as things I really did not like. But seriously, who doesn't know all this!

let me sign off before you guys hate me for making you read all this. Sorry for this not so interesting post but I promise tomorrow will be fun!

I am going to India Baby! (extended version)

I finally made it to India! But before I forget, let me elaborate on what happened yesterday since my last post was quick.

'After finishing work, I rushed to meet some friends to go go-KARTING in Villagio. It was amazing. Omer, florent, noor, taina, and luma ( a new friend ) were all there and it was amazing. Pictures will be coming up soon'.

Actually what happened was that I left

work early and went for a quick

meeting regarding the International orientation ( will elaborate on that some other time). After the meeting, I went to Villagio with

Benazir to meet up the

rest of the group. Go-Karting was amazing. If you are in Doha and bored, its the best thing to do. Its true that its a bit expensive ( 60 QAR for 10 mins), but its really worth it.

Than was a crazy drive back home since I was really late and had literally 20 minutes to pack and be ready to leave to the airport. Thankfully, everything went as planned and I was at the airport on time to leave to India. Basel, thanks once again for the ride.

Now for the story you all have been waiting for, how I got my visa! I know most of you reading this actually know the story but here it goes.

So I go to the Indian Embassy last Monday to apply for my visa and I have all my papers ready. Benazir, a friend of mine who is interning at the same company I am interning at, was with me since I give her a ride everyday. So I enter the embassy and see the longest queue of Indian men I have ever seen.

Remembering what Corinne told me about her experience with the Embassy, I tell Benazir to submit my papers since she was a girl and she could cut through the line without anyone questioning.

After cutting through the photocopying machine queue, and the general inquiry queue, I realized there was a problem. The Officer told me that the visa will need between one to two weeks to be issued and I was travelling in 3 days. At that point, I was really going to go crazy at the officer because when I called two days ago, the lady on the phone said that I will get the visa within one day. Anyways, moving on, I called my dad and told him the bad news. However, my dad with his smart thinking, gave me an idea (even though it sounded crazy to me).

He told me to go to the airport and give my passport to any trustworthy looking person who was travelling to Oman. My dad would then get the passport from him and get me the visa from the Indian Embassy in Oman. It does take a day in Oman to get it. And to get my passport back, my dad would send the passport with someone who was travelling to Doha! Genius

That is exactly what happened. My passport went to Oman with a group of three Qatari men and came back the next day in the evening with a Omani family.

Now I know that some of you might think its crazy to give your passport to a random person, but when you think about it, I had no other option.

Right now, I am at the hotel with my dad and its 7:30am. I think I will take a nap until our business meeting with some companies at 10.

In tonight's blog, I will try to give you my first impressions of India and my little list of things I am planning to do while in Delhi.