Ravinder came through - and the awesome traffic of Noida

Ravinder (pictured right) got the machine and we will deliver it tomorrow to the orphanage. More tomorrow. In the meantime, some awesome footage from traffic in Noida/New Delhi. One is going to work in the morning, complete with a typical intersection experience. Entrance to the corporate park was preceded by a host of backpack-wearing IT guys ... very interesting. Other video shows the obligatory cow that was ambling along the road and ends with arriving at Radisson to be inspected by bomb-sniffing guards. I am singing "That's Amore" .. well, really just humming it. Dunno why. It seemed the right thing to do at the time.

Quicktime video of India Traffic - Who Needs Traffic Lights?

On the way back - catch the cow on the right as soon as the video starts!

Food. Check. Soap. Check. Medical equipment. Check.

Thank you to everyone who added some funds into the communal pot. We have a surplus, so today Ravinder arranged that I meet with a New Delhi physician associated with the hotel. He has arranged, with the help of the Ravinder Rawat to purchase a suction machine for the newborn intensive care at the orphanage. Tomorrow Ravinder Rawat will negotiate the purchase and bring it to the orphanage. All for the amount of money I would spend taking the family to see Real Soccer. How broken is that?

Friends with the Chef

So, turns out that I have become friends with the Chef at the Radisson in Noida. I've been asking for recipes from time to time, and people have been copying them for me. This time, when I asked, the chef himself came to visit during a break in the class, and introduced himself to me. He asked what other recipes I wanted, and I asked him to just give me a few of his favorites.

He came back with three hand-written recipes! It was sweet!

I will post them at some point - but one follows (too awesome to omit). Until then, my battery is running out. So I shall instead put a picture of breakfast up. Mr. Taj, the chef's name, spent 8 years "cheffing" in Vienna. Amazing.

Hand-made croissants, pan au chocolat, and blueberry danishes. No supermarket box routine here!

Indian breakfast mixed with bacon, curry chicken, hakan noodles, and hand-made chicken sausage. The Indian part of it (lower left in particular) has earned the name "magical substance." It's real name is bhaji. I have the recipe. Yes, I do. Oh, and did I mention the rosemary potatoes? No. Too good for words. Hamilton, if you are reading this, Dan, you too, ... the bacon is divine. My breakfast inclinations are permanently altered.

Now, all I need is a picture of Mr. Taj.

And, yet, I have lost weight in India. I believe that big Indian-leaning breakfasts, with a lot of turmeric and cardamom are key. Planning to test that notion upon return to the US.

Recipe for Bhaji - the magical breakfast substance:

100 gm cauliflower
100 gm carrots
1 potato
20 gm ginger/garlic paste
2 tomatoes
salt to taste
5 gm turmeric
10 gm green chillies
50 gm butter
10 ml lemon juice

Boil and blend cauliflower and carrot. Add oil to frying pan with cauliflower and carrot. Add mashed potato and ginger-garlic paste. Add chopped tomato. Add seasoning. Add butter and lemon juice. Feeds two people.

Yum. Breakfast. Never goin' back to granola. Nope. Never.

Evening at the Orphanage

Last night, we visited the orphanage. Ravinder Rawat, the concierge supervisor, did a lot of shopping on my behalf. Ted Rivera (shown right, while in the New Delhi outdoor market), Lokesh Kasana (shown in previous post), and I spent Sunday shopping for supplies (previous post). After class yesterday, we drove over there. Ted and Lokesh were unable to join us, but had contributed greatly in effort and money. The Radisson hotel in Noida donated the car service to get over there.

There is no way to convey the experience of visiting the orphanage. Several children were blind or partially blind. One was adverse to any physical contact. They all mobbed me and Ravinder. Some were more reticent, almost hanging back with eyes that said, "can you see me?"  It was sad and joyful and overwhelming. We stayed for an hour.  Fifty children, all of whom simply wanted to be touched and seen and heard.

Ravinder and I spent the entire time there holding the small children, and finally I found myself sitting on the ground outside on the grass, and just letting them crawl on me and play with my hair. The girls took out my hair clips and put them in and out and in - styling my hair. One little boy kept cupping my face in his hands and looking closely into my eyes. They wanted to practice their English (a lot of pointing at body parts and laughter). We handed out juice boxes, and then carried in a ton of food stuffs, detergent, clothing, toothpaste - even a cricket bat and some balls. One girl showed off riding a bike around the perimeter. How much these children just want to be seen and held! I particularly wanted to take home the girl who was 11 or 12 (she didn't know her age exactly). So smart (shown here).

The total cost of this excursion was 11,400 rupees - or about $228 dollars. The most shocking moment to me came when I saw the newborn intensive care unit they had set up in a small room. There was an incubator and a light box to help reduce bilirubin.One caretaker named Elsi is a nurse. She said they are trying to raise money to buy a machine for suctioning children in the NICU. Cost? 10,000 rupees. About $200. Ravinder is investigating this on my behalf and looking into a purchase.


Here are some pictures. What can I say? Words really can never do this experience justice. I regret I didn't ask Ravinder last time for help in escaping Disney India. If anyone is interested in contributing to this cause, please let me know.

Here is the big group of older children who spent the next hour climbing all over me. The caretakers were vaguely appalled that I was outside sitting in the mud. But, oh well .. I have access to hot showers and laundry service, right? What's more important, anyway?

There were probably 8 cribs containing from 1 to 3 babies and small toddlers. The boy on the right had just turned five months old and could not stop exercising his newly found ability to smile and smile.

Ravinder in the midst of children. Can you find him?

Here is my favorite 11- or 12-year-old girl. She was just all over me. (Hint: she has the word "Girl" on her t-shirt.) The girl to my right who is looking at me was also very interactive, but when I went to pick her up, she was very scared. The little boy in blue was the one who kept touching my face. The caretaker was the one who was unsure of this crazy lady sitting on the ground with the children. The child in the orange dress in front was the girl who wanted to ride her bike for me.

The children called me "Dee-Dee," which I found out meant "Sister." I asked if it was a Catholic orphanage and was told it is non-denominational. Ravinder was very pleased they called me this - it felt like an honor to me to be considered their sister.

Here is a child that could not stop smiling - I am holding her in my arms. The caretakers were very worried because she had wet her diaper - but come on - there is probably bigger risk lurking in the fruit bowl at the hotel than there is in holding this child. Notice in the lower area of the photo: that child is completely blind and has been for six years of her life. I also spent a lot of time holding her close. It was a gift to be with the children. Thanks for following this entry through the entire thing.

Trying to Give Back

The past three days, I have been working to bring together an act of charity. There is an orphanage near the hotel called Welfare Home for Children in New Delhi. It houses about fifty children and is off the beaten track. The concierge, Ravinda, knows of it from doing charitable work with them. I told him I wanted to see "real" India - not just Disney India, and he suggested I visit the orphanage. I suggested that they could use a donation, and he came back with the idea of bringing food and clothing instead of money.

Hence, Sunday, Ted Rivera, Lokesh Kasana, and I went on a trip to shop for the orphanage. We picked up probably 70 pounds of rice and lentils, as well as a large bag of clothes.

Battery is dying .. here is a quick picture of shopping for goods - me and Lokesh, our driver (out of uniform at my insistence). More later.

Tomorrow Collaborative Leadership

It was a tiring day today. We taught the second day of Agile training: Estimating and Planning, Business Value, Value Stream Mapping, Stakeholder Feedback.

Favorite comment on the feedback form from today:

Question: Who would you recommend take this class?

Answer: Ted and Christine

Physician, heal thyself?

Overall reviews were good, though. With only one outlier who had nothing good to say. But it was a QA person .. .and those guys NEVER have good news, right? (kidding, Jake.)

Tomorrow is Collaborative Leadership day, which means I am on deck the entire day.  I hope Ted will take it easy.

Otherwise, too tired to write. Too tired to talk.

I want a big glass of wine and some mindless entertainment. Maybe a snickers bar.

Unrelated poolside thoughts

For the first time in my life, I saw a perfect feather spiraling down from the sky.

Learning to swim is a metaphor for being human.

Are pigeons in Noida happier than those in Salt Lake City? They are thinner. Doesn't thin equal happy?

Enough about you ... Let's talk about meeeeeeeeee

What is wrong with these people? Why is it that the server waits for 15 minutes before bringing me my wine? The other table was served in 10. What about me?

And how about the guy ... you know the guy ... who is like that piece of toilet paper you just can't get off your shoe ... the one who is practiced in the art of the meaningless verbal filibuster. What about that guy? Doesn't he know it is all about me?

I walk down the hall from my room to the elevator and descend two floors, having been intercepted by four loving hotel employees ... their faces beaming, as they uniformly say "good morning, m'am." Ahh. But Ted had six intercepts. Don't they know it's all about me? 

The annoying butler. Yes, him. HE keeps bringing me things. Do you think he has that intuitive, deep sense that it is, in fact, all about me? Wait, he brought me dessert when I hadn't asked for it, interrupting my evening viewing of the Season 1 Rome finale. Maybe he DOESN'T realize it's all about me.

When did everyone stop thinking about me? What is WRONG with this planet? You want me to focus on you? Okay. What about you? ... ... ... Okay. Good. Uh huh. Now .. enough about you. Let's talk about ... mmmmmmm  ... mmmmeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Live Footage from Inside the Space Ship

Gotta run off to breakfast and then teaching ... so since I didn't write anything last night, I put together a quick greeting from India:

The Butler is Back

Here's my room. It is cavernous. It's found behind a wrought iron gate and armed, bomb-sniffing, beret-wearing guards, a full-blown airport luggage scanner, a keyed elevator, a keyed vestibule, and finally a keyed door. It all works like clockwork, except for the keyed door. But I have a butler to rescue me from the inconvenience. Each night he invites me to share a drink with him in the private lounge, and each night I disappoint him.

I think he invites everyone. As butlers go, he's fairly socially promiscuous. I think I prefer my butlers to be more stern and disapproving.

There are disturbing chairs guarding the keyed vestibule. 

This one must be six feet tall. Who would ever sit in a chair like that? Who would ever buy one? The other one must be six feet wide. The same questions come to mind.  Is there significance to the facts that the white one protects the entrance to the vestibule and the orange one oversees the exit? Skinny when you enter; fat when you exit? Seems New Delhi's municipal water would have something to say about that.

My colleague, Ted Rivera, writes: "My hotel room in India is thoughtfully stocked with four movies: the Ben Kingsley version of Ghandi, Ben Hur, Inception, and Children of the Corn IV. You can't make this stuff up."

Mine is stocked with Blood Diamond, You Don't Get to 500 Million Friends Without Making a Few Enemies, and Jerry McGuire. Some guys get all the luck.

Credit Card Karma

Transport yourself back in time - before the just-described Air India adventure - to when I just arrived at the Salt Lake City airport.

Of course, running a little late, I was quite distracted. I took out my ID for my ticket, and forgot for a moment about my wallet. When my attention returned to the fact that my ID had come from a wallet, there was no wallet to be found. Flight was leaving in less than an hour, so I made a decision: I have my license and my passport, so I can figure out anything from Chicago.

I started running with Chris Matts' real options. I called texted and left messages for David. I called Tim and asked him to figure out options for getting cash in Chicago and New Delhi. I called Pollyanna and asked her about generating options for the AMEX card and cash as well. Then, I found an airport cop, filed a report "we'll report this as larceny, m'am" and boarded the plane.

Before I got on, Barbara and Pollyanna were looking into getting me an AMEX in Chicago. I got hold of David, who began looking into Credit Union options for cash. Tim was actively researching Western Union. Officer Jones was filing a report and keeping an eye on the lost and found.

I got off the plane in Chicago, and Barbara and Pollyanna had called ahead to the hotel to ensure my room was covered. David had cancelled all my cards. (Yes, I committed to that option early, but I knew why: debit cards are very painful to recover from fraud.) The AMEX was set to be picked up in New Delhi on Tuesday. I just had to get through a few days without cash and card. But, Ted, my colleague was arriving in New Delhi mere hours after me, and I could survive on his plastic until then.

Luck followed me, however, and my wallet appeared (lost and found, someone found pity on me and got it to me in Chicago). It was amazing!

And the only things missing were my debit card and some of the cash. A transit tax, perhaps?

I was able to unblock my VISA card. The debit card was blocked, courtesy of David. And AMEX is Fort Knox: no unblocking cards - pick it up in New Delhi, thank you very much!

Out of this, some observations:

I have some very dear friends and colleagues, who really went to bat for me. I am lucky to have them backing me up. It was because of my trust in them that I was willing to hop on the plane anyway, and just fly to Chicago and on to New Delhi.

Next, behavior has such wide ranging and unintended effects. If I had taken the time to slow down at Salt Lake City airport, I would have been much more mindful of my wallet. But, because I didn't exercise the self care to slow down and be mindful, Barbara, Pollyanna, David, Tim, Officer Jones, Eric (the Holiday Inn Express guy), the AMEX people, the credit union people - all of them spent time on this problem on behalf of me. Probably 24 hours of time, all told, was spent on this problem. Talk about a vivid example of karma! The smallest choices have big consequences.

Finally, in some ways, we do make our own luck. Running a lot of options while I was in the air gave me the best possible outcome. But I could not have done it without having built the relationships that enabled me to run those options. (No, not Machiavellian - just a fact of life.) So, take care of your people, people!

And to those people: Thank you to all who helped. Sorry for the karmic backlash. I'll be more mindful in the future.

Last thought: isn't it ironic that I almost became a real life case of a common email scam, after having almost become a victim of it myself once!

Now in Noida

Okay, so traveling here was an unholy mix of chaos and awesomeness. First, you have to know that due to the vagaries of airline schedules, I had to leave on Thursday evening to stay over in Chicago. You see, I am flying Air India this time. Some would call this brave. I call it smart.

But before you can declare something smart, you have to determine the criteria by which "smart" is asserted. So, in descending order of importance, here is what I care about when traveling to India:

1. Cost.
2. Flat sleeping surface.
3. No bad smells.
4. Silence.
5. Time in air.
6. Food.
7. Amenities.

You would think that Cost would cancel out practically everything below on this list. And if you were flying American Airlines, you would be right! But, it turns out that First Class on Air India is in fact cheaper than Business Class on American Airlines (when tickets are purchased only two weeks ahead of time).

So, I achieved Cost pretty effortlessly.

Flat Sleeping Surface was taken care of by the fine seat shown here.And then No Bad Smells and Silence were taken care of because there was NO ONE in first class (yes, this means no smelly neighbors who like to take their shoes off and stow them right next to you.). Next photo shows the whole first class cabin. All four seats of it.


As for time in the air, Air India had a more favorable schedule for the dreaded 11.5 hour time difference than did American Airlines, for the same amount of time in the air. And thus, it all fell into place like a clattering stack of dominoes. Until, that is, you get to the food.

Peruse the menu shown - it looks AWESOME, right? Well, no. Appetites among the first class in India, and among all classes in the West, must be enormous. I ordered the salmon. What was I thinking, you ask? Well, I wasn't. I tried to get the flight attendant to tell me the best thing on the menu, but she probably took one look at my pasty white face and determined (likely from years of experience) that only the salmon would do. So salmon it was.

TWO salmon steaks. Not one. And, to make it worse, TWO BAD salmon steaks. Salmon and air flight do not mix, unless you are talking about whole salmons sitting in ice for transit to your local horribly expensive fish market. This wasn't that.

Quick tip when flying Air India: stick to vegetarian. The salad was good and the Indian appetizers awesome.Breakfast? See below.  Chicken nuggets for breakfast? And the eggs had more cream cheese than eggs. No wonder that obesity is beginning to take over the entire planet.

Regardless of the food, the flight was amazing. I arrived in New Delhi feeling as if I had been beaten by sticks, rather than bludgeoned by two-by-fours.

More soon. Gotta start getting ready for tomorrow.

Next blog: the amazing experience of driving through New Delhi with incongruent music blaring from the car stereo. It was surreal.