Looking Through the Bent Back Tulips to See How the Other Half Lives...

Bangalore

The Infosys campus in Bangalore was definitely one of the more memorable sights of our trip, and it’s no wonder that everyone from Bill Gates to the Princess of Thailand (who was there the same day as us) makes a pilgrimage there. Even though Infosys is in a relatively nice part of a relatively nice city, you can’t help but notice the contrast. Infosys has one of the most nicely landscaped properties I’ve ever seen, complete with a putting green, but just outside its gates are the rubble strewn lots and deteriorating buildings we’ve gotten so used to. Still, it was amazing being there. We got to hear their perspective on their remarkable success, tour the campus, and have a nice lunch.

We had dinner at Professor Konana’s family’s house. This was one of the few places during the trip I ate with my right hand so I wouldn’t offend anyone. Konana’s father fought for independence and was a judge, and the rest of his family boasts numerous accomplishments (we met people working for a few high-profile firms as well as a Bollywood actor, and we learned that Dr. K has been keeping his ping pong skills from us). We had to remove our shoes before going in, and I noticed that a picture on one of the doorways depicted a pair of bare feet with a swastika (here it’s called a swastik) between them. The swastik is a Hindu symbol, but it’s bizarre to see it so frequently, especially in public places. There’s a roofing company called Swastik that advertises on many buildings, and you’ll see the swastik in many entrances.

Dinner was great. There was a cook there making these tortilla-type things, and I got to listen in on a conversation between Professor Konana’s father and Kevin about the spreading of the news of independence throughout India. One of the most amazing stats I’ve heard on this trip came from Hindustan Lever, who said that all media combined have something like 60% penetration in India, which is just amazing. You think about how much we rely on television to tell us what the weather’s like, and in India as recently as 60 years ago they had to use word of mouth to spread news of their independence.

One thing we’ve started noticing is that men tend to hold hands here. A lot. Much of the time, when you see two men walking together they’re holding hands, or two men standing still will often be very close and making contact with each other in some other way. I’m sure it’s one of those cultural things I just don’t understand, but, well, I just don’t understand it. I would say it’s a show of homosexuality, but then it’s odd that the men do it but neither two women nor a man and a woman do. (Kevin actually looked it up in his guidebook, and it said that it is a sign of affection between friends.)

The food of the day was yellow, or orange, or brown...something from Professor Konana’s house. I haven’t talked a lot specifically about Indian food (mostly because I don’t know what to call it), but I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than I expected I would. It’s much better than the Indian food I’ve had in America. I still can’t tell the difference between North Indian and South Indian, though.