Odd Things About India

This is a picture I took on the way to work today. You can see the markets and stray dogs.

1. [Everything is Backwards] Cars are backwards (the steering wheel and driver sit on the right hand side) you also drive on the opposite side of the road. Faucets turn on the opposite way. Doors open on the wrong side. You walk down the hallway on the left side instead of right. Escalators are on the wrong side (I constantly walk to the down side trying to go up and have people coming at me).

2. [Stray Dogs and Birds] Stray dogs are everywhere(on roads, in grass, sidewalks, middle of the street) in Mumbai. They roam around alone and sometimes in packs however do not seem to bother the people. Big black birds are always around. This is not like in the US where you see a few birds every once and a while- they are all over the place! The birds sit on cars, streets, market stands, fruits for sale and just pick at everything.

3. [Smell] India has a very interesting stench. The hotel smells very clean (almost like ivory soap) and fresh. When you walk outside the smell is strong. It is a sewage/sweat smell all in one. The Accenture building smells like Indian food all the time (wonder if my clothes will smell like this?).

4. [Security] Security is very high in India (although makes me feel very safe)! When our car arrives at the Accenture building the driver actually has to get out and be searched/questioned before he can drive us into the building. When our car arrives at the hotel they actually use metal detectors and mirrors to look under, inside and around the car. We then have to send our bags through metal detectors and walk through separate metal detectors to get into the building. They have security guards everywhere. Guards with huge guns are outside building gates, at every door entrance coming into the buildings and all over inside of the buildings. When I walk from our training room to the restroom I pass 3 security guards and it is a 20 second walk.

5. [Trash] Trash is all over this city. I am not sure if they have an organized way to have trash collection but from the looks of the city I can’t imagine it is very good. When we drive to the office you see huge piles of trash everywhere. The trash just blows around the streets and the people ignore it as if it does not exist.