India????

[EagleFan]

Has anyone been there? I face a seemingly unavoidable trip there for work and was looking for tips on what to stay away from and what I should expect there. I am hoping to keep the trip as short as possible, though our new VP wants me to go for 2 months (not going to happen with two small kids at home and enough current medical worries as it is) but I may end up going for a couple weeks, coming back home for a couple, etc..


Positives:
-Only thing close is that I am viewed as the key person on a huge project.
-Will be focussed completely on just this project, something that I have been told to do for the past couple weeks yet my superiors keep piling other things on top of that.
-People from that office who I have dealt with so far seem to be very nice, or at least they can fake it pretty well if they are not actually as nice.
-If I do the back and forth trips it will rack up some nice frequent flyer miles.


Negatives:
-Current medical conditions to consider.
-Leaving wife and kids for extended period of time.
-Missing my daughter's birthday.
-A list of infectious diseases over there.
-Stomach can't handle Indian food.
-Working in IT sweat shop conditions (where 12-14 hour days seem to be short days).
-Given 3 months to spec out and complete a project that should realistically take a year (and that's with a big team).
-The people from that office have the ability to do the work but have no background in our field so the learning curve is huge (especially with the timeline).
-Football season, and the outside chance of the Phillies actually making the playoffs (they probably make the wild card if I have to go which means I will miss seeing the games most likely--so I have to wait another 10-15 years to see them in the playoffs).
-Company has changed travel policy (getting cheaper) so I will have to fly coach.


I really don't want to have to go to that part of the world. I would be a lot more receptive to Europe.

[cuervo72]

Don't go. India is a dreadful, dreadful place.

You know, it's the only country that still has the plague? I mean, the plague! Please!

If I had to go to India, I wouldn't go to the bathroom the entire trip.

[WSUCougar]

Avoid:



I'd stay away from the frozen monkey brains, too.

[JS19]

If it's unavoidable then I guess you gotta do what you gotta do, but if not, your negatives seem to outweigh the positives. I would, however, (where do the commas go there, i would never make it as english major) subtract the whole Phillies making the playoffs part.

[st.cronin]

New Mexico has the plague. We get a few cases every year.

I would love to go to India. I'm jealous.

[Celeval]

You'd better get paid really, really well for that trip.

[Izulde]

Whereabouts in India will you be going?

My favourite professor is originally from India and she'll be back on campus on either Friday or Monday, so I could see about asking her for tips.

[MrBug708]

Paging Neuqua...

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Has anyone been there?

From what I hear, billions of people have been there dude.

[21C]

I haven't been but my wife has. I suppose it depends on the part of India that you go to. I understand that northern India is a lot nicer than the south.

I'm reluctant to ever travel there myself as a tourist but I think it would be an opportunity of a lifetime to go there for work. As far as the health concerns go, I think it just comes down to common sense and a bit of luck. I'm sure it would much like traveling in Mexico.

[Taco]

I took a couple of 2-3 week trips to India last year for business and really, really enjoyed it. It was quite an experience to see the culture there.

Some of the more obvious tips that you've probably already heard:

- Only drink bottled water that you open yourself or watch someone else open the seal for you. If you buy bottled water on the street and the seal is broken it probably means that it was filled up. Use bottled water when brushing your teeth and be careful not to get water in your mouth when showering.

- Be careful about what you eat. Don't eat anything that was probably washed in the water. For example, certain raw fruits and vegetables. Also, you'll probably want to bring something for what we call "Delhi belly". If you can eat most/all your meals at your hotel (assuming it is a nice one) you will probably be the safest.

- If you've never experienced driving over there it's quite an adventure. No traffic laws seem to be obeyed. Most likely you'll have many close calls but no accidents.

- If you want to do any shopping, keep in mind that you can haggle down prices on everything. As a foreigner, the prices will originally be much higher for you.

- Make sure you get all of your shots before you go, and don't forget to take your malaria medicine every day (IIRC, starting 3 days before you go, and each day up through 1 week after you've been back).

- Bring insect repellent depending on where you will be and what time of year it is.

- If you exchange money into rupees you can generally get a better rate at your hotel than at the airport or elsewhere.

- Prepare yourself to have many children come up to you begging for rupees. If you do decide to give, try to do it discreetly unless you want to attract a crowd.

- I hope you get "tea time" in the afternoon! It's a great break from the long work days.

- If you have a driver who doesn't speak english, be sure you pay attention where you are going before it's too late, especially if there is a change of plans and you're not convinced your driver understands what you are telling him.

- Don't take an auto rickshaw that the driver says the meter is broken. You will get overcharged. If you are quoted a fixed rate for a ride and the driver asks for more after the ride, pay him what was agreed and walk away.

- If you have a chance to do some sight seeing I highly recommend it! Where in India will you be going?

- Bring your passport with you everywhere you go, and make photocopies of your passport and leave them in all your bags.

- Some places that you might expect to take credit cards will not - be prepared.

- McDonald's doesn't serve the same menu as the U.S. and they don't like it when you try to take a picture of their menu.

- Bring back some henna for your daughter. She might have some fun with it.

- In some areas I have heard that it is considered offensive to wear shorts. I did not encounter this personally and wore shorts when away from work. I was also traveling in a group which may have helped.

- Don't accept food/drink from strangers. It could be drugged.

- I hope your experience working on your project ends up being better than mine. The people were friendly, but the quality of work was very poor. My advice would be to make sure things are done properly up front. Don't just keep going in order to stay on schedule. It will eventually catch up with you.

- Have fun! I would love to go again, but it doesn't look like I will be able to anytime soon. Are you hiring?

[JPhillips]

A couple of tips that I got before we went to China.

-Ask your doctor for an immunoglobulin shot as well as your Hep vaccines

-Take some Ambien with you and take one that first night. It won't eliminate jetlag, but it made it much easier to get on the right schedule in that first week

-Don't eat salads or other raw vegatables. Only eat fruit that wouldn't be washed, ie watermelon, cantaloupe

-Don't know about India, but Chinese hotel rooms all had water boilers. Keep a supply of boiled water for face washing and teeth brushing

I've heard good and bad things about India and it seems to vary based on location. Do a lot of research on the city you'll be in so you can hopefully find some fun things to do. Good luck.

[Arctus]

Originally Posted by Taco

- Make sure you get all of your shots before you go, and don't forget to take your malaria medicine every day (IIRC, starting 3 days before you go, and each day up through 1 week after you've been back).

Do gin and tonics count as "malaria medicine"?

[sachmo71]

I have a buddy there right now; six month hitch. If you have any specific questions I can ask him. His biggest complaint is the lack of beef. he's a big dude.

[JediKooter]

Forget about getting a cheeseburger there.

Also, when you see Punjab, sock him in the eye for me for taking my job.

[rkmsuf]

Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence

[Neuqua]

Originally Posted by Taco

I took a couple of 2-3 week trips to India last year for business and really, really enjoyed it. It was quite an experience to see the culture there.

Some of the more obvious tips that you've probably already heard:

- Only drink bottled water that you open yourself or watch someone else open the seal for you. If you buy bottled water on the street and the seal is broken it probably means that it was filled up. Use bottled water when brushing your teeth and be careful not to get water in your mouth when showering.

- Be careful about what you eat. Don't eat anything that was probably washed in the water. For example, certain raw fruits and vegetables. Also, you'll probably want to bring something for what we call "Delhi belly". If you can eat most/all your meals at your hotel (assuming it is a nice one) you will probably be the safest.

- If you've never experienced driving over there it's quite an adventure. No traffic laws seem to be obeyed. Most likely you'll have many close calls but no accidents.

- If you want to do any shopping, keep in mind that you can haggle down prices on everything. As a foreigner, the prices will originally be much higher for you.

- Make sure you get all of your shots before you go, and don't forget to take your malaria medicine every day (IIRC, starting 3 days before you go, and each day up through 1 week after you've been back).

- Bring insect repellent depending on where you will be and what time of year it is.

- If you exchange money into rupees you can generally get a better rate at your hotel than at the airport or elsewhere.

- Prepare yourself to have many children come up to you begging for rupees. If you do decide to give, try to do it discreetly unless you want to attract a crowd.

- I hope you get "tea time" in the afternoon! It's a great break from the long work days.

- If you have a driver who doesn't speak english, be sure you pay attention where you are going before it's too late, especially if there is a change of plans and you're not convinced your driver understands what you are telling him.

- Don't take an auto rickshaw that the driver says the meter is broken. You will get overcharged. If you are quoted a fixed rate for a ride and the driver asks for more after the ride, pay him what was agreed and walk away.

- If you have a chance to do some sight seeing I highly recommend it! Where in India will you be going?

- Bring your passport with you everywhere you go, and make photocopies of your passport and leave them in all your bags.

- Some places that you might expect to take credit cards will not - be prepared.

- McDonald's doesn't serve the same menu as the U.S. and they don't like it when you try to take a picture of their menu.

- Bring back some henna for your daughter. She might have some fun with it.

- In some areas I have heard that it is considered offensive to wear shorts. I did not encounter this personally and wore shorts when away from work. I was also traveling in a group which may have helped.

- Don't accept food/drink from strangers. It could be drugged.

- I hope your experience working on your project ends up being better than mine. The people were friendly, but the quality of work was very poor. My advice would be to make sure things are done properly up front. Don't just keep going in order to stay on schedule. It will eventually catch up with you.

- Have fun! I would love to go again, but it doesn't look like I will be able to anytime soon. Are you hiring?

Everything taco said. Seriously.

Trust me, I've got family back in India so I go back every now and then and even my stomach cannot handle the different bacteria there. Stay away from the water unless you positively know its clean.

And as hard as it might be, just don't spare rupees to the beggars who may come up to you in some locations (even the cute little kids). What will happen is that once you give one person some money, you're going to have a whole legion of people follow you around and it can get quite uncomfortable. You may feel guilty about it but it's what you have to do.

[ISiddiqui]

I went to Pakistan last year for 2 weeks, but I don't have anything to add to Taco's list. The water thing is especially key. I did get some stomach upset from eating out, so beware of that as well.

[st.cronin]

Definitely give Ashwarya Rai a call while you're there, see if she'd like to hook up.

[KevinNU7]

My company has a policy that if you are on a long term assignment instead of flying home you can opt to have the company pay to fly your spouse out on weekend(s). If I were you I might try and swing that atleast once so she can feel excited about the opportunity to travel.

[Flasch186]

take a shit in a bucket and throw it out the back window of the hotel room. Everybody's doing it. Miles Davis did it.

[EagleFan]

Thanks for the advice.

The office is in Chennai.

Just had a video-conference with the team over there early this morning. Trying to convince the bosses that instead of going all the way there I could just work an odd shift here to be available to them through the video conference line.

Where the project is concerned, I am looking forward to actually being in a position where I can just focus on the project and nothing else. Each day they keep giving me a ton of other crap that is supposed to be "could you look at this real quick?". Then they wonder why I haven't made the progress that I was hoping to, go figure.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Don't go. India is a dreadful, dreadful place.

You know, it's the only country that still has the plague? I mean, the plague! Please!

If I had to go to India, I wouldn't go to the bathroom the entire trip.

lol, can't even begin to tell you the number of times that scene has gone through my head when I've talked about this trip.

[finketr]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Thanks for the advice.

The office is in Chennai.

Just had a video-conference with the team over there early this morning. Trying to convince the bosses that instead of going all the way there I could just work an odd shift here to be available to them through the video conference line.

Where the project is concerned, I am looking forward to actually being in a position where I can just focus on the project and nothing else. Each day they keep giving me a ton of other crap that is supposed to be "could you look at this real quick?". Then they wonder why I haven't made the progress that I was hoping to, go figure.

COuld you looka t this? It's really important...

wait 10 minutes.

Hey, we need you to work on this... Stat.

wait 15 minutes.

We have aproblem with YYY. could you take a look?

Hey, when you got a minute, could you review this change?

uhh.. i'd like to be able to do my real job sometime.

[Grammaticus]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Don't go. India is a dreadful, dreadful place.

You know, it's the only country that still has the plague? I mean, the plague! Please!

If I had to go to India, I wouldn't go to the bathroom the entire trip.

Not trying to be a smart azz or anything, but I read this article a few days ago and found it surprising. I did not think we had cases popping up every year. And I thought you could cure or avoid it with simple soap and water.

13 plague cases reported in 4 states, highest in 12 years

Link to the CNN article from August 28th

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/08/28...ion=cnn_health

[cuervo72]

(just in case anybody didn't get my reference: http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheBetrayal.htm )