Arrived into BLR airport 30 minutes ahead of schedule at 3:00am local time, made it through customs in a matter of minutes and immediately saw my bags at the baggage claim. When I exited the baggage area I saw the driver from the Leela Palace Hotel waiting for me. I was whisked out to a waiting car and at 4:05 am I was in my hotel room. That was the last time anything went smoothly.
I grabbed a few hours of sleep, had a light lunch, showered and shaved and headed to my office. I met with some of the people that I will be leading in my new job. I found a salesperson for a mobile phone and filled out a trove of paperwork. I got a SIM card (the computer chip brain of a phone used in every phone in the world except for Verizon & Sprint in the US). In India, you buy service and it's cheap. Then you buy a phone and it is full retail. Very expensive! My new Blackberry was nearly $700 (which I did not buy until several days later). OUCH! However, if you want mobile service in India, this is what you do. After the mobile phone service purchase, I headed back to the hotel for dinner and some much needed rest. I got about 3 hours.
Day 2: House Hunting
I met someone from a relocation company caller Writer Corp in the lobby of the hotel. This was arranged by IBM. IBM affords me a set budget for housing and then subcontracts to a local company to help me find something suitable. I am allowed 3 days with the man from Writer Corp. His name was Thomas. The first flat he showed me was a slum. There is no other word for it. The next 7 places he showed me weren't much better. I told Thomas that he had to do better the next day. I was so jet lagged, frustrated and homesick that after I made it back to the hotel I considered booking the next flight home. I called Nancy and told her about my day. I so so overwhelmed that I began to cry. I missed Nancy, Effie and Courtland SO badly that I wept. I thought that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. During a long conversation with Nancy where she let me vent and get it all out of my system, we decided to give it another day and see what else the relocation guy had to offer. Whenever I have taken a big risk in life, it has usually paid off handsomely. We agreed to give this another try.
Day 3: Much Better!
The first place Thomas took me was a nice 3 BR flat in a high rise in the center of the city in a cool section called Indira Nagar. It is India with all its chaotic ways, but this part of Bangalore has charm. But it was too small. The landlord asked if I wanted to see his flat. This guy is an executive at Tommy Hillfiger and his flat was beautiful. It was 2 floors and double, perhaps triple the size of the first place. Unfortunately, he did not know of any open flats in the building. So, we left and headed out to the suburbs; a place called Whitefield. Whitefield is to Bangalore what Westchester is to Manhattan. I saw many nice flats and villas. In my budget I am supposed to find something furnished. This was becoming a problem. Few places had furniture. Every place I saw had a fatal flaw. If it had furniture, it was too small or in a place with no area for the kids to play, or something else that disqualified it.
After several more places, I asked Thomas to show me a villa that was 3 BR + a study regardless of the monthly cost. It was perfect. It was also double my budget. I started the exception process to get more money from IBM. Wish me luck.
Day 4: More Better
Thomas showed me more places in expat communities in Whitefield. I am convinced that this is where we should live. Lots of open space for the kids to play. Huge pool and club house. Children out riding bikes and playing. Sweet!
Days 5, 6 & 7: Holiday + Weekend
I hung out at the hotel, caught up on sleep, but did venture out to buy a Blackberry mobile phone. I have to use Blackberry in order to be connected to work. I would have loved an iPhone. Perhaps I'll buy one for Nancy!
Days 8 & 9: Still Waiting...
So, I got this mobile phone. It's nice, but it does not work. Actually, the phone works, but the service is not connected to it. It seems in India that they verify your work and home address. Of they cannot find you, they disconnect your service. Since I was away from the office most of the week and they could not find me, they disconnected it. An hour + on the phone and it was reconnected. Luckily, they caught me on day 9 at my office and all is right with the world.
This is my office building:
Bank account: I need a bank account. I cannot get a place to live before I get a bank account, and I cannot get a bank account without an address. So I had to work around the system, much like many things in India: There's the right way, the wrong way and the India way. So I officially live at The Leela Palace Hotel. I had to get a letter from my HR rep stating that I am employed in India and I live at a hotel. Likewise, in order to register with the local authorities, which is mandatory within 14 days of landing in the country, I had to have my hotel write up a letter confirming that I live there. Ya can't make this shit up, can ya?
Day 10: FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Office)
I was told to show up at 8am and get in line. I did. At 8:30 I was led into the what was the ground floor garage of an office building, and waited. When the little window opened I was the first person on line. The person behind the window looked at my paperwork and assigned me a number. Number 3. Really. Not #1 or #2, #3. After given the number I was directed upstairs to another office.
The upstairs I waited for 30 minutes for that team to open show up. They called people by number. At least this time they went in order and I was the 3rd person called. This person reviewed my paperwork and directed me to the next desk. That person reviewed my paperwork and directed me to the next desk. (Do you see a pattern here?) That person reviewed my paperwork and and sent me to another person at another desk. That person reviewed my paperwork and sent me to another desk. Really. No exaggeration here. This fifth person at the fifth desk reviewed my paperwork and finally said everything looks to be in order, please come back in 1 hour. Why? No fucking clue.
I returned in 1 hour and the person printed out 3 forms which I signed and was sent on my way. This took 3.5 hours. It should have been 30 minutes, tops.
I did have a good chuckle today. Be reminded, this is a predominantly Hindu country and Christians are a small minority. I am glad them Jesus loving folks exported their best:
That reads "Jesus The Rock Music Institute". Bizarre..
No comments:
Post a Comment