Dogs Balls

OK i always figured i’d stand out, and i mentioned earlier I was stared at in Gurgaon a but, but today was the clincher.

OK so you need a little background, but in India it seems you need a ticket to get inside the terminal.  So inside a terminal is only passengers, at least that's the way it was at Delhi and again on arrival in Bangalore.  Now both those terminals are amazingly big and new and clean, so with only passengers in them, they aren't necessarily “full”.  So as i walk off the flight from Delhi and across the vast arrivals hall, i look outside and can see literally hundreds of people with names on boards – oh dear i think – how will i find the driver, even assuming there is one…

However, and this is the bit where i realised i stand out a little, the delightful man from Bangalore Taj West End Hotel approaches me as asks if i am Mr Fraser.  Was it that obvious?? – obviously yes.

So Bangalore is a little different to Delhi, but just as chaotic, for a start it is more tropical and i am glad it was only February, i suspect it gets a bit warm in the next few months.  A lot cleaner, but also more of a British Raj feel to it.

The Taj West End – wow where to start.  Well for starters every review on Trip Advisor is correct, it is an oasis amid the chaos with its sprawling grounds and colonial buildings.  I was dropped by the driver at the front door where i was met by a hostess clearly briefed on who i was with room key ready, i was garlanded, and got a red dot on my forehead and straight to my room, none of this messy “checking in”.

 

So…. here i am in Bangalore at the ITechlaw conference.  Lots of great people and a conference at which Australian lawyers seem underrepresented.  I knew the India IT industry was doing great things, i dont think i really appreciated how great.  All the talks were very relevant to what i do and hearing lawyers from around the world speak about them was interesting.

The people who were organising the event were great and very friendly.  Sajai, Rahul and Malavika in particular were very warm and gracious hosts throughout the conference.  The dinner was fantastic and the presentation on India’s NUID went well as far as you can ever tell.  I will certainly be interested in how it goes.  Bumped into an old colleague from G+T days, now working at Voda in Bombay (seems that many Indians prefer that name to Mumbai).

Very few pictures, mostly because i barely left the hotel.  I would love to have gotten some more and as always regret not doing so.  Although i wanted to take a lot of pictures of people, i was conscious to to be too invasive, or when with my hosts, to nerdy.

I did manage to sneak in a yoga class before breakfast on my last day, probably fairly westernised, and it didn't really push me, but great to do and also reinforced the importance of doing simple things well.  It doesn't always have to be pushing to the next thing harder and stronger.

I got out for a brief shop with co-panellist Alan, and managed to find a few things for the girls including a sari – picture of the shop in the middle of nowhere below

and then to the Bangalore Palace, summer residence for the King notable for its British architecture, but, although not in the picture, its spectacularly and sadly dilapidated state

Friday night was sheer madness – i was invited to Sajai’s along with many of the genuine dignitaries from the conference, it was an honour and tragically too short.  The cab ride was 1.5 hours through some of the worst traffic i saw, i arrived after 8:30 and needed to leave by 9 (well 9:15) but did manage to meet even more people, see the house have 2 glasses of french red and eat a beautiful meal.  The cab ride was something else, through regional/rural Bangalore in total darkness – just surreal.  But i have rabbited on long enough now. 

The journey home was all you’d expect and completely uneventful, I am safely home and may post some final thoughts in due course.