BANGALORE, INDIA
The company that I work for was doing some major offshoring. I was pulled into a room one afternoon and was asked "how do you feel about going to India?". Truth be told, I wasn't able to say "yes!" straight away. I love to travel, but India wasn't actually on my list of places to visit. I was worried about how I'd cope in such a different environment - socially and culturally. I got over my insecurities pretty quickly though. It might have been after I was told that my food, accommodation and other travel expenses would be paid for (there was a limit of course), and that I'd get a driver for the duration of my stay who will drive me to and from work, and out over the weekends. Most importantly though, putting everything into perspective, it was a great opportunity. When will I be offered something like this again?
...I'm in - I am so going!
Bengaluru (Bangalore) is the state capital of Karnata, in the south of India - soon to be my work place and home for 5 weeks. It was a long way away from Sydney - an 8.5 hour flight to Singapore, and then another 4.5 hours to Bengaluru. Fortunately, it was a group of us who were sent over - which really did make the trip much more fun and memorable for me.
We flew out on Friday morning, and arrived in Bangalore at midnight. On our first Saturday, my co-workers, who had already been there for a good number of weeks now, took us out shopping, dancing, dining and drinking. It continued on till Sunday, and unfortunately didn't end until Monday morning. It was time for my first day at work - and I felt sick. To make things worse, the work day started at 4am (being in sync with the business hours in Sydney).
The rest of my trip wasn't too crazy. I'd be working Monday to Friday, and my weekends were spent shopping and exploring. Within the city, we visited Bangalore Palace, the Bull Temple, and the Government Buildings Vidhana Soudha and Attara Kacheri. We went saree shopping - if you take a rickshaw, they would definitely bring you to a silk store (whether you like it or not), got lost on Commercial Street (on both occassions) and went to the bigger shopping malls like Orion Mall, Phoenix Market City, UB City, and 1 MG Mall.
5 weeks actually went by quite quickly, and it wasn't long until I had to say goodbye to the friends I've made. Thank you to the team in Bangalore who took such great care of us. You've been generous, hospitable and so kind to us stangers from the other side of the world.
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