Water buffalos, BO and public urination. How I've missed you India.

I went to India for the week because it was my grandfather's bday and my mom was in town. I haven't been back since April, a solid 4 months. Up until last year, when I moved to Hyderbad, I genuinely got excited to come back to India. I was always happy to see family but now that's kind of worn off on me. I lived at home with family for 9 months and saw more of my cousins during that time frame than the rest of my life. No joke…I probably saw my two youngest cousins for a combined 3 months in a span of 20 years. I knocked that out within the summer last year. Plus, I saw my entire family in May for my cousin's graduation and then saw Harsha two more times over the summer in China.

I also quickly realized that the downside of going to India is that I'd have to hang out with Indians. Don't get me wrong, I like India, I love my family and I honestly have enjoyed the company of most of the people I've met in India. However, Indian people are shady. To put it into perspective, I live in China, a country where I literally cannot communicate with 1.3 billion people and am obviously not a local. I look different than everyone and will always stick out. Despite this, people try to help me out whenever possible. Locals wave at me, try to say some english words, etc. Another good indication, how many times have I been ripped off in Wuhan? ONCE. A taxi driver drove me around in a big circle and I ended up paying an additional 1 USD. Not a huge loss.

So what happened to me when I got back to India? A customs official looks at me, determines I'm an NRI (non-resident Indian) points at my cellphone and tells me I have to pay a tax on it. That's right, a tax on my cellphone...he spent a minute trying to convince me there is a tax on smartphones. Last year, another official tried to get me to pay tax on my laptop. Now since I've gone through this before and could care less about sleazy officials, I just laughed, said something in Telugu and walked away but imagine what a tourist goes through. Most travelers know it's a farce but what a terrible first impression to make on a visitor. That's the problem with India. Come visit because India is incredible but go with a local friend or a tour guide...don't backpack solo in India, not worth the hassle. I've been to over 2 dozen countries, India is by far the most difficult one to travel in.

So although I got off to a rocky start, how was the rest of my trip? While I still attest I can live in India, I'm really glad, at least for the time being, that I don't. This isn't so much India-centric as it is about me living at home. I lived outside home for 8 years before I moved into my uncle's house. Since real estate in India is expensive, most kids are used to living at home but I found it suffocating. As I write this, my dining table is a mess, I have water bottles all over, random books and a bag of milano cookies. it's a mess but who cares? I can do whatever I want because this is my apartment (and yes, I was slightly more considerate when I had roommates) this could never happen in India because my aunt would kill me. In my apartment, if I leave my pen on a desk, it will be there in until I move it In India, a servant will take my pen and put it in a drawer within minutes. I used to hide things in my own room so servants wouldn't put things away where they thought it was appropriate.

Now this isn't meant to be a 'woe, is me' post. It's hard to sympathize for a guy who complains about being coddled too much and having servants falling over themselves to cook/clean for him. After all, I’m not Drake. (I apologize to those of you who don’t listen to hip-hop and don’t understand the reference)

I definitely take advantage of some things, such as the freshly peeled pomegranate every day (Have you ever tried to peel a pomegranate? it's nearly impossible) However, the typical Indian life is hard to get used to if you haven't been there all your life. Also, since I knew Hyderabad was a temporary stop, I definitely did not take full advantage of it. My world was limited to the same old crowd and the same old spots. Brunch at the Westin, lunch at Hard Rock, the occasional visit to go bowling and 'clubbing' at Touch. Repeat. There are rumors that Hyderabad has other things to do, but I never saw these things in my time there. Plus, the best you could hope for is that a new spot didn't completely suck, just moderately stunk. So to summarize, I can't be myself in India and I feel so constrained I'm comfortable saying that I can't fully grow/mature/develop in India, at least not at this point in my life.

Alright, enough of me whining. What was the best part of being back in India? Going to the office! What did I miss?

The people? Definitely not.

I missed having an elevator and A/C.

For the past month, I've dragged myself up 7 flights of stairs in 135 degree weather while balancing my noodles. By the time I make it to my office, I'm drenched in sweat and questioning why I even bothered to shower. Luckily in India, we're only on the 2nd floor, so I can run up the stairs. It's the ultimate irony, I have an elevator when I don't need it but even with that...I’m just happy to have the option. It was also great being in an office with A/C and proper lighting. I happily shivered in the 20 degree A/C office and chuckled at the notion of my 30 degree office in Wuhan.

The other upside of being in the office is that I could finally get timely responses to my questions. Since I'm in a remote location, I rely on email for everything. On average, I send 30 e-mails/day, although I spike to 50-60 sometimes. Now, some people respond to me right away, but more often than not, I suspect most people see my e-mail and delete it. Since I was in the office, I could continue my time-honored tradition of marching up and down the aisles asking for updates. It felt...good.

The only downside to my time in the office is that we replaced someone in one of the departments I partially oversee. Now in school and in the media, corporate titans are always applauded for firing people and some people such as Jack Welch seem to relish it. I have no idea what is wrong with those people. The guy we laid off, came into my office and pleaded for his job but I had to stick with the decision. I did not feel awesome like Jack Welch, if anything, I felt like Topher Grace in "In Good Company" A schmuck wondering why he had the power to make the decision.

I also realized that people in India really have no clue what I do in China. I was introduced to some visitors throughout the week and each time, my job scope was different (i.e He's in China (yes, but what am I doing in China?), he takes care of our ERP system (I do?)) Perhaps my philosophy of 'hide your brightness, bide your time' is backfiring a bit.

Since it's late and this post is already way too long, I'll eave it at this...I realized over the past week that I’m an adult. Sure, you could say I should realize that since I just turned 27. However, we all know age isn’t necessarily an indication of adulthood.

So how did I realize I’m an adult? We went to a family party for Independence Day (August 15^th) After getting some food, I looked at my options…I could sit with a bunch of 20 year olds who were still in college/just graduated OR I could sit with a bunch of 40+ uncles and talk business.

I didn’t hesitate, I sat down with the uncles and got myself a whiskey.

Whoa.