More new friends

Subramanian (or Subu, as some folks call him) is one of the trainers here at the call center. He was in our very first class, and is now responsible for teaching the software to new employees as they join the company. We will continue teaching the existing employees.

Durshyant Pandey was also in our first class. He really applied himself well and got a great score. He will be a big help to his teammates as they begin to use the new software we are teaching them.

Jhency is another one of our star students. He always says HI to me if he sees me in the hallway or in the lobby.

Mukesh is another one of the employees here. Here he is hard at work in the class, but see below for a picture of him smiling, and in better surroundings.

Most of the ladies in our classes wear the sari or other traditional dress. I snapped this picture in the little cafeteria on our floor, of Mukesh surrounded by four ladies from our class. He is one lucky guy!

Though most of the women like to wear saris, the guys nearly all wear jeans or slacks. But today was a special Hindu holiday and Jogesh decided to dress up for the occasion. He wore a long tunic-like top of a light material, over long pants. He looked great!

Every hotel has doormen to welcome you, and this is the doorman at the ITC Hotel Granda Kakatiya Sheraton and Towers. He is about six feet tall, and his uniform and hat make him seem even more imposing!

When staying at the Grand Kakatiya, I usually ate breakfast (after work and just before going to bed, at 7:00 in the morning) and dinner (just after waking up, at 7:00 in the evening) in the Deccan coffee shop. Here are my friends Johnson the steward, the head chef, the dining room hostess, and three of the other chefs. They make a REALLY good breakfast (dinner too) as I wrote about below, and included a picture too.

This is an "autorickshaw" or just an "auto." They can get you just about anywhere for very cheap. The average ride is 30 to 50 rupees, or just about one dollar.

Yesterday (or was it this morning?) because of "circumstances" I missed my ride back to the hotel with Brian so I had to catch a taxi home on my own. Hyderabad doesn't have taxicabs like we do in New York City and in the States, but their equivalent is still a bright yellow... probably so you can see them in the busy traffic here! They have a little engine that goes putt-putt up the hills. I always carry a card from the hotel so that if the driver doesn't understand my English he can at least read the address, or show it to someone nearby.

This auto slowed down as it saw me standing on the side of the road. His passenger got out of the back, and squeezed into the front seat with the driver. (Turns out he was friend just going along for the ride.) I asked what price it was to get me back to the hotel, and made an obvious show of writing down his auto number just in case there was any, uh, "disagreement" upon arrival. We took off and these two guys took me by way of roads and streets I had not been on before. After about twenty minutes I thought for sure we were lost, but the scenery was great so I just sat back, held on tight, and enjoyed the ride. And suddenly, we ended up right in front of the hotel! I gave them a nice tip, and asked if I could get their photo.