Weekend break

Up until Friday I was pretty much 100% consumed by work on the IBM event. By all measures, that seems to have gone well so I took the weekend to relax and explore a bit. I had to work late on Friday night, so I didn't do much after having dinner with some IBM colleagues. I caught the first few minutes of the World Cup match in a hotel bar, but then bailed out. Football/soccer/whatever is not exactly my thing. It's not even that big here – but people are crazy about cricket.

On Saturday I awoke early and hired a car to take me to Mysore. Mysore is a city about 180km (3hr drive) from Bangalore where there are several site well worth seeing. First of all, I visited the Tippu Sultan's garden palace. Alas, photography is not permitted inside, so I have some exterior shots. But the narrative murals on the walls inside were breathtaking! I think the décor within the building dates to the late 18th century as it depicts battles with British troops. There were also some cool artifacts from the age of the Sultan such as coins, swords, clothing and portraits of him and his sons and advisors. The grounds surrounding the palace were extraordinarily sculpted. Several Indian teenagers came up to me and wanted to pose for a photo with me. I guess they don't see a lot of white dudes.

Mysore is known for its silk and sandalwood products. I resisted the temptation to buy a couple silk shirts but I did pick up some silk scarves and wall hangings. Really beautiful, hand-made materials.

I stopped by St. Philomena's church. It was interesting to see the local take on Christianity. The Indian color palate and artistic sensibility manifested in the building itself and the holy items on display creating a hybrid (and frankly, somewhat unpleasant) aesthetic.

After that I went to the palace of the Maharaja. One word to describe it: whoa! Again, photography was disallowed inside, but I got some cool exterior shots. Inside the palace was room after room of ornate decorations on a larger-than-life scale. Marble floors, murals, stained glass, colonnades…the list goes on. The place was clearly designed to convey the Maharaja's majesty and power. In the main ball room there was a kind of multi-hued glass cupola that deserved its own museum. Since the floors are also ornate works of art, all visitors (and the guards too!) are required to check their shoes at the door. So my memory of the visit is defined by the feel of cool stone on the bottom of my bare feet.

Following the visit to the palace I had a short walk through the vegetable and fruit market. This was truly eye-popping! The colors of that market have left an indelible impression on my mind's eye. So varied and beautiful and deep. There were people selling everything – mostly farmers from the countryside with one or two items on offer, but also people selling spices, house wares, and dyes of all colors.

Before heading back to Bangalore, I drove up to Chamundi hill, where there is a beautiful temple honoring the Goddess Chamundeshwari overlooking the city of Mysore and the surrounding valleys. Outside of the temple tourists, locals and people selling souvenirs and holy items mixed with the monkeys who walked around freely eating bananas. My driver, Manju, was kind enough to take me into the temple itself to do a puja, or blessing. There was a pretty long wait to get in there as dozens of adherents waited to do their blessing in the temple's inner sanctum. But it was worth it – I caught a brief glimpse of the way at least one religion is practiced here. Manju kindly led me through the ceremonies and the monks were friendly too – even putting the red mark on my forehead denoting that I had made a puja.

The drive there and back – 3hrs each way – was also fascinating. We passed through several dozen small towns, each with its own look. We also passed a series of enormous stone outcrops. And yes, I saw plenty of cows walking around un-tethered in the streets.

Saturday night I met up with a fellow named James in the hotel lounge who's also traveling here for business. He's around my age and so I invited him out to see if we could check out some of the local pubs, which we did. We went to a place called the Night Watchman, which I think was a pretty good choice. We were definitely the only white guys in there and had a chance to chat with some locals. The music was a fun mix of Indian favorites and classics form the west – who knew Queen was so popular here?

After a couple rounds there we walked around MG Road a bit until we found another place (don't remember its name) and had another drink there. We got into a conversation with two young local guys who each work at IT companies too and ended up talking past midnight. What a world of difference – one world for HP and the other for Dell. The one from Dell was really keen on moving to the US and starting college. At any rate, it was fascinating to get to chat with some guys on the other side of the Ethernet cable. The ride home – in another autorickshaw – was great fun. This driver had equipped his little open-air three-wheeler with a huge stereo, which was pounding out Indian disco. It was a wild blur of a ride through the Bangalore night.

Sunday was a relaxation day. All that running around (for IBM the last couple weeks and for touristy reasons on Saturday) pretty much wiped me out. So I slept in late on Sunday and then went to Sukanya and Shati's for lunch. They were so kind to invite me over to their home. We had a fascinating conversation ranging from religion to family to politics to economics and beyond and then had a deliscious home-made India meal. Folks here eat with their hands and somehow manage to do it without dripping a drop. Meanwhile I was making a pretty big mess of it! (I'm grateful that they offered me a spoon as I have yet to master the art of eating curry gracefully without!)

After lunch Sukanya and I took her niece, Ash to the hotel swimming pool where we played and splashed a bit to break the heat.

Speaking of the heat, it's waaaay milder here than I expected. And it really hasn't rained at all. It's been in the 80s or 90s and breezy – perfect weather, really. Though I'm told that I'll get to experience true India heat when I hit Delhi later this week.

Well, lunch break is nearly done, so I'm going to get back to work. Thanks for leaving all the nice comments!