Organized chaos

(I am thoroughly sleep derived, so pardon the bad grammar and/or poor writing).

I had a delayed flight into Delhi (AA 292), though no fault of AA. The flight was marvelous otherwise.

The Delhi Int'l Airport is amazing. No, wait. Incredible. It's new and really feels like you're in a developed country and it should be a fantastic addition for the country. Our flight, by the way, passed over Kabul (Afghanistan) and I just watched the topography in amazement, thinking about our troops. We also 'chased the sun' for the entire flight, so I have some beautiful sunset/sunrise pictures over northern Canada that I'll post soon. I was asleep, however, while we flew over the North Pole.

As we approached Delhi, I expected to see a very large area of bright lights, much as you would find approaching Washington DC or New York. Instead, I was surprised that it was simply a semi dull glow, perhaps very representative of the developing category of the country. It was a semi-foggy (polluted?) evening, so that may have affected the visibility.

The staff at the airport was incredibly helpful. Unlike in the US, there are a plethora of airline reps readily available. Au contraire to my expectations, I had no trouble going through customs.

An observation about the workforce at the airport: It is almost fully comprised of young (20s), professional, seemingly very motivated to work, and competent individuals. If that's representative of the future of India, great (greater?) things are about to unfold here over the next several years.

And now for the drama.

I had a 10pm connection to make from a different (domestic) terminal. Given that it was 9pm as I walked out of the airport, I had almost no chance of making it, but there was no option other than to head that way and figure out a new plan.

As I walked out of the airport, I slammed into what felt like a wall of immensely intense heat. It's not quite like Florida, which is very humid. Instead, this just felt hot and stale. I had expected a pungent stench (perhaps from all the hyperbole in the media) but thankfully my olfactory senses were spared.

I proceeded to the 'taxi' section in hopes of getting a cab and rushing to the domestic terminal. As it turned out, I had to prepay for a cab. This was an interesting experience itself as I was quoted Rs. 170 and received Rs. 300 from a Rs. 500 bill. I insisted on getting the additional Rs. 30 and finally received it. And so began the let's-take-advantage-of-the-tourist. Once I proceeded towards the cabs, some random old rickety dude came and proceeded to take my 53 lbs bag towards the cab. He probably weighed less. Anyway, it's apparently the thing here: they come and just start "helping" you with your luggage. Once in the worse-than-dirt crapped-out cab, he kindly requested Rs. 100. What?! I gave him Rs. 10 instead, which really shocked him.

People here have a strange way of not really acknowledging your question even though they understand what you're saying and will do it. I asked this dubious-looking-cabbie in his even more dubious cab whether we were going to the domestic terminal about 3 or 4 times before I got an answer. I think a no answer means yes.

And so we proceed onto the road. This is when it really struck me that I was in the India I had been anxious about. The lane markers are simply decorative paint. No one cares about them. A three-lane road is often a four or five lane road. You drive and honk as you go and as you please. You constantly honk so that if you are in someone's blind spot, they are aware of it. Changing lanes at whim is a non event because lanes don't exist in the minds of the drivers. There are people walking on the roads and there are motorcycles and bicyclists happily sharing the road with cars. Somehow, and I'm really not sure how, everyone gets along and you get to your destination. Hence, the title of this post. There's some magical mystery about the organized chaos in the streets; let it be for it defines this place. It's truly a 'share-the-road' philosophy. Not to mention sharing it with cows and camels (yes, I saw a camel). I've been told there are elephants wandering about too -- I want to see that and you can be sure I will be happy to let Mr/s. Elephant go it alone.

I spent the night at an aptly named "Airport Hotel," where they once again tried to fix me into getting the most expensive room (actually a suite). Even though I had not really slept in over 24 hours by now, I thankfully had the sense to get the cheapest room with A/C. Air conditioning is a luxury and one that I willingly paid for; I'm not sure I could have survived without it.

My flight to Ahmedabad the next day was (thankfully) uneventful. It was, however, an eye-opener (really an eye-widener) into what I had seen and have commented on upon landing: the young and motivated workforce. During this perfect people watching opportunity (near a KFC, by the way), it was striking to note that I again felt as though I was at O'Hare or Heathrow. Mostly everyone traveling seemed to have been doing so for business; they were very well dressed and well spoken. I struck up a conversation with two individuals; the first was a Korean engineer who was been working in the state of Orissa, and the second person, a PhD in agricultural sciences, worked at a Monsanto-type organization and was just back from Paris and Marrakesh (Morocco). Both were very positive on the future business prospects of India. I learned a lot about Indian agriculture (40% of the land is cultivated land, not sure what it is in the US; genetically-modified corn is on the rise here; glycophosate pesticides like RoundUp are not bad for humans as long as they are used correctly; drip irrigation systems are on the rise; Israel has remarkable irrigation technology and there is a lot of collaboration between the two countries on the matter).

My flight on "IndiGo" airline was great; it was a new A320 with extremely professional and very well spoken attendants (all announcements are made in Hindi and English). I can't think of the last time I sat in a US carrier with a new (or even semi new) aircraft. The emerging India is really remarkable and seems to be doing so at a torrid pace. As far as I'm concerned, the 'I' in the emerging BRIC economies is very alive and well.