JC in India

I landed back to Delhi earlier this week having been out of town for nearly three weeks. The thing that surprised me most? I was happy to be back. That doesn’t mean I am not missing all that is dear to me back at home, but I genuinely felt a sense of happiness to be back in this crazy land.

I realise therefore that I have reached a point now where I am truly settled and feel very much at home here. I have found myself responding when asked ‘how is it all going?’, that I am perfectly comfortable with the lifestyle here in India, it is the work culture that is the most challenging aspect. And I think the sensation I unexpectedly felt when I landed back to Delhi on Monday evening, while in the car on the way back to apartment, reinforced that within me. Yes, India has its foibles and all the hardships that I have referred to in past posts, but once you adjust to that and learn to adapt to this way of life it actually becomes surprisingly easy to cope with. I am sure if I was living in the slums and existing on a pittance I would have a different perspective of course, however I am not and the life I have here – admittedly privileged compared to many – means that I can savour this experience for the time I am here and enjoy the adventure for what it is.

I think part of this though came from the fact that when I left India nearly 3 weeks prior, I needed a break and to get away from it all. Plus, I really wanted to get home, so I was very focused on just getting back to where I needed to be for a while. Having lost Bailey in April and having to cope with that from 4,200 miles away was very difficult and I needed to be back near where his remains were and to complete that part of the grieving process. It was so good to be able to hold the box with his ashes in, and to know he will be remaining now at peace in his home and will always be well looked after now he is at rest. It was also so nice to see his younger brother from another mother, Barney. Taking him out for walkies on his own felt strange but it was nice to be with him and know he is still going well and is ok despite now being an ‘only dog’.

It was also great to run again! The Knaresborough Striders 5K time trial on the Tuesday evening coincided with the week I was back, and it wasn’t pretty compared to previous attempts. However, it was just good to be back down at the club again with such a supportive and friendly group.

I am not stressing about my fitness now. I know there is no way I can retain the levels I had before I came here, but it is nice to just keep up some activity when I can and keep a degree of baseline so that when I do return, I can rebuild and regain hopefully what I had before – and more. It was nice to join Andy and Mhairi on the Saturday parkrun ’30 minute fun bus’ trot around; just running around for the fun of it, not with any target or goal in mind.

I have been persuaded though (and rightly so I admit) to follow an online strength fitness program, under threat that I would have to also use Thibaut’s personal trainer if I didn’t! so I did the deal and am now working my way through this program and will continue to focus on core strength in this way so when I can run again I will be stronger in that way. However it did not help when the session couple days back needed weights and I had not ordered any (subsequently ordered though from Mr Bezos and expecting a knock any moment with the delivery). So I had to improvise for that session…

Knaresborough also has the famous bed race each year, with a two mile course around town in a team of six pushing a tailor made ‘bed’ with a child onboard, ending with a swim across the river Nidd to the finish line. I have been on a team twice in years gone by, and it is great fun but hard work. There is a ¼ mile steep hill climb (up Castle Ings) around the halfway point, and then a gradual and steepening downhill back to the finish. I have never been as fit as the time I first ran the race, training with guys faster than me and pushing myself beyond my normal limits. I am not able to run it this year (although I would label myself as a reserve reserve!), but that didn’t prevent me joining the ‘old gits’ team for a training run around the course on the Wednesday evening. I managed to hold on until the top of the steep downhill section where their pace was just too fast for me, but considering my lack of fitness I was happy with that and chased them down to the finish. It was great to be back!

So home is where the heart is for sure. But coming back to Delhi and being happy to do so helped me realise that it is about making the most of what you have. The heart may be at home, but that doesn’t mean you cannot be happy in other places. I often joke that my happy place is with a cheeseboard and a glass of nice red onboard an Emirates flight – something I did actually savour during this last trip. It was my first Emirates long haul flight since pre pandemic days, where I used to be pretty much on them every few months. It was good to be back onboard in my favourite ‘usual’ seat!

My routing back to Delhi ended up including a few days in Dubai, due to a last minute need to go to the Arabian Travel Market, with a couple of key meetings there. This also afforded an opportunity to catch up with friends living there, and to experience the buzz of a city that is certainly back in full swing.

I was there representing our airport in Goa to some airlines and business partners, along with the Minister of Tourism for the region, so for a change I actually wore a tie – not a usual occurrence for me.

And so back to Delhi.

I have a new resident sharing the apartment with me; Gurtie the Gecko who resides atop the artificial ceiling in my living area. She pops out to make an appearance every now and then, often scaring the bejesus out of me (is that a term?!). I have also got a new bird nest seemingly being created right outside on my terrace as this fine chap has been coming back and forwards all day today with bits of twig in their beak.

Maybe this year it is not going to be watching out for Penny the pigeon, but Betty the birdle instead…

Although the resident of one of the lower apartments in the building asked my permission to put up these anti bird pins to stop them mucking up his terrace below.

The guy who installed them wasn’t exactly adhering to health and safety regulations though…

Speaking of my terrace I have now given up any attempt to keep some of the plants alive as they are dead as can be now. There are some survivors that are more exposed to any rain but these climbing ones are now officially abandoned!

The five pack is still outside, patrolling the locale and keeping their eyes on the situation. The temperature has risen to higher levels of the high 30’s centigrade each day so they spend most of their time dozing in the shade now, saving any patrols until the cooler evenings.

Yesterday my day guard Vikas headed off for a month back to his village to get married. He was good enough to invite me to the wedding, but I have politely declined as it is a three day event and I would be the only non-Hindi speaker there, so it would be challenging to follow and get involved to say the least. It would have been interesting to attend, but the language, location etc., makes it not really viable. I gave him a wedding gift of cash though, and waved him off when his rickshaw came, along with a few other of his friends who live/work in this area.

He has been replaced by a chap called Gansham, following the first guy who was due to replace him not starting in the end. I don’t know what happened there, as the lack of shared language between us makes it hard to converse with any detail, but he knocked on the door and introduced me to Gansham as his cover while he is away. I am not sure Gansham is ‘all there’ to be honest, but so long as he is ok to just sit outside the building all day, I guess not much is required of him. Heaven knows what would actually happen in the event the ‘guard’ part of their title was ever actually called into need, but I expect their presence is all that is required. I hope…!

Friday evening saw a pitstop at the apartment of a guy from work where he made a Gin Ton extraordinaire. I am not much of a Gin Ton drinker really, but it is his speciality and to be fair he knows his stuff and it was good!

And ok ok, the ‘guy from work’ is really Gordon from Melbourne – since referring to him as that in earlier post, it has become an in joke now that he is referred to as this. 😉

Gordon also did the “Grog run” yesterday, pit-stopping in the good liquor store out in Gurgaon on his way back from golfing down that way, so my order was placed, and I am now stocked up on beer and wine for the next month or so. The government run liquor store here in Vasant Vihar continues to disappoint with only a selection of blow your head off strong local beers in stock, which is not my idea of fun for a relaxed evening.

All these little things, routine interactions, friends to engage with, animals in and around my place, and the general environment does make me happy. I miss home and loved ones there as I said earlier, but that does not prevent me from making the most of Delhi and being happy here. Yes, work does have its challenges and these last few weeks I have had some particularly challenging issues to deal with, but it is all part of the experience. A few of us expats were having lunch the other day, and the conversation was very much that while there are challenges none of us regret coming at all. There are times and days when my short-term mindset may say otherwise, but overall and deep down I know that I am glad to be here and doing this. The three years – assuming that is how long I stay – will in the future be remembered as the briefest of moments. I know that from experience having spent two years living in Montreal earlier in my career, and now that seems like a short blip in time, and as though it almost never happened. I know India will feel the same in the years to come, and this for me is the long game. Coming out of this I will be better for it, both personally and hopefully professionally too.

Assuming I do complete the full three years, something I have every intention of doing at the moment, it means I am nearly halfway there already. I would probably finish at the beginning of December next year (2024) as my visa will expire at the start of that month so with Christmas breaks etc., it is probably not necessary to go to all the effort and cost of renewing a visa just for a couple of weeks work, but we’ll see. I may need to do so for contractual / employment needs but that is a question for next year. Of course, things may change before then. As much as this is a three year contract it also has normal termination clauses so I could choose to leave earlier, or there may be a business need to change things in advance too. So, nothing is certain, but right now my focus and intent is to be here until the end of next year all things remaining equal.

And that means I am now closing in on the halfway point. Like the Knaresborough bed race, with the steep climb around the halfway point, it feels like from a work perspective it has been a steep climb recently, with some events of the last few weeks being particularly challenging. But on the flip side some things have gone very well, and I have seen a shift in certain areas for the positive, helped by getting a couple of big wins across the line in the last couple of months. The results of the last years work is starting to pay off and I feel this is being seen internally which is, I sense, moving things in the right direction in addressing some of those challenges.

In the bed race, once the steep hill is climbed there is a brief dash across the flat summit before the longer downwards section which enables the pace to be picked up towards the finish. I feel I am now similarly at the top and traversing the plateau, having got the steep climb behind me. Shortly the pace will pick up as the work results hopefully keep coming in, and personally my life continually gets easier as I get more and more established. And the finish line will start to be visible on the horizon.

It feels almost like I am running an Indian bed race.