Bangalore, Day 4
Two presentations given, and now it's my travel-mate's turn to give them all! :) However, tomorrow I have to meet with one of the developers and answer hard questions, so that's fun, too.
We ended up revisiting a shop/market/mall that we visited on Sunday with K & S. We spent our entire time in one store, but we were both very happy with our purchases. We then walked a few blocks to another store, and then we got an Uber back to our hotel. It takes 30-45 minutes to get anywhere. From hotel to work, from work to hotel, from hotel to shopping, from shopping to hotel.
So tomorrow we are going to walk to one of the shopping-busy streets nearby and hopefully find some good deals. This is actually where we wanted to go today, but when we requested directions from the hotel staff, they recommended we go to Safira or Commercial Street (both of which we visited on Sunday), so we did as we were told.
I'm not sure if we are babied here or not. It has become an legitimately difficult task to throw away my own desk trash at work, as there is always someone--company "help" (for lack of a better term), not company employees--who will sweep in and do it for me. A man brings us snacks every morning on a silver cart. If we don't eat them, he takes them away at some point in the night...so that he can bring them again when we arrive. (We are not sure if he brings them "in the morning" or if he waits for us to arrive. I actually think it's the latter.) If we leave valuables on our desk, it also disappears after we leave...and reappears in the morning (with the snacks) with our names attached by post-it note. It is becoming frustrating, the number of things I am virtually not allowed to do for myself. Someone has even turned on the faucet for me.
I am coming to expect people--especially men--to open doors for me, for cars to show up when called, to be called "madam," to be wished "good day" and "good evening." For the waiter in the morning to remember that I would like chai with my breakfast, and for the driver of the car to stay silent while we chat in the back, even though most of them speak enough English for conversation.
Even our work colleagues are careful with us, ensuring we have sufficient bottled water and reminding us that we are only to drink it and not use the water dispenser that they drink from.
It is impossible for me to tell where this service and deference comes from. I have several theories, and it is possible for more than one of them to be true. Is it because I am a white westerner, and this is a country with a recent history of deference toward westerners because of their colonization by the British. Is it because I'm American, famous for being helpless in countries such as theirs--I can't bargain, and crossing the street is daunting (though West Campus prepped me well). Is it because I'm from a first-world country, remarkably fragile and liable to get sick if I ingest a few crumbs or drops of the wrong thing? (They get sick, too, usually from food. But it is part of life and easier to navigate around than it is for those of us only here a week. At least, I think that is the logic used.) Is it because I am American and thought rich (and, indeed, I am comparatively wealthy here)? In the context of a caste system, this makes some legitimate sense. And while the respectful side of the deference could be because I am a woman, it does not feel that the constant attention is for the same reason, i.e. as if I am silly and incapable. Women are respected here, at least publicly, and while it may be a patriarchal society, no one seems to think them stupid.
We ended up revisiting a shop/market/mall that we visited on Sunday with K & S. We spent our entire time in one store, but we were both very happy with our purchases. We then walked a few blocks to another store, and then we got an Uber back to our hotel. It takes 30-45 minutes to get anywhere. From hotel to work, from work to hotel, from hotel to shopping, from shopping to hotel.
So tomorrow we are going to walk to one of the shopping-busy streets nearby and hopefully find some good deals. This is actually where we wanted to go today, but when we requested directions from the hotel staff, they recommended we go to Safira or Commercial Street (both of which we visited on Sunday), so we did as we were told.
I'm not sure if we are babied here or not. It has become an legitimately difficult task to throw away my own desk trash at work, as there is always someone--company "help" (for lack of a better term), not company employees--who will sweep in and do it for me. A man brings us snacks every morning on a silver cart. If we don't eat them, he takes them away at some point in the night...so that he can bring them again when we arrive. (We are not sure if he brings them "in the morning" or if he waits for us to arrive. I actually think it's the latter.) If we leave valuables on our desk, it also disappears after we leave...and reappears in the morning (with the snacks) with our names attached by post-it note. It is becoming frustrating, the number of things I am virtually not allowed to do for myself. Someone has even turned on the faucet for me.
I am coming to expect people--especially men--to open doors for me, for cars to show up when called, to be called "madam," to be wished "good day" and "good evening." For the waiter in the morning to remember that I would like chai with my breakfast, and for the driver of the car to stay silent while we chat in the back, even though most of them speak enough English for conversation.
Even our work colleagues are careful with us, ensuring we have sufficient bottled water and reminding us that we are only to drink it and not use the water dispenser that they drink from.
It is impossible for me to tell where this service and deference comes from. I have several theories, and it is possible for more than one of them to be true. Is it because I am a white westerner, and this is a country with a recent history of deference toward westerners because of their colonization by the British. Is it because I'm American, famous for being helpless in countries such as theirs--I can't bargain, and crossing the street is daunting (though West Campus prepped me well). Is it because I'm from a first-world country, remarkably fragile and liable to get sick if I ingest a few crumbs or drops of the wrong thing? (They get sick, too, usually from food. But it is part of life and easier to navigate around than it is for those of us only here a week. At least, I think that is the logic used.) Is it because I am American and thought rich (and, indeed, I am comparatively wealthy here)? In the context of a caste system, this makes some legitimate sense. And while the respectful side of the deference could be because I am a woman, it does not feel that the constant attention is for the same reason, i.e. as if I am silly and incapable. Women are respected here, at least publicly, and while it may be a patriarchal society, no one seems to think them stupid.
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