Hyderabad, Deloitte and Horns

Hyderabad is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is where the Deloitte office is based, which is why I'm here. The primary lingo here is Telegu, although everyone at the airport, hotel, restuarants, etc. seems to speak English (certainly not the case for the majority of the population). Hyderabad is actually a pretty big city -- India's 5th largest metropolis and the 41st largest metropolitan area in the world. You can read about the history of Hyderabad here.

The first thing you notice (besides the unique smell here) when you get to Hyderabad is the constant traffic and horn honking. It's very similar to the noise you hear on a casino floor that comes from the "ching, ching, ching" of the slot machines, except it's car horns. It's just short beeps (they use it as sort of a "hey I'm here" when they are driving) and is absolutely non-stop 24/7/ The traffic "laws" are actually more suggestions than anything, so I guess it's necessary to avoid getting run over!

Right of way does seem to be by vehicle size and this video gives you a feel for the free-for-all on the road (but doesn't do justice to the amount of cars, cabs, motorized rickshaws, scooters and motorcycles on the road).

Just a quick few words on Hyderabad and why I'm here. As you probably know, I work for Deloitte Tax and we opened an office here about five years ago. The Tax group in India is now over 1000 people, making it the largest office within the US practice. My part in this is to work with the professionals in the US to push some of their work to the professionals in India, which allows the US people to do more value-added work that can only be done in the US.

More about this later on -- it really is incredible operation that benefits the US and Indian professionals and has resulted in huge growth for both groups.

Stop, Shilpa Time!

It's my first night in Hyderabad (more on that in the morning) and of course I'm having some problem sleeping. Woke up after about 4 hours of sleep and started flipping channels and every Indian station had "Breaking News" flashing on the scroll at the bottom of the screen. Took me a few minutes before I found an English-speaking channel flashing this to realize that the big news was that Bollywood Diva Shilpa Shetty had won the UK show Big Brother (edging out Jermaine Jackson!).

Evidently this year's UK Big Brother was especially controversial, with all sorts of racism charges.

And my favorite part...after cheers from the fans following her win, there was this exchange with the host when she emerged from the Big Bro house:

Q: What was it like waiting in there on your own?

A: I was in shock. I was in shock. Chicken curry rules (to the crowd)!

Cobra Kai Rules!

You might want to check out my new favorite video for the song, "Sweep the Leg, Johnny" by No More Kings.

It's about Johnny from the Karate Kid (he was the bad guy) and features original actors from the movie (including the guy who played Johnny).

I hope No More Kings next does a song called, "It's My Way or the Highway" about the life of Dalton as the ass-kicking bouncer at the Double Deuce in the movie Roadhouse.



And as you go through life, just remember what Dalton said, "I want you to be nice until it's time to not be nice."

Falscher Hase and Cures for a Sore Back

I read that there are 1500+ kinds of German sausages, and after just a little more than a day wondering around Frankfurt, I would have to agree. I had a weisswurst today while walking through and outdoor market and it really hit the spot. I also tried the Falscher Hase (a sort of German meat loaf), but managed to stay away from the giant pig knuckles that almost every deli seemed to be selling.

I don't think that 1500 number even includes something called Wurstsalat, which is exactly that -- sausage and cheese chopped up and tossed with mayo. It's even available pre-made at the store for those of you who might be too busy to chop their own wursts. Yummm.

My mom had back surgery a few years ago so when I saw a sign for "Back Store" I went right in thinking that maybe they would have some sort of secret German solution for my mom's back pain. Turns out "Back Store" is actually a chain of German bakeries. I'm hoping the chocolate croissant and I bought helps her, but of course I knew that wouldn't really work. So I ate it instead.

And so it begins...

In the words of David Cross, "Read my blog!"

Well, here goes nothing. I'm certainly 10+ years too old to be blogging, but away we go.

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Offenbach, Germany where it's nearly midnight and am setting up this blog. The plan is to upload pictures, postings and general musings over the next three weeks during my trip to Germany, India and France.

Germany (three days) and France (three days) are both "for fun" and are sandwiching my two week work trip to Hyderabad, India. Most of the blogging will undoubtedly occur there.

I hate to start this off with an apology, but since I'm setting this up in Germany, Google has directed me to their Deutsch site and I'm trying to set this up by following instructions in German. Unfortunately, my German is limited to things like "danke" and "bitte" -- and of course something that Josh (sister's fiancee) taught me that translates to, "DON'T SHOOT!"

The trip from Chicago to Frankfurt was completely uneventful, mostly due to the really comfortable Lufthansa business class PrivateBed (thanks Deloitte!), although I thought the champagne served just before take off could have been a tad bit colder. I know, it's tough being me!

Good times...