I've arrived! After much anticipation, 3 months of prework, a 14 hour flight, and some mild panic-stricken moments, I touched down in India. Luckily for me, on the flight I was with Carla and Erin (From Canada) and Ana Gaby (from Mexico) and we were able to chat while we stretched our legs in the aisle and share our excitement. We landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport and upon exiting that gate, it all suddenly felt real. 1 month in India was about to begin.
Leaving the airport after collecting my overpacked suitcases, I noticed three things immediately: 1) the vehicles here drive on the left side of the road which I did not expect, 2) even at 11pm, the roads were packed - which continues 24 hours a day and, 3) the drivers here have to be skilled to drive on the roads. The amount of cars, the crossing of 7 lanes weaving in and out of traffic, Tuks Tuks, motos, cars and transport trucks alike all flighting and honking to get to their destination. I had to close my eyes at certain point because they were all weaving in-and-out so vigorously I thought collision was imminent! The horns are key to this process and they're relentless. My driver commented that to drive in India, you need 3 things: Good brakes, a good horn, and good luck....
We arrived at our hotel, checked in and crashed. Tomorrow was Holi! We awoke the next day, dressed in our white clothes and met in the lobby for breakfast. Most of the team had arrived at this point so we ate breakfast together, exchanged travel trips and headed to Veronica's home community. Veronica is apart of the Pyerxa Global team who helps deploy the IBM teams and since we are here for Holi, she welcomed us all to her community which has around 750 flats.
We arrived at Veronica's and were immediately welcomed with colour! Holi is the celebration of Spring and the triumph of good over evil - it really is a celebration! The colours all represent different aspects of Hinduism as well as new beginnings, harvest, and fertility. I can't think of better icebreaker with my new CSC family than Holi. Traditionally, you take the coloured powder and rub it on your friends and family.... thats what we did with our new family. We walked into the courtyard and we were immediate welcomed by a live DJ in the courtyard playing awesome dancy music - a mix of Hindi and some western tracks- and a barrage of water balloons from a group of young boys who noticed we were far too clean for Holi.
Throughout the day, we danced, played with the colour, got to know one another a bit more, cooled off in the sprinkler (cleaning off slightly) and really had a great afternoon. The only casualty being our white clothes that would not of been able to survive the colour bombs. Overall a great first day in India. It definitely was a change going from -10 in Canada to temperatures around 30+ everyday in India but very happy to escape winter and see what the next month has in store for us!
