[Gurgaon, India]

Tuesday was another whirlwind day in New Delhi.

We started off with an interview at Times of India – a major newspaper in the country. When we arrived at the Times of India building, we told the security guy we were there to see Ajay Vaishnavi. He took our names, gave us a visitor pass and sent us off to the second floor. There, we told the next security guy we were there to see Ajay. Since we were ealry, he shuffled us off to a conference room until he got there. Around 10 or so, when the interview was supposed to start, we went to check with the security guy again – Ajay hadn’t arrived yet. By 10:15, we thought we’d call him directly but decided to give the security guy one more try. All of a sudden, it turned out that Ajay was actually there all along but the security guy was waiting for his assistant, Madhura, to come get us. Well, Madhura was on vacation and she wasn’t going to show up any time soon… Not to mention that we asked for Ajay specifically several times and we were told he wasn’t there yet… Ah, India, India…

The other thing that struck me here was the lack of infrastructure. While the Times of India building itself was shiny and new, the road around it was dirt and a there was a cow lounging in the shade of a tree across the entrance. Yes, a cow on a dirt road next to a brand new building. India is a land of contrasts!

After our interview, I had just enough time to do some shopping at a government emporium before we had to head out to a suburb of Delhi, Gurgaon. We had tickets to see a Bollywood musical at the newly built Kingdom of Dreams – a destination that brings together arts, crafts, culture and entertainment. It was an amazing venue – beautiful from every angle! The musical we saw, Zangoora – The Gypsy Prince, was also a marvelous, spectacular production. One didn’t need to speak Hindi to follow the plot line, but even if you couldn’t follow along, the singing and dancing alone provided plenty of entertainment. From the colorful costumes to the amazing props and the lively Bollywood music that made you want to jump off your seat and start shaking your booty, it was magical!!! Of course, after the show we all wanted to learn how to dance to Bollywood music! Luckily, we had our tour guide with us and he explained that many Bollywood dance moves are simply everyday tasks!!! For instance, imagine screwing in a lightbulb with one hand while turning slowly all the way around – that’s one move. Petting the dog – that’s another move. Turning the door knob – that’s yet another one. Seems easy to me! 🙂

It was a great way to spend our last night in New Delhi. We were about to leave North India and head for one of the biggest cities in the South – Bangalore. Spicy food, here we come!