...so whats the story about Diwali..

So here is a bit more background on why "Diwali" or "Devali" as it is also call, and why it is such a special day for especial Hindus, Diwali is known as the "festival of Light" and is typically celebrated as a family activity where there are different activities on the program, which could be lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil, people normally dress up in their new cloth (hence my shopping earlier today) and they would be sharing sweets and snacks with each other. For Hindus Diwali is the marking of the return Rama (the seventh avatar of Vishnu and the king of Ayodhya, and old ancient city in India, that is now considered a holy city - and suppose to have been living 5000 years BC) after having been banished for 14 years. Rama is for many hindus considered as the perfect human and for the sake of his father's honour, Rama decided to abandon his claim to Kosala's throne to serve an exile in the forest. So the wife and brother of Rama cant live without him and decides to join him in exile together. While being in exile Sita (wife of Rama) is kidnapped by Ravana (a very negatively loaded person). After a long search and loads of test of personal strength and virtue, Rama finally ends up battling Ravana - needless to say that it includes power and a ton of magic, and other destructive stuff, Rama finally win the battle and frees his wife. Rama returns to be crown king of Ayodhya and in the end becomes emperor - and is believe to have ruled his land with happiness, peace, prosperity and justice - a period known as Rama Rajya... So here is one disclaimer - this story is for Hindus, and i just went and check it with "Tony" and as he told me, Diwali means something completely different for Sikhs - he is a sikh and he will for sure know .. so i will take the story from a Hindu side .. hope it was useful, and should you ever end up in India for Diwali - remember, new cloth, snacks and sweets - share and be nice .... oh i almost forgot - and loads of fireworks .... 

...Shopping - and some more shopping, and then some more shopping..

As it looks that my lunch has been moved to a day where it will not be raining (i wonder when that will be in the month of the monsoon..) we head out to the centre of Chennai - the mission, cloth shopping for Diwali, i have decided to go all out for tomorrows celebration, so we grab a rickshaw and are off to the FABINDIA - which is a upper-class show, known for its fantastic colour of cloth, and fantastic material, it is still raining on and off - so light dressed, i step out of the rickshaw, and of to the shop.. and let me tell you what a sight, wow - those colour combinations are absolutely fantastic, the material is wow, and all the accessory is so beautiful, once again i have to share with you that do not know me that well - that shopping is not my favourite cup of tea, i tend to get stressed very fast while shopping, but here it is absolutely different, we enter and are greeted with smiles, and fast a young lady comes up to help me, as i am sure see can see i have no idea what i am shopping for... After talking for 1 or 2 min. it seems that i have attracted the attention of the shop manager - and all of a sudden i feel like the male version of Julie Roberts in "pretty Woman" ... the service, the support, the advices and the client care, it is absolutely AMAZING ... they know exactly what goes with what, the colours, i have to admit at this point i am getting all excited .. - i guess i kinda understand why shopping can be fun, when you have service like this..after spending some 40 - 50 min trying on different outfits, i can conclude i have everything.. and honestly, i think i look pretty good - at least the shop manager looks very satisfied with my selection of colours, the combination, and i did notice that i got a couple of long looks from the female staff there, a bit of shy smiling - all in all i take that as "martin you are good to go"! .. So as i am about to pay i see why the shop manager was so helpful, it was a bit more than i expected, but i also did manage to get some presents for some friends.. oh well how often do i get to experience Diwali in India ? how often do i get to share this moment with 14 other colleagues from different countries ? was it and is it worth money - ABSOLUTELY .. and i am sure i will make some friends happy as well - and that is priceless ... Diwali watch out - Martin is prepared .. 

..preparing for a long week of training...

Rain is pouring down, there has been a maybe 30 min break during the late morning, and now it continues, so what do you spend your time on, when you are in India and it is pouring down.. here is what you do, you get together with your team member(s) on the 2nd floor of the hotel (where breakfast is served ..), and you turn that in to an office, notebooks, coffee, tea, music, notes, discussions, and of course a group of people, each group working on their projects.. - so here is whats going on right now - we are preparing sessions for: Time management, project management, decision making, feedback, and communication..these presentation we will be delivering next week (and as Diwali is coming tomorrow we are tight on the schedule), then we have to train their trainers in our material (so they can carry out the trainings in the different communities - feels good to be able to leave a legacy behind and know that you are making a difference..) and then we are about to finish our project here, so right now conversations are ping ponging back and forth - ideas, thoughts, approaches, changes, adjustments, typing, some more adjustments, changes, adding new stuff, this is dynamite .. and in the background you have Queen with good old Freddie Mercury singing "another one fights the dust" as we start to tick of the presentations we are sign-in off - yes Freddy another one indeed fights the dust!! .. I feel comfortable with us delivering high level of add-value, there is really some good stuff here.. and again i have to compliment my partner in crime Susanne, working with her, is just so much fun, and it really is very dynamic... so Susanne "takker og bukker" ... 

.. When it rains, it pours...

I am done with me chatting to friends, i am done with e-mailing and i am done with posting for tonight, i am off to sleep - i get under the blanket, the AC is still on, so is the fan, and then suddenly it starts, slowly at first, the more and more wild, i get out of bed, pushes the curtains to the side, opens the window - i cant believe my own eyes, this is the most insane amount of rain i have every seen.. it is amazing the amount of water that is pouring down in a matter of minutes, the streets are easily flooded with water, the water tanks are starting to take in a lot of water, people are soaked on the street, traffic is slowing down to almost a stand-still .. you can here the sound of rain drops playing music on the tin roofs here, first it is nice and relaxing, but then once the intensity increases it because a noise level that is almost unbearable - good luck getting sleep in that weather (if you dont know this about me, i am a pretty light sleeper), i twist and turn for a bit of time, before flicking on the TV, i eventually manage to fall asleep, only to wake up to the voice of my yoga instructor on the other side of the door - already in full session with the team, i overslept, and it is still pouring down, now more than ever, i eventually manage to climb out of bed, move myself up to 2nd floor and get a bit of breakfast - or the sad left overs.. - and here it comes, i am reminded that Suanne and i, are invited for lunch in the slum, with a meeting with a local community afterwards, in this weather .. - how do i do that, do i cancel, i really cant so no to a person spending time on preparing food for us, and i kinda dont want to get stuck in the hotel just because of the rain - then i recall the advice that i got last night from my Indian colleague, and i know exactly how to solve the issues .... "dress light" ... i think i can manage that... lunch as far as i am interested is 100% on!! 

..a bit of soft rain..

it is 19.00 in the evening, and we are leaving the office, there are still some left in the office, i guess they are doing support work for Europe or US, but we are off.. i have to admit i dont remember the last time a day in the office went that fast, we arrived, worked, had lunch and worked some more.. and now on the way home. So i actually managed to be very productive, i mean i feel that i am kinda productive back in slovakia as well, but i managed to "chat" with some of my friends from back home, check a couple of mails, i didnt reply to any still - as i am out of office, remember - and i trust my management team 100 % i know they will do a great job, so i dont want to interfere with them, they are running the shop - and they didnt call me, nor did my manager, so i take it that all is okay.. so team - great job, well done, i am proud of working with you.. now susanne and i leave the office, and to tell you the truth this could have been one of our offices anywhere in the world, up until we step out of the building and the honking starts, traffic has increased exponentiation since lunch, i guess everybody wants to get home..and there is light rain, not really rain like rain, but just a soft rain, as it hits my skin i realize just how warm the drops are .. - it feels very nice, very refreshing .. and then its starts - the fireworks, the noise, i can see and feel that Diwali is definitely coming closer.. and i am getting more and more excited to see what is coming, i really dont know what to expect .. - i guess i will have to be ready for everything .. so i need to run as my noddles are waiting for me .. - till then enjoy your afternoon, and stay cool..

...the clouds are getting darker..

so we are just back from lunch, a fast one (it only took us 60 min or so to get our food and then pay..), and now back to the office, today it seems that the clouds are getting darker and closer, monsoon week might be over us finally .. we cant continue to be this lucky, we only had a bit of rain (although it was pouring for 45 min nonstop..) in pondicherry, i met a Indian colleague outside the office, and ask him about the weather, he looks at me, and smiles, and tells me - the weather is going to be against us, the rain is coming, so get ready for 4 or 5 days of rain... - i think he was trying to make a bit of fun with me, 4 - 5 days of rain non-stop, what will i be doing inside i think to myself, and ask him, "do you go to work when the monsoon is over you", he smiles at me, and says "sure but we dress light" and starts to laugh ... seems like a bit of monsoon is not going to take his good mood away, i myself am a bit more concerned with this - rain for a whole week, and what about Diwali ... - i am looking so much forward to all the fireworks .. being outside .. so here is the deal, either it rains before Diwali or after Diwali .. not during .. 

..back in my "usual" environment..

I wake up after a long and hard night - dreaming i was out cruising the streets of chennai, feeling free and relaxed, only to turn around and stare into a white screen on my blackberry, it seems like my "BB" finally gave up - and went to the eternal place for Mobil devices, "farewell my supporter - you will NOT be missed!" (being available 24/7 once in a while is a bit to much, i would like to be surprised in the morning in terms of how many mails i have get or dont get .. - okay so truth be told, i will miss that little bugger), i fast change sim cards, load my iphone and off for breakfast, where susanne and i fast agree with ralph and mike to go over to work from our local sales office, here in chennai, it is a 10 min walk.. so i fast eat my breakfast, omelet and some bread (this i missed when i had breakfast in Pondicherry - i really missed the breakfast from our hotel) breakfast is done .. i drop downstairs to pick up my laundry that i left Saturday morning, i manage to find i believe 70 % of my socks - (team if you are missing some socks i am in room 2..), small note here, please note that i am using the laundry service not because i cant do it myself, nor because i am lazy, i am actually doing all of this at home, i am using the laundry service because it is faster :-) i save time with laundry i can blog more :-)) so after picking up my laundry, fast back in my room, pack and then we are off to the office, we show our badges, give our employee number, we get a temporary card, and we enter 1st floor, and have funny is this - it totally remains me of home, i bet you wouldnt have thought that would you .. - well to tell the truth i kinda did, and i am sure you did as well, so i am sitting in my cubical and i guess i will be sitting here for a bit more - hang on, nope i am of with the team to have a cup of coffee, oh well i guess work will still be here when i come back as well.. so coffee / caj here i come.. talk to you all in a bit ..