The First Hot Shower

I type today ecstatic and smiling brightly as I've just taken my first hot shower in a business week. In the last piece, we took a look at the switching situation of my apartment. Certainly it was unforgettable, but we'll review here just in case some of the story has slipped your mind.

The second bank of switches looked a lot like this:

It was just inside the doorway and not really something you'd think to touch for the bathroom. Alas, the bathroom light was in that bank of switches.

If you were me, you flipped the one with the red light on top, noticed it did nothing, and turned it back off. Later that night, and for the next four nights, you shuddered as you stood beneath ice cold water...trading glances at a seemingly broken water heater, and a situation that was a bit too close.


You may have even turned everything in sight that would turn, including that awkward knob way up above the shower head, in a desperate plea to not start your day by freezing to death.

Then finally it happened. Through the magic of agile collaboration and open spaces, you found one of the greatest pro-tips of all time from a colleague: Hit the switch with the red light outside the bathroom and wait 10 minutes for the water to be hot.

Slowly, but surely, I'm solving the problems caused by my western ignorance.

The Highly Anticipated Indian Switch Exposé

Today's piece is a fascinating exposé on the electrical switches of my Bangalore apartment. For days now I've been befuddled by more switches than I knew could exist in one place. There are nearly 417 in all, though I may have double-counted a few. Fortunately I've named them, and we'll head through them here in painstaking detail.

First up is the Middle of Nowhere. It's a singleton light switch, often found next to nothing or something non-obvious. For those of you who thought this was a western phenomenon, the proof is right here: this style of switch is global.

Next we have the Bedside Switch. It's part of the headboard and at least one of the switches appears to do nothing. The other starts a fan, which either features a brushed motor or turns on a nearby jet engine.

We've also got the more familiar Wall Banks. This proves my button-mashing strategy is effective globally. Through my common ability to be persistent in flicking switches, I'm able to persevere in selecting the lighting combination I enjoy.

Finally we've got the most unique of the bunch, and it's quite a good idea. I'd love to see more of these in the States, especially with the green movement coming forth. They remind me of those "revolutionary" powerstrips with a switch for every outlet that have only been sold recently. I give you the Outlet Switch

Roundabouts

Leaving the Airport

There must be at least 100 people waiting to take travelers any place they need to go immediately outside of the airport. Taxis are offered aggressively. 1/3 of the drivers have already been hired and hold a piece of paper with the name of a company or your name.

Three drivers held ThoughtWorks signs. The three of us from the Frankfurt flight collected in front of them and were a bit puzzled why we didn't leave instantly. We were eventually guided to the waiting area and remained confused for about 45 minutes -- until seven more students showed up. The flight from Beijing was delayed and suddenly we were very glad we didn't leave instantly. While you seem to be able to get just about everywhere with English, the language barrier showed itself immediately.

All ten students were then off to the parking lot. We were greeted with three very small cars. Four of us popped our luggage in the first one, a Toyota Innova, and jumped in the car. We attempted to anyway. In my specially-blended state of exhaustion and ignorance, I tried to get into the American front passenger seat. Bonus - I've now seen my first minivan (microvan?) with a stick.

The Drive

I had heard the drive to the office from the airport was an hour. I had also heard it was 30 minutes. The time difference was pretty obvious as soon as we took off -- clearly we had a 30-minute driver.

One of the most shocking things is how similar driving in Bangalore really is to driving in the US.

• Street signs are still white and green
• Lane markings are still white and yellow
• Traffic lights are still green-yellow-red in a yellow case

Our car had a McDonald's VIP sticker on the front dash and some of the most recognizable companies from the states made up the billboards: IBM, Oracle, Yahoo. It's obvious this is a tech hub of the world -- Linux versions are with billboards here. Word on the street is this isn't even the case in Silicon Valley.

The similarities seem to end there. The culture of driving here is much more aggressive. Horns indicate you're headed through an intersection. Lights are present, but routinely ignored. Honking and flashing the lights seems to mean you're going to attempt to pass. I thought I'd experienced tailgating in the states, but I'd never experienced anything like this. The car fell silent as we sat in amazement at the lines taken through the roundabouts. The feeling was more of a Formula 1 race than a commute.

Arrival

So after 30 minutes of mind-racing, heart-pounding, white-knuckled driving we ended up in the Diamond District. We waited a bit for our keys and then headed off to find our apartments in the 927-unit compound. By 4:00 am, all ten of us were situated in our rooms.

So what are the rooms like? More on that later...