Cheating Death and other Indian adventures

Good evening, Avid Reader. The clock just passed midnight on this fine evening and I write feeling lucky. And dramatic. In a nutshell, I cheated death.

Anywhere else in the world, this might actually be true.
In India, however, I would describe this action as... having cabbed.

After another long day of meetings (and presentations by me to a roomful of wonderfully chatty and engaged Indians), we ventured into a different part of Mumbai to enjoy authentic Indian cuisine. More on the dinner later. Let's focus on the fact that I'm alive to post this note.

Avid Reader, waiting in summer lines at Disneyland don't compare to the mass of traffic here. Crossing 520 @ rush hour? Piece of cake. Oh, and with a side of ice cream. And probably sprinkles, too. Traffic here is filled with huge "cargo busses" filled with people sitting, standing, hanging. Auto-rickshaws with people hanging on/in/from. Distances between cars that one couldn't floss. Horns of 'no worries, I'm right here' beeping here and there as normal as breathing. There's nothing like a lack of signals in rush hour traffic when the cabbie opts to turn through traffic and you're 100% convinced you're about to be t-boned. But like I said, anywhere else in the world and it would feel like cheating death. Here, it feels as natural as blinking and I'm not sure if I've acclimated or if there's something in the air that makes me perfectly NUTSO in the head. I'll claim the former, but will be flinching tomorrow again... or laughing along with Sarah at the fact that I'm not.

That said, I enjoyed an evening tonight with most of the Microsoft Advertising team (and Sales House partners) at an amazing Indian restaurant in the heart of the upscale area of Mumbai. Oddly, you'd see an Escada store on one side of the street with a shack home next door. Zoning might not be a strength of this city, but the food sure is! We enjoyed a number of tandoori dishes, breads and meat-in-sauce that makes my mouth water even now (or is that still the spices?). Oh, and I also enjoyed goat for the first time (braised dark meat above) and via a goat mutton sausage/thing -- you decide. It's always good to get some time over amazing meals and adult beverages with my partners; tonight was no exception. I passed my camera around to ensure I had a photo of everyone to boot; my Indian colleagues did not disappoint.

My energy is being wonderfully sapped by end of day here -- a good thing as I feel I'm giving it my all, being challenged, and presenting with passion. Good feedback so far, though I've asked Sarah for her honest Australia critique as the week ends! Relative to real-time feedback, I sure wish someone would have told me that the Indians "nod" their heads side to side when they agree with something (vs. up & down). It was only today that I felt I had a friendly audience!!

More jet lag recovery to do; tonight should be my final night of wackadoodle sleep and recovery! Another long day ahead tomorrow; I'm sure it will be a sweet one! Good night, Avid Reader!