Nate Linkon: Gettin around

London Apartment

2007-02-08T04:42:00.000-08:00

I had a few minutes and wanted to post some pictures of my apartment in London to those of you who still read the blog. The place is in Wandsworth, which is in South London near the border of Zone 1 and 2. Maybe not as close to work as I'd like it to be but it's important to me that I'm in a good apartment in a nice area. After all, these will be my first steps into the real world. While India has been quite real, maybe too real, I've been living in an apartment supplied by my employer and I don't pay any bills. I didn't have a choice of neighborhoods and I live with the people I work with, so in a lot of ways this has simply been an extension of college. For the first time in my life, the money I make in my job will pay for my basic human needs. I'll pay rent, buy groceries, pay back loans (hopefully) and be able to save money on a scale that is significant to my future financial wellbeing.

I'll keep everyone more updated as my move gets closer (Feb 21st), but in the meantime you can check out my apartment.

Yep, that's the Thames you can see from my balcony

In other news, I talked to Paul Vockler today. This guy was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve during the Carter and Reagan administrations from '77 till '89 and was succeeded by Greenspan. Probably the most important person I've ever met in my life. I was supposed to meet the Prime Minister of Italy on Sunday, but unfortunately I'll be in Delhi for gigs.

Home for the holidays

2006-12-18T04:53:00.000-08:00

As much fun as Christmas was in Bangalore last year, I've decided to head home this year for the holidays. It’s about time I get an opportunity to relax, and enjoy the 3 B's.

Beef
Beer
Bowl Games

Tomorrow morning, at 6:45 AM I will get BACK on British Airlines Flight 118 to London (for the second time in a week) and then another 8.5 hours to Chicago, where I will be meeting my parents for a dinner at Ruth's Chris...man, a steak in simmering butter accompanied by a glass of good red wine sounds nothing short of a dream come true.

On Wednesday (20th), I head back to Chicago to meet with a few of my best friends from college who I haven't seen in almost a year. This is sure to be a tame evening.

On Thursday (21st), I head to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to see the Packers take on the Vikings with my dad and uncle, two men who clearly understand the necessity to stay warm in low temperatures through the imbibing of alcohol. Hey, it may sound like a throw-away game, but both of these teams at 6 - 8 are technically still in the race for the playoffs. I'll get to tailgate with my longtime roommate Jim, just like old times. However, this will be quite a longtime of old times. He wants to begin tailgating 4 hours before the game. Of course, we're spending the night.

Friday (22nd), nothing planned but a day of healing. Then again it's Friday. This is a GTD (game time decision).

That's really all I got right now, but it's a damn good start to what will be an awesome few weeks. Seeing as there will be a healthy amount of partying, I've gone ahead and purchased myself an insurance policy for the time I'm home. This is obviously a good decision for many reasons, but I figure with my planned schedule of activities that includes a hotel room in Chicago on New Years, getting 18 days of $50,000 coverage for 1200 rupees ($25ish) is a bargain I can't afford to pass up.

Lots of 14 hour days

2006-12-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

Again, it's been a while, but I haven't had as much time to much of anything besides play rock 'n roll and get ready to move to London. I know, rough life, eh?

So the last month has been exhilarating, and exhausting. My days have gone something like this:

5:30 AM - Alarm goes off
6:00 AM - Bruce picks me up for Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ) rehearsal
6:30 till 9:00 AM - TAAQ rehearsal
10:00 AM - Arrive at work
Between 8:00 - 9:00 PM - Head home
10:00 PM - Get home from work, crash

This has been the schedule for many of my days over the last few weeks.

I usually don't work as much as I have been, but out of the three members of my team, including myself, two of them were out of office for about three weeks. So I was doing my job, as well as doing large parts of their jobs, while rehearsing and traveling on weekends to gigs.

This last weekend I was in Delhi, where we had 2 gigs. The first was for an AIDS benefit put together by the EU and the Thomson Foundation. Eight bands in India wrote original songs for a compilation album, and the top three bands played live for the awards ceremony. So I left on a Wednesday evening, played on Thursday night and then Friday night we had a proper gig with the same two bands we played with for the benefit. (go to the website do download the tune, Keep the Promise) The three bands, Soulmate, Skinny Alley (who I played with about 10 months ago) and TAAQ played at Lodi Gardens in New Delhi. What an amazing gig! The lead guitar players of the three bands are literally the GODS of guitar around these parts. Here are some pics, really only of TAAQ, because that's all I could get my hands on.

The band, minus Rajeev behind the skins. (Bruce, me, Tony, Rzhude)

Tony and I. I love Tony.

It was pretty cold, about 45 degrees F. That's our keyboard player, Chandy, on the left side.

This is Rajeev, my boy. I may be the youngest in the band, but this guy acts more like a 21 year old than anyone. Damn good drummer, as well. Can you believe he started playing the drums when he started playing with TAAQ 10 years ago?!
Intense.

Rzhude (pronounced Rudy). A frickin hilarious guy. We have a lot of fun on road.
I look like someone out of Huey Lewis and the News.

The next night, Saturday, we had the TAAQ 10th Anniversary party. This included a press conference, sponsorship by Wrangler who fitted us in our apparel for the night, and sponsorship by Seagram's who sponsored the booze. We played for about 90 minutes, and then partied with the friends and family we invited. I have yet to get any pictures of that but I'll post them when they come along.

Seeing as I've been having so much fun, I'll be postponing my transfer to London till the middle of February. If I keep having this much fun, we'll see if I ever leave.

I have 4 gigs this weekend, and then I leave for London on Monday for about 5 days. When I get back, I'll head to Chennai for a recording session, and then I leave on Tuesday morning for the US. I will need the R&R!

It's been a while

2006-11-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

I realize that it has been more than a month since I've written, and now that I have some time after work I thought I'd write a brief synopsis of the last 5 weeks. For the sake of clarity and convenience, I've divided this entry into sections.

Wow, can you tell I've been working too much?

1. Thermal and a Quarter

So I've been playing with a rock band in India called Thermal and a Quarter, and it's been awesome! Just last weekend, I had a wireless setup for our show at St. John's Medical College that allowed me to wander all over the huge stage that featured a fashion-show-like ramp that went over the crowd. Despite the pouring rain throughout the show, more than 400 people stuck around to catch the show. I don't think they were disappointed. It was the 10-year anniversary for the band, having played their first gig at the same college fest 10 years ago. I think the best moment of the gig was during our spot-on cover of Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," where during the sax solo I walked out on the ramp over the crowd (it had stopped raining towards the end of the show) only to feel the hysterical crowd surrounding me. They were reaching towards my feet and I was a little concerned one of them was going to grab me and not let go. Total adrenaline. Crazy, eh? I don't have any pictures (yet) but I do have this review of the gig that was in the metro section of today's Hindu, which is one of the biggest daily newspapers in India.
There will be a video soon, but in the meantime check out this video from a gig several weeks ago in Chennai (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2sNJrr8sr4)

2. Traveling

Since the last time I wrote, I had a biz trip to NYC and London. Conveniently, I scheduled my flights such that I got into NYC on Friday night with no work to do till Monday morning. That left plenty of time for major league debauchery with Jake, Zach Mo, and some total throw backs from high school, Brad Twohig and Rob Phillips. The crazy part about the latter two is that I've been good friends with both of them for 6+ years, but they went to different high schools and never knew each other till they moved to NYC a few months ago. They met through a mutual friend and now live together, which made it easy for me to knock down two birds with one stop... that included 5 bottles of wine and a completely unnecessary bottle of champagne around 11:30 PM. I renewed my visa in NYC, had a few meetings (all over lunch/dinner), and caught the Medeski, Martin and Wood Halloween show on Tuesday night. Awesome! Then I was in London for about 36 hours for a day of strategy meetings. I would have stayed longer, but I had to get back for the aforementioned gig. Here's a picture of me, Jake and Winnie. My worlds were totally colliding.

3. Future Plans

So I think I finally have it figured out, but it's not what I had originally thought it would be. It turns out I'm not coming back to the US after all. I'm moving London. According to my current schedule, I will be in London in January. Permanently. I'll be working for IndiaIT there helping to build what is currently a skeleton crew marketing team. I'll be back in Bangalore from time to time, so hopefully the gigging can continue.

That's about it. The past 5 weeks wrapped up in a nice little blog post. I think part of my reluctance to start posting again was knowing that I'd have to somehow summarize the last month, but that wasn't bad at all. I should be getting some more pictures soon, so I'll post them. The next month or so should be crazy, including several gigs outside of Bangalore and a week in London to scout apartments and have more strategy meets. Time will fly but I'll do my best to keep everyone posted.

Taj Mahal Pics

2006-09-26T04:41:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure if I was going to see the Taj Mahal before I left India, and to tell you the truth, I was never that broken up about it. There are so many places on my list that I need to see before I leave India in the next 3 - 6 months, I just didn't see Agra (where the Taj is) making it. After all, I've seen maybe a thousand pictures.

Missing it would have been a mistake. It's not one of the 7 Wonders of the World for nothing. Here is a photo tour of my trip to Agra:

The entrance to the Taj Mahal compound, where it costs a foreigner 750 rupees (about $18) and a native Indian 20 rupees (45 cents)

This is the main entrance to the gardens

The Taj Mahal from the main entrance in the last picture

From the steps inside the gardens

Some guy blocking my view of the Taj.

One of the two identical mosques on either side of the Taj Mahal

A river runs behind it

All of the Islamic script is inlaid marble. Sounds boring, but really pretty cool when you actually see it.

From the front of the Taj Mahal towards the entrance to the gardens.

My whole reason for being in Delhi was to play with a rock band, and I'm waiting to get those pics. I'll post those this week before I head to Delhi and then to Chennai to play a couple more shows.

Taj Mahal

2006-09-22T00:09:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in a while, but there really hasn't been anything to post. Just business as usual.
I'm headed to Delhi today with a rock band, Thermal and a Quarter, to play at the Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi for a student festival and we'll be stopping at the Taj Mahal while we're in Delhi, so hopefully I'll have something damn interesting to post when I return on Tuesday.

Northwestern University: 1 - 0

2006-09-01T03:43:00.000-07:00

In an extremely emotional football game that I could only read about, Northwestern beat Miami (OH) 21 - 3 in the Pat Fitzgerald's first game as head coach. Fitzgerald is the youngest coach in Division 1 football. In an odd twist of fate, Miami (OH) is where Walker played and coached before coming to Northwestern where he was the first coach to take Northwestern bowling 3 times.

Man, do I miss being able to watch these games...

Thailand: A photo retrospective

2006-08-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

OK, so I think I finally have all of my Thailand pictures uploaded. I'll save you the boring narratives about the incredible people I met or the amazing places I saw and do my best to explain the trip with pictures and captions. Also, I'm burned out at work and words are just not coming to me like they usually do.

Keep in mind I was on my own for much of this trip, so I'm not in many of the shots.

The skytrain in Bangkok, incredibly efficient and cheap

"Snakes on a Plane" in Thai

I took the skytrain to a ferry that took me down the river where you see several paragons like this one. I have to say, getting around Bangkok is extremely easy.

Outside the Temple of the Reclining Buddha

The reclining Buddha

Putting coins in the prayer jars

I loved these guys. They stand about 9 feet tall and there are two of them outside of almost every doorway in these temples.

Muay Thai boxing!

This is some crazy dance routine they do right before they fight. I splurged for ringside seats and it might have been the best decision of the trip.

I watched this stuff for about 3.5 hours and could have stayed all night

You probably can't tell, but these kids are about 15

Outside the Royal Palace

Inside the Royal Palace

These are incredibly detailed paintings that go all the way around the palace

This guy's job was to touch them up. There are a team of artists who work on these paintings year-round.

Main processional grounds inside the palace

Outside the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Probably the coolest of the temples I saw but nobody is allowed to take pictures inside.

You know how awkward it is to take a picture of yourself when your by yourself and people are watching?

Street market in Chinatown. Basically a huge pile of antiquated electronics

This guy had a great selection. And for your info, the tape cassette is Peter Frampton's "I'm In You"

This guy was trying to tell me that not only was this phone new, it worked

If you want a store with a good selection of cell phone covers and nothing else, this place is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. MILLIONS OF CELL PHONE COVERS

There was a ton of great jazz in Bangkok! This was one night at Brown Sugar, a jazz club I went to three nights in a row. I became pretty good friends with these guys and even played a little on that Thai guy's horn. That cat actually didn't speak English, yet we both knew how to play the sax so without talking we handed the horn back and forth and showed eachother what we knew. Pretty cool experience.

One night, after bouncing to about 5 bars, I was on my way to the hostel when I heard singing and guitars coming from the Mexican restaurant next door. For some strange reason, at 3:00 AM, I decided to check it out and stumbled into a family birthday party. These guys were hilarious! Nobody really spoke much English, but we drank till 4:00 AM while singing Thai songs. One of the better memories of the trip.

Me with the fam.

This guy was pretty funny. I was pretty drunk.

The next morning I was clearly hungover. I sat in the park to read and this guy insisted on teaching me Thai. He also knew all 50 US states and capitals.

_______________________________________________

Then I went to meet Winnie at Ko Panang, an island off the southern coast, for the Full Moon party and to do some chillaxin after being on my feet for the first 4 days with very little sleep.

After taking a 15 hour bus ride, we were piled aboard a ferry that took us 3.5 hours to Ko Panang. This was the back end of the boat.

Ever seen "The Beach"? You could totally live in seclusion on one of these hundreds of tiny little islands for years before someone found you.

The only way to get to the beach where I was staying was to take a water taxi. That's right, this beach was so secluded no roads to it exist. This is also the beach where 8,000 drunk Europeans gathered on August 9th for the Full Moon party. Unfortunately there are no pictures from this because I did not even want to risk bringing my camera.

Leaving Haad Rin beach to go to Haad Tien where I was staying

Haad Tien beach

My resort at Haad Tien

Shot of Haad Tien from the cliff

About a 5 minute walk from our resort was this awesome restaurant on the rocks that looked over the next beach over. We sat here quite a bit.

So that's the trip. Thailand, much like Sri Lanka, is definitely a place I'll go back to. Bangkok is one of the cooler cities in Asia.

Alright, back to work. Later guys.

Another one bites the dust

2006-08-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in India there were 7 of us (Matt, Scott, Pete, Laura, Winnie, Nevena, Juan). The nature of our assignment here is temporary, so nobody is expected to take the plunge for longer than a few years. Inevitably, there will be people who leave for various reasons. Some may quit, some may transfer elsewhere with IndiaIT. Since I've been here, I've seen a few leave and it's never a good thing, especially as the group of Americans grows smaller. Not to say I don't have Indian friends, but it's nice having someone to talk to about US sports, going to college in the US and basically reminiscing about home. Actually, it's not nice. It's essential to maintain sanity. I like to maintain a balance, and that balance is slipping away. Also, coming to India in such a small group we’ve all grown pretty close and when we lose one of the family it most definitely changes the dynamic of the situation.

Early readers may remember Matt, my good buddy who helped me acclimate to India from the point of view of a frat guy for whom reality in India hit hard. He left back in December due to extenuating circumstances and the fact that he had fundamental differences with India’s culture, and this place hasn’t been the same since.

Me, Classic Matt

Then Nevena left. While I didn’t hang with Nevena much, she was always a fun person to be around and I knew her boyfriend, Prakash, very well. She left in June, and even Nevena leaving was a change.

Winnie, Nevena, Laura at Tony's wedding

Now, all of a sudden, we’re dropping like flies! Winnie, one of my best friends and travel buddies, left for the US last night. India, especially working in India, can be a trying experience at times and some of us deal with it differently than others. For Winnie, she had had enough and wanted to go back. God knows I’ve had times where I felt the same, but really I don’t have the rocks to move back to the US yet. It’s a pretty scary change of lifestyle that may or may not go well. While I have absolutely no doubt that Winnie will be fine, she will also be sorely missed.

Hahaha

Pete, another great friend as well as flatmate, will be leaving me in the beginning of September to work for IndiaIT in the US. Pete has been very successful in his job here and his boss wants him back ASAP. The funny thing is that Pete doesn’t want to go, he’d rather live here. Not to say that wanting to stay here is crazy, plenty of people have stayed when given the option, but to be offered a job where you’d make actual salary in United States Dollars is an exciting thought.

Festive Pete, Myself

So this is a tribute to those that are no longer here. There are many expats who have come through town that I’ve become good friends with, but that’s the nature of the international revolving door that is Bangalore. It makes me wonder, when will I hit the point where I need a change of scenery? I used to think that I’d wake up one morning and say, “OK, that’s it! I’m outa here. Peace!” But it’s definitely not that way. The frustration ebbs and flows, but will stay on an upward or downward trend for periods of a few months. Sometimes I think I could stay here for another year or more, other times I think I need to get out by January. While I’m leaning towards being home in January (March at the latest), only time will tell.

Thailand was incredible!

2006-08-14T01:13:00.000-07:00

See subject.

Just got back to the office so not much time to muse, but I'll post tons of pics in the next day or so.

Good to be back.

Anyone have tips for my vacation in Thailand?

2006-07-25T01:41:00.000-07:00

It would appear that the Indian government has rescinded its blogging prohibition. Apparently the alleged bombers of the Mumbai train systems were using blogs to communicate. This begs the question: If the terrorists are communicating in a public forum such as blogs, how did the Indian government let something like this happen without warning? Clearly the attack happened with or without the aid of blogs, so why end blogging in India? Oh, well. A nonissue at this point.

____________________________

Sometimes you need a vacation. I need one because it has been about 5 months since I last missed a day at work, and I have rarely left work before 6:30 PM in the last 3 months. So I just purchased tickets to Thailand and I will be there from August 3rd till August 11th.

I have never been to Thailand, and I'm just now starting to do research. To tell you the truth, I saw a great fare and, realizing I desperately need to get out of Bangalore, bought the ticket understanding I had no idea what I was doing, I can't wait! Where's the excitement in taking a trip with an itinerary?

Currently I will be spending the first 2.5 days in Bangkok by myself, not something I've done before. I'm not at all worried about being on my own, in fact it will be an awesome time to relax and explore. I'm planning on arriving with only a list of must-see places and will likely spend most of my time getting lost in the city and finding my way back to the hostel.

The last 5 days of my Thailand vacation will be spent in the beaches south of Bangkok with Winnie, but my itinerary is pretty wide open and I'll be planning most of my domestic travel on the fly. This is where I thought I'd see if anyone has suggestions.

Has anyone been to Thailand and have places/activities they would recommend?

So let me know if you have any thoughts. I have quite a bit to do in the next week, including attending the opening of NASDAQ from Mysore, India. Also, 130 Americans just arrived to work for IndiaIT, so that's been exciting although I have yet to meet them.

More to come.

This might be the last post I make...

2006-07-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

It would appear that the Indian government, in all their glorious wisdom, has decided to have several websites blocked in India, including all Blogspot sites. Here is a link to the boingboing article: Indian government blocking all Blogspot blogs.

I'll tell you, though. I can't imagine what would prompt the Indian government to do this, but hopefully it's all just a rumor.

Let's hope this won't be the end of the blog.

Terrorism in India

2006-07-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

I'm sure all of you heard about the bombings in Mumbai (Bombay) yesterday. If you haven't heard, you should stop reading my blog and start reading some real news. In any case, 7 rail cars were bombed yesterday on the West Mumbai suburban train system. At last count, the death toll is at 185 and over 700 people were injured. This is clearly a cowardly and despicable act of terrorism that was meant to yield maximum fear in hearts of Mumbakairs. Coordinating seven bombs, anonymously (of course), in a crowded (crowded is an understatement) train during rushhour with no warning... I'd say it's a credit to the people of Mumbai that the city is back to business as usual less than 24 hours later.

Also, for those of you who don't know the geography of Indian cities off the top of your head, Mumbai is about a 2 hour flight northwest of Bangalore. Mumbai has a history of such bombings, and they are usually caused by religious extremism between the Muslims and the Hindus. Some have suggested that it is Al Qaeda, others claim it to be organized crime. Most are pointing to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, an Islamic terrorist group.

It's really hard to imagine what this bombing meant unless you have seen the Mumbai train system. Imagine the Chicago El during rush hour. Then add another 30-50 people to each car, so that it is so packed people have to hang out the door by holding on to the side of the train. Now keep in mind that it's monsoon season, so it's been raining for the past 3 weeks straight. It took the police an upwards of 1.5 hours to reach the scene, and this is caused by a combination of the torrential rains and the millions of people who crowded the streets because they could not use the trains to commute home from work. This means that thousands of gawkers crowd the scene before any emergency personnel arrive. Quite the mess.

Call me crazy, but this could have been MUCH worse. In fact, it's nothing short of a miracle that it wasn't. Think about it: There are easily 100+ people in tight quarters on each train car and 7 cars contained bombs. To think that only 185 died... Still a tragedy, but hopefully this will prompt more stringent security precautions in the future before something more major occurs. Crazy world we live in.

On a brighter note, today is my one year anniversary living in India! Man, it definitely went by fast.

Expect to see me back in the US for good sometime between January and March of 2007. Peace, ya'll.

Back to 160 and 4th of July

2006-07-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

Most of you are probably aware of the issues that foreigners have in India when it comes to the food. Despite some issues in the first few months I've transitioned fairly well. In other words, my stomache is made of frickin steel.

However, I weighed myself about 3 months ago and was alarmed to find out that I had lost about 15 lbs since moving to India. Scary.

So I got back on a workout routine and started eating better and I'm happy to announce that I'm back at 160 lbs!

Yes, I'm aware that nobody cares.
____________________________________

Celebrating the 4th of July in India is definitely interesting, and getting your hands on fireworks is extremely easy. Nothing else too exciting or different from a US 4th. We had a BBQ on my buddy's roof, drank beer, listened to music, celebrating freedom... The only difference was listening to these Goldman Sachs fools discuss the socioeconomics of sub-Saharan Africa for a few hours. And we watched football. None of this is normal American behavior, which is nice sometimes.

That's another thing. I've purged "soccer" from my vocab. Why do the US and Australia, feel like they can call football by another name when we're not even good at it? Pretty arrogant, eh? Well when I hang out with so many non-Americans, imagine what they think when I call the game soccer.

"Man, Americans are such pricks."

I don't need to meet new people and start off in the hole because I'm American.

I constantly find myself defending the US anyway, especially around freedom-hating Europeans who feel like they have to hold me individually responsible for the foreign policy of the United States.

And while we're on the subject, I was upset before one of the US matches that many Americans in the room did not know the words to the National Anthem!!!

Anyway, the most important part about July 4th is that it's my mother's birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!

Feel free to leave birthday comments for my mother. She's incredible. And she loves freedom.

R.I.P. Randy Walker

2006-06-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

It’s a sad day for my beloved alma mater.

I just found out that Randy Walker, Head Coach of the famed Northwestern Football Team (passed away this afternoon (evening in Evanston). Walker came to NU in 1999 from Miami of Ohio and just had his contract extended till 2011. Some of my best moments in college were at NU games. In fact, I'll never forget upsetting Michigan State my freshman year to go 4-0 and climb as high as #14 in the nation. That was my first collegiate football game as a student and it was an incredible feeling to know that I’d made the best decision of my life coming to Northwestern. My parents, who are Mich State alums, were at the game and we had bet a steak dinner at Pete Millers (very nice, very $$$). I also remember incredible NU games where we upset Wisconsin (ranked #14 at the time) my junior year and Ohio State my senior year when we rushed the field and tried, without success, to tear down the goalposts. I traveled to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl in 2003 and went to the Big House for the Michigan game in Ann Arbor my senior year. Last year Walker led the team to the Sun Bowl, where we lost to UCLA. Randy Walker did incredible things with our beleaguered football team, and the Northwestern community will miss him dearly.

At a school where die-hard sports fans are few and far between, I definitely considered myself one of them. When most of the student population was too hungover or studious to wake up at 8:00 AM to tailgate for an 11:00 AM game, I was always in someone's lawn, standing in the rain eating undercooked eggs, drinking keg beer and painting my face with a huge purple "N." I went to Northwestern games (football and basketball) early in the season before any students had arrived. While others wasted their time studying, I was indulging in the true American college experience and Randy Walker was a big part of that. He also lived right on campus and I would see him walking his dog in the area around my fraternity house.

Randy Walker was the first Wildcats coach to guide the team to four seasons with at least six wins since C.M. Hollister in 1899-1902. For a team, and school, that has a reputation for sucking a lot, Walker led Northwestern to a share of the Big Ten title in 2000, and then took us to 2 more bowl games, somewhat changing the perception of the Northwestern “Mildcats.”

Man, those were good times. Thanks, Randy.

Randy Walker (1952 - 2006)

Reactions to voicemail entry

2006-06-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

So there were some reactions/criticizms after my last entry about the lack of vociemail in India:

"Nate, so you're telling me that the CEO of IndiaIT doesn't have voicemail?!"

No, that's exactly true. First off, I have never called the CEO's cell phone directly so I can't say whether he has voicemail on his cell phone or not, but I'm gonna find out. He does, however, have a personal assistant who takes messages for him. If you were to call the number on his business card, you would get his secratary, Malliga, who would take a message and relay it to the Big Man. There are probably 15 people in the entire company of 55,000 who have personal secretaries (1 in every 3,700 or so), so they reap the benefits of voicemail without technically having the service. Everyone else is out of luck.

"Nate, my name is Scott and I live and work with you in India and I think that the lack of voicemail is partially made up for with SMSing and the practice of calling those from whom you've missed calls."

While Scott has a point, I don't believe that these alternate methods of leaving message are sufficient. First off, if you are a busy manager towards the top of a pyramid that is the horendous bureacracy of a big business, it is very difficult to call back every person who tried to call you when you were busy. If I were that person, I might operate in a few ways. I might think that if it the message is really that important, they will call back and find me when I'm available to talk. Also, not all phone calls require two-way communication. Let me put it this way, if I'm calling someone to remind them to do something, as I do several hours of each day, a voicemail would suffice. A return call is not necessarily required, so from an efficiency standpoint, the lack of voicemail adds a layer of communication which can mean an additional day or two to create action from communication. Creating action is, after all, the goal of business communication.

Despite my criticisms, I will say this: the mobile connectivity abilities in India are FAR more reliable than that of the US. I think about 75% of Northwestern University buildings do not get service indoors, yet in India, where practically every other facet of infrastructure is at least 30 years behind, I have never had a domestic call cut out. I have had a few international calls cut, but I've noticed that those are mostly to the US, where I can attribute the call failure to outdated telecommunications technology still being used.

It's not that India would not benefit from voicemail, or that the technology isn't available. The reason for the absense is, as one reader justly pointed out, the lack of demand for the function within India. It's that simple. No barrier exists, but neither does the desire. Hopefully MNC's in India, as well as blogs, will spark the revolution.

"At the beep, please hang up and call again in half an hour"

2006-06-21T04:51:00.000-07:00

I think if you asked any of my friends they would say I'm a fairly positive person. I think I do a better job than most at not to let the trials and tribulations of life, even in India, get me down. But I'm only human, and every human being needs to vent from time to time. Brace yourself.

I don't think I've uttered a pessimistic word against India or IndiaIT in the (almost) 12 months I've been living and working in Bangalore. Well, folks, this unbelievable streak of optimism ends today with my first (public) gripe: the absurd lack of voicemail in India.

Upon receiving my Indian cell phone, I immediately recognized this odd absence as a deficiency of the professional culture within India. And for whatever reason, that notion was dismissed just as quickly as one of the first instinctual qualities to leave my being as I was assimilated into Bangalore. The effects of a no-voicemail culture are many, but I’ll be brief.

When working in the United States, it is proper office etiquette to at least put your cell phone on silent, especially when a meeting. Not allowing your phone to ring, and thus disturb others, is done as a courtesy to those attending the meeting. Now imagine this situation sans voicemail: your phone rings and your concern is no longer on a ringing phone that would annoy your colleagues, your primary concern is now the NECESSITY to answer the phone. Without voicemail, there is almost no way someone can leave you a message when you are unavailable to talk. Some people send SMS following a missed call, but most often not. As you can imagine, it is quite often when I need to focus my undivided attention on one task, so always being available on my phone is difficult.

Scenario: So you’ve been introduced as an entry level peon into a society and work culture that lacks voicemail. Your phone rings and you are in an important meeting with the head of your department, what do you do? While turning your phone on silent does not immediately interrupt the meeting at the moment a call reaches your cell phone, what do you do if it is one that you need to answer? You will have to leave the room to take it, which clearly takes the group’s attention off the matter at hand. You exit the meeting with the understanding that if you don’t pick up immediately, the person getting in touch with you can’t leave voicemail.

This becomes a downward spiral of communication breakdown when you think about it. When you take voicemail away from an individual, that person becomes instantly more difficult to get in touch with. So when you get that call during a meeting, your immediate thought is, “If I don’t pick this up, and it’s someone I need to get in touch with, it will take me days to get back in touch with them BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE VOICEMAIL!!!!”

Sorry…

You’re now left with a very difficult decision, because you will have to choose which is more important, the meeting or the call. Anyone working person understands how various tasks on your plate at any given time are not always so neatly prioritized in such a way that would easily solve your dilemma. Let’s face it, in the spirit of covering your ass, the interruption to the meeting will always come secondary to doing your job efficiently. A meeting requires everyone’s presence. As a result, the odds of those attending the meeting still being in the room when you finish your call are significantly higher than the chances of the person calling you being available when you finish your meeting. You can see how this would be frustrating.

Summary –

This is what I like to call “Nate’s No-Voicemail Cycle of Anger and Frustration”:

1. No voicemail means people are extremely difficult to get in touch with

2. Because people are difficult to get in touch with, the calls they make to you are more valuable

3. Because these calls are more valuable, you can not afford to let them go

4 (a). Because you can not let the call go, you must answer your phone in the most inopportune circumstances (this has been known to yield corrosive effects to one’s sanity)

4 (b). If you do let the call go, thinking you will call them back at YOUR convenience, there is little chance you will catch them at THEIR convenience, and without voicemail…(see #1)

(NOTE: Please, send your Pulitzer Prize nominations through the appropriate channels. Sending me an e-mail or posting a comment will not suffice.)

How does the phenomenon of voicemail fail to spread in a multinational corporation (MNC), especially one as respected as IndiaIT that has a global workforce with offices in North America as well as India? I wish I could tell you, but my hypothesis is this: it would be a huge frickin’ hassle.

A scientific survey was given to the native Indians that located near my desk, and the results are as follows: At most, 3 or 4 people out of 1,000 have voicemail. At MOST.

When you take into account that millions of people who have cell phones in India, which is easily more than the entire population of the U.S., you’d have better luck convincing the country that baseball is superior to cricket. (This is actually a fairly accurate analogy, as baseball is truly superior to cricket in almost every way, yet many in India choose the less logical path). I only hope that as more MNC’s invest money and resources in India, such as IBM which as recently committed to triple its Indian investment to $6 billion, the Western work culture will change the communication abilities of this country.

I’ve 100% convinced that if the professionals in India adopt what is an extremely efficient, not to mention global, practice, the productivity of this country could jump by 10 to 15%. See, who needs the likes of McKinsey and Bain when I’m around?

In the middle of writing this entry (right before this paragraph), I went to the gym, which gave me plenty of mull over this quandary of communication. I soon came to the realization that the absence of voicemail has a drastic ripple-effect on practically all facets of life. For instance, the majority of people who go to the gym, at least at IndiaIT, bring their phones with them! They routinely answer their phones while running, lifting and stairmastering, which requires them to stop their physical activity. So now these faithful employees are taking time out of their workout, time they’ve set aside to escape the world (especially their jobs) and are forced to answer their phones. Granted, many talk to friends while at the gym, but would they do this if they had voicemail, or would they wait to get their friend’s message following their workout? In any case, most of the phone conversations I hear have to do with server requests, software development, J2EE and many other things I know very little about. A really interesting study could be done by one of the many Fulbright scholars I meet who travel through India doing research on societal phenomena such as this. Too bad they’re too busy researching topics such as the hair of Indian people. Seriously, c’mon.

Also, while I was at the gym I received two missed calls. Now the standard procedure is to call back and say, “Hello, this is Nate. I just received a missed call from this number?” and then, assuming they recognize you, you’re all set. Unfortunately, I received a call from a Prague hotel and there’s no possible way for me to track down which guest at the hotel called me. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the receptionist. All I can hope is that it wasn’t important, and if it was they’ll e-mail me. Frustrating nonetheless.

On a more positive note, I’m going to TGIF tomorrow for 2-for-1 drinks and to watch the USA World Cup Match! Hopefully nobody calls during the game, because I can’t let it go to voicemail.

Nate Update

2006-06-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while, and I have a few mintues before I have to jet for my ride home before the conference calls start so here's an update from Nate.

New appliances

I realized my life has reached an ultimate low when the most exciting event in the last four weeks has been the arrival of my new appliances. This includes a new clothes washer, new fridge, new kitchenware (yup, i just used the word kitchenware) and most exciting of all....A CLOTHES DRIER!!! You have no idea what a luxury that is in India. Driers require more energy than almost any other durable good, and power comes at a premium in India. Now if the landlord will only hook up the damn thing, I'll be in heaven.

Gig with Skinny Alley

My buddy Arool called me on Saturday saying I had to come meet his guitar teacher and his band. The band is called Skinny Alley and they're a rock band from Calcutta. Apparently they're a big deal. They have an album released on Virgin Records and have been together for the last 25 years or so. Skinny Alley was hired out by a rich couple to play at their wedding, which was at the Leela Palace. Not too shabby.

Then Arool said I should bring my horn and jam with them during their sound check. Well I played about 7 minutes and they asked me to stick around and play for the gig. I mean, what do they care? It's a wedding! I've played my fair share of weddings and believe me, you do it to pay the bills, not to rock out. This wedding, however, was something different. Most South Indian wedding won't have alcohol present. Let's just say this wedding was different. Very different. At least that's what the guy who passed out on the dancefloor half way through Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" would so.

So while this band has a significant following, at least by my standards, they were instructed to play classic rock. We played Beatles stuff, we played Moody Blues, Steely Dan and everything from "Johnny Be Good" to "Country Roads." They had a sax mic so I was able to move around a lot on stage and ended up having one of my best nights in Bangalore.

Open bar. Jamming on some classic rock. Awesome.

Meeting David Binney

For those of you who don't know, David Binney is a bad ass sax player from New York City who may very well be one of the top 3 or 4 alto saxophone players alive. He's been around for quite a while and has several albums. Some of the stuff I really know him from is his band Lost Tribe, which was a project he did in the '80s that I'm a big fan of. He played at Opus (the bar I usually play at) as well as Take 5, the only "jazz club" in Bangalore. Both shows were great, but the second show was with Prassana, an incredible guitar player from India who now teaches at the Berkley School of Music. I got to hang out with him for a while at the bar which was nuts, especially cuz it happened in India! Apparently he's dating an Indian girl and she finally convinced him to come to India to meet her parents. Little did he know he would get roped into several gigs and recording sessions. Not much of a vacation, eh? He left a few days ago to slum it in NYC with his Tuesday night gigs at the 55 Bar, the same place I saw Wayne Krantz play when I was in the 'States a few months ago. He actually got a text message from Wayne, as well as Antonio Sanchez, while I was with him at the bar.

It never ceases to amaze me who finds their way through my little Indian town.

More to come....

Local reactions to lanky white guy in India

2006-05-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

So after being criticized for my lack of cultural content I asked for suggestions as to what you wanted to hear about. I mean, yeah, I could write about what I think is interesting but then you'd have to hear me grumble about the SOB at Dominoes who doesn't understand English when I order pizza and forgets to include extra cheese sauce. Believe me, it's really quite frustrating.

I digress.

To my complete surprise, someone actually sent me a request! I'll admit I wasn't too hopeful when I opened up the floor for suggestions. I was sure this would be the end of the blog. I once made the mistake of taking requests while playing with a band in Bangalore and I had about 20 people ask me to play "Summer of '69." This time I was pleasantly surprised to find someone interested in the interesting cultural aspects of living in India, not the parts of living in India that have been borrowed from the West.

So Cassidy asked about the reactions I see from less-educated, average Indians when they observe my invasion of their country. Basically, what impact do I see resulting from my long-term presence in India?

Let me first explain a little about my experience with India before coming to India: I went to the consulate in Chicago to get my employment visa in June of last year. I was told it would be a one-day process and I'd be in and out in a few hours. Well after sitting there for close to 4 hours I inquired on the status of my application. They then ushered me into the Consular General's office where he told me that he would not be issuing me a visa. When I asked why:

"We have a policy against issuing employment visas to foreigners when we believe that an equally or more qualified Indian could fill the position."

Whoa, so you're saying that I don't have a job anymore? Isn't it IndiaIT's job to make sure I'm equally or more qualified? Of course it would make more economic sense for them to hire a native. But they didn't.

So what does this tell me? That I'm not welcome in India? That people will hate me for stealing a job away from an Indian person? This is all a bit unsettling when you think you're about to move to a country where all one-billion of the citizens hate your guts. This is obviously not the truth, but as nervous (read: petrified) as I was about leaving the US, this complication didn't exactly ease my nerves. I was clearly anxious to see the reaction to my presence.

When I first moved into Adarsh Gardens, the locals in the neighborhood really had no clue what to make of me. The hell was I doing in Jayanagar (the area in which I live)? Was it safe to allow their children near me? I swear, I saw many a reaction that simply conveyed, "There goes the neighborhood." I found a similar reaction, at least initially, when I started work at IndiaIT, but at least many of the 15,000 people who work on my campus have seen Americans/Europeans around campus before, mainly in the form of clients, international interns and visiting employees from abroad. People were definitely shocked that we were permanent and some still do not believe it.

"What?! You're gonna be here for HOW long?! Why would you do that?"

Here's an embarrassing story: I was sitting in a press conference that I had helped with for our annual earnings release. It was a big deal. In the last year we had reached over $2 billion in annual revenues and over 50,000 employees with 30% growth.... Our CFO was asked a question about global hiring initiatives and how IndiaIT hoped to diversify their work force. Well our very wise CFO, whom I have worked with several times and he knows my name, looks up at me as he begins to answer the question with a look on his face that said "Kid, I'm gonna make you a star!" He then proudly announced as he gestured towards where I sat (to a group of small time media, including CNN, MSNBC, AP) "We even have one of our international interns here with us today!" He was so excited to share the spotlight. I was so excited to punch him. Really hard. Right in the face. Luckily for my career I was able to show some restraint. Our CEO elbowed him in the ribs and whispered something in his ear that made him look up at me and mouth "I'm SOO sorry!" The damage had been done. Shit happens.

Point is that people are still surprised to find out that I'm a permanent employee, which can be frustrating. I think it's because nobody expects an American to live here for such a long time. This might seem trivial to you, but imagine working for a company where the only logical explanation for your existence was that you are an intern. Quite the uphill battle.

I still get stared at. A lot, but not as much as Winnie or Laura, who get harassed on a regular basis. We get charged more for simple things, such as rickshaw/cab rides. I'm also pretty sure that the guy that I buy mangoes from on the street charges me more than locals, but I don't complain because I get 8 mangoes for approximately $2. I spose that’s the trickle-down effect everyone seems to believe exists, but I’ll tell you one thing: the people in the bottom 20% of this country, in my humble observations, benefit almost nothing from the IT boom in India. Not like someone living in a shanty town can go into software design, but this is a conversation for another entry.

Well-educated people (college educated) are surprised to see me living in India semi-permanently, but they have a good idea of my story without even asking me. They obviously know I work for an MNC, which answers many questions. Children run up to me and say "Uncle! Uncle! Pen? Pen?" For whatever reason, these kids really get a kick out of receiving a pen from a foreigner. I couldn't tell you why, it's not like they can't get pens for a rupee or two. Other less-educated people will usually stare for a while, and occasionally one of the brave ones will approach me and ask "From which country?"

This puts me in an interesting dilemma. If I proudly say "the United States," it conjures up images of a very rich, very disliked George Bush. (Keep in mind this is the most pro-American country outside of the US.) What happens then? They know I have money. Some people think this is a stereotype, but even the poorest 20-year old backpacker has 10 times more money in his pocket than many of these people have in a month. Now if they hate the US, they might try to rip me off. Who knows, they might mug me, although that is EXTREMELY unlikely. They also might love me and treat me well. Just depends.

Now what if I say Canada? What does that mean to your average Indian? Let me rephrase: What does that mean to the average person from the US?! Absolutely nothing. Nobody knows if I'm especially rich. Nobody assumes that I'm from a hostile nation. I think you see where I'm going with this. They might not treat me wonderfully, but they won't treat me any worse than they would another white person. And there's really not much I can do about being white. I've tried.

One thing I will say is that the vast majority of the people in India take great care to ensure that I enjoy myself while in their country. People generally want to make sure I'm comfortable and that the food isn't too spicy. It's clear that these folks want me to leave India with a good impression of their country. That's one way I can really feel the excitement surrounding India. Although I haven't spoken to many of the uneducated locals (I don't speak Kannada, the local language), I get the distinct impression that even the portion of the population low on the socioeconomic spectrum who are largely unaffected by the economic growth in India understand how India is more prominent on the global stage. How do they know? They see more foreigners wandering the streets than they ever have before. That excitement is translated to visitors through the genuine enthusiasm shown by everyone from friends at work to the guys that clean my apartment and make sure that everything is to my liking.

I can honestly say that the American presence we provide has had an effect on the social environment around here. I don't get stared at in my neighborhood nearly as much as I used to. Most recently, the rude guy who runs the corner store next to my apartment actually smiled at me when I purchased curd the other day. The other employees on campus don't seem disturbed by my presence. And I think this has a larger impact than we might be willing to realize. They probably tell their friends that they live and work with Americans, and that the Americans are not as evil as the news makes them look. It sounds ridiculous to make that claim, that I'm affecting how an entire culture views people from the US, but you gotta start somewhere. Baby steps. The 130 Americans that come to work in India for 6 months will be the next step.

Cassidy asked another very important question: When do you come back permanently?

Well this depends on what you mean by "back?" When will I be back in the US? It's hard to say. When will I be back in the First World? Probably another 9 months, give or take. There are many opportunities to work for IndiaIT in the United States, probably California, but what fun would that be? Actually, it would probably be awesome. After all, that's the only region of the United States in which I have not lived. I have tons of friends in LA and tons of family in the San Francisco area. On the other hand, I had a conversation with a colleague yesterday that would lead me to believe that there could be opportunities in the UK. If was a betting man, I would bet that I'd be back in the US in about 8 or 9 months, but quite a bit could happen between now and then.

Like the CFO of IndiaIT says to me every time I see him, "Nathan, we'll get you to stick around longer once we find you a nice Indian girl!"

My experience thus far would suggest that this is impossible, but you never know.

Keep the suggestions coming if you got 'em.

My inexcusable lack of cross-cultural insight

2006-05-14T21:07:00.003-07:00

It has recently come to my attention that my blog does not provide my readers with enough cross-cultural content. Apparently I've been hogging the spotlight and have not devoted ample space to "information on Indian life." Typical Nate, right? I assumed you wanted to hear more about my resume. I stand corrected.

My hope has always been to write about my experiences (when they are merited) and those who read my entries would be able to gain insight to my life, the life of an expat in Bangalore. However, I can only accurately represent my life, which is quite unique because there aren't many people my age working here permanently, or at least for longer than a few months. I was part of a pilot program that brought 7 Americans to Bangalore to work for IndiaIT, the first of its kind to my knowledge. The success of this program was encouraging enough to cause IndiaIT to hire 130 American college graduates who will be living/working in India for 6 months beginning in August. It would appear that the life I lead will become more commonplace in the future, so I will concede that this blog could potentially serve a greater purpose than simply posting pictures of drunk expats and my weekend trip to Ooty.

I do realize that I have the opportunity to provide insight to those who wish to learn more about the Indian subcontinent and lifestyle. If nothing else, I hope that I can encourage more people to work abroad, especially in India where I feel many of the problems faced in this country can be solved with the help of foreign direct investment. So I'll answer the rather pointed questions that have recently come across about life in India:

Q: Is it exactly the same as in the US?
A: No.

Q: Is it non-existent?
A: No, life in India exists.

Q: Is it impossible to explain verbally?
A: No, it is quite possible to communicate my experiences verbally.

I know, this information can be a little unsettling! All kidding aside, the person who asked these questions raises a valid concern and maybe I should be more responsible to those who would like to use my blog as a source of information. So in the spirit of making this more of a conversation than a lecture, I propose this:

Send me the questions or topics of interest that you would like me to expound upon. I could always feed you useless information, but I think it would be more interesting to get cues from those who would read. Also, after living here a while I'm sure I glaze over some interesting aspects of life that you may want to hear about.

After all, I feel that stories about monkeys (which are certainly aces in my book as well, Dan) get less interesting over time. Most recently a clan of wild monkeys broke into Laura's kitchen (Scott left the window open) and ravaged her newly replenished food supply (they ate the almonds brought by Laura's mom). I have recently armed myself with an airsoft gun and sit on Laura's balcony picking off the enchroaching monkeys out of trees. I've learned one thing through this adventure: I need to get a bigger, more powerful gun.

See! I have yet to receive a question and I've already given you valuable information about what it's like to live in India. That's just a taste of what's to come!

But if you don't send me questions, I'm going to assume you want more monkey stories and pictures of drunk expats. Believe me, there's no shortage of either.

Levitating and editorial freedom

2006-05-12T03:41:00.000-07:00

In the last 3 months or so I've fallen under the spell of the most unlikely of obsessions: YOGA.

Now I know that India is having a profound effect on me when I enjoy stretching for 45 minutes three times a week. I always considered myself a pretty masculine guy in practice. I mean, come on. I struggle with emotional depth, I take sports more seriously than 9 out 10 doctors recommend, I feel the need to have red meat with every meal (very difficult in India), and I generally criticize anything or anybody different than myself. Basically, I was in a fraternity in college that has caused irreparable damage. It was in this mindset that I initially approached yoga. Many of my friends were taking yoga classes and I had a great time making fun of them for wasting their time doing splits and humming in unison.

This was all until I went to 2 classes. Now I’m addicted.

Winnie used to say that she’s hesitant to leave India because she would miss our incredible yoga instructor. She’s right. I’ll send pictures next week, but our instructor’s name is Rudraswamy. And he is actually Yoda. “New position today we will do!” “Hurting?”

Yoda. Yoga. Yoda. Yoga. Coincidence?

He’s this insanely flexible, 5 ft nothing guy who can probably levitate and shoot fireballs out of his arse, but I wouldn’t know. I’m not that advanced yet.

There are few other activities where you can see a measureable difference between EVERY SINGLE CLASS. Each class I’m able to do something I was not able to do 3 days earlier. It’s really that feeling of accomplishment that keeps me going. I can’t wait for the next class because I can’t wait to see what progress I have made.

And for all those people who say that stretching for 45 minutes a day is “lame” or “gay”
have not tried it. I am routinely pretty sweaty and exhausted after 45 minutes and after a really intense class I’ll be hurtin’ the next morning.

So now, as I think about when and how I’ll move back to the United States (or wherever) I think about where I will find an instructor as good as Rudra.

You don’t believe me, just wait for the pictures I’m gonna take of our class over the weekend and post them on Monday. _______________________________________________________________________

On a separate note, I was on NBC Nightly News being interviewed for the same old story. Crazy American living and working in India. Here’s the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12745020/

I have a few things to say. First off, I get a lot of flack for “talking about nothing but my resume” in these interviews. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m not as one-dimensional as these articles might lead you to believe. During these interviews I usually answer questions for about 15 minutes and then they cut those 15 minutes down to somewhere between 5 and 10 seconds.

Now these journalists have a reconceived story in mind. They’ve traveled all the way to India to find information that supports their hypothesis. With 15 minutes of footage, you could probably find a 3-second soundbite that makes it sound like I deny the existence of the Holocaust. That’s the beauty of the media. They can say whatever they want if they find some fool to back it up for them. I am that fool.

I may be interested in where my career is going, and that played a large part in my decision to move to Bangalore, but the personal growth benefits of living here have also been amazing. It’s just that nobody wants to read about how I’ve blossomed into a better human being, even if that’s the case. My ability to deal with shaky/sketchy situations is vastly improved, because, I deal with situations like this fairly often, especially when I first got here and I was more uncertain about the situation. Simply living outside of the United States for an extended period of time gives you a worldly perspective, especially when it comes to how the world views the United States. I can feel myself slipping deeper into cliché so I’ll stop while I’m ahead.

I urge anyone with the chance to live and work abroad to take that opportunity, no matter what your reasons are. Just be careful how you deal with media, because you can create an image for yourself that you did not intend. Because at the end of the day, your image is in the hands of the journalist.

Pics to come in the next post.

India is funny

2006-04-12T04:19:00.000-07:00

So recently I've found a lot of pretty hilarious India-humor. I heard from a friend that the last Simpsons episode featured Mr. Burns outsourcing his plant to India and Homer moves to Bangalore, titled "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore."

They must've come to India to do research, cuz this is so accurate it's scary

How I feel everyday in India

Here is a hilarious article on Slate entitled "Trying Really Hard to Like India" that's intensely funny, at least for me. One of my favorite passages:

But other pitches were not as well-crafted. For instance, there was this guy who smiled weakly and asked us, with a halfhearted shrug, "Monkey dance?" Our eyes followed the leash in his hand, which led to the neck of a monkey. The most jaded, world-weary monkey I've ever seen. The Lou Reed of monkeys. He looked like he was about to sit down, pull out his works, and shoot a big syringe full of heroin into his paw. Needless to say, we declined the monkey dance—which I'm guessing would have been some sort of sad, simian death-jig.

Here's the full article

Here's an Onion article about India that was posted in the last few days:

Air India Now Offers Business Caste Seating

When did India become the butt of so many jokes? And why did it take this long? This place is funny, and not enough people realize that. When it comes to India, everyone talks about the gravity of the situation when really they should be looking for how we can use these scenarios to laugh at a culture very different from our own.

Nothing new in life. More updates coming soon.

Pictures of my apartment, the Jethro Tull concert

2006-04-03T02:59:00.000-07:00

I realize that I have not been updating this blog very much lately, but there's a perfectly reasonable explanation: life has been boring. I've mostly been working since I've been back from the US. Even if I could talk about the details of work on this blog I probably wouldn't because I've been little more than an excel/PowerPoint monkey. And even on the weekends I've been earning some extra money doing voiceovers.

A couple pretty cool things have happened in the last week or two.

First off, it looks like Scott and I may be getting an intern to help us with a project similar to a venture capital initiative at Infosys. Not only might we be getting an intern, but the only applicants we've seen that we're interviewing are MBA students from Duke/Cornell/Harvard. I don't know how this person will feel working with two 23 year olds fairly fresh out of college, but hopefully they'll take it well. We have our first interview with a girl from Johnson School (Cornell), so I'll let you guys know what happens.

This article came out from the Associated Press about Americans moving to India for work opportunities. This is the most exposure I've gotten, and that's pretty crazy considering I never as much as spoke to the journalist on the phone. I've spent hours, days with journalists, even traveled with them, and they don't even quote you. Here's the article as it was picked up by the San Jose Mercury News.

I appreciate them mentioning my digestive issues while in India.

And here are some random pictures over the last few months.

Here are finally some pictures of my apartment and the view from my balcony as well as Winnie's:

View from my balcony on the 7th floor (8th floor in the US)

My living room (doors from right to left: my room, Pete's room, my bathroom, kitchen)

View of living room from couch

First thing you see when you walk in my door

View from Winnie's balcony

The Jethro Tull concert that was like 4 months ago:

Ian Anderson was on fire at this show!

Interesting stuff to come.

Back from the US, back to blogging

2006-03-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

Alright, so this is my first post in about a month because of my trip to the United States, which was AWESOME!!! I figure that most people who read my blog knew I was in the US and hopefully I was able to see you. I'm actually proud to say that the list of people that I wanted to see but couldn't is much shorter than I thought it would be, so if you're reading this and were in either NYC or Chicago in the last few weeks I probably chilled with you, probably had a beer, probably had 6...

It is actually great to be back. I think there was a moment when I was in New York City with Jake Nissly and a bunch of crazy music fools from Northwestern, enjoying myself too much at a club where Fred's rock band was playing, when I said to myself "Nate, they're gonna have to drag you kicking and screaming back to India..." Luckily that wasn't the case. It was tough the night before I left because the trip went so quickly but I forgot how much I do enjoy my life here in Bangalore. We went to brunch at the Leela Palace yesterday and that was just incredible! I just got back from the US and I thought the food at this buffet was off the hook!

So most people don't read this to hear about what I do in the US, so I'll keep the details to a minimum, but here's a Top 10 list for my trip back to the US.

10. Speckled Hen Beer in NYC with Nissly and Connor Hannick at 2:00 AM

Maybe my favorite beer of the trip. Good times late night after seeing some incredible music in the city.

9. Seeing Symetric Freddy's band, Ionia, play at Guesthouse in NYC

They actually were pretty good. I was worried that Fred had fallen in with a bad crowd of Emo fans, but the band had a great sound. I think Fred gets laid a lot more than he was previously used to as a result, so good for him.

8. Getting smashed with Bruss the night I got back into Evanston

Barring myself, never before have I seen a man defile himself like Bruss did this night. Don't get me wrong, we were all toasted but Bruss was the star of the show. I think he kissed me and told me he loved me 20 times in the closing hours of the night. And I gotta say, I liked it. I think he put it the right way. Chris said that people were excited to have me back and thought it would be an intense week of partying, but it wasn't anything like that at all. It was just like I had never left.

7. Hanging out with Noelle in Chicago

I had an incredible time hanging out with Noelle for a few brief hours in Chicago. I saw her apartment, which is awesome, and we went to a local bar to get dinner and watch the Mich State game. Good conversation, good drink. I miss that girl. And she doesn't even read my blog.

6. Concerts

Two concerts that I will NEVER forget. First, Wayne Krantz Trio at the 55 Club in NYC with Jake. Best 1.5 hours of music ever, by FAR. His trio features Krantz (guitar), Keith Karlock (Sting's drummer) and Paul Jackson (played in a little band called the Head Hunters with Herbie Hancock). There are no words to describe. Second, the secret Prince concert with Patty Dropps. We waited for 2.5 hours in 20 degree weather for a concert that didn't start till almost 1:30 AM (ended at 3:45 AM) but every minute was worthit. Heck I could have been out there for 2 more hours and it still would have been a defining moment of my life. 30 ft away from Prince. All I gotta say.

5. American TV

I watched copious amounts of sports while I was back. Never before did I realize the beauty and perfection that is ESPN. The .com version is great, but nothing beats SportsCenter. Also, the Colbert Report on Comedy Central just blew my mind. Changed my whole perspective on shit. Just hilarious.

4. Driving

Driving is fun, even if it's through a blizzard on the highway heading to Illinois. Jamming out to tunes with friends while traveling on well-paved roads is way underrated. I should have done that more in high school... actually, I did quite a bit of that in high school.

3. Grandparents

My awesome grandparents came to hang out for the weekend and it was a ton of fun. Really nice sushi dinners at night, playing cards during the day, cocktail hour starting at 4:00 PM... all the things that make my extended family as fantastic as they are. I don't care what anyone says, nobody works hard and parties harder than the Linkons. Respek.

2. My little bro Adam

For one of the first times in my life (or more appropriately, his life) I had a great time just chillin with my little bro Adam. He's a freshman at Universiry of Minnesota and has really made a great life for himself. He seems to have a great girlfriend and does some sweet stuff, like coreographing fight scenes for student films. That's pretty awesome. And he's not partying his way through school like I did. He'll remember much more.

1. Parents

My parents rock. Always have, always will. I only wish I could have spent more time with them. This is what makes them so awesome: they help me pay for a ticket home knowing damn well that I'm gonna be pulled in a thousand directions by friends and they will probably get the shit end of the stick. And they did. We had some great times hanging out, looking at pictures of India, eating good food, drinking good wine, and just talking about life.

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Don't worry, Mom. I'll be back in the United States for good before anyone knows I've been gone.

Good stuff, guys. I'm sure I could have made a list of 20, but with your busy schedules you can't possibly read all of them. Great vacation, but glad to be back at work and with my friends here. The best part of a vacation can be coming home.

Peace, ya'll.

Valentines Day date with Good Morning America

2006-02-14T04:54:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot about Valentines Day. Not that it's been a particularly meaningful holiday for me in my lifetime, but still kinda sad. I do, however, have a date this evening: Camera crew and anchor person from Good Morning America.

They are here doing a 5-part series on India and they spent the day here at IndiaIT looking at the campus and interviewing a few employees, including myself and Pete. It looks like this series will air starting on March 1st, which means I'll actually be in the US when this airs. Good Morning America for sure!

The GMA producer, Mary, said she'd like to see us out on the town doing what we do. I called a bar that we frequent and set it up with the manager so we'll be going out for dinner, drinks, all on IndiaIT's dollar, which is a rarity! The interview went pretty well. A few awkward questions here and there.

Anchor Dude: So Nate, how's the love life in Bangalore?

Nate: What an awkward question! Actually, it's nonexistant.

Anchor Dude: What about you Pete? It's Valentines Day!

Pete: Yeah, I'm inviting a girl out to dinner tonight.

(Nate looks like huge tool with no game)

Whatever, this is what I expected, right? Either way, the interview went well. I think I said too much, which is typical Nate, especially when a camera is on me, but all together a successful day. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like in a few weeks. They probably caught 2 hours of tape which they have to cut down to 5 or 6 minutes.

On another note, the Fortune article about IndiaIT comes out in 2 weeks. The reporter, Julie Schlosser, has told us that it has gone to print. She also mentioned that the photographs taken were incredible, which I can take partial credit for. I did, after all, hang out with the photographer while she took the pictures. Maybe my mere presence was inspiring!!! Probably not, though. I DID sneak her onto the roof while security guards yelled at me in a language I don't understand. Not understanding Hindi can actually be an advantage cuz you can't argue with someone that you can't speak with.

Alright, busy week ahead as I prepare to fly back to the states on Sunday. Especially cuz I have to fly to Hyderabad (another city in India) for a corporate gig. It's the first time I'm being flown anywhere AND being paid to play my sax, which is nice. So my travel schedule is now:

Saturday morning - Leave from Bangalore to Hyderabad
Sunday afternoon - Leave from Hyderabad to Bombay
Sunday night - Leave from Bombay to New York City
Tuesday - Arrive in NYC
Friday - Leave for Chicago

Crazy week ahead but the thought of coming to the States keeps me going.