You probably ask, "Can such a place be found?" The answer is, Yes, I've found it. It's India.
When i2 Technologies, the company I work for, offered its employees the opportunity to live and work in Bangalore, I knew it was an opportunity I could not pass up. i2 Technologies was founded by an Indian and approximately half of the people who work for it in the United States are Indian. I knew most of the people who accepted the offer to relocate would be returning home. Still, I was surprised to learn that I was the only non-Indian American who accepted the offer.
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Bangalore is known as the Garden City of India because of its greenery. Its parks are famous, and the love of plants is shared by Bangaloreans. When you step through a gate into the terrace of a house or entryway of an apartment building, you enter a leafy environment. Few people have yards, but rows of potted plants embellish every terrace and balcony. The plants I grew indoors in Austin flourish outdoors in Bangalore. I've been now in this land of contrasts for two months. Like any traveler, I came with preconceptions, and, as any honest traveler will admit, many of them were inaccurate. I had a romantic image of women in sarees and elaborately ornamented temples. The women in sarees are certainly there - riding sidesaddle on the backs of motorcycles. The temples are also there - a block away from the very Western, eight-story building that houses the offices of i2, Cisco, and Sun Microsystems. Along with the beautiful temperature, balconies, visiting veterinarians, and inexpensive food, you find horrendous traffic, severe infrastructure problems, and street dogs. What living for these two months in India has done for me is make me aware of how much I took for granted about the way people organize the | |||||
