life here in Calcutta (India)

My life is pretty much the same everyday. I wake up at 7am, have a huge cup of tea and loiter around, prep a little for my forthcoming project management exam and supervise my domestic help (yay! its really nice having some one do your housework, while you use that extra bit of time to your advantage). While that gets done, am off to shower and get ready for work. My driver (another yay! but trust me its not a luxury, the roads are crazy and if it was for me , i would be dead by now driving in the Calcutta streets) arrives at 8.20am and am off to work. it would have taken 15 minutes had it been Chicago but with all the unruly traffic and no rules, it takes about 40 minutes to get through. Am usually the first one at work and I really enjoy the morning. It's 9am and I get to work, tea time is the best time- very refreshing and it got me into a habit of waiting for it these days.

Like all jobs it gets a bit insane, lunch is mostly working lunch where i get some time to watch some training videos or get some work going. My work hours seem to get stretched everyday, so i leave around 7pm if I am lucky and head home. On the way, i catch up on some latest music or even drop in to get some grocery. Now this is where it gets interesting- you can shop at open markets where you have vendors all lined up with their baskets of fresh produce and you haggle and shout but you get it fresh and not frozen by any means. Or you can always go for the small shops that are popping up these days like "spencer" where you get to do it the American way. Let me say, you will get everything here what you would in Chicago from the frozen french fries to the shrimp. Generally the local crowd prefer the local markets than these. They are still getting used to the concept of doing it all on their own.

Once all done, am at home. A cup of tea and some Tv, a couple of calls to friends and family and am ready for some work/study again. I glance through some magazine and usually after a early dinner head of to bed.

Weekends is the only time, i get to step out and go for some shopping and food. You get all kinds of food and can feast on anything you like, shopping gets a bit tricky. Either you go for the malls and get stuff a bit over priced or you head out for the markets and haggle for everthing from clothes to food to jewellery. It is always advisable to have some local with you, if you plan to taking this route. While jeans is what i mostly wear, cotton is the style of the day. I do indulge in salwar kameez and all the local flare to keep me going with the weather.

So, while you shiver in the cold, here it is rather warm though you will find people wrapped up in all their winter wear. Enjoy the post, while i get back to some local food tasting:)