I get into my car and turn on the ignition, ready for another day at work. As I flip through stations, I hear a familiar Bollywood song. It's this song from the 80's I haven't heard for a while. The station is called "pandra pachas" and is reminiscent of being back in the motherland. I pull into work, which is a global technology company based in the heart of Silicon Valley, and am greeted by one of many Indians I work with as I enter the building.
I hear a lot of chatter as I make my way to my desk- mostly in Hindi, my parent's native tongue.
A few hours pass by, and lunch time has officially arrived. Before entering the break room, I can smell a variety of curries and Indian spices. Upon entering, I see groups of Indians sitting at the tables, all very close to one another with tiffins. I look around and see one solitary non Indian who happens to be walking through.
I am a bit overwhelmed by the "cult" feeling of it all.
I can't imagine a corporate environment in the motherland looking much more desi than this. Since I don't have the privilege of having either a kitchen or a spouse to make idily sambar or roti and sabzi for me, I venture out to one of my favorite Vietnamese places to pick up a bite to eat. On the way, I see an Indian truck "Spice hut", but the line is too long and I am too hungry to wait.
When I arrive at the Vietnamese restaurant, only 80% of the customers are Indian. I can see more diversity here than most other places in the surrounding area. The server, who is Vietnamese, customizes his greeting for every ethnic group. To all the Indians in front of me waiting to order he says, "Kaise ho? Aapko kya chahiye?" To me he says, "Hola señorita- como estas?" As I once lived in Spain, I feel privileged to be able to practice my Spanish in the heart of India outside of India.
As I way back to my desk after picking up lunch, I see posts on the "community wall" about an Indian culture show and upcoming cricket match. I walk to my desk, and one of my client liaisons asks about the status of some reports. He has a tikka in the middle of his forehead (a bright red dot), that I have now gotten accustomed to seeing over the past few weeks. As the day goes by, every now and then I get a whiff of some B.O, also reminiscent of the motherland. If only they realized that deodorant is often more effective than using talcum powder!
As I skim through a list of executives presenting at an All Hands next week, I see only one non Indian name. I think to myself, it's almost like reverse affirmative action.
I have some technical issues that need to be resolved, and decide to use some down time between meetings to call Help Desk. "Help Desk" is of course a call center in India. It takes about 15 minutes and 10 different options before I am routed to a live person. I ask about the status of my VPN status. The response is "Wait another 3-5 days and then call back". No specific information relevant to my ticket is offered. I realize that I need to speak to someone who is a bit more helpful and less jaded with the job, and try again.
After 20 minutes on hold, I'm speaking to a live person. I explain the situation, and clearly irritated, he responds with "So why are you calling?" Me: "Because this is the Help Desk and these are the kinds of issues you're supposed to assist with". Him: "Ok, umm there is a lot of background noise and I can't clearly hear you" (the noise is on his end in the call center. Then the dreaded dial tone.. I've been hung up on!!
As the VPN access is essential for when I'm off site the following day (Friday), I decide to try yet again before my flight Thursday evening. This time I only have to wait 13 minutes until I get a live person on line. "I'm in luck!", I think to myself. Then, "Hello, how can I help you?" on the other line. I explain the situation- that my VPN access per the client was granted a few days ago but I haven't yet received my password, and nor has the client. He says "The internet is down where we are right now, so I can't help you. Can you call back tomorrow".
I can't imagine India being any more Indian than this. I am amongst the people of my ethnicity/my parent's mother country yet feel out of place. I joke with friends that to better fit in, perhaps I too should hang a Ganesha emblem in my Toyota and wear a tikka to work every day!
