Author: geoff

When last we left our intrepid hero, he was cowering in bed, transfixed by television images of Bangalore under flood waters of Biblical proportions. The following morning brought little relief: the regional papers were running headlines like “Bangalore is now an ocean”. Undaunted, Dale and I took a car to Hyderabad Airport. We saw people calmly checking in for the flight to Bangalore, we were advised that there was no delay, and we breathed more easily.

After checking our bags and going through the usual security procedures, we found ourselves in an area with a sign indicating that we should wait upstairs. We did so. Time passed, no flights were called, and by 8:15am Dale decided to ask someone when our 8:35 flight would be boarding. “It’s already boarding downstairs,” was the alarming reply. We rushed back down the stairs, and found a narrow door into another, distinctly decrepit, waiting area. Our flight was not actually boarding, but it was called a few minutes later. Had Dale not asked, etcetera, etcetera.

We took the bus out to the stand where our aircraft, an ATR-72-500 of Jet Airways (registration VT-JCA) was parked. Still nobody seemed worried that we were headed into a disaster zone. We took off, had the usual excellent hot “snack”, and 80 minutes later we landed at a damp, but decidedly un-flooded Bangalore Airport.

Despite my attempt to rationalize the car situation, there were three cars waiting for us at the airport. One was from my hotel, and I accepted the suggestion to have my suitcase taken straight there. The others? Well, one was for Dale and me to go to Sun’s IEC (Indian Engineering Centre); the other was for Dale’s bags. Whatever. After a ride through distinctly un-flooded streets we reached the office.

For me, arriving at IEC was like “old home week”. I ran into a number of Sun engineers whom I’d known in Menlo Park and Santa Clara, and who had relocated back to Bangalore when we opened IEC. A group of us had lunch and I started to come up to speed on what’s happening in IEC. After a number of other meetings, Dale and I took the car back to my hotel, The Park, where Dale had arranged a get-together for a number of his staff who are working on Sun’s implementation of JSR 208, the Java™ Business Integration (JBI) standard. They’re already starting to work with some of SeeBeyond’s technology: the technical fit looks excellent, while the overlap is minimal (and fairly straightforward.) Here they are, toasting integration (in all its forms).

When finally Dale left to catch his flight to Mumbai (and thence to London, and thence to San Francisco), I excused myself and went up to my room. Did I mention that this is a boutique hotel (whatever that means)? The style is drop-dead gorgeous: a very Japanese minimalism. (I just checked the brochure, and it’s a Conran design. That explains a lot.)

And so, after freshening up, and grabbing some food in the restaurant downstairs (my first uncompromisingly Western dinner on this trip), I shall wrap up this blog and hit the sack. Tomorrow is a very full day – but that’s for another blog entry.

Tuesday comprised a full day of meetings with the ex-SeeBeyond organization in Hyderabad. Dale and I talked with each of the functional groups: about the group membership; what they were doing; the major issues that they faced (strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities); and how the integration into Sun was going to affect them. After that, we sat down with all of the managers and team leads in order to answer a few more questions and go over some final points: the key milestones of the integration plans; some thoughts about how and when some of Sun’s engineering and product practices will be introduced; and how the Hyderabad operation fits into Sun’s global plans. The whole day felt very positive.

At the end of the day Sunil took Dale and me out to a traditional South Indian restaurant (“Our Place”). The food was excellent, although I ate a little more than I really should have…. We then went back to the Sheraton to pack and prepare for an early departure to Bangalore. It turned out that a government minister (or some similar dignitary) was staying in the hotel, and security was really tight. All the cars were being searched and checked underneath with mirrors, there were portable metal detectors set up in several places, and uniformed men were wandering around brandishing various firearms, ancient and modern (from state-of-the-art assault weapons to antique 303 Lee-Enfield rifles).

I successfully negotiated the security, retired to my room, packed, brushed my teeth, climbed into bed, turned on the English-language television news, and was confronted with pictures of severe flooding in Bangalore. “And the deluge is expected to continue for 48 hours,” said the newscaster, excitedly. What on earth was I letting myself in for?

Among the most interesting galleries at the Salar Jung Museum was the one devoted to contemporary Indian art (i.e. since 1900). The works therein betray a real struggle to work out the relationship between Indian artistic traditions and the wide range of (mostly European) influences, from impressionism to cubism to minimalism. My favourite piece (which won’t surprise those who know my tastes) was a stunning figure of a woman’s back, caught in the moment after stepping from her bath and putting on a loose shift. The interplay of water, skin, hair, and fabric is exquisite. The title was “After Bath”, and the artist was given as M. N. Roy. I’ve searched the web, and apart from various references to M. N. Roy as a political activist and occasional artist, I can find nothing. Does anyone know of an on-line image of this work?

I spent six hours today seeing some of the sights of Hyderabad. I have to say that I was blown away: it’s a fabulous city. (This will seem unfair to my colleagues in Pune; after all, I never had an opportunity to get a similar tour of their city. Next time, I hope.) Everywhere you turn are broad avenues, elegant domes, and statuary.

The highlights follow; unfortunately in some places photography was not permitted:

• Sri Venkateshwara Temple. A symphony in white marble, providing a wonderful view over the city as well as a moment of peaceful – albeit alien – ritual.
  

• A drive through the Bergum Bazaar and the old city to see the Chaminar, an exquisitely-proportioned four-square tower.
  

• The Salar Jung Museum. This is a huge, rambling, eclectic, confusing, and ultimately wonderful museum, based on the private collector of a former Prime Minister who devoted himself to art during the first half of the 20th century. There’s something for everyone there. Obviously there’s Indian art: painting, carvings, ivory, jade, manuscripts, fabrics, metalwork, pottery, bronze sculpture, furniture, weapons, toys, and even wildlife (stuffed). But there are also collections of art from around the world. There’s a French room, with one of the nicest Bouguereau’s I’ve ever seen, entitled Biblis. There’s a wonderful collection of (mostly French) clocks. There are excellent collections of Japanese and Chinese art and artefacts. It’s fantastic, it’s overwhelming – after 75 minutes my head was full, so I bought a VCD (video CD) film about the collection, and fled.

• Golconda. The name itself sounds magical. As soon as I knew I was visiting Hyderabad, I was determined to see the ruins of this legendary fortress and palace. Here’s my guide, showing the map of the complex.
  
  We went up the main path to the pavilion at the top of the fortress, then descended the steep King’s Path into the palace complex. We spent about an hour altogether, stopping to hydrate and take in the details. I took lots of pictures; eventually I’ll put together a decent gallery. For now, here’s a view from the top looking down on the palace.
  

• From Golconda we drove 3 kilometres to the Grand Qutub Shaha Tombs complex, where the kings and queens that ruled Hyderabad and Golconda in the 16th and 17th centuries are buried. I was starting to feel the heat a little (around 90F), so rather than exploring the whole site I asked my guide to show me around the tomb of Hayat Bakshi Begum (that’s me in front of it),
  
  and then we just sat and talked for half an hour, about the tombs around us, and about each other. He was a nice guy, a college student, aspiring to be a Chartered Accountant.

And at that point I was ready for a shower and a long cold drink, so we returned to the hotel. Of course as soon as I entered my room, the power went off, so rather than showering in the dark I started work on this blog entry. Since the power is now restored, I shall post it and head off to get clean.

I’ve uploaded some pictures, and a short (1.1MB) video clip, of my commute to the office in Pune and a little bit of the ride from Hyderabad Airport to my hotel respectively. Quality is lousy – this is from the camera in my Treo – but never mind. Enjoy.

Travel day. My original itinerary would have meant that I spent all day at Mumbai Airport, but thanks to colleagues in Pune I found myself booked on a direct flight to Hyderabad. This represented yet another “first”: my first flight on Air Sahara. The equipment was a Canadair CRJ, ex-Midway and now VT-SAO. Security at Pune was tight: my checked bag was X-rayed and then sealed; I was “wanded” twice, and my carry-on was X-rayed and then inspected.

Pune is actually a huge Indian Air Force base; the civilian terminal is just a tiny part of the whole. We walked out to the CRJ following a Jet Airways 737-800 that was taxiing out, and we were close enough to the departing aircraft for the jet blast to make some passengers cringe. As we taxiied out, following a very circuitous route, I could see at least a dozen Sukhoi Flankers and SEPECAT Jaguars on the military ramp.

I was in seat 4A, but of course the low-mounted windows of the CRJ meant that I didn’t have a very good view. Never mind, I was busy: even though it was only a one-hour flight, we were served a hot “snack” (vegetarian or non-veg) that any US airline would have called a full lunch.

After an on-time arrival, I met the hotel’s representative at Hyderabad airport. I had phoned that morning to alert the hotel of my change of plan, but somehow the message hadn’t got through: he was still expecting me at 7:30pm. Never mind: he rustled up a car, and we crawled through the traffic to the Begumpet district.

So now I’m ensconced in the ITC Kakatiya Sheraton in Hyderabad, where I’ll be until Wednesday. Tomorrow I’m planning to get an all-day guided tour of the city, including Golconda. Then if all goes according to plan I’ll be rendezvousing with a colleague for dinner tomorrow night. (Right now he should be at Heathrow, enjoying a 9 hour layover!)