Indian Music: Singing Songs and Swimming Swamp

Date: Thursday 8/28/2003 2:44:42 AM

Subject: Indian music: Singing Songs and Swimming Swamp?

Yeah, I have been working too hard. 13 hours yesterday, 12 the day before. The training isn't going the way that we expected. I feel that I’m really running up against cultural differences about manager employee relationships. Managers here seem more harsh than we would be in the US. I wonder if this style will be effective. We’ll see …

On a lighter note. Here is the funny for the day. Yesterday, I started learning some Indian music, a song in Hindi. It is a love song but it starts off to the tune of "The ants go marching two by two, hurrah hurrah." Anyway, I learned it because I liked the tune, only after I asked for the words did I find out it is a love song.

So today, I sang it for Sethi-ji (the cook) and Dipen (the steward) they laughed a lot and then started teasing me asking who I was in love with. Only been here three weeks they said and I've already fallen in love. They laughed and laughed and now are sure that I'm in love with someone at work. It was a little embarrassing, since I’m not in love with anyone. Sudhir, the driver was out of the room when I sang it, but the first thing he wanted to know when we got in the car was what song I'd learned and would I sing it for him? Anyway, things for me are going well. Aside from the normal Indian hiccups: things being late and hard to get done, but Oh, well.

The swimming pool at the apartment complex turned a deep green color over the weekend, but they drained it yesterday and it is back to its lovely aqua color again. That shows how quickly algae grows in this hot Indian sun. One day the pool was clear aqua, the next day, slightly cloudy, and the third day jungle forest green. I haven’t been able to swim all week, but now I can again.

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