This day was our check-out day at the hotel, but we wanted to take advantage of that phenomenal breakfast buffet one last time before we left. Again, lots of great food and surprisingly good coffee. I even had some cucumber juice with my toast – there’s something you don’t drink every day.
We checked out and got a taxi to the airport, and then caught a domestic flight on Indigo airlines to Bangalore. Bangalore is in the southern part of India, and is known recently for booming growth on the back of IT technology. There were certainly a lot of high tech types on our plane checking email and talking on their cellphones. It felt a little like I was back in Palo Alto. One cool feature of Indigo airlines was that their planes exuded a cooling mist inside the cabin while waiting for takeoff. There were little vents in the walls above the windows and also above the overhead bins, and while we were boarding, and mist blew in making it sort of a surreal scene.
When we arrived at Bangalore airport it was easy to recognize Vishnu – I hadn’t seen him in twenty years, but he looked exactly the same. He drove us the long distance from the airport to his apartment, and we had plenty of time to catch up and talk about old times at Fresno State University. He took us to the UB building in the center of downtown, and we could enjoy some pan-asian food at a place called Tasty Tangles. There we had some beer and some spicy Asian food, and Vishnu caught us up on what he’s been up to. He’s out of the alcohol business and in the real estate business. I guess that is a good business to be in considering the pace of the growth of Bangalore. He even answered some business phone calls during the lunch, so he must have been doing well.
Next he took us to his home in a fairly quiet neighborhood of Bangalore, about ten minutes from the center of town. We were a little unprepared to not only meet his wife and kids but also his cook and maid. There was a security guard at the front of his apartment building, and overall the place was really nice. The cook (Sheila) made a huge traditional Indian dinner for us, and we ate in the traditional way, using only our hands. In the dining room there was a small wash basin that could be used afterwards to clean up, too. Eating with our hands was pretty tricky, especially once the rice got some sauce on it, but I think we managed OK. It was really fun to talk to Vishnu’s wife Ashka, a very friendly and intelligent lady who was happy to introduce each dish and talk about the dish’s background.
Vish and I stayed up late talking, but we finally decided to call it a night and get ready to look about town the next day.
