Gandhi, geckos and gas turbine engines

Imagine having your entire body wrapped in a wool blanket that has been soaked in 200 degree water. This is the feeling that one experiences when walking of off the plane in Calcutta in mid July. This comparison cannot begin to adequately describe the level of humidity and heat that this city is subject to. As we waited for our driver to pick us up outside of the airport I longed to lie down on a hot asphalt street in Phoenix if it meant trading for this one hundred degree curried fish head soup I was suddenly swimming in.

For selfish entertainment reasons, Calcutta proved to be the most interesting stop of this India tour, as we traveled to the Indian Airlines engine shop for a meeting. After all I had seen so far on this trip, why would I be surprised when we came to a stop at a building in what appeared to be the middle of a jungle, to find out that we had arrived at the Indian Airlines engine repair facility? I found myself with a huge grin on my face and couldn’t figure out why. “In some strange way, this was going to be different”, I thought to myself.

I can honestly say that I have never been in a conference room where a large portrait of Gandhi hung on the wall, flanked on both sides by cut-away posters of gas turbine engines, in an almost trinity-like fashion. It was at that moment that I figured I should probably re-think my priorities in life.

During several of my presentations at meetings and conferences throughout this trip I had been distracted by people having side conversations, asking off-the-wall questions and even a man snoring so loud in the front row of one of the meetings that he had to be shaken awake. But nothing compared to being caught off guard by giant geckos crawling on the walls of this conference room. Hey, at least they were awake, quiet and didn’t ask dumb questions.