It seems fitting I am writing this now in Changi airport. I've spent some time here over the last year or so - and it was only 1 short month ago I was sitting here in a bar with Dan, with a heavy heart at the thought of going back to India without Jac, and facing an uphill battle with our client (even though we lost the battle, we will win the war suckers).
Now I still have a heavy heart at what I've left behind, but I am on top of the world at what's ahead - Jacki, Jada, a new house, an exciting job on a $4.8 billion project with a government client who WILL pay us - and all in the best city in the world, Brisbane (although I have promised Jac if she finds a job in Dubai or somewhere else I'll go with her...)!
The blog has been a great outlet for me. I've written over 100 posts in 6 months, and there have been more than 2,500 hits at an average of 14 per day. What a great family I have!
But all good things come to an end, and this will be the last post. And so my final thoughts - for what they're worth - on India.
- It is a land of contrasts - from the TV dish on the slum, to the war talk from some of the loveliest people you could meet, I have never been challenged by so many outright contradictions. Seeing our drivers every day in their one threadbare uniform - ironed to perfection - is a perfect example.
- It is a land of barely hidden anger - I believe this is a massive undercurrent which comes through in the constant mob violence, such as setting vehicles on fire when there's a car accident - and with the Maoist situation it seems a lot of the country is basically in civil war. Rich v poor, Hindu v Muslim, communists v congress, taxi v cow - everyone has a side.
- It is a land of family - kids stay with their parents all their lives, although I also believe that there is "big family" syndrome (understandable in a land of 1.1 billion people) - to get anything you have to force your way to the front, and this comes out in everything from the stampede to get off a plane through to the chaotic traffic (to slow is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat)!.
- It is a land of bureaucracy (thank you England, you bastards) - it hasn't been able to find its way out of the over-the-top systems introduced by the British, and is beset by greed and corruption at high levels at the expense of the majority poverty-stricken population.
Reading back through that list it seems a bit negative, and maybe I'm a bit bitter and twisted over the way our company was treated. I think that's unfair though - I had an unbelievable experience that I wouldn't swap for anything, and met some of the most genuine, lovely, ego-free people I will ever meet in my life. There's a child-like quality to a lot of Indians that is endearing and that I can personally learn a lot from - a bit less cynicism Brent, okay?!
So anyway, time to go. I promise I'll have a couple of Singapore Slings for us on the way home. Thanks for everything, keep in touch (bstowers@thiess.com.au) and keep it real.
Love ya's!
Brent.
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