Friday

I wake up at 9. Wow, I didn’t see that coming. A minute later my hotel phone rings. The car is here to take me to the office. I ask him come back at 10.

I’ve been told that Dosa’s are wonderful for breakfast, so I order one. It is like a crepe, but much bigger. Inside mine is some sort of potato mixture. Very tasty.

I arrive late at the office today. I meet with Chirag and Kartik to go over Milestone 2 plans. Shilpa and Nikhil take me shopping at lunch time. At a stop light a young boy raps on the window asking for money. At the store, an elderly lady does the same. This is my first encounter with beggars the entire week.

Back at the office, the team assembles again for our final learning session. I’m sad to be leaving so soon. When it is time to go, I say goodbye to:

A jitterbug.. Ajit; Alps.. Alpesh; Oh my... Amey; Omit... Amit; Ashes.. Ashish; Chin Rag... Chirag; Éclair... Claire; Go West... Ganesh; Car sick… Kartik; Door Knocker.. Coor Knocker... Karunakar; K-10... Kaytun; Nick Hill... Nikhil; Spaghetti Sauce... Raghu; Random Access Memory... Ram; Rich... Richa; Sun Chin... Sachin; Sun Deep... Sandeep; Rub a dub dub... Shalabh; Subway… Sub... Supna; User Persona... Sara; Shish kabob... Shishir; Sew / knit… Sunit; Tea Jail… Tayjul; Tea and Goo... Thiyagu; Two Shares… Tushar; Shell.. Shill... Shilpa; Okay… Akshay

I fly on KingFisher Airlines back to Bangalore. KingFisher got its start as a beer company. I try to imagine flying Budweiser Airlines in America, but I just can’t see that happening. The food and service on the plane are very good. No beer, though.

When we land, there are buses waiting to take us to the terminal. I get off the plane and the bus driver asks to see my ticket stub. Why? Do many people stow away on airplanes so that they can get free rides to a terminal on a bus? Luckily, I find the ticket stub in my pocket. I suppose that if I didn’t have it they would have made me fly back to Pune.

I meet back up with Heidi at the Royal Orchid hotel. Maha picks us up in his car and we quickly get stuck in Bangalore traffic. Eventually, we make it to The Beach. The Beach is a nightclub / restaurant with actual sand on the floor. We are led to a table where we order beers and appetizers. It is great catching up with Maha. All too soon, it is time to go. We settle the check and say no to the person dressed like a waiter who offers back-rubs. Is that instead of a dinner mint?

Heidi and I head for the airport. We have a 2 a.m. flight to catch.