Friday, 15 June 2007

My workplace in Kochi...

I work in the Vismaya building, in Kochi, in the state of Kerala. The state is in the southern region of India, and the nearest metro city to me is Bangalore, which is 9hrs by road. Even the work building is in a big huge hole. There is absolutely nothing around it, no shops, no restaurants, just a lot of dirt, as there’s still construction going on.


This is my full team (plus Deepa, our new recruit who isn't in this shot). Starting from left, is me, Jibi, Arun, Ashwin, Roshan, and Rajesh (who will be leaving our team *sob*)

From the roof, you can see quite contrasting scenery, on one side you would have, lovely greens, and rivers.

Then you look over the other side and you see a whole lot of contruction and dirt!

What do people eat if we’re working, with no shops around? There is a canteen on the level above me, and apparently the food isn’t that great. But they tell me, it’s getting better. As you know, EVERYONE eats with their hands. They have a specific washroom, just to wash up, before and after you eat. It’s unisex, but they do not provide any soap. I found that VERY strange, because your hands aren’t really clean with just water? But other washroom places, normally do have soap.

Only takes up a quarter of the entire floor

Unisex washrooms

I’m staying at the Transit Quarters, which is about an 8min auto ride, but I’m 30mins away from the main city centre of Kochi. It’s quite difficult to move around if you do not have transport, and it makes it hard to get into the city on weekdays, and even weekends, due to the terrible traffic. Also, you do not want to catch public transport, it’s a big nono, unless you can’t afford your own wheels. There’s no air con, and people are just hanging off the doorway, I was amazed when I saw that.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How come you don't eat at the cafeteria, Shar?

And are ALL of your co-workers men? Are you sure they're always staring at you and not at your tits ... which stand out quite abit in your figure-hugging shirts? ;) Or maybe they're just staring because you're almost as tall as the tallest one of them ! Must be all that Australian Beef that you eat. Did you tell them you're strong because of meat? But imagine if Indians became meat eaters....the amount of methane that would be produced from the extra cattle herds would raise the global temperature by 0.5 degrees C. Actually, don't tell them you eat meat. Let them think it's coz you're Chinese.

sharzy said...

Well, my chef packs my lunch because it's meant to be cheaper, but I later found out, my sandwiches and noodles were costing more than the canteen food!

But then again, they only have curries, and as you know, during that time, I had issues with my bowels.

But on the last day, I did have some canteen food, and it was nice, they have such a selection for the meals!

Hehehe, my team was all men, until the latest member joined, and she's female. The office people are quite tactful, and I think my boobs aren't big enough to be stared at, anyways. Haha...