Incredible India - a PHP adventure - Part7
Ahhh 12 hours sleeping helped a lot. A really hot and looong night. I woke up a few times, switched on A/C for a couple of minutes and then felt asleep again.
I am really awake now 
This morning we left the Green Meadow Resort. Actually this Hotel was quite cheap - we paid for two persons, 5 nights, including room service (we ordered some food) around 360,- Euros. I would say this is really ok. Hotel was ok, Garden really nice and food was super.
Talking about the prices in india. Actually you can get anything very cheap. But if you search for a decent level of comfort (and this hotel I would say was ok but more low-level) then you will have to pay a lot more. So either you opt for low to mid level or if you want business hotel standard like Novotel, Accor etc. then you will have to pay around 90-180 Euros a night. This is valid for Chennai - I heard that in Bangalore it’s even worse. You won’t get a good international standard room there below 300,- Euro a night.
Food is the same - you can get some food on the streets for a few cents - and if you go to a good restaurant (like the ones we’ve kindly been invited to) then you won’t make it below 50 euros p.P. - but you get much better food and service then I would get for the same money in germany.
What I want to say is that there is no real mid-level available. At least it seems so to me after this week. Either low level - or high level. I’ve seen nothing between. I might be wrong. Next time I will try to search for something mid-level.
India is a country of extremes in any area. We have extrem poor people and extreme rich. Did you know that the most expensive home was build in india? Mukesh Ambani created his new home and spent 2 Billion $ on it. Impressive isn’t it? 27 floors!
Here are the facts:
- 27 floors at 173.12 sqm.
- 6 floors for parking, Mukesh’s family has 168 imported cars.
- Facilities for athletics and a swimming pool, and a health club.
- Helipad at rooftop
And still he can’t hinder people peeing on the pavement around the house. This is india. Extremes everywhere.
Talking about outsourcing. Let me give you an advise. For your first meeting you should always plan enough time. Just jetting to some place, rushing into meeting, negotiating and then flying home is not a good idea. Often american companies do this - plan a 2-3 days stay where I opted for a week. For sure you can negotiate the business terms in this time - but there is no time for the people behind the business. And this is important as this is the key to success. If there will problems pop up during the project - and there are always some - then it helps a lot if you have established a good and trustworthy relationship to the people you do work with. If not - you will have to pay extra attention. To make it short - these few additional days in advance will pay off during the project. Believe me - I experienced all sorts of problems in the past and having some sort of trust and relationship can make these problems simply disappear.
Today we went to our new hotel - the Fishermans Cove in Mahabalipuram It is a really nice hotel, 5 stars (indian standard not international) but still really really nice and worth to stay. I just had a quick bath in the sea - bay of bengalen - and it was really nice. Waves quite high, too dangerous to swim but still refreshing though the sea was warm. With our hosts we traveled to a nearby temple which unfortunately was already closed but we could see enough from the outside. This was followed by some shopping of handcrafted goods - having locals that supports you when you negotiate, bring down the price by a factor of 5-10. I can tell you that I am definitely too stupid to negotiate the right price.
Later we were again invited for a fabulous dinner directly at the beach. A star sprinkled sky, the waves on the sea and the nice temperature supported by ice-chilled beer (remember that I promised to support the local airline industries? I do!) created a extraordinary experience.
Wow!
I really felt in love with india. Colorful, loud, noisy, quiet, beautiful and ugly. Everything in full loads. I love it! It’s hot and a lot of weird people running around - but it is also colorful, emotional and simply make me feel well. And the people are so incredibly friendly and hospitable.
Talking about PHP - we will see. In three months I will know a lot more about the skills and availability of the people india. Give me some time then I will have answers for you.
Tonight we will head back to good old germany.
Unfortunately my mobile phone died - the high humidity was probably too much for it. I still hope that I can make it work again, otherwise I won’t have any pictures for you ;(
I hope you enjoyed my diary
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One Response to “Incredible India - a PHP adventure - Part7”
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Pretty exciting report from india as php source.
You found expected quality and partner / programmers down there - Or is it too early to follow up allready ?
Hang on…