Mumbai and the Marriott

I’m going to have a few more posts over the next couple of days about India as I get a chance to write them up. There’s just so much to say.
Our last three days in India were packed full. By the time I got on the plane Friday morning in Mumbai, I think I’d slept something like nine hours in the previous three days. I was asleep before take-off and ended up sleeping most of both flights, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Tuesday was our day at Satyam. The drive to the campus was a good example of the dichotomous India: We passed row after row of shacks on the way there, shanty towns filled with cows and camels, and very primitive communities. Then, once inside the gate, it was an oasis: a golf course, helipad, and even a zoo, complete with roosters, peacocks (including a rare white peacock), deer, emus, and love birds. Flags from each of the 53 countries where Satyam does work line the main drive. We spent most of the day listening to panel discussions in the center of the campus, and I stumbled across two great ex-pats from the Washington area who were the first westerners to take top positions in India with Satyam. During the lunch break, several of us sat out by the campus swimming pool in the sun