Goodbye to HT!

Yes, I know the posting tapered off here at the end. I have been busy wrapping up a few stories and trying to figure out what to do next. There are a few more stories in the pipeline that may or may not be running in the next few weeks. If I remember, I will post them here when they appear.

My last day at HT was Friday, Sept. 5. To mark the occasion, the metro desk, generous to the very end, took three of the interns out to dinner at Karim’s in Old Delhi. It was a very nice, late evening, and the gesture made me wonder how I am going to adjust to a job at which I am not treated like royalty.

As for the immediate future, I am going to take advantage of the visa to see a few more cities (and one former French colony) in India. Tomorrow I am taking the overnight train to Calcutta, where I will stay for two nights. Then I will spend two nights in Madras and another two in Pondicherry before flying to Bombay for four nights. I am very much looking forward to the travel, as that was one of the most rewarding aspects of this summer.

Beyond that, I have no concrete plans. I have a few interviews lined up, including one in New York scheduled for the end of September. After that, I will fly on to Seattle and stay there for a few weeks, during which I will either settle on a job or make plans to return to India in January to freelance.

Story: Culture hurdle for media outsourcer

From Sunday's paper, a feature story on media outsourcing.

Long weekend in Little Lhasa

After writing a brief piece on Independence Day last Friday (see two posts down), I took the overnight bus with Michelle and Olga to visit Dharamsala for the weekend. We stayed in McLeod Ganj for two nights before heading back on the overnight train Monday night. While we did visit the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is probably what the area is best known for, I spent most of the weekend relaxing and riding a horse in the mountains and such. Olga had her master's project published on the front page of the Sunday New York Times, so we celebrated that as well.

Here are some photos.

A poorly planned trip to the best planned city in India

Two weekends ago (yes, I am falling behind in the posting), I made a weekend trip to Chandigarh, a three-hour train ride northwest of Delhi. I went alone and, unfortunately, did not have a room to stay in Saturday night -- there was a "pest situation" in the room I originally booked, and none of the other hotels had a vacancy. So I stayed up all night, in Chandigarh, which is not all that exciting a place when it comes to nightlife. I ended up staying in a Cafe Coffee Day all night watching drunk people eat pastries. It was like college! Except I was in a coffeehouse, and not drinking.

By the time I got to what I came to see -- the buildings and monuments planned and executed by Le Corbusier -- I was so exhausted and bleary-eyed that it was something akin to a religious experience. Enjoy the photos! Facebook album can be seen here.

Story: Manmohan Singh or Cyndi Lauper?

A brief write-up about my first Indian Independence Day. Nice to get a byline for something I would've attended anyway.

Story: Dalrymple, Rushdie & a book on AIDS

Here's a day story from Wednesday. Mukul Kesavan was supposed to show up but didn't. Dalrymple was really entertaining, though.

Story: Myanmarese mark 20th yr of "8888"

There is text-message speak in the headline of this story.