I had my first proper experience of being mobbed by Indian children the other day! I’m used to the staring you get as a white person living in Chennai – in a city of over 6 million people I would be surprised if there were more than 1,000 Westerners living here. With those kind of percentages, if you have white skin, people will stare – not even in a subtle way, but full on staring...

Anyone that knows me will probably know my opinions on spiritual and alternative therapy stuff quite well. Suffice to say that I’m a complete non-believer in that sort of thing. So when I had the chance to have my palm read on Saturday, I jumped at the chance The entire conversation took place in Tamil, but I’ve got the translated version here… You have a nice hand, you will get...

I was so close to claiming my first Indian road kill today when I opened the car door and a guy on a motorbike slammed in to it. As part of the crazy ‘no rules’ driving style in Chennai, when Aravind stopped the car, I opened the passenger door (on the pavement side – not in to the traffic) and some guy on a motorbike decided that was going to try and ride up the side…well,...

I’ve decided to write some tips about catching a tuk-tuk (known as an auto or an auto-rick to the local population) when in Chennai – they probably apply to most asian cities aswell though. So here goes… 1. All Tuk-Tuk Drivers Wear Face Masks and Black & White Stripy Tops Or in other words, they’ll rob you blind given half a chance. It’s nothing personal, but if you...

I’m getting more and more bugged as the weeks have gone by about Westerners in India. For some strange, unknown reason, they are all insisting on ‘immersing themselves in the culture’ by wearing traditional Indian clothes. By that, I mean the guys wear a kind of wrap-around fabric – like a sarong – and a long sleeved garment that comes down to around your knees and sandels...

This is a broadside shot at MeWebHost.com who have just deleted my PayPal directory from their servers. It provided a directory of thousands of merchants that accepted PayPal in virtually every category available. There was no warning sign, just an email landed in my inbox saying “your site is using too many resources and has been deleted under our terms and conditions”. And nothing else,...

Today I had my ego stoked and grown to epic and quite possibly dangerous sizes as I read my emails. I had asked the support manager if we could have a meeting so I can give some advice to the customer support guys on providing great service. He agreed and asked one of them to let the other team members know, and this was the email that was sent… Hi Friends, Its a great chance to interact with...

India is a place of unexpected surprises. In order to survive, you must come to expect the unexpected and not let it phase you. Driving the wrong way down the street, no problem. The tuk-tuk driver is facing you rather than the road, furgetaboutit. However, there needs to be a new qualification to the phrase “expect the unexpected” and that is “expect the unexpected, particularly...

I was invited round to a pancake party (erm, because it’s pancake day) being thrown by some other Brits here in Chennai. They’ve come over to work for HeyMath.com for a year. I’ve never actually met them before, but hooked up with one of them through a friend of a friend of a friend (you get the idea). To get to their house involved taking the plunge and finally taking a solo tuk-tuk...

I was talking to the lawyer today that joined us and was asking about law practice in India. He showed us the court house where he practiced law. The building was actually built in the late 19th century by the British. He told me that as a lawyer, there are only three ways to win a legal case in India… - Convince - Confuse - Corrupt It’s known as the 3 C’s in legal circles. Depending...