My First Ever Basketball Tournament

It's hard to believe that my first experience playing in a real basketball game happened during my time in India. Yes, I've played pickup games at UC Davis and in junior high, but these games always lack something: Referees and Free Throws. Today, I played in the first game of a little mini-tournament setup by some of the workers at Infosys. The format is four 8-minute quarters. Our team was made up 8-9 U.S. batch members, so there are substitutions, which means I don't have to save my energy for the end of the games.

So there are 4 teams and each team plays each other once. The teams with the most wins move on to the finals, while the other 2 play in the 3rd place game. 4 of the members on our team are at least 6-feet tall, which is a bit of a mismatch for the other team. The other team had 1 player that like that.

So the game itself is scored on a a whiteboard and there's a person that keeps time and keeps track of our stats. Each game is officiated by 2 referees. Pretty good for an informal tournament. We jumped out to a 16-8 lead. I got tired near the end of the 2nd quarter and by then the other team was coming back. At halftime, I think the score was 18-12. I checked backed into the game halfway through the third quarter and by then the score was tied 18-18. While me and Barry were out, the offense got stagnant.

But we managed to pull away in the 4th quarter. I think I scored about 4 baskets, so it was a pretty good experience and it turned out to be a pretty good game. Next game is on Monday.

Long Cycle is Here

Long cycle is now here in Hyderabad and their initial review of the place is pretty positive. Many have expressed that there is a renewed sense of freedom here as I described when I first arrived here. Long cycle arrival has increased the amount of exercise I've gotten. The first thing they wanted to do was play frisbee on the cricket field which to my surprise, is allowed. No one had a problem with it. So today, I played frisbee to warm up and followed that up with the basketball game.

There is also talk about what we're going to do for the upcoming 4-day weekend, our only long weekend of the 6-month period. Some people are going to Thailand and others are going to Goa, which is in the west coast of India. Tickets are around 20,000 Rs. ($500) so it will be an expensive trip, which probably means it will be my only trip outside of Hyderabad (excluding the Taj Mahal). I have yet to make up my mind, but I'm leaning towards going to Goa. It should be fun.

Word on the Street: Someone/Something Revived Our Curfew

Another thing I failed to mention about the Hyderabad campus (or maybe I did and I forgot)... we have no curfew. Until now that is. Back in Mysore, we were required to return to campus at 9:30 PM on weekdays and 11:00 on weekends. Then we came to Hyderabad and we were free to roam around past these curfews because no curfews existed. This was true up until last night when I heard another so-called rumor from one of the fast track people here that our original curfew will be enforced as it was in Mysore starting Friday.

You can imagine how upset we got about that, and then we thought about how this came about. Is there a snitch in the Mysore crew? Or is this simply a misinterpretation of an email. Maybe it's not true at all. If I'm keeping count correctly, of all the rumors I've heard, less than 50% turn out to be true. But rumor or not, it's worth exploring potential causes:

1.) The Mysore batch: Here's how I see it. We as the first kids to leave Mysore were warned by HR not to share the "no curfew" information with the rest of the batch because it would only stir something up. We told them anyways because...seriously, they're our friends. How could we not? Fast forward 3 weeks later and the consequences reveal themselves. Did someone from Mysore find out about our curfew and start complaining about it the Infosys HR? Seems pretty likely to me, although I'm sure his/her intention was not to get our curfew re-instated, but simply to get the one in Mysore removed. But realistically, I'm not sure what the people in Mysore are thinking. The curfew is in place for all trainees including Indians, there's not possible way the curfew could get lifted.

I'm pretty sure we can eliminate one group from Mysore list and that's the long cycle ES group that's coming to Hyderabad in Mid-October. They must be really mad because I'm sure they were looking forward to no curfew and now that prospect's been taken away.

2.) The Mysore Email: Yesterday morning, we all got an email re-stating the rules on the Mysore campus like no walking on the grass. The email emphasized the curfew and the strict policy on it. What if the email was sent to the Hyderabad HR and what if they simply misinterpreted the email's intentions, that it was meant for Mysore and not Hyderabad? I really hope this is the reason and that someone from Mysore was not the problem.

The problem with the no curfew rule being enforced is that we really need it. We haven't been abusing it at all and everything in Hyderabad is so far away including shopping and restaurants. Trying to make it back by 9:30 for a simple meal outside of campus is almost impossible given the distance and how slow it takes for restaurant chefs to cook the food. Having a curfew reduces the opportunity to explore the city and more time pressure when it comes to eating out. Plus, we can't exactly use our vacation days, so when exactly are we supposed to explore India? Hopefully this is one rumor that isn't true.

Home Will Have to Wait

December 15 is not the date that I will return to the U.S. Instead it was made known to us that we will indeed have to participate in 3-4 weeks of project in addition to the training. That puts my return date somewhere in the beginning of January, probably on the week of January 4th. It isn't really that big a deal, except I'm gonna miss Christmas at home. But at least I can put off packing my bags to Plano, Texas for another 4 weeks... if Texas is where I'm actually going?

Update: Looks like the latest we can leave is January 9 because the terms in our contract state that we can't be in India for more than 5 months with the status "trainee." So... last week of December - first week of January is when I'll be coming home.