Mr. President

Mr. President of Tajikistan that is.

Turns out Hyderabad is a popular spot for foreign political and business leaders to visit. Bill Clinton visited here when he was president, and George W. was here earlier this year. Bill Gates and Michael Dell have passed through - and employ thousands in Hyderabad. So why not the president of Tajikistan?

Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov was in town for a visit and happened to stay at my hotel. I didn't get to meet him, but I did meet a good number of his fierce looking security detail when my elevator door opened on the floor where he was staying. They stared, I stared. They snarled, I waved and smirked. I quickly closed the elevator door and fled to my room.

We all know about motorcades. DC is famous for them. Want to know the difference between a DC motorcade and Hyderabad motorcade? It's easy to quickly close streets in DC and its not easy here. Instead they shut the entire route down for an hour or so. In a city that already suffers from massive gridlock, you can imagine how much fun that can be. But since this is India, it really didn't faze anyone (except me) that it took an hour to go 2 kms.

Thank you Mr. President!