A Weekend in Bangalore India

 Now that I have internet access back, let's review a weekend in Bangalore

 

 Samit channeling our friend Earl, knocks off Rakesh at the 7 star Leelah Palace Hotel.

(I had never heard of 7 stars until the Leelah.  It sounds made up to me.)

 Samit and Rakesh making a Bill sandwich.  (Poor choice of words, I know, but whatever ... happy to be surrounded by my India friends)

 The big event this weekend was my company's Family Day.

Rakesh and Arun coordinated a full day and a half at a luxury resort.  Our team took over the pool for a competitive water polo match.

 The magician was a big hit.  I recently interviewed someone to replace me in the UK and he listed one of his hobbies as a 'conjurer'.  I thought it an odd reference, but thinking back what's wrong with having someone on the team who is a master at deception.  I bet he's great at influencing his clients.  I wonder if he'd expense the rabbit and top hat.

 

 Funny hats and glasses were another big hit for the kids.

 

Rakesh was busy organising so his wife, Leena, and I hung out together.

 Rakesh's go to pose is his 'too cool for the pool' look.

 I thought I'd dominate the baseball challenge.  

You had to hit the ball through one of the five holes.  I think there were three winning swings out of 1000 pitches.  I wasn't one of them.

 Vijay clowning around.  The adults love the funny costumes too.  

 Forget it, Samit.  You too, Arun.

 

 The duck fishing game was more my speed.

 The dancing broke out early.  Our India team is famous for their dance prowess.

The two brothers below pulled out their Gangnam Style routine.

 

After a short break it was time for the night time program.

They really pulled out all the stops on this event.  From custom signs to the talent they brought in, it was really well done.

The kids talent show was adorable.  Singer, dancers, musicians.  I wish one of the kids was a conjurer though.

 



 

 Sumeet's little girl was really cute.

 All the kids spontaneously got on stage and dance to Shakira.

 Next up was an interactive drum show.  I like that every where you go you can tell who the artist and musicians are.  Hipster hats, glasses, cool hair, etc.

I also enjoyed the fact that this guy worked his ass off to get 100 people to drum together.  Give a kid a drum and he doesn't want to take drum commands.  He want to bang on the drum all day.

When Rakesh and Nazeer did the same thing you realise that everyone just wants to bang on the drum all day.

It wouldn't be a trip to India without the team embarrassing me.  One time it was cake in the face.  This night I had to get up impromptu and give a little speech and present an award.

My speech had to do with them making me part of the family.  Two of my best memories over the past two years are the Leena/Rakesh wedding and Family Day.  Love these guys.

 If I was going to be embarrassed on stage I was going to make the pretty hostess take a picture with us.

No time to take a breath.  Next up was launching Chinese lanterns.

 I've never done this and the affect of lighting a little wick in a paper balloon was amazing.  Once the hot air filled the balloon the flaming ball was sent skywards toward the trees and houses.  I loved the danger of it all!

 The crash of the Hindenberg audio played in my head several times.

 Lastly, we hit the dance floor so the adults could cut loose.  I'm proud to say the new team I'll be supporting danced as one big dance unit.  The accepted me for my awful dancing and had fun tossing me around a circle of dudes.  When Rakesh and Maddie (my name for Leena) called it a night, I took their cue and took my aching hamstring off to bed.

I'll post a few more pics from my fantastic trip to India later in the week.