The past week Ive been working at KPMG in Delhi. Its been a strange week in some ways but in others its been the most similar to being in the UK.

To get to work which is in Gurgaon not New Delhi (Why did we not get a hotel there?) we have to drive for about an hour and a half depending on traffic along what cvan best be described as a road that has been completely and utterely destroyed! It is a very very unpleasant drive as we are constantly rocked around and deafend by the incesent horns!

However, when we get to the office it is totally different. We enter into an airconditioned hub of activity, much like an office in the UK except that everyoner is much more crammed in together and periodically all the lights in the office go out due to a power failure.

We have been having lots of lectuers and meetings from fairly senior people in KPMG India about the different aspects of the business and about general business in India. hese have been fascinating and we are all learning a great deal.

The main differences that have become apparent are that if you are half an hour late to a meeting no one bats and eye lid. Infact its amazing you are not more late! The working day seems to starty much later, around 9-10, and finishes later, around 6-8. Probiably because of the vast amounts of traffic. (Just a little note: I met someone who took 2hours to get to and from work everyday!) Another differece, which does not apply to KPMG, but I have just noticed around, is that everything is so inefficient! It is totally infureating! One of the KPMG staff said that Japan has developed JIT (Just in time) production, Inida has developed S.H.I.T (Some how in time!).

There are many similarities too from what I have seen of UK and Indian business. People work in teams and there is a clearly defined hierarchy. HR is becoming very important and employee retention is a massive issue, especially amongst the big four. They also do a lot of CSR activities. On friday we got the chance to go visit an NGO for children of construction workers that provides day care and schooling for them. We helped along with KPMG staff to paint a wall and had a chance to meet the children. It shows taht th attitude of the well off Indians towards the less well of is changing. It is becoming much more of their responsibility to help and build awarness so that everyone can benefit from Inida's massive economic growth.

I'm really enjoying KPMG because we are getting to see a very different side of Inida. Next week we will hopefully get a chance to get down and dirty and actually do some work, but not being chartered accountants or MBAs I think we might struggle

I was feeling a bit tense after having to settle into a new family and re-start school again, so I thought that a nice relaxing massage would be just what I needed.

I asked Aunty where was good and she suggested an Ayur Veda massage place. For those who don't know Ayur Veda is an ancient Indian medicine - just what I needed!

I went there and was called into the room. There were two guys standing there smiling at me.

"Fair enough", I thought to myself.

One of the men made open a cupboard and told me to take off my clothes and put them in.

"All of them?", I said a little worried.

"Yes." He looked puzzled by my question.

So obligingly I stripped off. Next thing I knew he was tying a small loin cloth around my waste then reached through my legs to pull up the cloth and tucked it into the back. It was neither comfortable nor attractive! But, 'when in Rome....' I kept telling myself.

The massage started really nicely. I sat on a stool and the man massaged my head for about five minutes. He seemed to hit lots of key sense points because it made me really relaxed. (This was a massive achievement bearing in mind how awkward I felt in my attire!)

Next he asked me to get onto a large wooded table, lying face up.

And then it got weirder....

They started by drizzling hot oil all over my body, especially in my belly button. Then one of them started circling it and then put his finger in. It was a really odd sensation, and I don't think I liked it.

After rubbing all over my front vigorously, I was told to lie on my front.

It got weirder still.....

They undid my loin cloth, so appart from a small piece of string around my waste I was totally naked. This was followed by more hot oil drizzling and vigorous rubbing, except this time there was a lot more rubbing of the inner thigh. And they don't stop low. They massaged pretty much everywhere.

By this point all I was thinking about was how is this supposed to be relaxing!? And this is strangest thing thats ever happened to me! But I let them carry on, for I am a man who 'likes to try new things and experience new cultures'. (I really regret writing that.....)

They finished after 45minutes of pummeling me in all the wrong places and put me in a steam box where I sat for about 10minutes, not very hot at all. What made this worse was the man, who for the best part of an hour had been torturing me, sat right in front of me, trying to make small talk!

Eventually, they let me out and I had a shower. It took forever to get all the dam oil off!

When I came out they were both sat on the wooden bed smiling, even when I got dressed! They're very open about being naked.

So my advice for anyone planning an Ayur Veda massage would be: Unless you are REALLY sure you want a very odd, fairly homo-erotic and sometimes painful experience, get a different kind of massage!

First few days at the host family

I wanted to write something about going to the Taj Mahal and the sights I saw along the way, but I don’t think that I could do them justice. It is only possible to appreciate its beauty by seeing it yourself. And it is definitely one sight that has to be seen before you die.

Instead, I thought I would write about the first day with my host family.

We knew very little about our host families before meeting them. Sam, our British Council representative, had told us a few things about some of the families, for example, Salema’s host mother was a TV actress. Unfortunately for me, all she could remember about my host family was they were very nice. Not even how many children they had! So I was going into this pretty much blind!

I really did not know what to expect! We had heard from people in other cities that their host families were very traditional, so I was a little nervous that I might inadvertently cause offence to the family. I was also really worried about what the children would be like. Would they speak much English? Would they be into sports? Computers? Film? Etc…

I met the family in the lobby of the hotel at 11. Only the father (Srinath) and their son (Sreekanth) came (The mother was doing a rally! This later turned out to be, much to my disappointment, not a dirt-track race in high powered cars, but a race through Chennai traffic whilst answering quiz questions – probably more life threatening!) They were both wearing western clothing so I guessed that they weren’t extremely traditional which put me more at ease. We went into the restaurant to talk.

Sam was right, they were really nice! They tried everything to make me feel comfortable. They were very open about everything – e.g. they are vegetarians at home, but when they go out Sreekanth eats meat and that they speak mostly English at home - and said that if there is anything I want or need all I have to do is ask! It turned out that the father runs a department store, which they live above, and Shreekanth is really into science at school and plays a lot of basket ball and loves cricket! This was good because it meant we had some common ground

We talked about me too, like what I was doing at university, what I had done at school and my hobbies. I was really surprised about how little they actually knew about the program. It sounded like they had only been told there was an English boy coming to Chennai who needed a place to stay! But they seemed more than willing to host me!

Before we left I went to say goodbye to everyone but I found the lobby was a bit chaotic! Samantha, who is from Liverpool and has a really thick scouse accent, was really worried because her host mother could not understand her! And Salema’s family had not even arrived yet.

We left at around 11.30. In the car on the way back the mum phoned from her rally. She was extremely apologetic that she could not be there and sounded very friendly and welcoming.

When we got to the house, I was greeted by Sreekanth’s maternal grandfather, who seemed so happy to see me. Then there were several phone calls from other relatives including uncles, aunts and cousins all very keen to welcome me to the family. This made me feel much more at ease in the house. It was really warm and caring; I instantly felt part of their family.

The mum came back from her rally. She looked typically Indian, wearing a Saree and a beaming smile! She was extremely welcoming – she told me to call her Aunty - and fed me a VAST lunch of rice and different Indian sauces. It was really good food and she kept piling it up on my plate. By the end of the meal I could not move. The whole meal they were at great pains to make me feel comfortable; they explained what the food was, showed me how to eat and kept asking me questions which made me feel they wanted me with them.

After the meal I was exhausted from meeting so many new people and from eating my own