Starting a Business...

can be a daunting task.

i remember my first foray into the mix.

i went to delhi for a trade show. uhhh....my FIRST trade show!

It was March 2006 and my sister and i flew into indira gandhi international airport in Delhi, India. For some reason the international flights seem to get into india around midnight and it is usually close to 2:00 a.m. by the time you get out of the airport...as if traveling to India for two days isn't enough excitement for you to handle, you now get to navigate the behemoth of a city called Delhi in the ambrosial hours.

It was our first trip to India without either my dad or brother with us so we had been given explicit instructions from both on how to navigate the system...mainly the taxi ride from the airport system...it's a whole different story from taking the back seat while traveling.

So passports stamped, luggage loaded and money exchanged...off we go to the green light and red light channels.

For those who have not had the pleasure of experiencing this system...there are two lights in the airport which appear as you start to exit the airport.

If for some reason, a customs officer, who is standing by the exit doors decides to stop you on a whim, on your way out, you get diverted to the red light channel, where you get to spend a few more hours in the airport.

So usually the drill is to assume a look of authority and walk with confidence as if you own the airport, heck like you own Delhi, and start marching out of there, secretly holding your breath, going oh god, let me just reach the double doors with my buggy, leading me away from the customs officers and the flourescent lights of the airport and into....the sweet, fume scented night of Delhi...

So out we go with no diversions and now it's time to get our taxi. Our brother had given us explicit instructions to not stop anywhere in the first few stands that were still within the airport or else we would be paying an arm and a leg for a taxi ride, and instead head outside into the night in search of a taxi as the stands outside the airport would be more reasonable.

We thought, gee, how bad can it be, let's just check with one of the inside stands first.

First stop,
"yes, we'd like a taxi into the city center"
taxi stand:
'ok, that will be 900 rupees (approx $24.00)'
us:
'scoffing, huffing and puffing, yea right, no thank you, we can do much better elsewhere thank you very much.'

so up the ramp we go, following the advice we receive to "Go Outside Only to Get a Taxi."

Ok, up the ramp and to the final exit door, which will REALLY put is onto Indian Soil.
No turning back at this point.
We will be leaving the safe confines of this airport lobby.

So we linger by the door, feet still inside but eyes searching anxiously outside for aforementioned taxi stands.

'do you see any stands out there'
no
what if they're closed?
what if they charge as much?
they won't let us back into the lobby once we leave.
god, what to do; what to do.

it was a one way door out of the lobby; no re-entry privileges and we had no idea on what waited on the other side.

Better to go with a known devil than an unknown one.

After much hand wrangling and consulting, we decide we need to schlep back down the ramp to the inside stands, lest we lose out on ANY taxi ride at all...

to be continued...