With the intention of trying to cut the umbilical cord attaching us to the corporate and wider western world we have now begun the first phase of our 12 month rehabilitation to cure us of our unhealthy obsessions with suits, offices and the London tube.

We have now begun this process in somewhat of a transition period as, while we have left London and are now in Delhi, I am still working for the same company for another 5 days before we start our trip in earnest.

This has 3 key implications:

1)We are in Delhi with backpacks but we are also staying in a very nice hotel. A very very nice hotel come to think of it and as I write this I am sitting in the executive lounge sipping on a complimentary G&T…

2)Despite having been here for 4 days I have not really been outside until yesterday - when it was 39 C. Up until then I have been mainly sitting in cabs or in an office.

3)I am still writing in bullet points and numerical notation…and thinking in management speak.

Which brings me on to the 3 C's -this has always been Corporation, Customer and Competitors to me. However in Delhi I am beginning to think in terms of Cars, Curries and Cows. Not curried cow you understand - not allowed, not allowed at all…

Cars partly because there are lots of them but mainly because I have been spending most of my time in them with a driver who spends most of his time talking about them. Driving through Delhi in rush hour is an unusual experience and it seems that the drivers play some kind of game called 'Multi-task Dodgem Racing' where they compete to carry out as many tasks as possible while also racing to the finish line. Swerve away from the van on the left, push the bike on the right out of the way, play with the radio, talk about all the best places to visit in Delhi and, for the 5th multi-task combo bonus points honk your horn at anything that moves, or more importantly doesn't move…unless of course it's a Cow (C!) in which case you lose 50 task points and all respect points if you emit even the slightest sign of frustration at the massive horned animal standing right in the middle of the motorway.

Curries - breakfast, lunch and dinner…no need to say more?

Actually, come to think of it there are far more than 3 C's of note here in Delhi - Yesterday we went to explore Old Delhi - narrow streets packed full of people, animals and shops with street stalls selling everything from Betel Nut (a hard nut which is commonly chewed with an effect similar to tobacco and with a by-product of streams of bright red spit which are spotted all over the gutters) to all kinds of food and clothes.

Our first Indian street stall experience was a cup of Massala Chai (C!)- that sweet, hot tea brewed with lots of fresh Ginger and cardamom - made fresh in front of you by boiling water, tea and sugar and finally adding in some squashed fresh ginger and milk. This has the downside of meaning that in the 5 mins it takes to make and the 10 mins it takes to drink we built up quite a following of curious local kids who has come to watch the sweaty strangers play Cholera (C!) roulette…

The next stop and the next C was Chholey. A lovely dhal type thick stew made with Chickpeas, Corriander and served with Chutney and Chapatis (That's 4 whole C's). Absolutely delicious and so far so good on the stomach bugs but it's early days so let's not get too cocky about that just yet!

Anyway, I could go on for days - Caste system, Cricket, Call Centres….but I won't. Instead I'll say C you later and will Crawl away from this Computer to get a Cab to the Centre of town (sorry, so sorry, I know that was bad)…

J&E