Today I had to dress for work - shorts and a t-shirt were out of the question if I wanted to make a professional impression on our hosts. It felt warm again today, but the clouds from yesterday lingered on. Breakfast was mostly dishes that looked like curry, but it felt too heavy for this early hour. I picked at what I could and then readied myself for the day ahead.

On our first full day in Chennai, we witnessed our first accident. We were waiting in line at the toll booth when a truck carrying long wooden poles pulled up in the lane beside us. Moments later, a larger truck slammed into it from behind, shoving it past the toll booth window. The collision itself was shocking, but what struck me even more was the calmness of everyone involved. The driver at the toll booth handed some money to a passenger in the back of the truck, who passed it through the toll booth window, and then they drove off as if nothing had happened. To me, it was almost surreal- but to them, it was just another day. It was a striking reminder of how differently people experience and react to the world around them.

Our day started with a tour of their offices, and then we dived in to getting some work done, with a pizza lunch at midday. This was something we sat and ate in one of the small rooms to the side of their employee cafeteria whilst discussing work. Then in the evening they took us somewhere else for a 'Chindian'. This is a Chinese-Indian fusion restaurant, which is apparently quite popular in the area, but it's originally from Kolkata. It is essentially Chinese food, but with an Indian twist.