India diary, day 8: Pune or bust

Sunday 11 February - Pune

Once you've broken down on a UK motorway the strike time - the average time before another vehicle smashes into you - is about 11 minutes.

Special Report: Inside India

In February silicon.com's Steve Ranger visited the Indian tech hotspots of Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad to explore the exploding Indian offshore tech and BPO industry. Keep up with his daily diaries here.

♦ India diary, day 1: Cyberbad on Sunday
♦ India diary, day 2: Emergency calls and rural life
♦ India diary, day 3: Inside the outsourcing campus
♦ India diary, day 4: Hyderabad's tech park
♦ India diary, day 5: Margaritas to Mumbai
♦ India diary, day 6: Prime Minister's question time
♦ India diary, day 7: Mobiles in Mumbai
♦ India diary, day 8: Pune or bust
♦ India diary, day 9: An auto-rickshaw ride and a catwalk show
♦ India diary, day 10: Lost in Pune
♦ India diary, day 11: I heart Bangalore
♦ India diary, day 12: Searching for the next big thing
♦ India diary, day 13: Thirsty in Bangalore

As I sit in my broken down taxi on the highway from Mumbai to Pune I very much hope the strike time on Indian roads is slightly longer. I've already been sat here much longer than 11 minutes and every few minutes the car is rocked by another juggernaut roaring past.

Pune, the next stop on my journey, is the up and coming city for tech development. It's about 150km south down the highway from Mumbai and the best way to get there is by car. I'll even enjoy the view, I was told.

But broken down on a hard shoulder my view is of a smelly stream and my options are to fry in the heat on the side of the road or sit in the car and risk death - but at least enjoy air conditioning.

I go for the cooler option.

I consider getting out my laptop and making some notes but I don't want to take my eyes off the road in case a cheerfully painted lorry smashes into me while I type.

Apart from that minor concern, I'm surprising myself by being quite relaxed about the whole thing. And after an hour I'm on the move again, in the replacement cab.

A short snooze later I wake up a few miles outside Pune.

Unlike Mumbai, where it is hard to see the influx of cash from offshoring making much of a difference, you can see the money miles before you arrive in Pune. It comes in the shape of giant hordings advertising glamorous new apartment blocks, the sort that wouldn't look out of place in London's Docklands.

There's much more greenery than in Mumbai and the streets seem wider and the buildings better kept and less eaten by the fumes.

After a quick break at the hotel it is time to head out for dinner with a couple of friends who live in town. After Mumbai it's nice to have somewhere to relax.

By now it's dark and the traffic is just as fast, except you can't see it as easily. My companions cross the road with the confident air of seasoned professionals while I timidly scuttle along trying not to get hit by the bicycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws, buses and cars.

After dinner I head back to the hotel. I turn on the TV and the first thing that pops up is a channel running some sort of Windows Vista-sponsored variety show. Somedays you just can't get away from it.

Have you visited India to check out the outsourcing options? Or have you been affected by offshoring here in the UK? We want to hear your stories about India. Leave your comments below or email editorial@silicon.com.