India diary, day 9: An auto-rickshaw ride and a catwalk show

Monday 12 February - Pune

The ground is flying past at an alarming rate. The bus that has just gone past has spewed its exhaust straight into my face. I can hear the horn of a heavy truck behind me, probably just a couple of feet from my back. If I wasn't holding on so tightly I could reach out and touch the cars and motorbikes racing past on either side.

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

I'm thoroughly enjoying my first journey by auto-rickshaw.

I'm off to meet a friend for a breakfast of dosas and coffee and then off to meet a recruiter friend of his.

But first I've got to survive the journey. An auto-rickshaw is basically a moped with a canopy and a couple of seats at the back. It's the way most people get around in town, unless they are going to hire a car. I got the lowdown last night - basically you take whatever the meter says, times it by six and add two rupees to get the price.

And while I might feel exhilarated, I can tell the driver is taking it easy because he's got a European onboard - several times he even sticks his arms out of the side of the rickshaw to show he is changing lanes.

After breakfast I visit Souvik Chakraborty and we discuss the recruitment market. He's kind enough to lend me his driver so I don't have to brave the auto-rickshaw again for our lunch downtown.

Then I'm back to the hotel to check email and, as the man on the ground, even write up a story on the big news of the day - Vodafone's bid for local mobile operator Hutchison Essar.

I had originally planned to be in Bangalore today but I'm glad I changed my plans - there's a strike across the whole state of Karnataka, of which Bangalore is the capital, over a water dispute with a neighbouring state. Hopefully things will be back in shape by Wednesday when I arrive.

I've booked a car to take me out to the Wipro campus at the Rajiv Gandhi technology park on the outskirts of town. After a few wrong turns I arrive - it's like a fantastically tidy, well-ordered university campus.

Cheerful, well-dressed polite young people hurry from building to building, chatting with their friends. I'm given a tour of the place, which makes a calming change from the rush of Pune. A gentle breeze runs over the site, which hosts 8,000 Wipro staff, working on IT and BPO. (For photos of the campus - and the rest of Pune - see here.)

BPO workers tend to be young - 22 or 23 - and keeping them motivated is vital, especially with tough competition from rival companies.

And so there's a gym, basketball courts and space for cricket, as well as a 24-hour canteen. All workers get a company car to and from work - especially reassuring for the parents of children working late at night to deliver services to Europe.

Celebrations and entertainments are also on offer to keep the kids interested and motivated. I get to see auditions which are part of a competition that's been running for the last few weeks.

Part of the canteen has been cleared for a sort of catwalk show. A crowd of young workers forms - women at the front and men standing on chairs at the back - to cheer the contestants on. The crowd roars approval as the MC warms them up.

I'm ushered into a seat at the front and for a horrible minute think they're going to co-opt me onto the judging panel. Then the music starts and the contestants begin walking up and down to the cheers of their co-workers.

There are of course steely business reasons behind this in terms of cutting attrition rates but it's hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm and fun of what's going on. The young BPO workers are certainly enjoying themselves. But I make my excuses and leave before the thumping beat crushes my eardrums.

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.