India Pt. IV

(Written post-trip)

At this point I’d like to change up my blog a little. For your sake and mine, I’m going to shorten my entries, especially when it comes to describing our time visiting the businesses. Even though this is what our trip was “about,” it’s not really what our trip was “about” (if you know what I mean).

On Monday, we travelled to Infosys. The premises were beautiful, modern, and quite bustling. We heard an informative presentation on the company and India and were able to ask any questions that we had.

Afterwards, we went to the Golf Club that Dean Dhillon belongs to in Chandigarh. We were offered some Indian hors d’oeuvres and tea and got the chance to speak with some of his friends and family. We had a long conversation with the Dean’s father who had quite the stories to tell! He’s fought in the army, travelled around India and outside and had some interesting outlooks on life in general. Thus far, meeting people like the Dean’s father has been part of what makes this experience so much different than other travelling experience I’ve been through. I firmly believe that you can’t know a place until you know the people who live there, and this encounter is no exception.

After a very long and sleepy day, we headed back to the bus for our ride “home,” back to Delhi.

On Wednesday, we went to DSCL and met some executives that used to work with the Dean. We learned about their business and the sale of commodity items in India, as well.

Later that night, we went to a Lohti celebration event in Professor Gupta’s neighborhood. We had a big red and gold tent set up where we could sit and chat with his family and friends. There were people serving hors d’oeurvres and drinks, and we even had people come in to give rickshaw rides to us. I went on the ride with Professor Gupta’s cousin, Sahil, who is in school in India and considering being a jeweler like his mother and going to school for it in the UK. While we road, some of the smaller cousins hopped on the back of the rickshaw and played with my hair. Sahil kept telling them to stop, but I thought it was pretty adorable and told them they could keep doing it.

On Thursday, we started the day out with a side trip to a Hindu temple/monument type place. There were big statues of different Hindu gods. We got to see some of the same gods we had seen at the temple in Jalander, which reminded me of some of the stories Swati had told me about.

Afterwards, we headed to PWC to learn more about India, its economy, business, education, and other facts. We were, again, treated extremely well, and were given an open forum for asking questions about what we were learning.

After PWC, we were planning on going to the Red Fort. I think at this point some of us were getting really tired. We made our way out to Old Delhi, but the traffic was pretty horrible and we cut it really close to get into the sound and light show. Professor Gupta did everything he could to get us there as quickly as possible, but we were all moving kind of sluggishly.  We got to the light and sound show a bit late, and, since it was dark out, it was pretty cold as well. We decided not to go to the restaurant we were supposed to go to because it was on the other side of town, and we weren’t sure about the traffic. So where do you go to eat when you’re in a bind? (This crosses continents, people.) McDonalds!

We all went to Micky-D’s for dinner. I got a chicken sandwich because they don’t have beef at the McDonalds’ in India, for religious reasons. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel for the night. A few us had talked about possibly going out somewhere in our neighborhood at this point, but we decided against it, in favor of our very enticing beds.

The fifteenth (Friday) was our last day of visiting businesses. We went to HCL, which is a big company, with many locations in the Delhi area. We learned a lot about their HR and the way that they treat their employees, giving them many outlets in order to make them as happy as possible. This employee-centric, rather than customer-centric, philosophy is somewhat progressive and I think they made many compelling arguments for why it is the best way of doing business, mainly that a happy employee does better work (which totally makes sense).

That night, we went to Professor Gupta’s aunt and uncle’s home, where they served us dinner and told us about the jewelry industry. Professor Gupta’s aunt owns her own jewelry shop. Their home was absolutely gorgeous. When you enter the front doors, there are glass cases filled with ornate jeweled decorations and pieces of art. We were immediately served soda or coffee and snacks. We made our way up to the third floor of the house, where they had set up a room for us to sit and listen to his aunt speak.

Then, we were taken out onto the patio on the third floor of their house. They had set up tables and chairs with small contained fires to keep us warm. We hung out and conversed with the family for a while. There were women in their thirties or so, and some of the cutest little children (some of the same ones that played with my hair a few days before).  Because Professor Gupta told them that some of the students were having trouble with the food, they served what some people had elected to eat most of the days: french fries. There were smiley face ones, squiggly ones, regular ones. I thought it was pretty charming and totally thoughtful. They had other food served, and as the main course, none other than, McDonald’s veggie burgers. Sahil, the cousin who we had met previously, made a mix cd of American dance music, and we had a big dance party for the rest of the night. We had a really great time dancing (what can I say? I like to boogie!). The drive home was tough because it was really foggy out, but we made it back fine and went to sleep.

On Saturday, we went to the Taj Mahal. The trip there ended up taking a lot longer than anticipated (closer to eight hours rather than four), but we finally made it there sometime in the afternoon. We got there, and immediately lots of people were trying to sell us things. We rode up from where we had parked on a carriage which was pushed by a camel, which was cute.

Our ride up to the Taj Mahal

Once we got to where the Taj is, there started to be a lot more crowds of people. We got to see it, and it actually looked like a picture or something. It could’ve been a back-drop or something.

Our covered feet

We walked closer, got some pictures, covered our shoes (I think to keep things clean) and waited in line to get into the perhaps the most famous mausoleum in the world.

Our tour guide was good at explaining to us the story (which is really romantic and nice) and then he showed us all of the intricate designs of the walls and architecture. From the outside, with marble carved into different words, to the inside, where we saw each intricate gem and stone carved and inserted into the walls, it was quite a spectacle.

In the Taj Mahal

Afterwards, our tour guide took us around the back area of the Taj Mahal. A funny story about a slight miscommunication: after we had walked around for a while, I decided to go get coffee at a little coffee shop next to where we all were. I mentioned that’s where I was going, and he said he’d like one too. I thought it was maybe a little presumptuous for him to ask for a coffee, but I got it for him anyways, since he was our tour guide after all. When I gave him the coffee, he laughed and told me he was just joking around before when he said that. I felt pretty stupid, but right before we were getting on the bus to leave, he stopped me and handed me a little flash light with the Taj Mahal on it as a thanks for the coffee. I guess even though there was a miscommunication, it ended up working out.

Our last full day was Monday, and we spent it busy as usual. We started out going to the Akshardham temple, which was built within the last ten years as an homage to Akshardham, a devout Hindu and yogi from a few centuries ago. The facilities were beautiful and incredibly modern, and we got to see an interactive view of his life and the beliefs that it was based on.

Afterward, we went out to go on elephant and camel rides.

Caroline getting onto the elephant

The elephant (Rani) was pretty tame and gentle. We got to feed her bananas and nuts and other things, and since it was relatively nice outside, we got to spend the day walking around the area and seeing people ride the animals. We had lunch served for us there, and when I couldn’t finish my samosa, I gave it to the elephant. It was cute. It ate pretty much anything.

We went back to the shopping area afterwards and I got henna done.

Getting henna

Because you have to leave it on to dry, I couldn’t really do much shopping while there, but I knew we’d be going the next day, so I was fine with just walking around. Back at the hotel, we ordered pizza and spent the night hanging out together on our last night in India.

On our last day, we spent it pretty much shopping all day. When we got back to the hotel, they served us dinner and we all got our clocks from the trip, as a final parting gift. We packed everything up at this point, and headed onto our bus for the last time, to get ready for another 15 hour flight back home.

After all is said and done, I realize there were great things about the trip and not-so-great things. I got to experience a lot of new things, but it was definitely a lot to take in in that short of a time. I think the most important lesson I took from this trip, and one that Thomas Friedman has put so eloquently in his book “The World is Flat,” we’re not all so different, and places like India are not really so far away after all.

Getting on our final bus ride

Although the theories of Edward Said in his comments on Orientalism were intended to describe the portrayal of predominantly Islamic cultures, such as those in Africa and Western Asia, the concept holds true for any culture whose preconceived notion we take as truth. I came to India with little to no conscious expectations. And upon arrival at home, I first thought that was a bad thing. Perhaps I should’ve done more research. Maybe I should have read more books that took place in India. Why didn’t I didn’t I ask more people for advice?

But, taking a look back upon this extraordinary, unforgettable trip, I understand that nothing could have prepared me for these new experiences. In fact, I now take this complete obliviousness to be a good thing: I was able to look at a new culture without a bias, in an impartial way that allowed me to absorb my surroundings without a filter. I didn’t look at the impoverished gypsy children and think, “approximately one-quarter of India’s population lives under the poverty line.” I entered into the Sikh temple watching the rituals happen in their natural habitat without reciting, “The five symbols of Sikhism are uncut hair kept in a turban, a sword, a steel bracelet, a wooden comb, and cotton undergarments.” I didn’t know what I was eating, or each road that I walked on, or the stories of the people that I met, but I learned that it doesn’t really matter. I feel confident that I was able to learn as much as I could have wanted to just by being open, impartial, and eager to the experiences of another place, which may seem outwardly a totally different world. In fact, it may not be as different as it seems, after all.