Last Few Days

On day six we woke up and went to DSCL, which turned out to be my least favorite part of the trip. During this presentation I started to feel extremely nauseous and sick and had a feeling that I would end up throwing up. I couldn’t point my finger on what cause this but as I think back to it, it could have been a piece of chicken at Dean Dhillon’s golf club that I thought was a little bit undercooked. That was the night before and that morning all I ate for breakfast was some toast with butter and jam a piece of fruit and tea. At DSCL I could not pay attention at all because all I was thinking about was trying to not throw up in the presentation. Right after the presentation we were served lunch and I could not eat anything and Dan suggested that I go to the bathroom and throw up. I didn’t want to pull the trigger right there but I did it anyway. I went to the bathroom and immediately upon stepping into the stall, I vigorously threw up. I felt nauseous all of that day and on the bus ride back to the hotel, after we dropped some people off to learn about saris, I stuck my head out the bus window and threw up again right into the street, almost onto a man riding a motorcycle. After arriving back at the hotel I decided it would be a good idea to go to the bazaar to shop, because shopping in India was a lot of fun. I walked there with Dan and Alan and after arriving there I knew I would not be able to stay for long because I felt like I was going to puke in the middle of the street at any point. I could barely walk and felt as weak as I’ve ever felt before. I bought an orange juice because I needed something to refresh me but I didn’t know if there was tap water the orange juice, which would not have helped my cause at all. I drank a little bit of the juice and ending up offering the rest to a beggar, who rejected it to my surprise. I took a rickshaw back to the hotel by myself and gave the biker fifty rupees, which I knew was too much but at that point I just did not care. The bike rider, however, did not want to let me go without paying more money, which I thought was just plain greedy. That night we had a grand reception at professor Gupta’s house and the room they set up for us was beautiful. It was right in the street and was very unexpected. Unfortunately I did not get to eat or enjoy any of this because I was sick and all I wanted to do was eat an apple and take a nap, so that’s what I did.

In the morning of the next day we went to the Shiv Murti statues, which were very appealing to the eye. They were extremely tall and they even had to change airplane routes because the airport is so close to these statues. We all went into the gift shop there and I think basically everybody bought something there. After Shiv Murti, we went to PwC. During this presentation we learned about private universities in India and the growth of universities in general in India. We also learned a lot about the different departments that PwC has in their offices. This presentation did drag out pretty long and we were there for about five or six hours. During the lunch Dan ate two vegetables that he thought were green beans and they turned out to be the spiciest pepper that he has ever had. His face turned bright red and sweat poured down his face. I felt pretty bad because he was in pain for a while but overall I guess I’m happy that happened because it was sort of funny for the rest of us. At this point in the trip everybody is starting to enjoy McDonalds more and more. At first I was all about trying all the Indian food and only eating Indian food because this would be the only time I’m here but now I just want any food that I can eat and have guaranteed satisfaction. At night we went to the Red Fort after taking the metro with the entire group. The light and sound show I thought was pretty lame but there was really fresh air where we were sitting so I enjoyed that because throughout the trip any time I blew my nose, black dust would always come out. We ate at McDonalds after the show and I went to a few shops with Jess. As we crossed the street her ankle almost got ran over by one of the green taxis. The next day we visited HCL and learned about their employer first policy that they have. They are well known for this and Harvard has done a case study on this specifically. In the next few days we got to ride elephants, camels, and obviously went to the Taj Mahal. Feeding the elephants was definitely funny because they just take the banana and throw it their mouth with the peel and everything.  

The Taj Mahal is truly a wonder of the world. It is so beautiful and vast and is so complex. It is hard to believe that this was built as a grave for three of the king’s wives. It is amazing how when you walk away from the Taj by the entrance, it seems as if it is getting larger and larger. Outside the Taj Mahal children bombarded us with their sales and did not give up no matter how many times you said no or I don’t want any. They would continually lower the price and I would just continue to say no. They even tried making sales while we were on the bus and while the bus was pulling away I did the deal. I bought four taj keychains for 20 rupees. At this point professor Gupta was a little angry because he was trying to keep tabs on everybody so we don’t get lost and it was so chaotic with about 20 to 30 children surrounding the entire group yelling.  

Dan and I almost got into some serious trouble when we ventured out one night at about midnight to see what was going on outside. Two police officers pulled up to us on motorcycle and hounded us for visas. We tried telling them the visas are in the hotel and they then asked us what hotel and room number. Not knowing if they were real police, we obviously didn’t give them our room numbers. The officer kept pushing for our visas in a very stern voice and we kept saying, “In hotel!!” These officers had wooden beating sticks and there was nobody in sight in a very dark area. I was pretty nervous when one of the officers put on leather gloves and picked up his stick. We handled it well though and got them to come to the hotel and we let Professor Gupta handle the rest.

Overall, this trip was life changing. Although it was not the most beautiful and sanitary place in the world, it was an experience of a lifetime and I do not regret anything from the trip. I am so happy I signed up to go on it and am happy I met so many good people on the trip. This trip has proved to me that travelling is actually the best way to learn and that no other way of learning is as beneficial. I plan on studying abroad although I am not sure where to. Travelling will now be one of my true passions because I know that viewing the world from a different aspect and seeing things that most people I know haven’t seen is what I want to do. I obviously want to go to as many places as I can and see amazing things in this vast world. The world sometimes can seem like it’s the United States of America and nothing else but this trip has shown me that there are so many people out there who do things COMPLETELY differently and won’t even understand for a second how I live my life. When those people and I come together, a lot of learning could get done and a lot of unique experiences will be shared. The poverty in India was eye opening and I do feel extraordinarily bad for those unfortunate people who have nothing besides their mind. Thank you professor Gupta for leading a great tour and it was nice getting to know everybody on the trip.

Middle Few Days

On day three some of us woke up early for a bike tour through Old Delhi. Although waking up this early was not enjoyable, the bike ride could have been the best part of the trip for me. Riding through the streets of Old Delhi made me realize that people live so differently and that the way I live is no reflection on the world. The first street we went on during this bike tour was filled with animal carcasses packed into vans. Pools of blood filled the streets and splashed up as our bike wheels went through them. I wish I could have taken more pictures from this bike tour but since I was riding a bike, I was unable to snap a lot of amazing shots. Riding through the city was incredible and just seeing the daily life of an average person in Old Delhi simple shocked me. It was really cool to see everybody staring at us as we rode our bikes through the streets. Saying hello to everybody, realizing that we are in their territory and this is all new to us. People seemed to enjoy seeing us ride bikes through their streets and many times they would yell stuff at us, but obviously we could not understand what they were saying. Riding through the streets amazed me because I saw things I have never even come close to seeing. There was a bucket full of goat brains, goats tied to poles, cows roaming through the streets. Riding a bike around here is very dangerous and I am honestly shocked that nobody was injured at all during the tour. Going through the streets was dangerous at times especially in the spice area. People carried ridiculously heavy bags of spice and they won’t stop for you because they are basically carrying something that weighs as much as they do. At one point during the ride, I got caught in between ten bags of spice piled on a wheelbarrow and a motorcycle so I had to basically squeeze myself through and ride my bike into a man who was standing in front of me. The breakfast we ate during the tour was amazing also. I forgot what it was called but we ate goat meat in an really tasty sauce that we dipped our bread into.

 Immediately after the bike tour we headed to Lovely Professional University in Punjab, an 8 hour bus ride on a very rackety bus on bumpy roads. The bus ride wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and we finally did arrive at LPU. Upon arrival I thought the introductions we had with the students were very awkward because everybody went one by one and met their E-buddy in front of everyone. Not to my surprise because he/she never e-mailed me back, my E-buddy was not there. Gagandeep ruined my experience to this school because I was lonely without an E-buddy (just kidding). We were greeted with a short welcome about the university and then we were given dinner that consisted of aloo gobi, a tofu dish, another vegetable dish, Nan, tea, coffee, and water. The food here was actually decent and I enjoyed eating it. I never had Indian food before this trip so I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into food-wise. That night we danced and talked around a bon fire about each other and took a lot of pictures. We then went back to the hostels and the experience there was interesting as well. There was a man patrolling the hallway with a shotgun and we had to shower the traditional Indian way with a large bucket and a small bucket.

The next morning we toured LPU and got a better look at this Indian private university. A lot was similar to our schools and I thought it was funny how much writing there was on the desks in the classrooms. Lovely Professional University is different from Binghamton University in that they enforce a strict no alcohol, smoking, and meat policy. At Binghamton there is technically no drinking if you’re under 21 but everybody drinks nonetheless. At this university we had two Sikh guards walking around with us at all times each with a double barrel shotgun. I thought this was pretty unnecessary but I guess the university wanted us to feel extra safe while we stayed there.

During this day we visited a Hindi temple. This was probably one of my favorite things from this trip to India. It was really amazing learning about a religion that I did not know one thing about. The complexities and different aspects of this religion is remarkable. The E-buddies taught us a lot about their culture and about Hinduism. In each separate temple there was a priest handing out what to me was only candy but to others religious symbols. They were extremely sweet and tasty so I kept going in for more. Before entering each individual temple, you were supposed to ring the bell to let the god know you are coming in. This temple was beautiful and there was one really cool part where you enter into a lions mouth and are in a cave. Past this cave there is water that constantly drips and you are supposed to take this water and rub it on your head in order to be blessed. After this we went to Lovely a lovely automobile car dealership, the most successful one in Punjab, and also went to Lovely Sweets. I ate so many sweets there that if I had one more I probably would have had to throw up. I was amazed by how unique the sweets tasted. I wish we had more candy like that readily available for us in the United States.

At night, we went to a village and restaurant called Haveli. In this village area there was a palm reader, who said I am going to live a long life, a magician, camel rides, dancers, actors, and a guy with two trained monkeys on leashes. This was a really cool and nice area and I’m definitely glad we ate here. The restaurant itself inside the village had low seats and a very zen feel to it. The salty lassi I tried was almost as bad as the buttermilk but not as bad. The food was similar to the rest of the food we ate that was served in a metallic plate with smaller metallic bowls inside. Chloe’s e-buddy was showing me how to eat everything and was very insistent that I eat everything the way it was meant to be eaten. When we got back to the university we had another bon fire, similar but bigger than the one the day before. Dancing and talking occurred again and we played a game of musical chairs. During this game, in my competitive nature, I pulled the chair out from Koichi is a move of desperation and he fell on the ground. I felt bad but I got what I deserved for it; I got out. Before we went back to the hostels, the chancellor arrived to say hello to us. The chancellor here basically is the most respected person and everybody became silent when he arrived in his Mercedes. We said our goodbyes to our e-buddies, received mugs from the university, and headed back to the hostel to shower with buckets again.

The next morning was day five and we set out early to visit Infosys. This company is so well structured and employee geared that there is not one person in this world who would not want to work for them. I was amazed at how many applications they said they get per year, and they barely accept 1% of that number. The whole Infosys campus was beautiful with a pool, workout room, music room with guitar lessons, yoga room, racquetball courts, and a lot more. The food that was served to us at Infosys was my favorite meal in India, potentially because the meat (chicken) was very good. After lunch we went back into the presenting room and learned more about this booming company. We left Infosys on a very good note as they treated us very well and did teach us a lot about the business world. Their company started out with only a few guys and not a lot of money and it turned out to be one of the best companies in the entire world. As we walked out of the company, professor Gupta taught me about the license plate system in India, which I found intriguing. The first two letters of the license plate are the city you bought the car in. CH for Chandigarh DL for Delhi, and so on. Later that night, we went to Dean Upinder Dhillon’s parent’s golf club. I was excited to actually go golfing with him but by the time we arrived it was basically dark out. At this golf club we ate chicken tikka and other really good food. We met and talked with Dean Dhillon’s family and spoke about how we liked India. After this dinner reception we headed back to Delhi.

First Few Days in India

On January 8^th, we arrived in the New Delhi airport and when we walked out of the airport, porters tried to take our bags and put them in the bus for us. One of them wouldn’t let go of my bag and I didn’t realize at first that he was trying to put it on the bus, so I thought he was going to run with it. This was the first culture shock from India and I knew I was in for a crazy 11 days. The guy stood there saying, “money, money.” After about a thirty minute bus ride, we got to the hotel and I thought the key for the room was really cool because in order to use any electricity in the room, the key needs to be placed into this thing on the wall that runs the power for the room.

The next day we woke up at about 6:20 A.M. and went downstairs for a breakfast consisting of hard boiled eggs, toast with butter and jam, and corn flakes with hot milk and sugar in it. After breakfast we walked around the block and got our first look of India in the daylight. We saw a school “bus” dropping girls off at their school. Seeing the streets of India for the first time was extremely shocking because I had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be somewhat like how it was but it is impossible to actually know what a place is like through the imagination. After going back to the hotel we went to the main part of the city and walked around Rajiv Chowk park. During this walk, we saw many stray dogs for the first time, not realizing how many we would actually end up seeing throughout the trip. We went to the American Center and two ladies spoke to us about America’s relations with India and other political issues dealing with India. In order to enter the American Center we had to walk through metal detectors. Wherever we went in this city people stared at us because we obviously are tourists. The main and many times the only means of communication with a lot of the people in India were to simply nod, say hello, and smile. We went to lunch at a traditional restaurant and had a great meal there. The hummus in this place was the best hummus I’ve ever had, but I also had the worst thing I’ve ever had, buttermilk. This was honestly the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted but the terrible taste only made me want to try it over and over, possibly hoping that it would be better the next.

When we left this restaurant we were hounded by a few begging children for the first time. I gave him ten rupees thinking that he’d go away but my donation only made him expect that everyone would give. Professor Gupta asked if anyone wanted to try this food on the street and I decided that I’m only here once so I’ll try it. It was a leaf rolled around fennel, coconut, and this red jelly type food. I took one bite of it and it literally took me five minutes to swallow that one bite. After attempting to eat that food, I went to McDonalds just to try an Indian McDonalds. The chicken sandwich is basically the same as the chicken sandwich here. We walked down a block of stores with a ridiculous amount of shops and people trying their hardest to sell you something at all costs. The crowdedness at first felt a little uncomfortable because I felt like someone was going to open my backpack and try to take something out but after a little bit, I got used to it. We walked around for some more time after this and it was so chaotic because not everybody was together on that street so some people were already down the block and some people were way back. As we headed to the Parliament museum I noticed the lack of tourists in the area we were in. Basically everybody we saw looked native to India. I thought a lot more people were going to speak English and we would see a lot more tourists.

We arrived at the Parliament museum and again had to be thoroughly searched by security guards. I found it interesting here that the metal detectors were separated by gender. In this museum I felt as if the tour guides were just repeating the same old thing that they are already bored of talking about. I didn’t get that much out of the museum but I did think it was really cool that we saw Gandhi’s ashes. After the museum some people went to a Sikh temple across the street but all the walking was hurting my back so I went back on the bus. Upon arrival at the hotel, we had a traditional Indian welcome reception. He all got red dots on our foreheads and lays around our necks. We ate fried tofu and vegetable spring rolls. The tofu was a lot better than it is here because it is milk based. After dinner a bunch of us went to Rodeo, a bar in Delhi and had a few drinks with each other. This was really fun because we got to know each other better and talking with new people is always very interesting. On the subway heading back to the hotel we noticed the lack of women on the metro. The only girls on the metro were the girls in our group, potentially because it was 11:30 P.M. Crossing the street and walking on the sidewalk is an adventure in this country because you really have to watch every step you take to make sure you don’t step in anything you don’t want to step in. Professor Gupta seemed to have some higher power where he is able to hold his hand out at cars and make them stop for all of us. Cars literally will not stop for you and will without hesitation run you over. The traffic in India was absolutely hectic and was pretty hard to get used to. There are vehicles or people coming from every single direction and angle. There were a few signs saying stay in your lane but there were no lanes for people to stay in. I also found the lack of street lights very fascinating.

We woke up the next morning to go to the India Gate, a war memorial. This was a beautiful monument and was near a long street that we walked down. As we walked down the street we saw guards marching and practicing for a parade that was to occur in two weeks. I was shocked at how tall every guard was and how similar in height all of them were. On the sides of the roads were school children who we spoke to and learned their names. Melissa danced with them for a while and we spoke to a bunch of the kids about India and told them where we were from. These kids seemed very happy that we were there and were excited to dance with us and take pictures with us. Taking pictures with the guards was fun as well because you don’t want to approach a man with a double barrel shotgun too quickly so you sort of slowly walk over and pretend to click a picture of him.

After the India Gate we went to the Auto Show. This was not what I was expecting an auto show to be like because I have been to a few others in my life at the Javitz Center in New York City. The cars in New York City are mostly concept cars that are a lot more appealing to look at and photograph than most of the cars we saw at this show. I was amazed at how crazy people went and how much they pushed through other people just to take a look at some cars. At the auto show I had a chicken roll which could have been my favorite food item in India. I also had mango ice cream pop which was amazing as well. The auto show did not get my attention that much because I do not know anything about cars for the most part and therefore was not able to understand what all of the booths set up were selling. Cars in India are built with a different goal in mind, as they are not built for speed but are rather built for day to day travelling just to get from here to there. The cars do not need to be fast at all because there are no roads in India that could support high speed cars. I was amazed at the cheap prices of the motorcycles in India and I was tempted to purchase one. Shipping was the only problem in this case. I think we stayed at the car show a little bit too long because by the end I was just hot and tired and not interested in seeing any cars anymore. I did notice that Audi gathered the most attention from the Indian people and the lines to see those cars were tremendous. I was extremely lucky that I did not have to use the bathroom during the Auto Expo because I looked in the bathroom and the toilets were holes in the ground, as they are in many other places, but these were especially foul. After leaving the expo at around three or four we stood out on the sidewalk for about 20 minutes waiting for our bus to make its way through the insanity of the Indian roads. During this time I felt my zipper jingle and realized someone was trying to open my backpack and pickpocket me. I swung my backpack around, we made eye contact and I took two steps towards him to make him scurry away.

We got on the bus finally and went to the Lotus Temple, which is of the Baha’i faith. The temple itself was truly remarkable and it was a beautiful sight. We had to take our shoes off before entering the temple and upon entering past the calm pools of waters I was taken aback by the peacefulness inside. The concrete walls and decorations and vastness of the room was beautiful and although I do not follow the Baha’i religion, I took some time in there to think about my life and what is really important to me. I was very at peace in this temple and it was relaxing being in there. The temple was so quiet because you were not allowed to talk and this silent atmosphere made me feel as if I was alone in this vast building. At night we ate at a restaurant called Suruchi and had an option of Rajasthani or Gujarati food. I chose the Gujarati because it was supposed to be less spicy, but nonetheless I kept having to ask for more cucumbers to calm my mouth down.