Last Days in India

Friday morning, I was a little late arriving to breakfast. One of the hotel employees ended up delivering breakfast to my room. That was so nice of him to do and was a great start to the day. We went shopping at the above ground shops and it was overall a great experience. Because we went kind of early in the day, it wasn’t really busy and the shopkeepers weren’t harassing us to buy things. When we were standing outside one of the stores, an older woman came up to our group, begging. We all tried to deter her and encourage her to go away, but she was VERY persistent. Even when we walked away, she came running after our group, even crossing the street with us. I have never seen a homeless person in the Unites States act like this. After our shopping trip, we visited the company HCL. I thought their human resources and employee first strategies are interesting. We then went to a party hosted by one of Professor Gupta’s relatives. They served us a bunch of different kinds of french fries, pizza, and McDonalds. We also had the opportunity to learn a little bit about diamonds. On this night, I was exhausted, so I went back early, missing the real fun. I was happy with this decision because we had to wake up so early the next day for the long trip to Agra.

The Agra trip was really an example of something that bothered me the whole trip. We were delayed leaving our hotel, and then again when the bus broke down at the gas station. Although I was frustrated nearly the entire trip with the lack of punctuality, I did learn to respect that this is the norm in India because of traffic and I guess a general laid back disposition. While it is not what I am used to, I’m sure it is a much less stressful lifestyle, which I can appreciate. I would like to try to become more flexible because of this experience. When we finally arrived in Agra, like 8 hours after leaving our hotel, we got to ride up to the Taj Mahal in camel drawn wagons. Our camel driver offered to let someone ride the camel; of course we took advantage of this, but what we didn’t know was that the driver was expecting us to pay him extra for this. We thought he was just being nice. Once we finally saw the Taj Mahal, the stress of the journey was all worth it. The building was indescribably awesome. It looked almost like a backdrop painted onto the sky. That was definitely my most most most favorite part of the trip! When we were finally ready to leave, we became surrounded by a crowd of children trying to sell us things. As we got closer to the bus, our crowd of followers grew bigger and bigger. There was at least one child peddler for every member of our group. We escaped to the safety of our bus and began the long trip back to Delhi.

The next day, we traveled to the huge, carved, theme-park like temple. The way they presented their religion was unlike any I’ve ever experienced. There was an interactive walk through show, a big screen movie, and an actual river raft boat ride. While the temple was extensive and certainly beautiful, the fact that it was only about 5 years old made me appreciate it less than I would have if it was a more ancient structure. We then went for the camel and elephant rides. This was the other thing I was looking forward to most for the trip. I was on the first camel ride, on the taller of the two camels. It was a lot higher up than I thought it was going to be, and I was kind of nervous up there. The elephant was so big, and there wasn’t a ladder to get into the seat. I felt pretty adventurous climbing up the back of the elephant, and with a boost up I was successful in getting on. I felt very regal up there and I waved to people as we passed their houses and cars. Getting off was not quite as easy as getting on. I slid down by its head and was luckily caught by Andrew. Although I was nervous about the elephant ride, I knew I had to brave my fears because I couldn’t come back from India without doing it. And I was glad that I did do it.

On the morning of our last day, a snake charmer came to the hotel. I really don’t like snakes so I kept my distance. The snakes were cold, so they didn’t do that much, but they did dance a little bit. We set out for our last shopping trip. Emily and I walked around the stores by ourselves and were pretty successful at haggling. I found two shop owners with what I wanted and played them against each other. They were actually pulling me toward their shops. Emily and I even rode the subway by ourselves back to the hotel. I was very proud of us and felt very independent. After the last dinner at the hotel, it was time to head to the airport. And after worrying about the fog and taxiing on the runway for over an hour we were on our way back home. I was very happy to be back, and went to eat at a diner first thing. Overall I am glad that I had the experience of this trip. It had its ups and downs, but I learned so much about another culture and about myself.

Infosys, Hiriyali, and PWC Days

When our stay at LPU was over, we began the journey back to Delhi. The Infosys campus was incredible. It felt like we were back in the United States. They were gracious hosts, accommodating our request for french fries, even though I didn’t get any. The lunch buffet was also fantastic. Following the Infosys visit we took the bus to the golf club for the reception with the Dean. This short ride was an instant change from the fancy Infosys campus. We went through what I think was a tribal village, where we saw women shaping the cow manure into discs for fuel. The Dean and his family were very welcoming to us. Because this day was Emily’s birthday, the Dean’s wife made her a cake and we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. Finally after a long bus ride, we arrived back to the Hotel Karat. It was kind of funny that while we might have been critical of the hotel a few days before, after staying in the hostels at LPU we were happy to be back. I know I was.

The highlight of the next day was our visit to DCM/Hiriyali. This was of special interest to me because it is my group’s case. I thought the presentation of the Indian retail market was very interesting. The rural sector is definitely going to be an important component of the Indian economy in the coming years. After this company visit, I went with the group to the presentation at the sari school. I didn’t really know anything at all about sari’s before the presentation, and I had no idea there were that many kinds of fabrics, embellishments, and ways to wear them. She was incredibly knowledgeable, and it was fun to try them on. The one I wore was blue with a white pattern and was tied with a decorative fan on the front. It was awesome to learn about something so important to the Indian culture from such an expert. After the Sari presentation we went to the party hosted by the Gupta family. The red and gold tent set up for us was awesome. It kind of felt like a circus tent, but classier. The bicycle rickshaw ride was a fun experience, although I was a little worried about falling out. A couple of boys with drums came and we danced around the fire to their drumming. While I didn’t dance a whole lot, it was fun to watch everyone having such a good time with one another.

Although the presentations at PWC were interesting and their office was impressive, the thing I will remember most about that company visit is lunch time. I took some of the stuff that looked like potato salad, similar to something we had at Infosys. What I thought were green beans were garnishing the salad. I took a bite of a ‘green bean’ and immediately spit it out, it tasted horrible. Then it hit me… a wave of heat came over me, my face turned red and my mouth burned. The green bean turned out to be some kind of really spicy pepper. After several long minutes of tearing up and eating non, the heat finally went away. I guess at least everyone around me was entertained. Unfortunately, this incident would not be the only time that I cried this day. When we were walking from the subway to the Red Fort for the light and sound show, I was in a small group that was separated from everyone. We ended up taking a wrong turn at the Red Fort because no one was waiting at the entrance for us. I was overwhelmed by the city environment: men peeing right next to the sidewalk, heavy traffic, people everywhere. I felt really anxious and unsafe. I was so upset that it brought me to tears. And after all that, the light and sound show wasn’t really worth it.

Auto Expo day and LPU

For me, the second full day in India was a turning point in the trip. The culture shock began to wear off, and I became more used to the constant traffic noise, our hotel, and everything else. On this morning we set off for the Auto Expo, stopping at the India Gate on the way. This was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip for two reasons. First was the practicing marching units of soldiers practicing for their parade. I was in marching band throughout high school and I thought it was awesome to see a marching band on the other side of the world, especially my own instrument (clarinet) being played. The other reason was the school children who were so excited to see us and dance with us. At one point when we were walking back to the bus some of the children were waving and I reached out to touch hands with one of them. Then the rest of the children in the group all reached out to me, wanting me to touch their hands too. I felt a little bit like a celebrity. This experience started one of the main themes of the trip for me: how welcoming and hospitable the Indian people were to us. These children, along with many other people we encountered on our trip—our hotel’s staff, the e-buddies, Professor Gupta’s family, and many others who were incredibly nice to us. I noticed this again later that day at the Auto Expo. My group spent quite a while in the Suzuki area and while we were there, the exhibitors gave us the VIP treatment. They allowed us to come and sit in the cars and Jess got to do a driving simulation. It was really weird sitting on the left side of the car and being a passenger instead of driving! Another highlight for me from the Auto Expo was eating Domino’s. This was the first American food we ate on the tour and I was so happy to finally feel full and satisfied. After the Auto Expo we visited the beautiful Lotus Temple, which was truly a sanctuary. The silence inside was the only true quiet I experienced the entire trip.

Our next major event on the tour was the visit to LPU. One thing I remember most from this is feeling very cold! I also saw a few monkeys by the road on the way there. My e-buddy, Raman, was very nice and welcoming. She always wanted to make sure that I was comfortable, even making me sit by the bonfire while she stood because there weren’t enough chairs. When we were walking in busy traffic between Lovely autos and sweets, she guided me across the street. I was very grateful for that. It was interesting to see the campus at LPU and learn about higher education in India. Also, staying in the hostels was a one in a lifetime experience. While I felt a little like I was in a jail; the fact that the woman in charge of the dorm was called the warden didn’t help this, they tried very hard to make sure we felt at home. Actually, they tried a little too hard; they would come in the room many times to check on us. Also bathing with a bucket was a new experience. It was not really that bad, the water was warm and I think my hair was cleaner than when I showered at the Karat. During our tour to LPU, we visited a Hindu temple, along with the Lovely auto dealership and sweet shop. Raman taught me so much at the temple; she was really patient, explaining which god was which multiple times, and telling me about the different traditions. Having her there as a guide made the temple so much more interesting that it would have been if we just walked through on our own. Lovely Sweets was wonderful! The goodies we tried were delicious, and judging by how busy the store was, they must be pretty popular. I really hope they begin to sell sweets in the United States. Later that night we went to the traditional village theme restaurant. Despite the freezing temperatures, the entertainment was really cool. I didn’t eat much at this meal because I wasn’t feeling well, but it was still nice to share a traditional meal with Raman.

Clarinet guy!

Raman and I at the bonfire on the first night.

Raman and I at the Hindu temple.

First Impressions

I wrote this entry after our first full day in India, it was posted on my personal blog because I didn’t realize we had the group one:

I would describe how I feel about what I’ve seen and experienced so far as overwhelmed. This entry will not be long, as I really need to get some sleep. I think it will help me most to just list and free associate some of what we’ve seen so far:

airport haze, crazy traffic, bus with curtains, foggy/smoggy air, veggie burgers at McDonalds, stray dogs, child street performers, persistant merchants, armed guards with guns, unpleasant smells, beautiful temple, overcrowded busses, street vendors, the American Center, the Parlaiment Museum, high security at those places, park, general uncleanliness, new and interesting foods, and many other things that I have neglected to list now.

Needless to say, I’m expereincing a high level of culture shock. Along with that I have high levels of anxiety about staying healthy, safe, and keeping my possessions. While I have enjoyed seeing some parts of the city, I am not enjoying myself in general so far. I hope that I can adjust and this will improve. This entry also does not have pictures because I haven’t uploaded any yet. This will come soon hopefully. There are many unresolved issues left to discuss, but these will be for another time.