Days 9 & 10

Bam! 6am bike riding tour through Old Delhi.  This was a great experience and it was definitely worth waking up at the crack of dawn.  On our journey we saw many aspects of Old Delhi starting with the  Delhi stock exchange.  We rode through a densely populated area and saw many animals including dogs, cats, horses, goats, and cows.  It was strange to be apart of all of the traffic and beeping that seemed so foreign to me a week ago.  I now found myself riding aggressively through the streets and ringing my bell at anyone who got in my way.  We were able to go to the top of a building and look down on Chandni Chowk.  This was really cool because last time we went there it was late afternoon therefore countless people were on the streets.  Being that it was much earlier, the area seemed much calmer.  We also visited a spice market.  Every step smelt like a different intense smell, and after a while it began to become difficult to breathe.  It saddened me to see numerous poor people lined up on the streets of Chandni Chowk.  I then learned that these people were waiting for free food that they church brings.  After these adventures we went to a small hole in the wall place for breakfast.  To my surprise it was one of my favorite meals and the bread was outrageous. We then road back to the bus to head to Humayun’s Tomb and the Lotus Temple where we will finally meet our e-buddies.

Meeting our e-buddies was great!  We immediately gave each other a hug and it was as if we had been friends for years.  We had a self-guided tour around Humayun’s Tomb then squeezed on the bus and went to the Lotus temple.  This was a unique experience because it was a temple that was open to all religions.  We sat in silence for a few moments then headed off.  We sat under the sun by the water and spoke to our e-buddies and took a lot of pictures.  I enjoyed this because we got to hang out with our new friends while absorbing the sun.  After this we were forced to say good bye to our e-buddies and we headed back to the area near the hotel.  We ate lunch at a Southern Indian restaurant, which was my favorite lunch of the trip.  Next we went to Professor Gupta’s house for another evening of celebrations.  We spent time with his family and had an overall great time!

On the final day we got to have a late morning.  I presented my case with my group.  By this point I was ridiculously exhausted.  We headed off to shop in small groups for the entire day.  I had a lot of fun and I really like bargaining with people since the customer tends to get their way 99 percent of the time.  I bought a lot of nice things both for friends and myself. We then ate dinner at the hotel, which was sad because it was our last meal together.  We headed to the airport where I was shocked at the amount of security.  We had to go through security twice and get our tickets checked multiple times.  Before I knew it, we were off to Newark!

 

Day 8

After eating breakfast back at Almondz, we began our eighth day by going to Wipro which is one of the top IT companies in the world.  First we spoke to the vice president of the company about how the company evolved.  We learned that Wipro Limited is divided into 3 businesses, and 89 percent of revenues come from IT.  The IT business started in India then moved global.  It was interesting to learn that this highly advanced company started in 1945 and dealt with vegetable products.  They have two go-to market strategies, which are Wipro Technologies and Wipro InfoTech. IT services include consulting, business technology services, enterprise application services, technology infrastructure services, testing services, business process outsourcing, and product engineering services.  Wipro is the largest Indian tech service provider in both Europe and Japan.  The company must be uniform in processes across the globe.  They have a joining venture with General Electric, and they did designs for high-end medical equipment.  By working together in the mid 80s, Wipro became exposed to six-sigma.  They now help client to embrace six- sigma.  Wipro is very quality conscious. They use the ‘String of Pearls’ strategy for acquisition.  Acquisition is focused on complimenting existent ideas rather than starting new.  This seemed like a smart strategy to me being the company is already huge and established.  To add onto their current infrastructure is much more efficient then starting things that are new and small.

Next we learned about recruiting and job opportunities.  Wipro is one of the top three recruiters in India.  They have two separate functions devoted to training.  The spirit of Wipro is intensity to win, act with sensitivity, and unyielding integrity.  While doing business, they also focus on the community, ecology, and society.

They believe in using the current generation to better future generations.  They have programs to better schools.  One program is four years of school to get a bachelors degree then work with Wipro after graduation.  In my opinion, this is most definitely an amazing opportunity.  They also offer a duel program for veterans.  This is mainly done in India because the gap between rich and poor is so much larger compared to other nations like the United States.  Their brand promise is Appling Thought.

The next speaker spoke about defensive security. He explained how India is currently in the process of starting a system that is similar to American Social Security numbers.  With this, IT is helping the government, but the government also helps IT.  He concluded his presentation by saying that the Indian Market is big and waiting to be addressed, while the global market is huge and only a small part is being addressed.  This shows the importance of some type of system to help regulations therefore I feel that it is vital for India to adopt some kind of similar system.  Next we spoke to the National Campus Monitor.  He spoke about how Wipro has global practices in terms of shaping careers.  70 percent of their hiring is done from campuses and this is very important to the company.  They recruit from both business schools and technology schools, but the majority is from t-schools.  Wipro goes by a phrase that says they are not here to offer people jobs, rather they offer people careers.  The company offers multiple jobs in various fields therefore people stay in the company for a long time.  To me, this is very important because certain advantages are gained when one is in a company for a long period of time.  However some jobs get tedious or boring after a while.  Having the option to move across the business is very beneficial to the employees.  It is also beneficial to the company because it enables them to keep good employees longer and have these employees apply their skills in different fields.

After Wipro we continued to ICICI bank.  This is the largest private bank in India and the second largest bank in India.  They have 2500 branches in India and more abroad.  They scaled up very quickly by building their empire in many ways including the acquisition of many small banks.  They started by financing infrastructure, and in 1992 they opened up to retail.  They used centralization for scaling.  Before ICICI, there was no centralization and everything was done at every bank.  Unlike America where everything is done through the Internet, India is not there yet so branches remain very important.  ICICI is the first bank in India to begin using the Internet, and others are learning from them.  They believe that they started the revolution of banking.  They were the first bank to introduce the ATM in India.  After installing it, they were laughed at, but now every bank wants to have their own ATM.  It was generally believed that bankers were not supposed to be a job for a young person.  It is now acceptable because of ICICI who promotes youth right after college graduation.  They get training at the bank and can become leaders.  In America it is common for one to say that everything you do at a job, you learn at your job.  For this reason, when it comes down to it, college courses are not as important as they may seem.  This was definitely proved based on this policy being that ICICI does not discriminate against majors.

ICICI now does about 80 percent retail banking.  In India, retail banking is personal banking where individuals acquire services including savings accounts, loans, credit cards, and investments.  Indian culture uses loans much less than the US, and I believe that this is much better for the economy.  Indians also save more than the US being that 30 percent of their money is saved, while America has negative savings.  India also has stricter regulations compared to the US.  RBI governs cash holding reserves and gives rates to control liquidity.  Everything going on in the bank has to be reported to RBI frequently.  They govern day-to-day operations, control international exchange, and watch closely to prevent banks from going bankrupt.  This is very important because it is one of the many factors leading to the country’s rise.  Due to this rise, more and more foreign companies are beginning to invest in India.

Before eating dinner, we had the opportunity to speak to an astrologist.  Although I do not necessarily believe in astrology, this was still an interesting presentation.  We learned how astrologists believe in nine planets, but some of them are different than the scientific planets.  We also learned that it is possible to develop a sixth sense, but this sense can only be used once in a certain time frame.  Using this sixth sense, he was able to tell Rachel that she will have three red lines on her back tomorrow.  I am curious to see if this is true.  Astrologists have a way of ‘saving themselves’ by saying that only 60 percent of their predictions are true.  Therefore, if it doesn’t happen, it does not necessarily mean that he is a fake.  He also told us a story about how he predicted his own death to an exact day, and then predicted he would survive.  One of the main differences between American and Indian culture lies in the hands of astrology.  To Americans, it is something you read in a magazine once a week.  To Indians it can alter and change their lives.  This shows how truly powerful it is in their lives.

 

Day 7

On our seventh day in India I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  We had the privilege of going to an Indian orphanage, Vatsalya.  This visit was inspirational and gave me hope for the children of India.  Previously, I thought that there were huge amounts of homeless children living on India’s streets based on the amount of kids we see begging and roaming the streets.  However, I learned that

90 percent of these children are not homeless; their parents go to work, which leaves these poor children board since they live in terrible conditions.  The orphanage cannot take these kids in because they are not justified to take them from their parents.  This leaves 10 percent of the children who are one hundred percent on their own.  These are the kids that Vatsalya takes in.  Although Vatsalya cannot take in the majority of the children since they have parents, they do make a huge effort to help them.  They set up programs where they go out and clean these children and let them know how special they are.  Learning this information made me very happy because it definitely gives the children a sense of hope, and let’s them feel good about themselves.

We were also given the opportunity to interact with the children who vary in ages.  They showed us their rooms, danced, played cricket, and even cooked for us.  The portion that contained dancing was breathtaking.  The girls were such good dancers, good enough to be in a Broadway show.  It made me wonder if this young girl even knew how great she was and if she had any interest in pursuing a career in the future that involved dance.  Another thing that I learned from interacting with these children was that even though they live on the opposite side of the world and speak a different language, they are still exactly the same as American children.  They want to be loved.  Little children, like Gia, want to hold your hand and give you hugs; boys want to run around and play games; and girls love to dance, do crafts, and play sports with the boys.  It really shows that it is a small world and when it comes down to it, we are relatively similar.

I was extremely impressed by the educational intentions of this organization.  The founder was not looking to benefit the children day by day, rather to better their future and their entire life.  They went to schools outside the campus and were able to learn different trades on campus.  This was interesting to me because we’ve been constantly hearing about how parents want their children to be doctors or engineers, but this showed that it is perfectly acceptable to be in the textile industry or be a carpenter.

The best part about this visit was the reaction of the children.  They were so excited to see us and treated us as if we were celebrities.  They cooked dinner for us and served us.  At first I felt bad about this because I have so much, yet these orphan children were feeding me; it seemed as if the situation should be reversed.  But then I realized this made them happy.  They rarely get foreign visitors, and to have a group of 28 visit them for a day brought them so much happiness.  It really warmed my heart to simply see their smiles and how anxious they were to hug us and take photographs with us.  They taught me to appreciate what I have and to be happy, because they have so little yet are happy and joyous.  I would definitely recommend a visit to Vatsalya to anyone who travels to India.

Day 6

It is our sixth day in India.  We woke up in Agra with no hot water, so some of us were worried by this.  We had tea and then went on a three-hour bike tour where we saw many birds and other animals.  Personally, I am not a huge fan of bird watching, but I still enjoyed this adventure because the weather was beautiful and we got to bike outdoors. On the way back, I lost control of my bike and rode right into a bush full of thorns.  I was scared that I would get a thorn in my eye, but afterwards I thought it was funny.  After getting off the bikes we had a short walk back to the hotel.  It is crazy how dangerous the sidewalks are being that there are so many random holes.  Luckily, when we got back to the hotel the hot water was working.  We ate a big breakfast then set off for a three-hour bus ride to Jaipur. I am very excited about this, especially since it’s known for being pink!

We saw three different palaces in Jaipur.  I was most impressed by Jantar Mantar, which is more of an observatory.  At Jantar Mantar I learned that technology isn’t as nifty as I thought it was.  There were various tools that found the same calculations that Americans use technology for today.  There were multiple sundials, and one was efficient enough that it could tell the exact time within two seconds.  There were also many tools dealing with astrology.  This was a unique experience because I typically read astrology only when I see it in a magazine, but I never take it seriously.  This is a huge difference when you compare American culture to Indian culture.   Indians use astrology very seriously, to the point where it can affect marriages.

We then set off to our third hotel, Chowki Dhani, which was gorgeous.

I felt like I was on a tropical island after entering this resort.  This was a fun night because all of the students were able to bond and play a game where we shared facts about ourselves and learned who has similar interests or experiences.  We had a very delicious Indian meal where we sat on the floor.  Then I finally got to ride an elephant, which I have been looking forward to the entire trip!

 

Day 5

Today is our fifth day in India. We had a very early morning and left the hotel at 6 am to head to Agra.  On the way there we saw a snake charmer.  We had the privilege of getting off the bus and some students even held the snake.  As we drove on we also saw monkeys and took pictures of them on our heads.  After a four-hour bus ride, we finally reached the Taj Mahal.  This was a breath taking sight and it was absolutely beautiful.  We went on a tour and learned about its history, along with the creator’s plans to make a matching black one.  However, this was never completed because his son put him in jail.  Visiting the Taj Mahal was an amazing experience and we took many pictures.  We also had the privilege of riding both horses and camels.  This was a lot of fun and enabled us to escape some of the vendors who were trying to force us to buy things.

We then went to Fatehpur Sikri, which is an area that the king had built with the intentions of it being the capital of India.  However, he ran into a problem because there was no easily accessible water near by.  For this reason, his plan failed.  The architecture of this huge area was very beautiful and symbolic.  Different themes were used for each of his three wives who were Muslim, Hindu, and Christian.  I also found it interesting how different floors were used for different seasons.  This place also has the biggest arch gate in the entire world, so it was a very cool experience.

Like the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, was congested with vendors trying to sell you everything and anything from jewelry to post cards.  One child even tried to sell us Euros.  It is sad to see these people in such poor states, but I understand that we simply cannot give into them harassing us for money.

Although some may complain that we spent a lot of time on the bus, I must admit that I enjoyed it.  We drove through both congested and rural areas and it is weird how different the two are while they are so close to one another.  While we were stopped, a bunch of children came to our window begging for food.  A few students gave them our extra McDonalds and it made me feel good to see them happy to eat.

After a long day of adventures we arrived at our second hotel, which had gorgeous grounds.  It is very different from our first hotel because it is not as modernized.  We ate dinner and talked around a bonfire.  It was a good night, except I am a little paranoid at the amount of bugs here!

 

Days 2 – 4

The past three days have been particularly interesting because we had the privilege of going to four different businesses to learn about how their companies function.  This was a great experience and very educational.  First we went to PricewaterhouseCoopers, which I enjoyed the most being that I am an accounting major.  At PwC I learned a lot about their company both nationally and in India.  Although it was great to learn about the Indian practices, it was more beneficial for me to learn the basics of their company since I have never networked with them before.  I learned that PwC is divided into three lines of services: advisory, tax and regulation, and assurance.  Advisory is broken into internal audit, consulting, government reforms and infrastructure development, and financial advisory services.  Tax and regulatory deals with transfer pricing, indirect taxes, and mergers and acquisitions.  Indirect taxes is particularly important in India because many companies set up in India therefore they must know the regulatory laws of the country.  Lastly, assurance, also known as audit, works on systems and process audit, statutory audit, tax audit, etc.  This is the field that I am interested in working in.  Also, PwC initially started as strictly and Assurance Company.  Next we learned about the five levels within the firm: associate director, senior mgr/managing con, manager/principal con, assistant manager/senior consultant, and associate/consultant.  After this presentation, a man named Vishal who is part of the IT destination spoke to us about e-Governance.  E-Governance is about making the government more efficient.  Vishal spoke about how India is a trillion dollar economy with GDP growing over 9%.  BRIC reports say that by 2032 India’s economy will be the third largest.  India is also the world leader in global outsourcing.  India’s demographic consists of 80% of the population being under 45, and contains 25% of the world’s people who are under 25.  Trade is growing at a rate of 13%.  India’s IT industry is the fastest growing sector in India (over 20%).  India is also the fastest IT spender in Asia markets and has potential to be top 3 globally.  All of this may seem like random facts about the country, but I found it to be particularly important in relation to the main focus of this course.  After this, Vishal moved on to explain e-Government in greater depth.  He explained that all services throughout all stages of life are covered by e-government.  An example of this is when a child is born he/she needs a birth certificate.  Benefits of e-Government include, but are not limited to, improving services, enhancing citizen participation, and enhancing opportunities.  Challenges of e-Government include the attitude of the government departments, resistance to reengineering processes, lack of IT literacy, under use of infrastructure, budgeting constraints, etc.  Vishal believes that in order for a company to be successful it is vital that an individual takes responsibility rather than passing it on.

After PwC we went to Dunnhumby.  This was interesting for me because it is a company that I never heard of before, and then I had the privilege of sitting in one of their global offices.  This company is broken down into five large groups, with four of them focusing on analysis.  Their purpose is to help retailers with pricing and promotions.  Dunnhumby’s values are curiosity, collaboration, passion, and customers first.  The last value, customers first, is complete opposite of HCL and DSCL, which will be mentioned later in this post.  Dunnhumby does not promise that they will increase profit; rather they act as the customer for a client and then focus on how to best serve customers to make them happy while benefitting the client at the same time.  Dunnhumby always works using long-term clients.  They also will not accept multiple clients in the same field; for example Macy’s is their client therefore no other US department stores are.  I found this very important because a client is putting their trust in Dunnhumby to promote their company, therefore it would be very shady to do the same for another company that sells the same products.  Their clients include eBay, Macys, Panera, Ruby Tuesday, Coke, Kroger, and Casino.  Dunnhumby believes that in the 1980 and 1990s retailing was an art; now it is based on science and computers.  They have three major offices which are in the US, UK, and India.  Dunnhumby started off as an independent company with Tesco as a client.  In 2001 Tesco took ownership stake of Dunnhumby and they now serve many companies.  I really enjoyed my visit to this firm even though it is a field I would never work it.  I learned a lot, and I found that the office held great culture and diversity.

The following day we went to HCL.  Being that we previously read a case about this firm, we did not have a typical lecture.  Rather we were able to have an open discussion with the CEO of the company.  He became head of the company in 2005.  When a problem arises within a company he feels that you should not try to find a solution, you should try to find the first step.  He changed the company’s policy to be, “employees first customers second.”  He believes that a slogan never does justice to an idea, yet the slogan is necessary.  He explained that it is not a commercial objective.  It enables the company to grow faster by getting the most out of the employees who will therefore make the customers happy, rather than ‘second’.  One method used to keep the employees happy is a survey that rates the CEO.  He understands that he has many strengths and weaknesses, but he believes that this is okay as long as they stay in a band.  He is a strong believer of working from the ground up, and Martin Luther King and Gandhi influence his thinking.  I really enjoyed this presentation for multiple reasons.  When I first read his idea in the case, I was confused since generally a company wants to put their customers first.  After hearing his explanation however, I completely agree that his policy is a much better approach.  Also, I enjoy question and answers sessions much more than simply a PowerPoint presentation because it is much more interesting.

Today we went to DSCL, which was very different than the other firms in that it was a family run business.  It started in 1889, and in 1990 the company broke into four.  They have two lines of business, which are agri-rural value chain and chloro-vinyl chain.  It was founded by Sir Shriram and is now managed by three, fourth generation brothers.  Some of DSCL’s challenges include generational change at family level since they have little experience at running a business, becoming a mid-size company after being a huge company before the split, India opening up therefore they were in need of more international exposure, and upgrading processes to world standards.  Like HCL and many other Indian companies, DSCL believes that employees must come first.  Their vision is world-class organization, focused businesses, superior quality at low cost, responsive to change, competitive, and robust financials.  Their values are responsible corporate citizen, caring, credible, and fair, build lasting relationships, continuing improvement, and create wealth.  DSCL started at commodities and wanted to move to value added products and eventually services.  Some major products include sugar, cement, soda, and plastics.  They were able to become world class by working with big companies and consultants.  Their main focuses are on people, innovation, culture, and processes.

In addition to these professional events, we also continued to do several things that captured the culture of India.  On the second night we went to the Kingdom of Dreams.  When entering this beautiful place, I immediately felt like I was in a place like Las Vegas rather than India.  The majority of this place was indoors, but the painting and construction of the inside made one feel as if they were outside under the gorgeous skies.  We were given a card with 450 rupees to spend on food, drinks, or souvenirs.   We were able to enjoy ourselves and walk around and shop for a bit.  We then saw a show that consisted of a lot of great music and dancing.  Being that the dialogue was in Hindi, it was hard for me to understand what was going on.  After someone explained the basics to me, it all made sense to me.  After the show we ate dinner at the stands that were designated for different parts of India.  The food was great and extra spicy.  We then headed back to the hotel after an awesome night.

During the third day we went to the Akshardham Temple Complex.  This place was considerably new and had beautiful architecture.  It was a lot of fun because it wasn’t a typical tourist site.  It included an audio display, a boat ride, and an i-max movie to teach about Neelkanth Varni.  Although this was definitely an entertaining experience, I am skeptical by how real I believe the information presented was.  It all seemed over the top, and at times ridiculous.  However, it was still a great experience.

The third night was one of the most fun nights that I’ve had in a long time.  We went to Professor Gupta’s cousins’ house to prepare ourselves for a big Indian party at his house.  The girls all got henna on our hands and took a lot of pictures before heading over to Professor Gupta’s home.  When I got there, I was lost for words.  It was nothing like any party I have ever gone to before.  There was a huge tent set up for dinner, a fire pit in the middle of the street, lights, and a lot of people.  Soon after arrival, we danced the night away.  It was a great experience to learn Indian dances from his family members, as well as teach them American dances.  Some of use also had the opportunity to go to the roof and look down on much of the city.  I felt like I was in a movie, and it was an overall good time.  It is interesting to compare the Indian and American party life.  Although we have different themes and different styles of dancing, when it comes down to it, we are still so very similar, especially in the sense that we are all out to have a good time.  Also, I was very impressed at how welcoming Professor Gupta’s family was, and I learned that this is customary of all Indians.  They treated us as if we were part of the family, which really promoted an awesome night.

The fourth day I experienced exactly what I expected India to be.  We walked through the streets of Chandni Chowk where we experienced some of the poorest people.  These streets were extremely congested and you basically had to push people to walk through the crowds.  There were people selling stuff everywhere you looked.  I enjoyed this aspect of Chandni Chowk; it was like a game to bargain with them, and I ended up buying some nice scarves.  It was also very sad to see the amount of poor people lying on the side of the roads begging for anything you will give them.  Although I would love to help them, it is just understood that you really cannot do so.  I was also surprised to learn that in India there seems to be no sense of lines in terms of waiting for an order.  I noticed it before at the Kingdom of Dreams, but it happened again at McDonalds; people have no problem just walking in front of an entire line.  One man even told me that Americans are arrogant that we think it is normal to have a line.  This took me off guard, because this is an aspect of our culture that seemed to just make sense, therefore I assumed it existed everywhere.

Overall these past three days were great.  It was the perfect mix of business visits and cultural adventures.  I learned a lot in both aspects, and all of the experiences truly moved me.

 

Day 1

We just finished our first full day in New Delhi.  I am already completely amazed by all the things that I have seen and learned in this short time.  As we discussed at tonight’s dinner, the main theme so far is various diversities coexisting amongst one another.  I first noticed this during our drive from the airport to the hotel after arriving last night.  It amazed me how different buildings are from one another even though they may be right next door.  A perfect example of this is our hotel.  If you look to the left or right of Almondz, there appears to be poor, dusty, old buildings.  If you look across the street there seems to be a man living with barely any shelter and simply a fire to keep him warm.  However, our hotel is a very nice building, both on the inside and out, and at first it seemed a bit strange to me due to its surroundings.  After walking through New Delhi today, I learned that this was not unusual.  Homes and building varied widely in both quality and design from one door to the next.  This was very unique to me being that I am from Staten Island and in my neighborhood most of the houses are generally similar to each other.  Today, we began our adventures at the India Gate.  This sacred place was unlike anything I have ever experienced in the past.

When we first got off the bus, I immediately saw a man casually standing holding a rifle.  This took me off guard, because this would never be the case in the United States.  However, I soon learned that many other soldiers, marines, and coast guards were also present.  They were all practicing a march that will be performed on January 26^th to celebrate their Independence.  I was very impressed by this, so I began taking pictures.  It did not occur to me immediately that these soldiers were also surprised due to the number of Americans walking down the same road.  They then began to take pictures of us as well.  A few soldiers then took a picture with me and two other students; this is when I once again realized this theme of coexistence.  Both groups are from opposite sides of the world and have extremely different cultures, yet we were both able to simultaneously enjoy a moment of diversity.  A second thing that initially surprised me was a stray dog wandering by the India Gate.  I was shocked to see such a friendly animal wandering around as if it was normal.  Soon later I learned that in India this was normal.  There was countless dogs roaming the streets everywhere we went, and at one corner we even saw a cow.  I then learned that people in India generally do not keep dogs as pets the same way we do in America.  This is a third example of coexistence being that completely different species are living in harmony with one another.  A fourth example of the coexistence amongst a diversity of people is the various different religions practiced throughout the country.  Today we had the privilege of going to a Sikh temple.  This was truly a remarkable experience.  We took off our shoes and covered our heads with a scarf, then went inside the beautiful temple to observe how this religion is practiced.  It was evident that we were not a part of this religion, yet no one looked at us as if we shouldn’t be in the temple.  I then learned that a huge part of the Sikh religion is in fact accepting diversities in a positive light.  This form of acceptance of any diverse group perfectly defines the theme of coexistence.

A second thing that I noticed on today’s journey was the huge difference in treatment in terms of men and women.  In America, it is no longer deemed odd to have a woman present in the army.  However, when the army marched at the India Gate, there was not one woman present.  Later when we went the American Center I once again noticed a difference of treatment amongst the sexes.  Males were personally searched on their way in, while females were not.  A similar situation happened at the Parliamentary Museum.  It was acceptable for males to be publicly scanned with a metal detector, but women had to be in private when they were searched.  This was hugely different then what I am used to in America, and it really caught me by surprise.

Although I found all of today’s experiences to be impressive, what really moved me was the passion that everyone had in their activities, and the way chaos simply worked for India.  Whether it was soldiers marching proudly, people practicing their religion at the temple, or people simply cooking food on the side of the road, all of these people had passion and pride in what they were doing.  I truly believe that this says so much for both those individuals and the country as a whole.  If asked to describe India in one word I would without a doubt say chaotic.  There is constant noise, traffic jams, and massive crowds of people.  The amazing part about this is that it may seem very inconvenient, but it simply works for India.  This leads one to wonder what will become of the country in the future.