India Day 3

Day 3 Sunday Jan 10
Today I woke at 3am on the dot just as I expected. I was able to go back to sleep and wake up to shower but I turned the water on the wrong way so I thought it was no hot water. After eating breakfast I went back to shower and went to the market to get snacks for the long ride to LPU.

When we went to pick up the students who went on the bike tour we drove pass many different animals on the road. I didn’t expect to see donkeys and sheeps on the road so it was shocking. It is 1130am and we are now on our way to LPU which is 8 hours away. We will stop for food and to use the restroom. I hope we go to KFC…I am craving a nice piece of CHICKEN lol.

Every time we are on the road I wonder how many accidents occur in a year. It seems as though there are no driving regulations. I see families on one motorcycle. I’ve seen so many men riding motorcycles with infants in front of them with their wife and other childern sitting behind them. I’ve also seen 30 to 40 men packed in the back of a truck standing like sardines. Professor Gupta said its a cheaper form of transportation.

Its so many open fields out here and we see lots of men playing cricket. It looks like such a fun sport but I can’t believe that games can run for more than a day. I think what has stood out the most to me is the amount of women we’ve seen on the streets. It makes me wonder what the population of women is in India.

We stopped for food and it took longer than expected but we reached LPU around 8pm. We were greeted and welcomed by our Ebuddies. They were all so excited to meet us and treated us very nicely. We had dinner and a surprise bonfire. It was my first bonfire and so much fun. I never knew how warm bonfires could keep you. We danced , laughed and had a good time just before showering and falling asleep.

Nakia Royal

Day 7

Day 8 Thursday Jan 14
We hit the road this morning expecting traffic on our way to visit PwC but there was none so we stopped at Shiv Murti before PwC. We took lots of pictures of the statue and watched as some men gathered to build a Buddha statue. The statues were huge and we were told that the planes had landing issues at one point because of how tall the statues were.

When we arrived at PwC it was a different than other company visits. We were not greeted by a welcoming team. In fact we ended up taking the wrong elevator. That was something that stood out to me. When we reached the conference room the presenter began. Although the information given by all the presenters was useful, one thing that stood out to me was that most of the time only one PwC employee was in the room and that was the presenter. Each presenter came in one at a time as it was their time to present. That stood out to me because it made me feel as though they did not care that we were there. It was a big difference compared to our treatment at Infosys and DSCL. I understand its a normal work day and work to be done, I just didn’t feel that they cared. Something else that stood out was our lunch. They sent us to the cafe and we sat and ate by ourselves. As opposed to our lunch at Infosys and DSCL, we were able to mingle with the employees of each company during lunch. I’m thankful for the presentation, I just didn’t like some things about it.

After PwC we rushed to make it to the Red Fort for a sound and light show. Some of us were excited to hear about a mall not too far from PwC but we knew that we wouldn’t be able to go. We had to be at the Red Fort at 730 in order to catch the show so we took the subway to prevent losing time in traffic. The subway was very clean and the ride was smooth. It wasn’t until we got off the train when all hell broke loose lol. I’m glad we didn’t use the subway for our entire stay in India. In my opinion, 27 students and 2 professors, only one that actually knows how to get around India is just a bad idea. Some how we got split up between the two professors and were just walking down the road with no idea where we were going. So here we are about 12 students walking down the dark streets of India hoping we would run into the other group of students. Little did we know they actually RAN to the show and were sitting down watching the show. We finally reached the show and were able to actually enjoy the last half of the show. Afterwards we headed to McDonalds and back on the subway to go to the hotel.

Nakia Royal

Day 6

Day 6 Wednesday Jan 13
This morning I woke up to no hot water. I think it was none due to so many people showering at the same time. It was okay, I sucked it up and took a cold shower just as I did at LPU. Now we are off to visit DSCL.

DSCL had a good presentation prepared for us. They answered the questions they were asked well and seemed eager to help us learn more about the company. Something that stood out to me about this company is the amount of dedicated employees they have. Many of the presenters started there career at DSCL and are still current employees. I think that says a lot about the company. One thing that was mentioned in the presentation that stood out to many of us was the statement that Indians are individuals. When our professor asked how many students were surprised by that statement many raised their hands.

After the company visit some of us headed to a Saree Presentation while others headed back to the hotel to sleep and/or shop. I decided to do a little shopping but unfortunately didn’t find anything I liked. I did get to ride in one of the little “green cabs” so that was fun. I paid less than a dollar to get a ride a few blocks.

When everyone got back from the saree presentation, we headed to Professor Gupta’s family home. The set up was sooo nice. They even had a poster made welcoming Binghamton students and faculty. It was nice to meet his family and speak with them.
Professor Gupta’s family assisted in dressing some of us in sarees. Professor Dunne and Melissa looked wonderful in their sarees. We ate, danced, and laughed all night until we were exhausted and headed back to the hotel.

Day 5- Infosys

Day 5 Tuesday Jan 12

Today we are visiting Infosys. We arrived a little late because the driver and professor had never been. The campus was very nice and when arrived the dean of SOM was already there waiting. We received visitor badges and went through security. During our walk to enter the building I think most of our biggest concerns was if the building would be heated.

We all felt better after feeling the warm building. We got even more excited when we saw the American food. We settled in the room to learn more about Infosys. they had some really good presenters that kept my attention. When we went on the tour of the campus it was interesting to see a fitness gym, swimming pool, and beauty salon on the campus. I think it is a good idea to have these things available for employees after work. We ate a wonderful lunch and learned more about Infosys before leaving.

We left with the Dean to a gold resort and reception with his family. It was so nice to meet, eat, and interact with the dean and his family. After more food and fun we headed back to the hotel on a five hour ride. When we finally reached I fell right asleep after unpacking.

Nakia Royal

India Day 4

Day 4 Monday Jan 11
We woke up early to get ready for breakfast. We got to tour the university and see the labs and classrooms. We noticed the lack of windows in the buildings. We almost forgot that it is hot most of the time in India so it made sense. We were shown the webcams located in every classroom. I personally think it is an invasion of privacy but I can understand that it could prevent mischievous behavior.

After the tour we went into a conference room to learn more about LPU. The room was very cold and made it hard for me to focus as much as I wanted to on the presenters. Although I don’t drink coffee I decided to drink the coffee offered to us to warm me up. It was good to learn about LPU.

After lunch we went to a temple. At first I was not going to go in because I didn’t want to get sick from being barefoot in the cold. After speaking with one of the E Buddies I decided not to miss this opportunity. I’m glad I went to the temple because I learned a lot and enjoyed myself.

When we left the temple we headed to Lovely Autos and Lovely Sweets. It was nice seeing how good Lovely Autos was doing and nice to be in the office being offered snacks and drinks. Although my stomach was hurting I tried to gain as much from the experience. Luckily my stomach began to feel better and we walked to visit Lovely Sweets. I was glad I was able to try some sweets. It was very busy there so I know business is going well.

We headed to a nice restaurant where we saw different shows that included a story and performance by monkeys, and a magic show. We also got to see some dancing and singing. Some of us even got our palms read. The restaurant was nice and different from the ones we have been to.

After the restaurant we headed back to LPU for a bonfire and Lhori celebration. We played musical chairs and enjoyed our last night with our Ebuddies. We also got to meet the Chancellor of LPU ad take photos with him. LPU was a nice experience and we felt very secure at all times.

India Night 1 and Day 2

Day 1- January 7th-8th

The first night and day have been very interesting in India. The plane ride wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I actually got 7 hours of sleep and watched a few good movies. The food was not too appealing but I am a picky eater so I stuck with bread and fruit.

Upon arriving to the airport I wasn’t surprised seeing so many people trying to make a quick dollar. So many men tried to help carry our bags. Through the fog we were able to find the hotel. The ride was about an hour-long.

The hotel!!!! I definitely expected our hotel to be in a tourist area. Boy was I wrong. Every where we walk it looks so poor. It’s hard to believe that the land is worth so much money. I was glad that it was hot water but the towels and sheets didn’t seem too clean. Brushing my teeth I always made sure I used bottled water because I didn’t want to get sick.

Breakfast was good! I ate the eggs and toast along with corn flakes. We went on a tour of India that wore me out. We then headed to the American Center for an Orientation. The presenters were very down to earth but I was not too interested in the presentation overall. The professor and other students asked some good questions that some times seemed like they couldn’t answer.

After the American Center we headed to a restaurant. The food was good although I didn’t try many of the sauces, overall it was good. We exchanged our money and I ran into McDonalds. The fries were great but the chicken nuggets weren’t too good. It felt good to feed a homeless guy that asked for my food on the street.

The best part of our first day was the Parliament Museum. Although I was exhausted and didn’t feel comfortable leaving my bag and electronics with the workers, it was a great experience. We got to dance with Ghandi and we learned a lot about India. The museum was set up very nice and entertaining.

When we reached the hotel we stopped in the supermarket and prepared for a reception with the dean of SOM. Unfortunately he was stuck in traffic for 2 hours so he never made it. We celebrated my good friend and sorority sisters birthday with a cake and sang to her. After dinner, I ran to bed and slept well but woke up 3:30am so I showered at 5am and went back to bed until breakfast.

Day 2 January 9th
Today’s breakfast had Indian cuisine and American dishes. I didn’t try the Parantas because I heard it was spicy and I’m not a big fan of spicy food. I ate lots of toast, corn flakes, and a banana.

After breakfast we headed out around 830am to beat the traffic and visit the India Gate. The day started great!! We got to take lots of pictures, see people practice in uniform for the Independence Day parade, and dance with some students. It was a nice experience to embrace the culture.

After visiting the India Gate, we headed to the India Auto Expo. My group and I had a good time but we were exhausted. We ate pizza hut and ice cream! We didn’t see as many exotic cars as we thought we would but it was interesting to see how excited the Delhians were at the expo. I was most shocked to see how excited everyone was to see Volkswagen. We were constantly being pushed and had to push our way through. We later found out that Volkswagen will now be in India for the first time and won’t just be imported from other places. I thought we would see more luxury cars but it was very few.

After spending a few hours at the expo we met back up with the entire group and waited a while for our bus to come get us. We were stuck in traffic but we finally made it to the temple. All we hear is car honking their horns all through the streets of India. While stuck in traffic we noticed a group of guys walking with speed down the road carrying a body on wood covered with a white sheet covering him.

Lotus Temple one of the 7 temples of Baha’i was a very nice temple. It was very peaceful and calm. It seemed like a nice place to go and clear your mind. I like that it was silent, it made me feel very relieved and afterwards I had a boost of energy.

I was able to take a quick 1 hour nap before going out to eat with the group. We took a walk thru the busy traffic to a nice restaurant. I ate very little of the food but did enjoy the roti. We stopped at McDonalds on the way back to the hotel and I bought french fries. They were gooooood! Well now I’m off to bed at 930pm and will probably wake up at 3am and have trouble going back to sleep.