Over Iraq

I had to post this one. I just thought it was interesting to be flying right over Baghdad in our comfortable airplane seats when right below us, US and Iraqi people were engaged in warfare.

The Palm

This was pretty exciting to see from the air. I took this picture about 5 minutes after take-off from Dubai on our way to London. It's hard to see but if you look closely you can see the islands in the shape of a palm tree. This is the first of the man made island systems in Dubai "The Palm." I believe there are two more palm shaped island systems and one shaped like the world in the works. We were lucky enough to have our ascent bring us right by the one that is near completion.

This is ride to dinner after an amazing trek through the dessert in four wheel drive Land Cruisers. To say it lightly the trip was awesome. We spent about 2 hours in the trucks flying (literally) over dunes and down valleys until you just about felt like you were going to lose your lunch. After the four wheeling we sat down for a relaxing dinner under the moonlight in a compound in the sand. We ate kabobs until we were stuffed and took camel rides to get the full experience. The night ended with a few puffs from Sisha and a ride home were half of us fell asleep in the truck.

Dubai

The final 2 days of our Indian adventure were spent in Dubai. Dubai was very different than India in so many ways even though much of the population is from India originally. It felt like a cross between Las Vegas and LA. It has the feeling of a no rules place that is just operating in a state of equilibrium. It is "A petri dish of pure capitalism and large infusions of regional oil money..." as observed by one of Babson's finest students.

Dubai felt completely safe for westerners. Even walking around late in the morning after the bars have close we felt just as safe (or safer) than we would have in Boston, MA. It makes me wonder if the "social security" that residents are afforded due to the oil money is the primary driver of low crime rates. It was definitely better than I was expecting given that we were in the middle east just a boat ride away from Iran. The part that took me back a little was the reaction of fellow students being in Dubai. Many felt very insecure about being in a Muslum country and seeing people everywhere who have been vilified here in the US. I just had a hard time relating...maybe I don't watch TV enough!

Final Night in India!

Here's a group shot from our final night in India ;( We spent the evening with Mona Pande on the rooftop of his building. It could not have been a better finally to our time in India. We got the chance to discuss life in India after Babson with a few Babson graduates. Looking back on the trip I felt that we kind of took for granted the true hospitality and generosity that the people we had met offered to our group. No matter who we met we were always treated like honored guests. I don't think we ever went more than a hour or two without getting tea and some sort of food....which didn't help my cause to lose some weight. Overall I left the country with a feeling that I had more in common with the people than not. I just might even be able to live here for some period of my life. Who knows where life will bring me!

Britian...or India

You can really see the British influence in Mumbai. Many of the buildings are in the style of Queen Anne. The buildings definitely standout on the street and give the city a kind of majestic feel. This picture was taken from the entrance to the Economic Times of India. I believe the building is the train station. This one one aspect of the British rule that seems to have had a positive impact on the city.

School Visit

As part of our trip to Reliance (Patalganga Plant) we had the opportunity to visit a school that is subsidized by Reliance. The group that greeted us were the top performers in their class. They are pictured above with some of the Babson students. This would be considered one of the best primary schools in India and the children where very proud to have us visit there school. It's kind of funny to think how much the world they are growing up in is so much different than their parents and how much it will change by the time the children grow up.

Face of India's Youth

This girl captured my eye while wandering on the Chowpatty beach. It was really interesting to see the differences in beauty and vanity between the US and India. The color palette is much broader in India and you would not typically see a young girl in the US wearing such bold primary colors. I thought it was particularly interesting how much jewelery she had on. It looks like her ears are pierced several times each and jewelery is hanging all over her face. It does look beautiful on her....would I think the same if a girl in the US had the same jewelry on her?

Kite Flying

During the latter part of our day Dave and I spent several hours wandering Chowpatty beach during a festival of kites. There were thousands of people at the beach flying small kites trying to cut each others kites with the string of theirs. We learned that this was part of a traditional celebration for the coming of summer when the winds pick up. We really enjoyed the family atmosphere and smiling faces everywhere.

It was hard to take picture though. As soon as you lifted your camera people would come from everywhere to get their picture taken and would not relent until one was snapped. Despite the constant tugging on our arms and hoots from kids wanting pictures it was a great way to see how families enjoy themselves together.

Cricket

On Sunday morning we started wandering around Mumbai and ran across a huge field with multiple cricket games going on. The fog still hadn't completely burned off and made for a great scene. It reminded me of the ball field down the street where I grew up except we would play baseball instead of cricket. Looking through the gate onto the field game me the sense that although the US and India seem worlds apart when you get down the the basics of what makes us happy we are not very different at all.

Rajasthani Festival

After visiting Famous studios we lucky enough to be invited to a festival. I really enjoyed this. It gave us a chance to mingle with family's enjoying a night out in the city. The food was amazing. I really enjoyed being able to try many different food for very little money. A couple of us did eat some food that was prepared with uncooked water...which was a little risky, but you only live once right?

It's Dirty

This is pretty typical of India's city areas. It's a bit hard to get used to at first because there seems to be trash everywhere. It's so different than most of the western world where littering is socially unacceptable. It will be interesting to see how this changes over the next 10-20 years.

Hole in the Wall

Hole in the wall is a non-profit organization that provides computer access and learning tools to underprivileged children. When we got to the computers there were at least 25 kids huddled around the computers taking turns playing learning games. All of the kids were so excited to have us there and were eager to pose for pictures with...or without us! It was really great to see this kind of work going on in such a depressed area. I wish we could have done more than just watch. You could see how much social value the Hole in the Wall organization was creating for the community.

Autorickshaw Ride

Your trip to India is not complete without a ride in an autorickshaw. We squeezed four of us into one of this one (Amar taking photo). I wouldn't recommend four people for rides longer than 30 minutes unless you like having another guy sitting on your lap and having you leg go numb. Just another of many unforgettable experiences...

House of Pearl

On the Evening of the 10th we were invited to the home of Mr. Deepak Seth's the Chairman of House of Pearl Fashions. It was an amazing night that started with music and entertainment and ended with a fabulous buffet dinner outside around a bonfire. Mingling with some of the employees and students of the fashion school in an informal setting was a great way to get a different perspective on doing business in India. Sometimes the powerpoint presentations all start to blur together, just a generic representation of the company. I have always found that after hours and a few drinks is when you can learn the most about the informal norms of doing business in whatever country your in.

The Taj Mahal

One of the most powerful sights in India was the Taj Mahal. The bus ride was nearly fours long, but well worth the it. The monument leaves you torn between the sheer beauty of the structure and the fact that so much money and effort was taken to build the Taj Mahal when the people seem to have so little.

Me!

This is one of the few pictures of me I have with me in it. I figured I should post at least one...to prove that I was in fact in India!

Monkeys!!!

For an American, monkey's are animals you read about in children books and see at zoos. In India you get to see them on roof tops and rummaging through trash. Who doesn't like a cute monkey!

People, bikes, motorcycles, oh my!

Here's a typical street scene outside of Delhi. This would be very light traffic.

Walking

One of my favorite things to do was to just people watch out the bus window. It's hard to imagine what the life is really like. It's easy to gaze from the bus....

Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Day two brought us up close and personal with Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Deputy Chairman). This was especially interesting because it gave us some insight into how the government thinks about India, it's people and future. This would help give some insight into the politics of India and how they might play out for business in India. It's also kind of comical to me that our meeting with Mr. Ahluwalia was with a much higher governmental position than I have ever met in the US. The major dichotomy here was how does the government do what is right in spite of the political pressures to do the opposite.
This was the first time it struck me that the servers (tea & cookies) were very obtrusive to the meeting. They even interrupted the Chairman when he was speaking to ask if he wanted a tea. It didn't appear they were doing so on purpose, it seemed to be culturally acceptable.

Qutab Minar

On day one, Dave, Stan and myself ventured out into Dehli to get a jump-start on the trip. Our first visit was the Qutab Minar. It cost us 250 rupees to enter as foreigners....for Indians....5 rupees. Was taken back by the difference in price at first, but realized it made these historical places accessible to almost all Indians. It was a great place to relax and wind down after the long flight. The picture above is a shot down a hall by the "iron rod." oddly enough we got our picture taken with several students that asked for our picture. We thought it a bit weird at first but the people where extremely nice and there seemed to be no other motive other than sincere interest in getting photographed with foreign visitors.