A fountain at the dam in Bangalore.Thursday, January 15, 2009
And we're back...
Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip. I had a great time, but I'm happy to be home.
A fountain at the dam in Bangalore.
A fountain at the dam in Bangalore.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Compare & Contrast ?!?
Today we began our day at FIIB as usual. We were supposed to have a lecture from one of their professors about the Indian consumer, but it was rescheduled until tomorrow. So instead we went over the results of a survey we had taken the day before. We took it and so did the FIIB students. Theirs sad list 3 positive things about America/Americans, and 3 negative things. Ours said list 3 positive things about India/Indians, and 3 negative things.
To recap that quickly...the Indian students all had very similar communal views. The most common themes were Americans are friendly, informal, and hard working. They were really unable to say negative things. Most of them left that part blank, and if they answered it what they put was not necessarily negative. The resounding theme was that they hoped our recession was over soon.
In contrast to this, we answered the survey fully and completely with a very diverse individualistic set of responses. Our positives includeded culture, service orientation, helpfulness, hospitaility, friendliness, history, friendly towards the US, enthusiastic about the future, technology, and government representation of diverse ethnic groups. Our negatives inclulded trash, loss of culture due to westernization, corruption, traffic, lack of development in rural areas, disrepair of world heritage sites, lack of infrastructure, pollution, and lack of policy implementation.
After the discussion we left FIIB to shop and do more market research. First we went to Chandni Chowk. It is over 300 years old, and one of the oldest markets in India. If you watched the Amazing Race and saw the part where they had to count the tags on power lines, that's where we were. It was a series of winding hole in the wall shops with nearly in and everything you can think of. It was by far the most overwhelming experience I've had since we've been here. Apparently some of the shops are very expensive and people shop there for wedding sarees. I found the experience to be so awful I couldn't even really go in any shops. Like stores seemed to be grouped together oddly enough. As we were walking down a row with mostly jewelry the entire right hand side lost power. Business men pulled out their generators like it was no big deal, hooked them up in the streets and went on about their day. We were in a huge group which made it even harder to navigate. We were also on a really tight time restriction to meet back with the bus which made it even more stressful. As what seems to be the norm the FIIB students were not terribly communicative and didn't really help or lead us in any direction. Most of them had never been there before either so it probably was not their fault. We stopped briefly at Haldiram's for a snack and then headed off by bus to the Saket mall.
The Saket mall was probably the polar opposite of Chandni Chowk. If they wanted a comparison between two very different things, these were the correct options. The Saket mall has several malls connected. It is one of the newest malls in Delhi and it is absolutely beautiful. Most of the stores in the mall are western - American or UK stores. They were all pretty high end. They had nine west, Ed Hardy, and MAC to name just a few. There were also some high end saree stores and restaraunts. We were there for a really long time. Some other students wanted to see a movie in the "golden ticket" area. Apparently you get to sit in a lazy boy recliner and they wait on you better than first class on an airplane. They really enjoyed the experience but I was tired of being at the mall.
We shopped quite a bit. I bought mostly gifts. I haven't felt like an American asshole until today. A few people bought quite a bit of stuff and the FIIB students were calling us rich and talking about how they couldn't afford anything in the mall. None of them have ever been to a golden ticket movie. (The golden tickets were almost 600 rupees - around $12). FIIB is not an inexpensive school. Vikas said that their families have to be fairly well off for them to be able to attend school there in the first place. That really doesn't help me feel better about the situation.
To recap that quickly...the Indian students all had very similar communal views. The most common themes were Americans are friendly, informal, and hard working. They were really unable to say negative things. Most of them left that part blank, and if they answered it what they put was not necessarily negative. The resounding theme was that they hoped our recession was over soon.
In contrast to this, we answered the survey fully and completely with a very diverse individualistic set of responses. Our positives includeded culture, service orientation, helpfulness, hospitaility, friendliness, history, friendly towards the US, enthusiastic about the future, technology, and government representation of diverse ethnic groups. Our negatives inclulded trash, loss of culture due to westernization, corruption, traffic, lack of development in rural areas, disrepair of world heritage sites, lack of infrastructure, pollution, and lack of policy implementation.
After the discussion we left FIIB to shop and do more market research. First we went to Chandni Chowk. It is over 300 years old, and one of the oldest markets in India. If you watched the Amazing Race and saw the part where they had to count the tags on power lines, that's where we were. It was a series of winding hole in the wall shops with nearly in and everything you can think of. It was by far the most overwhelming experience I've had since we've been here. Apparently some of the shops are very expensive and people shop there for wedding sarees. I found the experience to be so awful I couldn't even really go in any shops. Like stores seemed to be grouped together oddly enough. As we were walking down a row with mostly jewelry the entire right hand side lost power. Business men pulled out their generators like it was no big deal, hooked them up in the streets and went on about their day. We were in a huge group which made it even harder to navigate. We were also on a really tight time restriction to meet back with the bus which made it even more stressful. As what seems to be the norm the FIIB students were not terribly communicative and didn't really help or lead us in any direction. Most of them had never been there before either so it probably was not their fault. We stopped briefly at Haldiram's for a snack and then headed off by bus to the Saket mall.
The Saket mall was probably the polar opposite of Chandni Chowk. If they wanted a comparison between two very different things, these were the correct options. The Saket mall has several malls connected. It is one of the newest malls in Delhi and it is absolutely beautiful. Most of the stores in the mall are western - American or UK stores. They were all pretty high end. They had nine west, Ed Hardy, and MAC to name just a few. There were also some high end saree stores and restaraunts. We were there for a really long time. Some other students wanted to see a movie in the "golden ticket" area. Apparently you get to sit in a lazy boy recliner and they wait on you better than first class on an airplane. They really enjoyed the experience but I was tired of being at the mall.
We shopped quite a bit. I bought mostly gifts. I haven't felt like an American asshole until today. A few people bought quite a bit of stuff and the FIIB students were calling us rich and talking about how they couldn't afford anything in the mall. None of them have ever been to a golden ticket movie. (The golden tickets were almost 600 rupees - around $12). FIIB is not an inexpensive school. Vikas said that their families have to be fairly well off for them to be able to attend school there in the first place. That really doesn't help me feel better about the situation.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Taj Mahal
Does anyone else think this picture looks fake? It's really just the fog. The pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped because the fog was so awful. Either way it's one of the 7 wonders of the world.
The Amazing Race
Today we had a competition race around Delhi, it was a WCOB style amazing race. The FIIB students took us from place to place. A fortunate turn of events considering none of us know anything about Delhi not to mention the language.
Before the race we had a guest speaker at FIIB. He is a friend of Vikas and is a real estate developer. He had some interesting things to say. For example, in India transactions are done in two different markets, black and white. So if you were going to buy land, and the cost was 100 rupees, 50 rupees would be reported (white) and 50 wouldn't. The entire black balance is paid up front, the white portion you can finance up to 80%. So essentially on 100 rupees you have to put down 60 rupees. You then owe 40 in the legitimate market. Isn't that wild? He also said his business is down 60% because of the global financial meltdown.
We left FIIB around 11 to begin the race. Our team was Melissa, Jonathan, and myself from WCOB with Swati and Pavesh from FIIB. Each team was responsible for their own transportion. We all went to most of the same places (some different) but we all took different routes. There were four groups. Our group was on track A.
We left FIIB and went by auto rickshaw to the rail museum. We were to take pictures with 3 different trains and show our entry ticket as proof we had been there when we returned. After this we traveled by autorickshaw to the subway station. We rode a couple of stops on the subway and then got out at Karol Bagh to go to Roopak Spices. This is one of the best spice shops in India. We were to make a small purchase and take a group photo in front of the store. After we finished at the spice shop we got back on the metro and headed to Connaught Place to Wengers Pastry Shop. The metro stop was right in front of Wengers. We saw another group there, but decided to grab lunch anyway. We were supposed to make a purchase and take a group photo here. I got a garlic and cheese flatbread and a "lemon ice tea" (it was lemonade all day long). I shoved the last bit of my sandwich in my mouth as we were getting back on the metro to go to our next stop (no food or pictures allowed on the metro). Our next stop was the Delhi Raillway Station. Apparently we were supposed to purchase platform tickets to enter, but we didn't and no one asked for them. Our FIIB students didn't seem to be concerned, but our teachers were upon our return. oops. The railway station was incredibly crowded. It was made of metal and quite honestly the closest thing I've ever seen to it in the US is a livestock auction. So many people, small spaces, it was an experience to say the least. After taking pictures at the railway station we got back on the metro again and headed toward the secretariat area of town. This is where our next stop, India Gate is. We took an auto rickshaw to India Gate, took a picture and then took a rickshaw to Haldiram's. Haldiram's is the closest thing to fast food you'll see in India. It was incredibly crowded. We ordered food, snapped some pictures, and because there was nowhere else shared a table with two older Indian ladies that were terribly concerned with mine and Melissa's tolerance for spicy foods. We finished up our food and got in an autorickshaw and headed back to the IDSA apartments. We were the 2nd team to arrive. It was somewhat disappointing but there are so many variables out of our control, I thought 2nd place was just fine.
Yesterday was also very interesting. We started out the day with a lecture from a venture capitalist about American, Indian, and Chinese economic conditions. He mostly invests in Telecom and we had a lengthy discussion about that. After this we broke up into groups and went to separate markets to begin our market research. Melissa, Jonathan, and I were in a group from WCOB. Our FIIB students were Tarun, Swati, and Pavesh. We were to interview 5 or 6 shopkeepers and 6 or 7 consumers. We tried to get a wide range of demographics (ages, incomes, etc.). Everyone had interesting things to say, but nothing we heard was terribly shocking or very different from what we expected. After we returned from our market projects we went to a nearby shopping complex to get some groceries and have dinner. I paid 225 rupees for a small bag of doritos. My entire bill was 331 rupees. I also got 2 bottles of water, 2 juice boxes and some toothpaste. I made the mistake of going to the grocery store hungry, and just couldn't put the doritos down though I knew it was a ridiculous purchase. (I polished the bag of handily this afternoon and enjoyed every minute of it). We went to Punjabi by Nature for dinner. It was good Indian food. Nothing great, but we had a good time.
Before the race we had a guest speaker at FIIB. He is a friend of Vikas and is a real estate developer. He had some interesting things to say. For example, in India transactions are done in two different markets, black and white. So if you were going to buy land, and the cost was 100 rupees, 50 rupees would be reported (white) and 50 wouldn't. The entire black balance is paid up front, the white portion you can finance up to 80%. So essentially on 100 rupees you have to put down 60 rupees. You then owe 40 in the legitimate market. Isn't that wild? He also said his business is down 60% because of the global financial meltdown.
We left FIIB around 11 to begin the race. Our team was Melissa, Jonathan, and myself from WCOB with Swati and Pavesh from FIIB. Each team was responsible for their own transportion. We all went to most of the same places (some different) but we all took different routes. There were four groups. Our group was on track A.
We left FIIB and went by auto rickshaw to the rail museum. We were to take pictures with 3 different trains and show our entry ticket as proof we had been there when we returned. After this we traveled by autorickshaw to the subway station. We rode a couple of stops on the subway and then got out at Karol Bagh to go to Roopak Spices. This is one of the best spice shops in India. We were to make a small purchase and take a group photo in front of the store. After we finished at the spice shop we got back on the metro and headed to Connaught Place to Wengers Pastry Shop. The metro stop was right in front of Wengers. We saw another group there, but decided to grab lunch anyway. We were supposed to make a purchase and take a group photo here. I got a garlic and cheese flatbread and a "lemon ice tea" (it was lemonade all day long). I shoved the last bit of my sandwich in my mouth as we were getting back on the metro to go to our next stop (no food or pictures allowed on the metro). Our next stop was the Delhi Raillway Station. Apparently we were supposed to purchase platform tickets to enter, but we didn't and no one asked for them. Our FIIB students didn't seem to be concerned, but our teachers were upon our return. oops. The railway station was incredibly crowded. It was made of metal and quite honestly the closest thing I've ever seen to it in the US is a livestock auction. So many people, small spaces, it was an experience to say the least. After taking pictures at the railway station we got back on the metro again and headed toward the secretariat area of town. This is where our next stop, India Gate is. We took an auto rickshaw to India Gate, took a picture and then took a rickshaw to Haldiram's. Haldiram's is the closest thing to fast food you'll see in India. It was incredibly crowded. We ordered food, snapped some pictures, and because there was nowhere else shared a table with two older Indian ladies that were terribly concerned with mine and Melissa's tolerance for spicy foods. We finished up our food and got in an autorickshaw and headed back to the IDSA apartments. We were the 2nd team to arrive. It was somewhat disappointing but there are so many variables out of our control, I thought 2nd place was just fine.
Yesterday was also very interesting. We started out the day with a lecture from a venture capitalist about American, Indian, and Chinese economic conditions. He mostly invests in Telecom and we had a lengthy discussion about that. After this we broke up into groups and went to separate markets to begin our market research. Melissa, Jonathan, and I were in a group from WCOB. Our FIIB students were Tarun, Swati, and Pavesh. We were to interview 5 or 6 shopkeepers and 6 or 7 consumers. We tried to get a wide range of demographics (ages, incomes, etc.). Everyone had interesting things to say, but nothing we heard was terribly shocking or very different from what we expected. After we returned from our market projects we went to a nearby shopping complex to get some groceries and have dinner. I paid 225 rupees for a small bag of doritos. My entire bill was 331 rupees. I also got 2 bottles of water, 2 juice boxes and some toothpaste. I made the mistake of going to the grocery store hungry, and just couldn't put the doritos down though I knew it was a ridiculous purchase. (I polished the bag of handily this afternoon and enjoyed every minute of it). We went to Punjabi by Nature for dinner. It was good Indian food. Nothing great, but we had a good time.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Catching up...again.
We were without internet for a few days. We went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on New Year's Eve. It was great althought it was foggy, so the pictures aren't as good as I had hoped. Then we went to the Agra fort and then some old city. We've seen a bunch of old stuff lately. Then we traveled to Jaipur. We celebrated New Year's Eve at the holiday inn in Jaipur. They had fireworks, and it was really cool! In Jaipur we went to the Amber Fort and we got to ride elephants up the mountain to see it! The ride was bumpy, but it was worth it. By the time we got to Sariska palace (the tiger sanctuary) I was sick. I had a fever and upset stomach and I spent pretty much the entire time we were there in bed. We came back to Delhi yesterday (the ride was rough) but I felt better. This morning I feel a lot better, which is good because we are beginning our market projects today with the FIIB students. I will try to get some pictures up later tonight!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
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