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.