Sunday, March 27
Namaste!
After one 9 hour flight and one 7 hour flight, we made it to Delhi around 4am Sunday, Indian time (of course I slept the majority to both of those). So much has already happened so let me fill you in!
We took our bus through the streets of Delhi on our way to the university and it was nearly overwhelming to take it all in. What immediately stood out to me was the variation of life coexisting in a complex and busy cluster. Slums aside large beautiful homes is a picture of the diversity that exists throughout India. We saw dogs, cats, cows, pigs, and monkeys walk the streets freely and it was explained that Indian culture is one of tolerance and acceptance of all life and beliefs.
We arrived at EMPI Business School and were greeted with flowed garlands from Dr. Gupta’s father who is a Delhi local. We walked over to our first session in the International India Innovations Program put on by the university and met up with a group of students from EAFIT University in Colombia. As we walked in, students welcomed us with flower garlands and put a ‘dikka’ on our forehead. The dikka is a red line down the center of your forehead that signifies the center of energy of the body.
The Vice President of the University welcomed us and began discussion on Indian innovation. We learned how India has leapfrogged from an agriculture economy to a service economy and skipped manufacturing. The Indian people exercise a lot of improvisation to accommodate the lack of resources. They call it “jugar.”
Dr. Kuldeep Mathur began his session on Indian governance. He explained how governing India is about managing contradictions (like the rich/poor gap I mentioned). The 22 official languages, 60% literacy, wide religious diversity, and still-existing caste systems create challenges for governing. We learned about India’s federal system and how India has stopped most of its central planning efforts.
We then took a tour of New and Old Delhi :)
We first visited the Lotus Temple which is a non-denominational place of meditation and reflection.
We had to take our shoes off before going in and it was fun running to patches of shade because the ground was so hot!
On the way in a lady stamped me with a henna stamp that is still on my arm…
After that we went to the Red Fort that was the home of the Indian Emperor.
What I found interesting was how many people stare and take pictures of us. One man had me hold his baby for a picture. I guess there aren’t too many blonde people around!
For dinner and a little shopping, we went to a street market.
The food was amazing (and cheap)!
Exhausted from the plane ride and the day, we went back to the University and crashed :)
Monday, March 28
In the morning, the students gave us a “cultural makeover” and adorned us with bindis, dupattas, and mehndi.
We went to a session by Professor JM Pant on the Meaning of Innovation. He had us complete a ball exercise where we learned how to innovate quicker ways of completing the cycle. He explained that was an example of incremental innovation where one develops better and better solutions while destructive innovation changes how an entire process is done, like email or Facebook. We discussed the pros and cons of each and how each is important for progression.
We then visited the central office of C-DOT (Center for Development of Telematics). They were originally a government entity but have since been privatized and are responsible for most of the development in telecommunications in India. They have innovated numerous solutions that accommodate Indian conditions like hardware that does not require AC. We then took a tour of their facilities.
We then visited the Qulb Minar that is the largest brick tower in the world.
That evening, we attended a beautiful banquet hosted by the University’s students and President. Dr. Lin put me on the spot and made me say a few words... The students performed several dance routines and pulled us all up to dance. We danced for a long time to both Indian and American music.
Here is Dr. Lin breaking it down.
We went to bed semi-early because we had to get up at 3am to catch out flight to Jaipur. I will be sure to write on how that goes!
Namaste :)
