Week One at the Bharti Foundation

When we landed we were pleasantly surprised with the organization of Delhi airport. It was super easy to navigate around and we were picked up with no problems at all by the driver from the guesthouse. The roads in Delhi are chaotic to say the least-cows, dogs, people, rickshaws, motorcycles, lorries, funnily enough even cars, were squeezing themselves into any available space on the “road”. The people at the guesthouse are so hospitable and friendly and there is a wide variety of food choices- no Delhi belly yet!

The second day we decided to visit Ambience Mall due to Annie’s lack of everything (Air China lost her bag). We hailed a rickshaw which was an experience in itself. This is the first time we realized how foreigners get ripped off- make sure you agree the price before you get in the rickshaw! Security is very strict at the mall, there are metal detectors and men with intimidating rubber gloves… every brand name you could find in the UK and USA was there.

First day of work: Our office is at the headquarters of Airtel and it’s been considered one of the best places to work in Delhi. We would all agree- it’s very modern, well air-conned and has unlimited free tea, coffee and biscuits. The people here are so friendly and helpful and very keen to give us advice on the do’s and don’ts of Delhi. It’s a very chilled and stress free environment, whenever a meeting takes place, phones are always going off which helped to relax us when we gave our initial presentation.

The cafeteria is amazing, it has a huge variety of food, from Subway to an Indian buffet to a Costa Coffee-we are spoilt for choice. People come and go as they please to the office, mainly to avoid rush hour which we love because it means a lie in! This week we got our first taste of monsoon season which is great for bringing the temperature down however not so great if you get caught out in it…don’t think even an umbrella would have saved us.

We ventured out to CyberHub which is this huge fancy outdoor place with loads of bars and restaurants ranging from Nandos and Dunkin Donuts to Indian food- we went for Hard Rock Café to to mix it up a bit from the usual curry. Looking forward to getting out to explore Delhi this weekend.

-Annie