Women’s Trousers, Waterslides and Work: Week Two at EDI!
Less than a week in, we were already pretty bored of dhal and rice for dinner every day, so on Friday evening we decided to take a trip out to a nicer restaurant. After successfully crossing a six-lane highway “Frogger”-style, all nine of us piled into what can only be loosely defined as a nine-seater taxi. We told him our destination, 23km away, and off we went. However, after 20 minutes of driving, we didn’t seem like we were any closer, so we decided to just get dropped off opposite a Pizza Hut. While our dreams of a lovely restaurant were gone, the cheap and plentiful pizza was a nice break from the usual curry we got at the EDI campus. Thanks to Rocky, we managed to negotiate a decent price for some rickshaws (tuktuks) to take us back, and we got a true taste of Indian driving (though we’re pretty sure we still got ripped off…)!
On Saturday we went to a local market, Law Garden, to explore and do some shopping. Negotiating with the locals was quite fun. That is, until Sachin and I found that the scarves/wall-hangs we got for Rs. 750 each after considerable bargaining… were hugely overpriced – Panos got the same one for Rs. 300!! After settling down for some authentic (& cheap) street food, we made our way back to EDI, this time a little more experienced in the art of tuktuk negotiating. On Sunday, we visited a round of temples and a stepwell. One of them, Aksherdam Temple, seemed extremely holy as they didn’t allow cameras or phones in there, nor did they allow Sachin and I as we were wearing shorts. This meant that we had to buy some women’s trousers, much to the amusement of literally every single person in the temple… though in all honesty, the trousers were pretty cool. So, we queued up, expecting to see some super holy temple, and as soon as we get in, we see a huge waterslide! Then, bumper cars, a roller-coaster… it was basically a fair! The temple itself was beautiful and it was such a shame that they didn’t allow us to take pictures. We then saw a gorgeous “water show,” which was basically a combination of lasers and projections on fountain streams. The show told us the story of the guru who set up the temple, but of course we understood none of it, so it was down to Rocky to translate for us. On the way back, we finally got our wish and ate at a quite upmarket restaurant…with Sachin and I still donning our women’s trousers, naturally.
To say the first week in India was full of confusion would be an understatement. The second week has been a little more clarifying – the group as a whole is now more aware of what is expected of us in terms of work. George and I spent a night in a nearby city, Baroda, visiting the local foundry cluster and interviewing the managers and CEOs, in order to finalise our research topic. It was a very fulfilling experience; I think both of us truly enjoyed the opportunity to connect & interact with the owners. A 1st year student at EDI that we met playing football, Abhisheik, joined us on the trip as he was from Baroda. He showed us around the city, and we ate at his family’s restaurant which served authentic Gujarati food. We took a public bus with no air conditioning back, just so we could experience the Indian way a little better, but if it wasn’t for Abhisheik, we might’ve never made it back to Ahmedabad!
The second week has been fun. I think we’re now a little more settled in, largely thanks to the hospitality of the locals around us. We’re going north to Udaipur, Rajasthan for the weekend, and then George and I will be spending 10 days in Baroda to do some real research… exciting times!
Ahmedabad, India: An Introduction to a New Place
Spirituality has to be one of the biggest and most influential aspects of life here in Gujarat…that is, besides diarrhea, crazy driving, and early morning peacock squawks. It’s been almost two weeks since we have arrived in Ahmedabad, but my perspectives have already shifted so much. While I have enjoyed every moment in India so far, it is by no means a vacation. We live life according to the ‘3 Cs’: Confusion, Curry, and Camaraderie.
Confusion. A week in to the internship, I still could not give a complete answer to what I was supposed to be working on. My partner, Tony, and I are constantly met by contradicting statements from two supervisors who I can’t confidently say know our names. Even with a ‘two step forward, one step back’ approach, I think we are finally making progress. We are working with the Industrial Forging & Casting Cluster of Baroda, about a two hour drive from EDI’s campus. After interviewing managers of four units within the cluster, Tony and I seek to tackle the issues of Accessing Finance, and Employment within the cluster for our research topic. Despite our recent progress, however, I have come to realize that most things here are completely left to chance. Take this example: Had Tony and I not played soccer every night, we would not have met Abhishek, who would not have told us he lived in Baroda, so he wouldn’t have joined us for our trip, which would’ve left us without an interpreter, rendering us utterly incapable of getting back to EDI’s campus. Thank goodness for soccer! Over the next two weeks, Tony and I will be venturing back to Baroda to conduct more intensive research. This time, without Abhishek. We are up for the challenge!
Curry. The occasional western meal has broken up an otherwise 40 consecutive curry dishes. While it sometimes can be a bit repetitive and induce questionable stomach interactions, the food has been delicious. As a vegetarian back home, the state of Gujarat is, for the most part, 100% vegetarian—heaven for me! While hard to distinguish between dinner and breakfast at times, the variety, and spice is wildly different to any western cuisine. Having a nut allergy has required me to be a bit more focused while eating meals, but with one painful exception, I have been safe and successful. EDI provides us with three meals a day, but that has not stopped us from venturing outside of the campus to find local authentic eats at the various sites in the city. With four weeks of curry left, I definitely won’t go hungry, but a slice of pizza wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Camaraderie. This is a great group of nine extremely diverse gentlemen. We are comprised of students from USA, UK, Malaysia, Gibraltar, Bulgaria, and Sweden. We had absolutely no issues immediately immersing ourselves in friendship with open minds and positive attitudes. Though we stay within the confines of EDI for the work week, on the weekends we’ve traveled as a group to the Arkshardem and Adalaj Temples, the home of Mahatma Gandhi, a Mall, the Law Garden Market & Park. Tomorrow, we plan to leave Gujarat for the first time, and travel to the state of Rajistan to visit Udaipur. I greatly look forward to this trip, as it will be a nice group sendoff before we spend our respective times in different areas researching different clusters for the next two weeks. Other than our group of nine international students, there are hundreds of local Indian students studying for the post graduate degrees at EDI. Slowly we are familiarizing ourselves to the point where we can not only actually remember the names of the local students, but consider them friends as well.
No one expected this internship to be peaches and cream, but our positivity and adaptability has led us to enjoy every aspect of this adventure so far. If the next four weeks are half as interesting as the first two, then we’re bound to have an amazing time.
Boston University Questrom School of Business
Study Abroad
Study Abroad
Rafik B. Hariri Building
595 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 104
Boston, MA 02215