Stress-Free Blog and Follow up

We're done writing our papers, which takes a lot of stress away, hence the title for this: the stress free blog. India was a stranger before I met it, and now that we've met, it's definitely a place I would like to get to know better. I was ready to leave when we did, and I felt so at home for the next two weeks following the trip, and then a sudden homesickness dawned on me and I realized how much I missed the country. Its culture was so rich that there were so many more things to explore, and I barely got to make some friends who were locals. The only e-mails I exchanged were with my eyebrow threading artist and my sari fitting expert. Therefore, I'm still curious about what I'm missing out on and I'm hoping to go back, potentially teach abroad there for a year or two. Maybe I will be able to see it from a completely different perspective since if I do go on that program, I'll be more independent and be able to experience things somewhat similar to what a local would experience.

Train to India from a Different Angle

Many people have focused on how corruption played a major role in our train ride. Unfortunately, and fortunately, I did not get to witness the scene. Just a couple of cars down, I witnessed something completely different. Because the train was packed, there weren't any available seats, so we ended up standing for a bit. What amazed me were the following actions. First, the conductor felt bad and he personally tried to create a seat for us in the aisle by putting some newspapers on top of a crate. Then, a mother got up and offered her seat so that we could at least eat. Suddenly, it was as if the second world of India was in this car as compared to the one where our tour guide was being harrassed. Many men and women either tried to make space or offered their seats to us and this amazed me since it's a rare event in the states. After some polite declines since it was, after all, their seats, a man said to me "We're men, and it doesn't look good if a woman is standing while we're sitting, so please sit." I finally sat, and rested my head for the last half of the trip. During this time, I was still very sick and had a terrible sore throat so I didn't get a chance to talk much, but I know my classmates had a wonderful experience meeting and getting to know their friendly train neighbors. It's just interesting that the concept of two Indias can fall into so many different contexts, and one such example was our train experience.

Reflection

It is quiet at my desk. The India trip is last month's news, our research papers are handed in, and the class is just waiting to see the fruits of our research and field work manifest into that 'A'.

Before this trip, I was really not sure of what to expect from an MBA level course with a travel component. I knew that the course was designed to meet the elective requirements of a few different concentration areas at Rutgers Business School: Marketing, Supply Chain, and Global Business -- but unlike other courses there weren't traditional metrics to help me judge how I was doing and if I was learning what I needed to be learning.

But a few things helped to eleviate this predicament. There was reading to be done, news to catch up with, and we had to also research the companies we were going to see. During the course of the trip, being in a small, close knit group helped because we were able to bounce ideas off of each other and learn from other people's questions. Pictures, videos and diligent note taking also helped to keep us in check and to remind us of what we saw as we traveled. (Note: for anyone traveling through school, I highly recommend investing in a recorder, or an app on the iPhone. It is worth it when you are trying to remember details from the various meetings and encounters and also much easier to take voice notes than to write out your thoughts.)

When we got back from India, our class reflected on what we saw and how we viewed India. At a few points during our presentations, it was hard to believe we were all on the same trip: everyone had something new to add to the discussion and had viewed India in a completely different light. This was definitely the benefit of a travel based course such as this. We were not bound to text-book learning and could focus our learning on what interested us. I was happy to be able to apply concepts from other classes to what I saw in India. Other students choose to focus on ideas related to their profession.

My suggestion for anyone taking this course, or one similar to this, is to make sure to spend a lot of time reading and preparing for what you will see. But when you are there, just look out the window and take it all in. Try to have a few ideas in mind before you go, as to what lens you may want to see the country in. I knew before the trip that I wanted to look into innovation, science, and entrepreneurship. While I may not have seen all of what I expected to see, having an small idea helped to focus my thoughts during the trip.

India's Infrastructure Drive Must Steer Around Potholes- WSJ

Upgrading infrastructure has fueled rapid economic growth in the world's most populous country, China. Hope is springing once again that the second-most-populous one, India, might follow the same path. To avoid disenchantment, India will need to work extra hard to get support from investors at home and abroad, and to deliver on past promises.

China, with its sprawling networks of new highways, airports and budding high-speed rail connections, makes for a daunting comparison. India has weaker government finances and an unruly democratic government that lacks China's authoritarian discipline. Clearing land for roads or power plants in China is a cinch; not so in India, where land rights are often hugely contentious. Government-backed companies have led China's infrastructure build-out. India's push will depend heavily on the private sector. And India, with its history of murky and investor-unfriendly rules on infrastructure investment, has a record of disappointment.

Geithner Has His Work Cut Out for Him in India

NEW DELHI, INDIA — Timothy F. Geithner, the U.S. Treasury secretary, lands in New Delhi on Tuesday for a two-day trip to inaugurate a new economic and financial partnership between the world’s largest and oldest democracies. It is a return of sorts for Mr. Geithner, who lived for five years in New Delhi as a child.

Mr. Geithner has his work cut out for him, economists and policy analysts in both India and the United States say. Hammering out economic agreements between the two countries has traditionally been an arduous task.

“On principle, they both agree on everything,” said Jahangir Aziz, chief India economist at J.P.Morgan in Mumbai. “It always comes down to the nitty-gritty and that’s where things get stuck. Part of the problem is neither of them wants to give the other side an inch.”

It took nearly 20 years for the United States to lift a ban on imports of Indian mangoes, for example, and a deal to allow energy-strapped India access to U.S. nuclear technology, agreed in principal four years ago, still has not cleared all the legal hurdles that would let American companies sign contracts to do business here. (French and Russian companies, by contrast, have signed contracts and are expected to begin work soon.)

Continue reading @ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/business/global/06geithner.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world

60,000 use new Metro line- Hindustan Times

60,000 use new Metro line- Hindustan Times