Hello,
The last couple of days were spent at the beautiful Infosys campus in Mysore. This tech company gave Bangalore the nickname the “Silicon Valley of India”. The campus was incredible, the front building looked like the capitol building with a wide array of different architectural influences. All of the buildings spelt out I-N-F-O-S-Y-S from an aerial view, which was pretty impressive. We met with kids who were in 9th and 10th grade and were participants in a program called Bala Janaagraha, an organization that promotes civil service and social change through working with young teens. We spent this day (the 4th of July) talking in our groups, a combination of Americans and Indians, about democracy, and then we moved on to our central theme of water. We all collaborated on two case studies, comparing and contrasting, while trying to find innovative solutions that encompassed all the stakeholders involved in the issue at hand. The program was great because it allowed us to interact with students from India. The following day, Saturday, was spent being typical tourists. First, we started off at the Tipu Sultan’s tea house, where he entertained guests. We spent some time looking around the grounds, and when we entered inside, we were all a bit surprised that when the security beeper beeped continuously, no action was taken- oh Indian Security! Then we drove to the top of a huge hill to get panoramic views of Mysore, and visit a temple at the top. However, the line was too long to actually tour the inside because this temple was rated one of the eight most sacred spots in South India. This ended up being a brief trip to admire the outside. We were bombarded with people selling odd bits and bobs, and we definitely stand out- especially because not a lot of locals wear sunglasses, and we are all slightly obsessed with ours! Afterwards, we had lunch at a crowded Indian restaurant (surprise!!), and although we were scattered throughout the restaurant, it was delicious, and many of the group were pleased to have ice cream as dessert after one too many Gulab Jamun… Then we were off to Mysore Palace to see where the royal family still lives. Half of the palace is open to guests and the other half is still their home. It was stunning and incredibly ornate in every corner of every room. Gold, turquoise, and exquisite gifts were showered through the palace. We had a very enthusiastic tour guide, who gave a VERY detailed explanation of every painting. A beautiful palace and a great experience. Of course, we had to balance off all of this “exercise” with a cultural excursion to… Café Coffee Day, after which the boys headed back to Infosys and the girls hit the silk and artisan markets. Piles on piles of silk were spread out throughout this massive emporium where we were easily tempted into buying the silk made in Mysore. After a rainy drive back (it’s Monsoon season here, perfect for our water project!) we had an early dinner as the wake up call was… 4 am!! Today (Sunday, July 7) we headed off to Bandipur National Park with high hopes of seeing one of their 2,000 elephants and slightly lower expectations, but hope, of seeing one of their 110 tigers. NO LUCK! :( We saw a few too many peacocks, many spotted deer, some mongeese, and couple bison but those were the only four-legged creatures we saw. On the five-hour drive back, we had a fascinating discussion about Infosys and how shut off it is from the real world, the role large corporations should play in society aside from donating money, and how this experience sparks innovation for those who visit. It lasted an entire hour and with many dozy, overtired people, this was significant! We are now back at IBC resting for a while after a busy few days :)
Francesca, Nika, Emma and Maddy
No comments:
Post a Comment