Monday morning after our wonderful and restful host family weekend, we ventured out to visit two businesses in Pune. First, we visited SAS India, which is meaningful both because of SAS's Cary, NC headquarters and because of the fact that they sponsored me and a few other teachers for this trip. Thanks, SAS! SAS shared with us many of their business structures and also gave us context about what's happening with the software/IT boom in India and specifically in Pune. They pride themselves on being ranked as one of the top companies to work for in India, in the US, and worldwide. We toured their offices, and then they treated us to a delicious lunch!
Next, we had a quick session with a real estate developer that manages a planned township in which SAS India is located. Much like in the States, these all-inclusive (schools, stores, restaurants, housing, businesses, medical, etc.) suburban communities are popping up around cities to accommodate the growing IT industry.
After leaving this township, we headed for the Serum Institute. The Serum Institute is one of the world-leading manufacturers and distributers of vaccines. They manage to keep costs down and supply vaccines at low cost to NGOs and world organizations. We toured their facility, seeing everything from labs to production lines to warehouses.
It was all business that morning, and then it was time to head to Delhi. We arrived at the Pune airport which functions dually as an Air Force base and a 6-gate international airport. Security was intense--they zip-tied our checked luggage once it was screened and searched nearly half of our carry-on bags. The flight was smooth, and a few hours later we were on the ground in Delhi. We deplaned onto the tarmac, and it was HOT. Like really really HOT. We squeezed onto a bus to head for baggage claim. It didn't take too long before we were on our next bus headed for our next hotel, the Maidens. The Maidens is a pretty amazing five star hotel, so we're being a little spoiled here.
Our first day in Delhi was spent touring sites such as the largest Sikh temple in India, India Gate, the Lotus Temple, and Humanyun's tomb. Additionally, we got to meet and talk with Dr. Shashi Tharoor, India's Minister of Human Resource Development (the department which houses education). His presentation and perspective offered more insight and context to much of what we have seen and experienced thus far. Our day included an amazing lunch at a restaurant called Lodi Garden, in which we had wonderful conversation and enjoyed the typical afternoon rain under the protection of a garden patio roof. That night, we took it easy on the food, and a big group of us ordered Domino's pizza to the hotel.
Our next day, Wednesday, was another packed schedule. We first visited FabIndia, a retail clothing company that has an innovative supply chain model that employs and empowers artisans and craftspeople to preserve Indian craft tradition while still making a profit. They made a short presentation to us on this, and then, of course, we shopped at FabIndia. I got myself another kurta (correctly spelled this time), as well as a few gifts for those at home. Next we headed to Dilli Haat, a municipal market for local artisans. Before shopping in the market, we had lunch at Navdanya, and organic restaurant run by an NGO that aims to preserve biodiversity and local farming by fighting corporate agriculture and companies like Monsanto... sound familiar? We also heard from Navdanya's founder, Dr. Vandana Shiva about some of their initiatives and progress. We were able to do some shopping at Dilli Haat, but the heat and humidity was overwhelming, and we didn't hate having to get back on the bus with AC.
From Dilli Haat we went to Qutub Minar, a 12th century Muslim mosque and stone tower. The heat was still taking it out of us, so from here we went to a restaurant called Magique where we would spend the evening debriefing, socializing, and enjoying dinner. Again, we had some great conversation, and I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for everything I've had the opportunity to experience thus far.
