The touch of soft mangoes, the smell of fresh coconuts, the taste of Paneer Mahkani, the sight of black & yellow rickshaws, and the sounds of bustling streets – senses our group will hopefully get used to in the next two months.
I’ll admit – the past week or so have been, how can I say, crazy. From landing in a steamy atmosphere to traveling on the unpaved roads that India holds, we’ve all been merely trying to adapt as soon as we can.
Last week was spent in Bangalore, exploring the streets of what felt like something out of Times Square. We went on multiple searches for coffee (found a Starbucks!) and ended up being highly successful – some of the best coffee we’ve had so far!
But the meat of the stay was spent at various facilities. First was at Jaaga – an incubator that deals with a lot of awesome projects. We presented our posters, got some feedback, and networked like crazy. Let’s not forget the delish Chai and food!
Over the next few days, we explored the new parts of the city to the old, where there is no clear barrier – it goes from what looks like Silicon Valley to something out of an old Hindi documentary. We spent time at Microsoft Research, presenting and networking with folks who’ve created projects that, to say the least blew our minds away. And just a ten minute walk away, cows were roaming the streets in a dense market area, called “Commercial Street.”
We traveled to Mysore and saw the HUGE palace where just a few steps away camels and elephants were giving rides. Chris was ecstatic, as his childhood dream was to ride an elephant. The squeal he gave when he climbed one was, well something to be heard. Mysore is such a historic city with beautiful monuments (and delicious mangoes) – I wish we had spent more time there.
The next day was spent on the other end of the spectrum – visiting Infosys, a huge tech haven located in the ‘digital’ part of Bangalore. Their “campus” consists of about 30 thousand employees, which ended up making the company feel like a massive college campus.
The week absolutely flew by – our first week in this bustling country. Just before we finally became acclimated, we were on a train to Chennai (not quite Chennai Express, but close)…
- Asif
I’ll admit – the past week or so have been, how can I say, crazy. From landing in a steamy atmosphere to traveling on the unpaved roads that India holds, we’ve all been merely trying to adapt as soon as we can.
Last week was spent in Bangalore, exploring the streets of what felt like something out of Times Square. We went on multiple searches for coffee (found a Starbucks!) and ended up being highly successful – some of the best coffee we’ve had so far!
But the meat of the stay was spent at various facilities. First was at Jaaga – an incubator that deals with a lot of awesome projects. We presented our posters, got some feedback, and networked like crazy. Let’s not forget the delish Chai and food!
Over the next few days, we explored the new parts of the city to the old, where there is no clear barrier – it goes from what looks like Silicon Valley to something out of an old Hindi documentary. We spent time at Microsoft Research, presenting and networking with folks who’ve created projects that, to say the least blew our minds away. And just a ten minute walk away, cows were roaming the streets in a dense market area, called “Commercial Street.”
We traveled to Mysore and saw the HUGE palace where just a few steps away camels and elephants were giving rides. Chris was ecstatic, as his childhood dream was to ride an elephant. The squeal he gave when he climbed one was, well something to be heard. Mysore is such a historic city with beautiful monuments (and delicious mangoes) – I wish we had spent more time there.
The next day was spent on the other end of the spectrum – visiting Infosys, a huge tech haven located in the ‘digital’ part of Bangalore. Their “campus” consists of about 30 thousand employees, which ended up making the company feel like a massive college campus.
The week absolutely flew by – our first week in this bustling country. Just before we finally became acclimated, we were on a train to Chennai (not quite Chennai Express, but close)…
- Asif