Orientation...part 2

Along with providing a solid academic foundation for exploring India, the AIF orientation introduced me to an incredible group of other fellows. While the average age of the group is twenty-five, the work experiences represented in the group are both diverse and impressive. Surprisingly, out of the class of 24 fellows, four graduated from Duke.

My roommate during orientation, Rick, comes from the same background as myself (i.e., investment banking and private equity). Another fellow, Hemant, also had investment banking experience but spent the last year teaching in the Marshall Islands. Except for one other fellow, who worked in marketing for Apple, the remaining fellows are either from the public sector (non-profits/NGOs) or right out of school. While we all have different backgrounds and a variety of opinions on the development space, we all hold the common belief that the world should and can be a better place and are hopeful that the work we will be doing will be a step in the right direction.

Along with getting to know the other fellows, I also developed my first impressions of India through my exploration of Delhi. Upon arriving in New Delhi, we were bused from the airport to the youth hostel, where we were housed during the orientation period. I was surprised at how clean and orderly the city was, thinking that India would be as chaotic as China or Nicaragua. One reason for the discrepancy between my expectations and the actual India that I was experiencing was the hostel’s location, which was near the government centers and the residential areas for many international diplomats. Even so, it was India and there were stray dogs, cows and other animals roaming the streets. During the two weeks, I took every opportunity to try and get out to explore the city. From the beautiful parks to the clean and modern subway, New Delhi really had a lot to offer and I look forward to going back to visit during the year.

During the orientation period, we were given one free day to do whatever we wanted. A few fellows and myself decided to take a trip to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal). It was a really long day but was totally worth it. The day started around 5 am, when we had to leave our hostel for the Delhi train station. We luckily were able to get tickets for the 7 am train but did not get the luxury of seats in the packed train. The whole trip took us about five hours, but as people would get off at their stops, we would be able to find a seat here or there. I found a seat and was able to rest my feet during the last fifteen minutes.

After arriving in Agra, we found out that all the trains returning to Delhi were full. I was actually a bit surprised that they had any limits on the number of tickets sold given how packed the morning train was. We left the station and haggled with some local drivers and negotiated a car to take us around Agra for the day and back to Delhi at night. We were lucky that one of the fellows in our group knew Hindi and was quite the bargainer. We had the driver take us to lunch and then we were off to see the sites. In the afternoon we saw the Agra Fort and “Baby Taj.” We then headed to the Taj Mahal, where we stayed through sunset. It was truly a breathtaking monument. From the first glimpse of the Taj that you get when you walk through the opening gates you cannot help but be in awe of its beauty and magnificence. The paradox is that while it is nearly impossible to take a bad picture of the Taj, no picture is able to fully capture the beauty and grandeur of experiencing the Taj first hand. Enjoying a sunset at the Taj Mahal will be one of my defining memories of my trip to India.

For now, that’s all about AIF and my orientation period. I’ll try and write again in the next week to give my first impressions of Udaipur.