So after my first week at my internship. Two of the Indian interns - Ayush and Laban - had finished their internships and left. I still have two others - Mrenali and Rukmani. So at least I am not alone.
One thing I started to notice very quickly here was that the people in my office were surprisingly not as friendly as I expected. Everyone here is really nice. They will smile, wave, say hello, and exchange pleasantries. Beyond that however, it seems that they really aren't that interested in talking to me. According to the other interns, this is normal treatment for an intern. It seems that there is a sort of social hierarchy in the law firms. At the lowest level you have interns like me, who when I ask for work, thye sometimes tell me they have plenty of work but can't give it to me. I wonder what kind of work they could possibly have that is non-delegable. I mean I can understand if they want to check my work or that the time that they would wait for me to do the assignment and then check my work might take too long. Who knows.
They take the hierarchy thing to surprising levels. For example, in the firm there is an upstairs area where everyone eats lunch. There are three tables there and they are relatively close, so its easy for others to talk from one table to another (it is a small room afterall). When we sit there with the interns, no one really speaks to us at all. If they do, it might be a small conversation like oh where are you from? Oh that's nice. Or oh what kind of work have you gotten so far? Interestingly, when I try to engage them in conversation, they answer my questions but usually my conversation will spark up a conversation between them in which I am no longer included. It's like my question is used as a basis for what made them think about it and then they talk and I usually will just listen and watch. In the weeks that come, I will try to venture out and break down these barriers a bit.
At least Rukmani and Mrenali are nice and talk to me. Mrenali's family lives in Delhi but is originally from Kashmir...so that is pretty cool. Rukmani is also from Delhi I think. She goes to school in Rajasthan (the desert state to the west of Delhi).
As far as work stuff goes, my second week just carried over from my first week. I finished my gambling assignment and on Thursday I finished my beneficial ownership assignment. I am not quite sure how good it was, but we'll see when I get comments. I feel like the lawyers here don't always give a lot of good feedback. I have no idea if I am doing a good job or not or if I am even giving them what they want. I guess if a lawyer gives me more work in the future, it means I gave them what they wanted and if not, I didn't. That's the only way I can think of to gauge.
On Thursday, the senior partner gave me a research assignment for him. He asked me to work on a paper comparing the fiduciary duty of directors in the US to the fiduciary duty in India and to identify possible holes in the law. A lot of the research projects I have received so far (beneficial ownership and the directors assignment) have been theoretical to help them with problems that will likely come up in the future. While this is all well in good, I was kind of hoping for some more practical experience. I can (and likely will) write academic papers in law school. The point of the internship is to get some hands on experience. (Luckily, by weeks 3 and 4 this does change).
On Friday, I ended up going out to dinner with Sana in Visant Vihar. Sana is a friend from Emory who did Model UN. She is originally from New Delhi and has an internship here this summer and is living with her family. She came and picked me up at the guesthouse with her driver and we drove to Visant Vihar, which was about 4km away. We went to this thai restaurant, which was really nice in the back of the shopping area.
Visant vihar is a nice little area with shops and restaurants. There is a wide range of places from a local shop on the side of the street to nicer restaurants. She had heard about this place but had never tried it. It was not disappointing. I ended up having some japanese food that they make on this special kind of grill. They allowed us to customize the ingredients kind of like they do at a mongolian barbeque place. We also had a glass of house wine (it was an Indian wine) that was pretty good too.
One thing that is irritating about Delhi is how high the taxes are. The VAT is 12.5% here! So you pay a base of that on everything you buy. Additionally, alcoholic beverages are levied at a tax of 20%. I suppose this is to discourage drinking and to raise extra revenue for the government. I have also noticed that there is a service tax when you are charged a service charge (the tip for the waiter). So generally a meal will be something like 1400 rupees for two people at a nicer restaurant (this is about 30 dollars). After all of the taxes and service charge, the bill comes out to be about 1900. So as you can see...the taxes here are quite ridiculous! My sister always complained about how high the taxes were in Chicago. I guess she would really hate Delhi.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sunday
Sunday was another day for sightseeing. You'd think I would take the time to sleep in and relax before starting another week, but I decided that my weekends in Delhi and in India were limited and that I needed to make the most of them. I wonder if I will feel that way after a few more weeks here or if I will be too tired.
I met Louise and Melanie in the lobby to go out. They needed to return some things at FabIndia (where we went with professor Krishnan on the first weekend). I hadn't eaten, so while they were there I went across the street to have lunch.
It was good that I went to eat so I didn't have to watch the returning and shopping that would ensue (no cash back but only exchanges are allowed there). By the time I was finished eating, they still hadn't finished yet...so I waited for them to finish (they were almost done, so that was good at least).
Afterwards, we went to a large Sikh temple. It was called the Gurdawa Rakab Ganj Sahib. Next to the temple there was a large pool of water where people could ritually bathe. It kind of resembled the pool of water in Urfa around the mosque there. It was pretty to look at. In some places people were bathing, but in others someone in charge was telling people to stay out of the water. I am not sure why. I did notice that there were fish in the water that looked like catfish or coy (it was hard to tell from where we were standing).
We also went inside the temple. It looked similar to the one we saw last night. Louise stayed in line to get blessed and give a donation. I just stepped to the side and observed the inside of the temple and of course snapped photos. I am not sure when it was built or anything, but it was both beautiful and fascinating.
Afterwards, we took a rickshaw to a metro station so we could go to Chadni Chowk. I was hoping to get another shot to go into the mosque and the red fort. Melanie and Louise also wanted to go see the book bazaar (on Sundays there is this big bazaar where you can find books of all kinds).
We took the cycle rickshaw and the girls sat in the front while I sat in the back. This was a horrible rickshaw for us to take. The back had the seat bent forward slightly so that the space was smaller for me than it should have been. Additionally, there was some piece of metal or some sharp object on my butt. Every time we went over a bump, it was quite painful for me. Unfortunately, the road quality is not good in India...so there were a lot of bumps. First the rickshaw went the wrong way. Then, he went to another wrong place...finally after going twice as far as he needed to, we ended up where we were supposed to be. I was suffering immensely. (At least I had a thumbs up-an Indian soft drink resembling coke) along the way. Still, I felt that I would not be able to sit for days.
We walked around the bazaar and they had every book imagineable. Everything from Mein Kampf to Clinton's memoir to engineering books. They even had classics like Dickens and Jane Austin. The price was also less than half the price in the U.S. If you ever wanted a book, this was the place to get it.
I was only mildly interested in the books. I didn't really want to spend as long there as Louise and Melanie did. Finally around 4:30pm, we decided to go to the mosque. By the time we walked there and climbed through the same neighborhood I described yesterday it was almost 5:00pm. They required us to pay 200 rupees to take our bags inside even though we tried to explain that only one of us would take pictures (they have a fee of 200 rupees per camera). After a considerable amount of arguing, we all three had to pay and were allowed inside.
I was ticked about the fine and so I was taking many pictures to get my money's worth. Then, people started coming up to us asking to have our picture taken. It was mostly Melanie and Louise that got asked. I was still asked by a couple of people. They even made Melanie and Louise hold their babies! It was like they were movie stars!
In all the commotion, we were delayed from going inside the main portion of the mosque. All of a sudden an imam came up to us and said excuse them. I am not sure if he was talking to us or to the people trying to take our pictures. I say this because the guard told us we had to leave and started ushering us out. On our way out, the call to prayer started. I was dragging my feet and still taking pictures on the way out, which displeased them immensely.
The whole ordeal actually really pissed me off. Not only did they take 200 rupees from each of us just to get inside with our bags, but then they ushered us out before we could even see the inside. I understand that it closes when prayers start, and I am more than happy to respect customs, but the way they did it was rude and left a bad taste in my mouth. Furthermore, it was like we had a personal escort on the way out. How does this guy know I wasn't a Muslim who was a tourist in India who had also come to pray. Maybe I wanted to stay and experience the mosque as a real Muslim. No one else was forced out like this. If I try to go back, I am sure they will try to make me pay the 200 rupees again, which is just ridiculous. I actually kept my receipt (which did not have a date) and upon them trying to make me pay, I will be very argumentative and show them the receipt and claim that I have already paid. Hopefully, it will work. I really want to see that damn mosque. I think what's crazy is that in Turkey, as a non-Muslim, I was never ever treated like that. It was absolutely terrible.
After that experience, we went to McDonalds to get a coke and break some more change (I go there and usually get either a coke or fry and just break the bills when I can). Anyways, we also took the opportunity to sit and plan our next move. We were going to go to the India gate. We decided to get off at Central Secretariat and walk down the lawn from the parliament to the India gate.
Delhi took its city planning ideas from a number of cities, one of which being Washington DC. Between the parliament building and the India gate, there is a large mall just like the national mall in the US. We decided to walk it and enjoy the evening. Furthermore, I was told that the best time to see the India gate is right around sunset...so the plan was to walk the mall as the sun was going down so we'd get to see it lit up at night and in the evening before the sun set.
The weather was hot, but the gate was beautiful. One thing that was neat was that many Indian families go to the mall area and have picnics and enjoy the weather in the evenings. It was nice to see people enjoying the outdoors with their family. We even saw a couple of pickup cricket games in action.
The gate was built to commemorate the lives lost in India in World War I. There is an eternal flame that burns under it and there are gates with guards to prevent you from getting too close to the actual gate. It seemed a bit like the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington. Perhaps that is the atmosphere that they wanted to portray.
Around the corner from the India gate there was a fountain with tons of kids playing in it. It looked really refreshing (bc it was so hot) but really dirty. It was almost like a makeshift Indian water park. If we had one of these back home, I'd certainly go play in it. After watching the kids for a bit, we took the rickshaw back and settled in for the evening.
I met Louise and Melanie in the lobby to go out. They needed to return some things at FabIndia (where we went with professor Krishnan on the first weekend). I hadn't eaten, so while they were there I went across the street to have lunch.
It was good that I went to eat so I didn't have to watch the returning and shopping that would ensue (no cash back but only exchanges are allowed there). By the time I was finished eating, they still hadn't finished yet...so I waited for them to finish (they were almost done, so that was good at least).
Afterwards, we went to a large Sikh temple. It was called the Gurdawa Rakab Ganj Sahib. Next to the temple there was a large pool of water where people could ritually bathe. It kind of resembled the pool of water in Urfa around the mosque there. It was pretty to look at. In some places people were bathing, but in others someone in charge was telling people to stay out of the water. I am not sure why. I did notice that there were fish in the water that looked like catfish or coy (it was hard to tell from where we were standing).
We also went inside the temple. It looked similar to the one we saw last night. Louise stayed in line to get blessed and give a donation. I just stepped to the side and observed the inside of the temple and of course snapped photos. I am not sure when it was built or anything, but it was both beautiful and fascinating.
Afterwards, we took a rickshaw to a metro station so we could go to Chadni Chowk. I was hoping to get another shot to go into the mosque and the red fort. Melanie and Louise also wanted to go see the book bazaar (on Sundays there is this big bazaar where you can find books of all kinds).
We took the cycle rickshaw and the girls sat in the front while I sat in the back. This was a horrible rickshaw for us to take. The back had the seat bent forward slightly so that the space was smaller for me than it should have been. Additionally, there was some piece of metal or some sharp object on my butt. Every time we went over a bump, it was quite painful for me. Unfortunately, the road quality is not good in India...so there were a lot of bumps. First the rickshaw went the wrong way. Then, he went to another wrong place...finally after going twice as far as he needed to, we ended up where we were supposed to be. I was suffering immensely. (At least I had a thumbs up-an Indian soft drink resembling coke) along the way. Still, I felt that I would not be able to sit for days.
We walked around the bazaar and they had every book imagineable. Everything from Mein Kampf to Clinton's memoir to engineering books. They even had classics like Dickens and Jane Austin. The price was also less than half the price in the U.S. If you ever wanted a book, this was the place to get it.
I was only mildly interested in the books. I didn't really want to spend as long there as Louise and Melanie did. Finally around 4:30pm, we decided to go to the mosque. By the time we walked there and climbed through the same neighborhood I described yesterday it was almost 5:00pm. They required us to pay 200 rupees to take our bags inside even though we tried to explain that only one of us would take pictures (they have a fee of 200 rupees per camera). After a considerable amount of arguing, we all three had to pay and were allowed inside.
I was ticked about the fine and so I was taking many pictures to get my money's worth. Then, people started coming up to us asking to have our picture taken. It was mostly Melanie and Louise that got asked. I was still asked by a couple of people. They even made Melanie and Louise hold their babies! It was like they were movie stars!
In all the commotion, we were delayed from going inside the main portion of the mosque. All of a sudden an imam came up to us and said excuse them. I am not sure if he was talking to us or to the people trying to take our pictures. I say this because the guard told us we had to leave and started ushering us out. On our way out, the call to prayer started. I was dragging my feet and still taking pictures on the way out, which displeased them immensely.
The whole ordeal actually really pissed me off. Not only did they take 200 rupees from each of us just to get inside with our bags, but then they ushered us out before we could even see the inside. I understand that it closes when prayers start, and I am more than happy to respect customs, but the way they did it was rude and left a bad taste in my mouth. Furthermore, it was like we had a personal escort on the way out. How does this guy know I wasn't a Muslim who was a tourist in India who had also come to pray. Maybe I wanted to stay and experience the mosque as a real Muslim. No one else was forced out like this. If I try to go back, I am sure they will try to make me pay the 200 rupees again, which is just ridiculous. I actually kept my receipt (which did not have a date) and upon them trying to make me pay, I will be very argumentative and show them the receipt and claim that I have already paid. Hopefully, it will work. I really want to see that damn mosque. I think what's crazy is that in Turkey, as a non-Muslim, I was never ever treated like that. It was absolutely terrible.
After that experience, we went to McDonalds to get a coke and break some more change (I go there and usually get either a coke or fry and just break the bills when I can). Anyways, we also took the opportunity to sit and plan our next move. We were going to go to the India gate. We decided to get off at Central Secretariat and walk down the lawn from the parliament to the India gate.
Delhi took its city planning ideas from a number of cities, one of which being Washington DC. Between the parliament building and the India gate, there is a large mall just like the national mall in the US. We decided to walk it and enjoy the evening. Furthermore, I was told that the best time to see the India gate is right around sunset...so the plan was to walk the mall as the sun was going down so we'd get to see it lit up at night and in the evening before the sun set.
The weather was hot, but the gate was beautiful. One thing that was neat was that many Indian families go to the mall area and have picnics and enjoy the weather in the evenings. It was nice to see people enjoying the outdoors with their family. We even saw a couple of pickup cricket games in action.
The gate was built to commemorate the lives lost in India in World War I. There is an eternal flame that burns under it and there are gates with guards to prevent you from getting too close to the actual gate. It seemed a bit like the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington. Perhaps that is the atmosphere that they wanted to portray.
Around the corner from the India gate there was a fountain with tons of kids playing in it. It looked really refreshing (bc it was so hot) but really dirty. It was almost like a makeshift Indian water park. If we had one of these back home, I'd certainly go play in it. After watching the kids for a bit, we took the rickshaw back and settled in for the evening.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
A Weekend in New Delhi
So the first weekend I was here, I decided would be a great opportunity to explore New Delhi. I was itching to make the best use of time and wanted to get out fairly early. Many of the others who were on the trip were still sleeping by 10 or 11am. Krista, Tara, and Danny were awake and invited me along with them to see Humayan's Tomb. The rickshaw ride ended up taking us to a neighborhood near it without taking us to the front of the tomb. We eventually were able to find out way there. It was very hot outside. The neighborhood that we were dropped in was an interesting place. There were all sorts of things being sold. However, you could also tell that the people there did not have much money. I was asked for money several times even in the first few minutes I was there.
We walked around the corner and it was extremely hot. Krista, Danny, Nick, and Tara didn't really tell me before they were leaving that they were going to go...so I had to throw on clothing in like 5 minutes. As a result, I didn't have any food or drink before we went outside. When the weather is over 105 degrees, its probably not a good idea to leave the house without having any water. It's especially not a good idea not to be carrying water on you in case you become dehydrated. Oops?
We finally made it to Humayan's tomb which was awesome. First you go inside a small gate onto the grounds. The grounds are a manicured lawn with gates to the right, left, and straight ahead. One walks down the path, through the gate, to reach the tomb.
Actually, the tomb was built 100 years before the Taj Mahal AND the Taj Mahal was modeled off of it. It was neat to see this tomb before seeing the taj so I could compare. It was built in the 1500s for Humayan by his wife.
On the way in, we met this professor who was a professor of history and knew a lot about it. He shared his knowledge with us (well me mostly). He asked where we were from and all of that sort. In the end, he then asked me for money! I was shocked (but I guess I shouldn't have been). Apparently, information is not free here. He then remembered I was a student and then said not to worry about it...but even that he expected money was surprising. It was a good reminder for me to be careful about these things.
I walked around the grounds and enjoyed the tomb. To get to the tomb, you had to climb up very steep stairs. The tomb itself was elevated above the rest of the ground level, so it allowed you to see around Delhi. From the complex, you could see a factory and a seikh temple. The inside was a few large rooms with graves in them. Actually, it was very similar to the inside of the taj mahal. The architechture and grounds were beautiful. The others were ready to leave, but I definitely could have stayed longer. Unfortunately, one of the monuments was under construction when we were there so I didn't get to see it (Humayan's tomb has several monuments).
After walking around, I wasn't feeling well. Being out in the heat for 3 hours with no breakfast and no water was not good and I had to get to a place. Getting a rickshaw for a fair price was difficult (partially because we didn't know what a fair price was and none of them would use the meter). We eventually got one and probably overpaid (story of my life with rickshaw drivers) and were on our way to Khan Market.
We were going to Khan Market, which is a nice place to eat and shop, because Ayush suggested that we meet him there at around 3:00 before we end up going around New Delhi for a bit. He offered to take me and whomever else wanted to come to Chadni Chowk. He specifically wanted us to go later in the day because he said it was too hot to be outside and most people from Delhi don't actually go out at the time we were out. Oops.
We got to Khan Market a little early and I was desperate for something to drink. I felt like I was about to pass out. The others were dragging their feet about finding a place and I had to communicate to them how badly I needed water. Not soon after we found this place called the Boombox Cafe, which served all kinds of foods (including American foods even!). Some of the titles on the menu definitely made me laugh. It's like they had things on there but they weren't quite right. Chicago style hotdogs but with slightly different ingredients. That kind of thing. Anyways, I chugged a bottle of water pretty quickly and after sitting in the air conditioner felt much much better. We waited for Ayush to come and then we ordered. (Ayush happened to be wearing an awesome Sean Connery James Bond shirt).
Upon eating, Melanie, Ashley, and Jerry joined us as well. At this point everyone from our group was there except Louise, who was hanging out with another friend. After finishing lunch (it was getting kind of late by this time), Ayush took us on the subway to Chadni Chowk. This place is one of the most famous places to go in old Delhi.
We exited the subway and walked down the pathway to the more open area. I was immediately struck by how chaotic everything was. Cars were rushing in all such directions. There were tons of people. It was insanity.
We followed Ayush towards the end of the street where the Red Fort was located. Keeping up was difficult because the sidewalks and streets were congested and people would get between us. I tried to walk in the back to make sure all of the girls were safe. Old Delhi has a reputation of being particulary unfriendly to women...especially after dark (but it wasn't after dark here just yet).
We finally made it to the end of the path where the Red Fort was located. Our initial goal was to go inside and see it. When we got there, we realized that you couldn't go in after a certain time without paying. Usually it is free, but every night they have a light show which costs money to see. They close entry of the fort after a certain time because much if it is off limits even during/after the light show. We snapped a couple of pictures in front of the massive complex, but then we left.
We decided that the Jama Masjid (the largest mosque in Delhi) was close by and that maybe we could go see the inside of that instead. Ayush suggested that instead of walking we should take the cycle rickshaw. I rode in the back of the cycle rickshaw while 2 others rode in the front. There was also another rickshaw for the others. I felt a little bad for the rickshaw driver actually. Peddling 4 Americans is no small feat. It seemed like hard work and it was definitely hot outside.
We went a ways and got out. I am glad we had the experience of the cycle rickshaw but I think I could have walked just as easily. We then walked through the rest of the market to the stairs of the mosque. People were shouting at us to get our attention. I think they were hoping we were shopping. The one thing that looked and smelled fantastic was the meat on the skewers. I wished so badly that we could have it, but it is not hygenic and we'd probably get very sick from it. It smelled so good though! There were other sorts of interesting foods that I would have liked to try.
We got up to the mosque and we were accosted by more beggars. Unfortunately, this mosque closes before sunset. No tourists are allowed after about 5:30pm AND no women are allowed in the mosque after dark. So another Delhi landmark without success. At least I knew where it was.
We took another cycle rickshaw back near the metro station. The traffic was heavy (and cycle rickshaws are subject to it just as much as cars). We got out early and decided to go inside a seikh temple in Chandni Chowk.
In order to go inside, men have to cover their heads with a bandana looking thing. Although its a religious custom, I couldn't help but laugh and think that it was like pirates of the Caribbean or something. Arrr matey!
Anyways. We take off our shoes and go inside. There was some kind of service going on and so we couldn't really stop and stare or take pictures. We just had to walk through the path laid out. It was kind of weird because there were no chairs (like the inside of a mosque) and the path laid out went in front of some of the people watching the service. I wonder if it was a problem that we were obstructing their view. If I were praying, I would have found it incredibly distracting.
The inside of the temple was very interesting. There was a golden alter in the center and a seikh religious cleric of some sorts sitting on it and talking. I later learned from Louise that taking pictures would have been ok (which I did at the other Seikh place we went)because they are one of the most open religions to outsiders in the world. Its neat that they are so willing to have people learn about them and don't mind pictures and things. (Or maybe I think that because it satisfies my tourist urges).
We walked back to the metro and made our way to Connaught Place, which is the center of New Delhi. It also happens to be where all of the expensive shops and places are. So we were going to eat but then Krista and Tara didn't want to. They wanted to go to the India gate. Ayush wasn't hungry either so he offered to drive them there.
Instead, the rest of us (by this time Nick and Danny had left) decided to go to McDonalds. It was a great choice for 2 reasons. 1) They always have change; 2) A fountain coke and fries sounded super delicious.
So the change thing is a number one reason which might surprise people. Back home, getting change is easy. You go to a store and buy something and they break your bills. Whatsmore, whether you go into a taxi cab or something else, everyone has change for everything. In India, its different. Rickshaw drivers will often say they just "dont have change" which means they are trying to stiff you for some extra profit. Additionally, when I try to pay for things like laundry services or other things, they won't have change and will complain or it will be very difficult for them to break your money. If you can find any place to get small bills here, its definitely worth remembering. The ATMs at the banks wont dispense in anything less than 500 rupee bills, so its very difficult to find change (some even dispense in 1000 rupee increments). The McDonalds there is different though. For whatever reason, they have enough change and the employees are friendly. I think Indians sometimes go there to get change as well. (Its even a problem for them...just they know how to ask more easily).
Long story short, I got my fountain drink and some change too! While we didn't get to see as much in Delhi as I wanted, getting the lay of the land was helpful to orienting me here.
We walked around the corner and it was extremely hot. Krista, Danny, Nick, and Tara didn't really tell me before they were leaving that they were going to go...so I had to throw on clothing in like 5 minutes. As a result, I didn't have any food or drink before we went outside. When the weather is over 105 degrees, its probably not a good idea to leave the house without having any water. It's especially not a good idea not to be carrying water on you in case you become dehydrated. Oops?
We finally made it to Humayan's tomb which was awesome. First you go inside a small gate onto the grounds. The grounds are a manicured lawn with gates to the right, left, and straight ahead. One walks down the path, through the gate, to reach the tomb.
Actually, the tomb was built 100 years before the Taj Mahal AND the Taj Mahal was modeled off of it. It was neat to see this tomb before seeing the taj so I could compare. It was built in the 1500s for Humayan by his wife.
On the way in, we met this professor who was a professor of history and knew a lot about it. He shared his knowledge with us (well me mostly). He asked where we were from and all of that sort. In the end, he then asked me for money! I was shocked (but I guess I shouldn't have been). Apparently, information is not free here. He then remembered I was a student and then said not to worry about it...but even that he expected money was surprising. It was a good reminder for me to be careful about these things.
I walked around the grounds and enjoyed the tomb. To get to the tomb, you had to climb up very steep stairs. The tomb itself was elevated above the rest of the ground level, so it allowed you to see around Delhi. From the complex, you could see a factory and a seikh temple. The inside was a few large rooms with graves in them. Actually, it was very similar to the inside of the taj mahal. The architechture and grounds were beautiful. The others were ready to leave, but I definitely could have stayed longer. Unfortunately, one of the monuments was under construction when we were there so I didn't get to see it (Humayan's tomb has several monuments).
After walking around, I wasn't feeling well. Being out in the heat for 3 hours with no breakfast and no water was not good and I had to get to a place. Getting a rickshaw for a fair price was difficult (partially because we didn't know what a fair price was and none of them would use the meter). We eventually got one and probably overpaid (story of my life with rickshaw drivers) and were on our way to Khan Market.
We were going to Khan Market, which is a nice place to eat and shop, because Ayush suggested that we meet him there at around 3:00 before we end up going around New Delhi for a bit. He offered to take me and whomever else wanted to come to Chadni Chowk. He specifically wanted us to go later in the day because he said it was too hot to be outside and most people from Delhi don't actually go out at the time we were out. Oops.
We got to Khan Market a little early and I was desperate for something to drink. I felt like I was about to pass out. The others were dragging their feet about finding a place and I had to communicate to them how badly I needed water. Not soon after we found this place called the Boombox Cafe, which served all kinds of foods (including American foods even!). Some of the titles on the menu definitely made me laugh. It's like they had things on there but they weren't quite right. Chicago style hotdogs but with slightly different ingredients. That kind of thing. Anyways, I chugged a bottle of water pretty quickly and after sitting in the air conditioner felt much much better. We waited for Ayush to come and then we ordered. (Ayush happened to be wearing an awesome Sean Connery James Bond shirt).
Upon eating, Melanie, Ashley, and Jerry joined us as well. At this point everyone from our group was there except Louise, who was hanging out with another friend. After finishing lunch (it was getting kind of late by this time), Ayush took us on the subway to Chadni Chowk. This place is one of the most famous places to go in old Delhi.
We exited the subway and walked down the pathway to the more open area. I was immediately struck by how chaotic everything was. Cars were rushing in all such directions. There were tons of people. It was insanity.
We followed Ayush towards the end of the street where the Red Fort was located. Keeping up was difficult because the sidewalks and streets were congested and people would get between us. I tried to walk in the back to make sure all of the girls were safe. Old Delhi has a reputation of being particulary unfriendly to women...especially after dark (but it wasn't after dark here just yet).
We finally made it to the end of the path where the Red Fort was located. Our initial goal was to go inside and see it. When we got there, we realized that you couldn't go in after a certain time without paying. Usually it is free, but every night they have a light show which costs money to see. They close entry of the fort after a certain time because much if it is off limits even during/after the light show. We snapped a couple of pictures in front of the massive complex, but then we left.
We decided that the Jama Masjid (the largest mosque in Delhi) was close by and that maybe we could go see the inside of that instead. Ayush suggested that instead of walking we should take the cycle rickshaw. I rode in the back of the cycle rickshaw while 2 others rode in the front. There was also another rickshaw for the others. I felt a little bad for the rickshaw driver actually. Peddling 4 Americans is no small feat. It seemed like hard work and it was definitely hot outside.
We went a ways and got out. I am glad we had the experience of the cycle rickshaw but I think I could have walked just as easily. We then walked through the rest of the market to the stairs of the mosque. People were shouting at us to get our attention. I think they were hoping we were shopping. The one thing that looked and smelled fantastic was the meat on the skewers. I wished so badly that we could have it, but it is not hygenic and we'd probably get very sick from it. It smelled so good though! There were other sorts of interesting foods that I would have liked to try.
We got up to the mosque and we were accosted by more beggars. Unfortunately, this mosque closes before sunset. No tourists are allowed after about 5:30pm AND no women are allowed in the mosque after dark. So another Delhi landmark without success. At least I knew where it was.
We took another cycle rickshaw back near the metro station. The traffic was heavy (and cycle rickshaws are subject to it just as much as cars). We got out early and decided to go inside a seikh temple in Chandni Chowk.
In order to go inside, men have to cover their heads with a bandana looking thing. Although its a religious custom, I couldn't help but laugh and think that it was like pirates of the Caribbean or something. Arrr matey!
Anyways. We take off our shoes and go inside. There was some kind of service going on and so we couldn't really stop and stare or take pictures. We just had to walk through the path laid out. It was kind of weird because there were no chairs (like the inside of a mosque) and the path laid out went in front of some of the people watching the service. I wonder if it was a problem that we were obstructing their view. If I were praying, I would have found it incredibly distracting.
The inside of the temple was very interesting. There was a golden alter in the center and a seikh religious cleric of some sorts sitting on it and talking. I later learned from Louise that taking pictures would have been ok (which I did at the other Seikh place we went)because they are one of the most open religions to outsiders in the world. Its neat that they are so willing to have people learn about them and don't mind pictures and things. (Or maybe I think that because it satisfies my tourist urges).
We walked back to the metro and made our way to Connaught Place, which is the center of New Delhi. It also happens to be where all of the expensive shops and places are. So we were going to eat but then Krista and Tara didn't want to. They wanted to go to the India gate. Ayush wasn't hungry either so he offered to drive them there.
Instead, the rest of us (by this time Nick and Danny had left) decided to go to McDonalds. It was a great choice for 2 reasons. 1) They always have change; 2) A fountain coke and fries sounded super delicious.
So the change thing is a number one reason which might surprise people. Back home, getting change is easy. You go to a store and buy something and they break your bills. Whatsmore, whether you go into a taxi cab or something else, everyone has change for everything. In India, its different. Rickshaw drivers will often say they just "dont have change" which means they are trying to stiff you for some extra profit. Additionally, when I try to pay for things like laundry services or other things, they won't have change and will complain or it will be very difficult for them to break your money. If you can find any place to get small bills here, its definitely worth remembering. The ATMs at the banks wont dispense in anything less than 500 rupee bills, so its very difficult to find change (some even dispense in 1000 rupee increments). The McDonalds there is different though. For whatever reason, they have enough change and the employees are friendly. I think Indians sometimes go there to get change as well. (Its even a problem for them...just they know how to ask more easily).
Long story short, I got my fountain drink and some change too! While we didn't get to see as much in Delhi as I wanted, getting the lay of the land was helpful to orienting me here.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The First Full Week (6/8-6/10)
So its been over a week since I posted my last entry. Things have settled down a bit and I have gotten into the groove of my daily life here.
So last week Ayush took me to New Friend's Colony to a restaurant there to get some food. One thing India is known for is the street food. The only problem is that most of it is not safe for foreigners to eat for various reasons. It sits out all day, its prepared with dirty water, the street vendors don't have gloves or wash their hands, etc. Even most Indians won't eat the street food. It makes it very hard to resist when you're walking down the street and you smell delicious food cooking (and being sold very cheaply) but you cant have any. Suffice it to say, I was more than just a little excited for this little trip.
After work we get in his car and make our way over to New Friend's Colony. First we stood outside of the restaurant and had this thing called golgappe. It is a spherical crunchy (but hollow on the inside) piece of food. The consistency is like that of a tortilla shell but it tastes nothing like it. The vendor in front of the restaurant dipped it in a red sauce and a green sauce. My instructions were to take it all at once. It was delicious. We then went inside the restaurant. Ayush ordered two other types of chaat AKA street food (one with potatoes and one with some other type of vegetable). They each had a red sauce with a white sauce. The combination included a little bit of spice and a little bit of sweet.
We also had some sort of chickpea dish with paneer (Indian cheese) and bread of course. It was fun to spend time with Ayush and eat the Indian foods.
On Wednesday, another intern, Mrenali came back from her little vacation/break/whatever she was doing. So in total, there were 4 Indian interns and me.
Thursday and Friday were relatively uneventful. The first real assignment I got for work was kind of overwhelming. My mentor asked me to examine the concept of beneficial ownership and talk about how it applied to the Indian context. Apparently, little or no law had been made on it and it was up to me to do some research. Not only did he expect me to find the answers, he also wanted me to come up with the questions. So basically, he gave me the SEBI Regulations (the equivalent of the Security and Exchange Commission in the US), the Companies Act (basically the law of corporations here), and the FEMA manual (all the regulations regarding foreign exchange in India). My task was to look through these things and find inconsistencies and things that are not clear about the concept of beneficial ownership. The materials given to me were well over 3000 pages, so it took a lot of time even to skim it to come up with some questions.
By Friday, (two days later) I had come up with what I thought might be 5 relevant questions and had partially attempted to answer one of them. He took it for comment. In the mean time, I was given another assignment about gambling, which was fascinating. Basically, I had to do some research into Indian gaming laws and what the internal government's policy was on the subject. In doing so, I also learned a lot about the different legal ambiguities surrounding it. The gambling law here is really interesting and in a state of flux. There are interesting legal questions like whether the internet is a public place that I thought about (even though they had already written the memo on the law part it was still fun for me to think about the answers to these kinds of questions).
Another thing that is really great about my internship (that I don't think others are getting) is that Venkatesh will sometimes teach us classes on relevant Indian/US laws. He knows a lot about US law so that's always his basis of comparison, which is particularly great for me. This week he taught us classes on how an IPO is offered in India (on Thursday) and on Friday he taught us about the elements of a mergers and acquisitions deal and how its done here. I enjoyed getting the background and was especially appreciative that he was willing to take the time to teach us. The other interns think that the only reason we were given the class was because I was here. They even said they were grateful that they got the classes because other Indian firms do not teach them about Indian laws in this way. I hope more will continue so that by the end of my internship I will have a decent working knowledge of corporate law. (Also, I am grateful because the learning curve is steeper than I thought it would be. I wish I had taken a class in either corporations or securities regulation before coming).
On Friday, Krista decided she wanted to go shopping with a friend of hers at work, leaving me to find my own way home. I had decided by this point that taking a taxi by myself would be too expensive. I don't want to spend 300 rupees just to get home if I don't have to. Although Professor Krishnan told me not to, I decided to try and brave a rickshaw home.
It actually was not too bad! I am not sure why he told me not to (probably b/c he thought I wouldn't get a fair price or because it was hot or something like that). The first guy I found was willing to give me the meter (a rarity here) and I gladly took it and even tipped him when we got home. The guy actually did me a huge service by giving me the meter because now I knew what a fair price home on the rickshaw would be. It was great for my future ability to bargain a ride home every day.
The ride was also not too bad. It was hot, but that's India. I enjoyed the wind blowing in my face and definitely enjoyed paying less than half the price of a taxi cab. I resolved after this never to take a taxi home again. I will probably continue to take the taxis to work, though, because they are nice, always use the meter, are always reliable, and most importantly, they are air conditioned. Taking the cab will allow me to come into work clean and unstressed.
For the weekend, I just planned to go sightseeing in New Delhi and get to know the city a bit better. That's all for now.
So last week Ayush took me to New Friend's Colony to a restaurant there to get some food. One thing India is known for is the street food. The only problem is that most of it is not safe for foreigners to eat for various reasons. It sits out all day, its prepared with dirty water, the street vendors don't have gloves or wash their hands, etc. Even most Indians won't eat the street food. It makes it very hard to resist when you're walking down the street and you smell delicious food cooking (and being sold very cheaply) but you cant have any. Suffice it to say, I was more than just a little excited for this little trip.
After work we get in his car and make our way over to New Friend's Colony. First we stood outside of the restaurant and had this thing called golgappe. It is a spherical crunchy (but hollow on the inside) piece of food. The consistency is like that of a tortilla shell but it tastes nothing like it. The vendor in front of the restaurant dipped it in a red sauce and a green sauce. My instructions were to take it all at once. It was delicious. We then went inside the restaurant. Ayush ordered two other types of chaat AKA street food (one with potatoes and one with some other type of vegetable). They each had a red sauce with a white sauce. The combination included a little bit of spice and a little bit of sweet.
We also had some sort of chickpea dish with paneer (Indian cheese) and bread of course. It was fun to spend time with Ayush and eat the Indian foods.
On Wednesday, another intern, Mrenali came back from her little vacation/break/whatever she was doing. So in total, there were 4 Indian interns and me.
Thursday and Friday were relatively uneventful. The first real assignment I got for work was kind of overwhelming. My mentor asked me to examine the concept of beneficial ownership and talk about how it applied to the Indian context. Apparently, little or no law had been made on it and it was up to me to do some research. Not only did he expect me to find the answers, he also wanted me to come up with the questions. So basically, he gave me the SEBI Regulations (the equivalent of the Security and Exchange Commission in the US), the Companies Act (basically the law of corporations here), and the FEMA manual (all the regulations regarding foreign exchange in India). My task was to look through these things and find inconsistencies and things that are not clear about the concept of beneficial ownership. The materials given to me were well over 3000 pages, so it took a lot of time even to skim it to come up with some questions.
By Friday, (two days later) I had come up with what I thought might be 5 relevant questions and had partially attempted to answer one of them. He took it for comment. In the mean time, I was given another assignment about gambling, which was fascinating. Basically, I had to do some research into Indian gaming laws and what the internal government's policy was on the subject. In doing so, I also learned a lot about the different legal ambiguities surrounding it. The gambling law here is really interesting and in a state of flux. There are interesting legal questions like whether the internet is a public place that I thought about (even though they had already written the memo on the law part it was still fun for me to think about the answers to these kinds of questions).
Another thing that is really great about my internship (that I don't think others are getting) is that Venkatesh will sometimes teach us classes on relevant Indian/US laws. He knows a lot about US law so that's always his basis of comparison, which is particularly great for me. This week he taught us classes on how an IPO is offered in India (on Thursday) and on Friday he taught us about the elements of a mergers and acquisitions deal and how its done here. I enjoyed getting the background and was especially appreciative that he was willing to take the time to teach us. The other interns think that the only reason we were given the class was because I was here. They even said they were grateful that they got the classes because other Indian firms do not teach them about Indian laws in this way. I hope more will continue so that by the end of my internship I will have a decent working knowledge of corporate law. (Also, I am grateful because the learning curve is steeper than I thought it would be. I wish I had taken a class in either corporations or securities regulation before coming).
On Friday, Krista decided she wanted to go shopping with a friend of hers at work, leaving me to find my own way home. I had decided by this point that taking a taxi by myself would be too expensive. I don't want to spend 300 rupees just to get home if I don't have to. Although Professor Krishnan told me not to, I decided to try and brave a rickshaw home.
It actually was not too bad! I am not sure why he told me not to (probably b/c he thought I wouldn't get a fair price or because it was hot or something like that). The first guy I found was willing to give me the meter (a rarity here) and I gladly took it and even tipped him when we got home. The guy actually did me a huge service by giving me the meter because now I knew what a fair price home on the rickshaw would be. It was great for my future ability to bargain a ride home every day.
The ride was also not too bad. It was hot, but that's India. I enjoyed the wind blowing in my face and definitely enjoyed paying less than half the price of a taxi cab. I resolved after this never to take a taxi home again. I will probably continue to take the taxis to work, though, because they are nice, always use the meter, are always reliable, and most importantly, they are air conditioned. Taking the cab will allow me to come into work clean and unstressed.
For the weekend, I just planned to go sightseeing in New Delhi and get to know the city a bit better. That's all for now.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Last Few Days
So apparently, I am not very good at being diligent about this whole blogging thing. Thus far, there has been very little time to do so. In the day we get up in time for work and work until 6:30 or 7:00. With the horrible traffic in New Delhi (and believe me...its REALLY BAD), I usually don't get home until about 7:45 or 8:00. Some of the others who live closer or can take the metro get home much earlier than I do. Such is the life of working in a law firm. Once I get home, I am completely exhausted (even at work I am completely exhausted). I am not sure if its the jet lag that is killing me or if I am legitimately tired. I hope its the jet lag because other wise I will never see any of Delhi because I will be too tired all of the time.
So I'll just give some highlights and some observations I've had over the last few days to broadly catch everyone up.
The temperatures are hot, but not as bad as I expected. Luckily, the humidity is very low. The 100 degree temperatures feel like the low 90s that you get in Georgia or Florida...so I can handle it. Besides, we have air conditioning in my room and at my work place so I have spent very little time outside so far.
I am still a bit jetlagged. On Sunday, I woke up voluntarily at 6:15am. I just basically messed around for a little while.
On Sunday, we got up early to meet one of the new donors for the program at Professor Krishnan's hotel. The hotel was excellent - a 5 star resort (I wouldn't expect anything else from Professor Krishnan). In order to get there, I took my first ever auto rickshaw ride which was quite the experience. For those of you who don't know, a rickshaw is basically a three wheeled device powered by a motor and a driver drives it on the road. It's kind of like being on a motorcycle with 3 wheels. The rickshaw does have a roof over it to shield you from the sun and bad weather (not that it's rained since we've been here). The one big disadvantage to the rickshaw is that since it is open (ie: no doors or windows or any of that). Thus, it can be very hot. I cant really take it to work because I would be drenched in dust and sweat by the time I got there (the land here is pretty dusty). It almost seems like we're living in a quasi-desert. The breakfast was beautiful. It was an all you can eat buffet with a breakfast station, fresh pastries, cheeses, yogurt, and salmon. I definitely enjoyed it thoroughly.The new donor for our program was also a really interesting guy who is doing interesting research in India. I was really glad I had the opportunity to hear him speak about it and meet him.
After breakfast, we took a cab over to a Market area called GK-5. The girls wanted to get some clothes and I just wanted to get out of the guest house and see a little bit of Delhi. I quickly realized that clothes shopping with the girls was not the best way I could have done that. The traditional indian clothes were interesting, but I lost interest in watching the girls try on their clothes. They met with Vibhu, an Indian lawyer who met us for dinner the previous night and she was helping them. Actually, Vibhu is a really nice person and I wish I had talked to her more.
After the seemingly endless clothes shopping, we went to a middle eastern restaurant called Shalom. Apparently, Shalom serves Lebanese food and not just Israeli food. Weird. Anyways, I definitely got a picture in front of the sign and that will be posted soon. I didn't really eat because I was still full from breakfast, but I drank soda and smoked hookah. The hookah was decent but of course not as good as Turkey.
After lunch we went to another cafe and had some dessert. It was a fun day to unwind before the first day of work. We came home and had dinner at the guest house and then went to bed relatively early.
The first day of work was uneventful. I met with the senior partner and then with all of the associates. Then I basically went to my desk and sat there with nothing to do. No one gave me any tasks or assignments. It was weird. I was waiting for Venkatesh, the attorney I had been in contact with, to come to the office. He didn't end up coming until 11:15 or so. I wish I could roll into work at 11:15 every day. Anyways, thats besides the point.
He calls me into his office and we talk for a bit. He is a really nice guy and very very intelligent. He actually worked at Cravath before coming back to India. So we talked for a bit and he told me about a research project he was thinking he might have for me and then said he would talk to me about it in a little while. So I went back to my desk and I waited and waited some more. Then, it was time for lunch. It was an associate's last day so they took us in an office car to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was a 5 star all you can eat buffet. They had sushi, lamb curry, this awesome kind of chicken on drum sticks, and several other foods. Additionally, they had a dessert table that was to die for! I had chocolate cake AND chocolate mousse. Yum! The lunch was a nice opportunity for me to start talking a bit with some of the associates and one of the partners I sat next to. Everyone was friendly, but not overly so. I felt like I kind of had to start conversation to get them to talk to me, which was not quite what I expected. Seeing a foreigner is not really that exciting for a lot of these people because many of them have studied in the US and/or travelled abroad.
After the 2 hour lunch, I returned to work and sat more until 6:00pm. Then I was given a small research assignment to do by one of the lawyers, which I worked on until it was time to go. I was a bit disappointed overall and before I left I told Venkatesh that I was there to work and wanted to have more to do. He said they were trying to give me a little time to get settled. Although I appreciated it, sitting in front of a computer with nothing to do for 6 hours is not exactly that fun or relaxing. He probably thought I needed to chill out.
That night, we met professor Krishnan for dinner at the guest house. I didn't end up eating because I was so full from lunch. I think the heat has also decreased my appetite a bit. We recounted our first day and generally hung out. Vibhu was there too. Then I came back to the room and went to bed (I was completely exhausted and probably could have slept as soon as I came home at 8pm).
Work on Tuesday was a bit more interesting. I got a couple of research assignments and one bigger assignment (that I still have no clue what to do from Venkatesh). At least I had something to do! I also started talking with the interns, which were all pretty nice. They all attend Indian law schools and are in either their 4th or 5th years.
After work we met professor K for drinks and dinner and Ayush, one of the interns, offered to drive me there so I didn't have to take a car. It was really nice of him to do it (he is awesome). Dinner was great! I had a seafood platter complete with lobster, mussles, and scallops.
So now I have settled in and the daily routine is just to work and go home.
I would say one of the things I have most surprising is how much service help there is. At home we have someone to cook for us, we have someone who comes in and makes our bed and cleans, and we have someone who will do our laundry for us. At work, there are people who come around and serve us water at our desks. When we eat in the conference room, they take out plates for us and put our food on the plate for us and then they wash our dishes when we're finished. Even when I got up to get a coke, the guy poured it for me. It's crazy! I almost feel like its like the south before 1861. I was talking about it with the interns and they were telling me that the concept of "running errands" here is completely nonexistent.
The other interesting thing is how really nice buildings and areas are juxtaposed next to really not nice areas. I thought where I worked would be this really nice industrial complex (Amarchand, the largest firm in India is right around the corner). Instead, the neighborhood is really run down. There are smatterings of nice buildings but otherwise, its quite a sobering experience. Yesterday, a religious group set up a stand in front of my office and was offering free food to everyone who wanted it. I asked if it was safe to eat, and they said definitely not...so that was the end of that.
Tonight, Ayush promised to take me to a place where I can get street food that is actually safe to eat. He also offered to show me around Delhi this weekend! So hopefully the next time I post I'll have much more to say about the city itself (unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to see that much yet).
I am writing this post at 6:45am. I woke up at 4:45 and couldn't go back to sleep. Yesterday I slept all the way until 7:15 and the other day I woke up at 4:15am. The adjustment has been slow and hopefully I will get over this horrible jet lag soon! I've never taken this long to get over it before (but then I've also never been this far away).
So I'll just give some highlights and some observations I've had over the last few days to broadly catch everyone up.
The temperatures are hot, but not as bad as I expected. Luckily, the humidity is very low. The 100 degree temperatures feel like the low 90s that you get in Georgia or Florida...so I can handle it. Besides, we have air conditioning in my room and at my work place so I have spent very little time outside so far.
I am still a bit jetlagged. On Sunday, I woke up voluntarily at 6:15am. I just basically messed around for a little while.
On Sunday, we got up early to meet one of the new donors for the program at Professor Krishnan's hotel. The hotel was excellent - a 5 star resort (I wouldn't expect anything else from Professor Krishnan). In order to get there, I took my first ever auto rickshaw ride which was quite the experience. For those of you who don't know, a rickshaw is basically a three wheeled device powered by a motor and a driver drives it on the road. It's kind of like being on a motorcycle with 3 wheels. The rickshaw does have a roof over it to shield you from the sun and bad weather (not that it's rained since we've been here). The one big disadvantage to the rickshaw is that since it is open (ie: no doors or windows or any of that). Thus, it can be very hot. I cant really take it to work because I would be drenched in dust and sweat by the time I got there (the land here is pretty dusty). It almost seems like we're living in a quasi-desert. The breakfast was beautiful. It was an all you can eat buffet with a breakfast station, fresh pastries, cheeses, yogurt, and salmon. I definitely enjoyed it thoroughly.The new donor for our program was also a really interesting guy who is doing interesting research in India. I was really glad I had the opportunity to hear him speak about it and meet him.
After breakfast, we took a cab over to a Market area called GK-5. The girls wanted to get some clothes and I just wanted to get out of the guest house and see a little bit of Delhi. I quickly realized that clothes shopping with the girls was not the best way I could have done that. The traditional indian clothes were interesting, but I lost interest in watching the girls try on their clothes. They met with Vibhu, an Indian lawyer who met us for dinner the previous night and she was helping them. Actually, Vibhu is a really nice person and I wish I had talked to her more.
After the seemingly endless clothes shopping, we went to a middle eastern restaurant called Shalom. Apparently, Shalom serves Lebanese food and not just Israeli food. Weird. Anyways, I definitely got a picture in front of the sign and that will be posted soon. I didn't really eat because I was still full from breakfast, but I drank soda and smoked hookah. The hookah was decent but of course not as good as Turkey.
After lunch we went to another cafe and had some dessert. It was a fun day to unwind before the first day of work. We came home and had dinner at the guest house and then went to bed relatively early.
The first day of work was uneventful. I met with the senior partner and then with all of the associates. Then I basically went to my desk and sat there with nothing to do. No one gave me any tasks or assignments. It was weird. I was waiting for Venkatesh, the attorney I had been in contact with, to come to the office. He didn't end up coming until 11:15 or so. I wish I could roll into work at 11:15 every day. Anyways, thats besides the point.
He calls me into his office and we talk for a bit. He is a really nice guy and very very intelligent. He actually worked at Cravath before coming back to India. So we talked for a bit and he told me about a research project he was thinking he might have for me and then said he would talk to me about it in a little while. So I went back to my desk and I waited and waited some more. Then, it was time for lunch. It was an associate's last day so they took us in an office car to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was a 5 star all you can eat buffet. They had sushi, lamb curry, this awesome kind of chicken on drum sticks, and several other foods. Additionally, they had a dessert table that was to die for! I had chocolate cake AND chocolate mousse. Yum! The lunch was a nice opportunity for me to start talking a bit with some of the associates and one of the partners I sat next to. Everyone was friendly, but not overly so. I felt like I kind of had to start conversation to get them to talk to me, which was not quite what I expected. Seeing a foreigner is not really that exciting for a lot of these people because many of them have studied in the US and/or travelled abroad.
After the 2 hour lunch, I returned to work and sat more until 6:00pm. Then I was given a small research assignment to do by one of the lawyers, which I worked on until it was time to go. I was a bit disappointed overall and before I left I told Venkatesh that I was there to work and wanted to have more to do. He said they were trying to give me a little time to get settled. Although I appreciated it, sitting in front of a computer with nothing to do for 6 hours is not exactly that fun or relaxing. He probably thought I needed to chill out.
That night, we met professor Krishnan for dinner at the guest house. I didn't end up eating because I was so full from lunch. I think the heat has also decreased my appetite a bit. We recounted our first day and generally hung out. Vibhu was there too. Then I came back to the room and went to bed (I was completely exhausted and probably could have slept as soon as I came home at 8pm).
Work on Tuesday was a bit more interesting. I got a couple of research assignments and one bigger assignment (that I still have no clue what to do from Venkatesh). At least I had something to do! I also started talking with the interns, which were all pretty nice. They all attend Indian law schools and are in either their 4th or 5th years.
After work we met professor K for drinks and dinner and Ayush, one of the interns, offered to drive me there so I didn't have to take a car. It was really nice of him to do it (he is awesome). Dinner was great! I had a seafood platter complete with lobster, mussles, and scallops.
So now I have settled in and the daily routine is just to work and go home.
I would say one of the things I have most surprising is how much service help there is. At home we have someone to cook for us, we have someone who comes in and makes our bed and cleans, and we have someone who will do our laundry for us. At work, there are people who come around and serve us water at our desks. When we eat in the conference room, they take out plates for us and put our food on the plate for us and then they wash our dishes when we're finished. Even when I got up to get a coke, the guy poured it for me. It's crazy! I almost feel like its like the south before 1861. I was talking about it with the interns and they were telling me that the concept of "running errands" here is completely nonexistent.
The other interesting thing is how really nice buildings and areas are juxtaposed next to really not nice areas. I thought where I worked would be this really nice industrial complex (Amarchand, the largest firm in India is right around the corner). Instead, the neighborhood is really run down. There are smatterings of nice buildings but otherwise, its quite a sobering experience. Yesterday, a religious group set up a stand in front of my office and was offering free food to everyone who wanted it. I asked if it was safe to eat, and they said definitely not...so that was the end of that.
Tonight, Ayush promised to take me to a place where I can get street food that is actually safe to eat. He also offered to show me around Delhi this weekend! So hopefully the next time I post I'll have much more to say about the city itself (unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to see that much yet).
I am writing this post at 6:45am. I woke up at 4:45 and couldn't go back to sleep. Yesterday I slept all the way until 7:15 and the other day I woke up at 4:15am. The adjustment has been slow and hopefully I will get over this horrible jet lag soon! I've never taken this long to get over it before (but then I've also never been this far away).
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The Cell Phone Debacle
Before we arrived in India, we were told that the culture was different and the pace of life moves differently. One of the things we were forewarned about was the concept of "Indian time." It operates a lot like Jewish Standard Time but in a more pronounced fashion. In India things move at their own pace and that schedules are more like suggested times, with actual times being much later. This morning, we were told to be in the lobby by 9:30am to go get our cell phones. Ordinarily, this would have been way too early for me, but being jet lagged I actually woke up this morning at 6:15am so 9:30 wasn't really a problem. We went down to the lobby and we waited...then we waited more...then we waited some more. Finally, at 11:00am, our patience was wearing thin and Danny called the cell phone guy to see what was happening. Apparently, they had forgotten that they were supposed to come and said they'd be there in 15 minutes. Well of course 15 turned into 30 which turned into an hour. The cell phone people did not show up until about 12:30 or 1pm. I knew things were going to be a little different, but wow.
Anyways, they took us in small groups to get our pictures taken (passport size photos required) and to buy phones. I was in the 2nd group and was itching to get out of the house since I had not left since we arrived the previous day. They took us down the road and into an alley way and down a street which was crowded with people, shops, and all sorts of chaos. We stopped close to the end of the street at Raj's photo shop. The place only had two rooms and they took us inside and snapped our photos. They developed them in about 5 mins and we paid about 1 dollar for 8 passport sized photos. I tried to catch up with Jerry who was purchasing the cell phones (about 10 bucks each), but he was long gone. I walked down the alley looking for them and could not find them. Some of the stores and enclaves in the street were run down, so it was an interesting stroll.
I returned back to the car and the driver told me to wait inside (Danny had stayed in the shop and ended up getting a free meal). I started talking to the driver but his English was difficult to understand. He was telling me about his family and where he was from and it was all interesting. One really interesting thing is that within the first 5 minutes of our conversation, he volunteered to me how much money he made (20,000 rupees/year or about $446). I was surprised that he just told me (I didn't even ask and was unsure what to say when he told me). It was a good reminder for me about how much poverty there is here.
We returned to the guest house and I ended up going for a walk with Melanie and Louise. We found a cafe a few blocks down the street and stopped in for a snack (we hadn't had lunch so everyone was starving). I had a piece of black forest chocolate cake and a mango shake. I was hoping that the mango shake would be like a mango lassee (one of my favorite Indian drinks at a restaurant), but instead it tasted more milky and less mango-ey. I was disappointed.
When we tried to pay, the shopkeepers refused to break our large bills. The ATMs dispensed only in 500 rupees and 1000 rupee denominations. The cafe claimed not to have change even for my 100 rupee bill so I ended up charging it on my credit card. Melanie on the other hand had no card and they gave her change in gum (each gum piece costs 5 rupees). This happened to us at two different places. I wonder if we collected gum for the entire time and tried to pay one of these shopkeepers in gum what would happen (I suspect that they would not accept it).
As we were walking, the heat was surprisingly bearable. It wasn't cold outside, but I didn't feel it was very much hotter than being in Florida during this time of the year. Lets hope it stays like this.
At around 7, we met professor Krishnan and he took us out to a really nice restaurant at DLK (a large mall in New Delhi). The drive to the mall was fascinating. On the way there, we passed by a shanty town where several pigs were roaming freely. Immediately next to the shanty town was the sparkling DLK mall, one of the larger malls I had ever seen. There was a security guard on the outside. The inside had a staffed piano player, a fountain, and beautiful marble floors. The glass elevators took us to the restaurant on the third floor. The mall contained stores like Louis Vitton and Armani and other extremely nice and expensive stores. The contrast between the two worlds so close together was absolutely stunning.
We arrived at the restaurant and Jerry and I found out that shorts were not permitted for evening (I wish we were forewarned about this). I exchanged my khaki shorts for a pair of jeans. The hostess correctly guessed my size (pretty impressive!). We sat down to dinner and ordered beers (and other drinks--I had a kingfish draft). We had a hummus appetizer and a delicious whole peking duck. For the main course, I had a buttered garlic crab dish. It was like heaven in my mouth. The crab was not quite as big as a dungeness crab but it was larger than a blue crab. It must be some kind of crab that only lives in this part of the world. It was seasoned a bit differently than in the US, but done in such a way that did not require any butter.
I sat next to Danny's mentor (her name is escaping me b/c I am horrible with names and extremely horrible with long Indian names), but she was awesome. She even let me try some of her food. At the end of the meal, Jerry and I collected our pants and had to wait outside for the others. We changed in the bathroom, which was one of the nicest bathrooms I've ever seen. In addition to having someone to hand you towels (like at the Ritz Carleton), the stalls with the toilets had several buttons along the side. There was one to flush, one to disinfect, one for a fragrance, and several others that I did not know what they did. It was weird.
When we drove home, there were random cows in the middle of the busy highway that our driver had to dodge. It was one of the crazier things I had ever seen in a foreign country. I meant to take pictures, but I forgot my camera in the room. I will upload some pictures on here soon. We returned home and had a tea with professor Krishnan and then retired for the evening. Tomorrow's plan is to go into New Delhi proper and get prepared for the start of my internship on Monday!
Anyways, they took us in small groups to get our pictures taken (passport size photos required) and to buy phones. I was in the 2nd group and was itching to get out of the house since I had not left since we arrived the previous day. They took us down the road and into an alley way and down a street which was crowded with people, shops, and all sorts of chaos. We stopped close to the end of the street at Raj's photo shop. The place only had two rooms and they took us inside and snapped our photos. They developed them in about 5 mins and we paid about 1 dollar for 8 passport sized photos. I tried to catch up with Jerry who was purchasing the cell phones (about 10 bucks each), but he was long gone. I walked down the alley looking for them and could not find them. Some of the stores and enclaves in the street were run down, so it was an interesting stroll.
I returned back to the car and the driver told me to wait inside (Danny had stayed in the shop and ended up getting a free meal). I started talking to the driver but his English was difficult to understand. He was telling me about his family and where he was from and it was all interesting. One really interesting thing is that within the first 5 minutes of our conversation, he volunteered to me how much money he made (20,000 rupees/year or about $446). I was surprised that he just told me (I didn't even ask and was unsure what to say when he told me). It was a good reminder for me about how much poverty there is here.
We returned to the guest house and I ended up going for a walk with Melanie and Louise. We found a cafe a few blocks down the street and stopped in for a snack (we hadn't had lunch so everyone was starving). I had a piece of black forest chocolate cake and a mango shake. I was hoping that the mango shake would be like a mango lassee (one of my favorite Indian drinks at a restaurant), but instead it tasted more milky and less mango-ey. I was disappointed.
When we tried to pay, the shopkeepers refused to break our large bills. The ATMs dispensed only in 500 rupees and 1000 rupee denominations. The cafe claimed not to have change even for my 100 rupee bill so I ended up charging it on my credit card. Melanie on the other hand had no card and they gave her change in gum (each gum piece costs 5 rupees). This happened to us at two different places. I wonder if we collected gum for the entire time and tried to pay one of these shopkeepers in gum what would happen (I suspect that they would not accept it).
As we were walking, the heat was surprisingly bearable. It wasn't cold outside, but I didn't feel it was very much hotter than being in Florida during this time of the year. Lets hope it stays like this.
At around 7, we met professor Krishnan and he took us out to a really nice restaurant at DLK (a large mall in New Delhi). The drive to the mall was fascinating. On the way there, we passed by a shanty town where several pigs were roaming freely. Immediately next to the shanty town was the sparkling DLK mall, one of the larger malls I had ever seen. There was a security guard on the outside. The inside had a staffed piano player, a fountain, and beautiful marble floors. The glass elevators took us to the restaurant on the third floor. The mall contained stores like Louis Vitton and Armani and other extremely nice and expensive stores. The contrast between the two worlds so close together was absolutely stunning.
We arrived at the restaurant and Jerry and I found out that shorts were not permitted for evening (I wish we were forewarned about this). I exchanged my khaki shorts for a pair of jeans. The hostess correctly guessed my size (pretty impressive!). We sat down to dinner and ordered beers (and other drinks--I had a kingfish draft). We had a hummus appetizer and a delicious whole peking duck. For the main course, I had a buttered garlic crab dish. It was like heaven in my mouth. The crab was not quite as big as a dungeness crab but it was larger than a blue crab. It must be some kind of crab that only lives in this part of the world. It was seasoned a bit differently than in the US, but done in such a way that did not require any butter.
I sat next to Danny's mentor (her name is escaping me b/c I am horrible with names and extremely horrible with long Indian names), but she was awesome. She even let me try some of her food. At the end of the meal, Jerry and I collected our pants and had to wait outside for the others. We changed in the bathroom, which was one of the nicest bathrooms I've ever seen. In addition to having someone to hand you towels (like at the Ritz Carleton), the stalls with the toilets had several buttons along the side. There was one to flush, one to disinfect, one for a fragrance, and several others that I did not know what they did. It was weird.
When we drove home, there were random cows in the middle of the busy highway that our driver had to dodge. It was one of the crazier things I had ever seen in a foreign country. I meant to take pictures, but I forgot my camera in the room. I will upload some pictures on here soon. We returned home and had a tea with professor Krishnan and then retired for the evening. Tomorrow's plan is to go into New Delhi proper and get prepared for the start of my internship on Monday!
Friday, June 3, 2011
To India 6/2/2011
So I officially changed the name of my blog from "Turkish Adventures" to "Ross' Travel Adventures," as I have decided to keep a blog while I am in India for the summer working at a law firm there. I am excited, anxious, and nervous all at the same time.
The journey to India is a long one, with 2 flights keeping me in the air for a little over 16 hours. Because I was flying internationally, Murphy's laws require that something must go wrong. We arrived at the airport to find the original flight we were on to be delayed by an hour. They pushed it back another hour and as scheduled it would cause us to miss our connection (there is only 1 flight a day direct to New Delhi, so this would present quite a problem). We were able to get onto an earlier flight which was also delayed and we were unsure if we would even make our connection in New York. All we could do is go to the airport brewery (why Indianapolis' airport happens to have a brewery inside their airport I couldn't tell you) and have a drink.
We made it on our flight to New York and it was further delayed by "paper work" issues...whatever that means. We took off and would land with mere minutes to sprint to our next flight. This was going to be tight. We landed at 8:24pm (approximately) and our Delhi flight was scheduled to depart at 8:30. We sprinted off of the plane to make the tight connection (Jerry, Nick, and Tara were ahead of Krista, Ashley, and myself). I followed Krista who was supposedly following them. Somehow we got lost in the hustle of the airport and Krista, Ashley, and I were running to the airport train between terminals. What we did not realize was that it literally takes you outside of the secured area to get there. A German lady who was trying to make her flight also followed us (her mistake).
We took the train over and got to the security line leaping past everyone. I literally must have gone through all of security, including the metal detectors in 5 minutes flat. I was certain we were going to miss the flight. What really concerned me was if the three of us missed it and the other three that were on our plane did not. I sprinted to the terminal and made it just in time! The gate was closed and they had to open it back up for me. Krista was supposedly right behind me, but I did not see her. I stalled the ticket agent as much as possible, telling her that she was right behind me and that I didn't know if I could leave without her. Anything I could. Finally, she said the plane had to go and that I needed to get on it if I wanted to take this flight. There was nothing I could do. Just as I was handing her my passport, I saw Krista (apparently Krista while racing through security had been selected for extra explosives screening). Anyways, she and I both made the flight. Ashley didn't unfortunately, because of a snafu with the travel agent.
After that nice little sprint, I was placed in an aisle seat next to a couple of really nice people. The mother and son were both Americans returning to visit their family. Their daughter was taking the LSAT on Monday and so she asked me a bunch of questions about law school and applications and the like. I ended up giving her my email address and she said she'd stay in touch.
I learned very quickly in the flight that even though international carriers provide free alcohol, Continental does not. I was quite dismayed when the stewardess was going to charge me $6 for a beer. However, a couple of hours later the seal broke on one of the Heinekens and she was going to have to throw it away. She came back with it and served it to me free of charge, which was super nice of her.
The airplane food was decent, an eclectic mixture of American and indian foods.
Then of course there was the screaming child. It is a law of inevitability that on every international flight I am on, there is a screaming child in my vicinity. I do not know how or why. It's like gravity, it just happens. This one happened to be a special occasion, for it was no ordinary screaming child. This child was a super child with special baby screaming powers like I've never seen before! I did not know it was possible for a child to scream for 8 consecutive hours without taking a break, but it was. The mother just sat there and watched. She didn't try to discipline the child, didn't try to pacify him, did not do anything to mitigate the situation. It was completely and utterly ridiculous. We could probably harness this child's screaming ability and power all of New Delhi for the summer. It was that bad. (which obviously caused me to get little to no sleep on the plane EVEN AFTER taking my tylenol PM). When the child finally stopped with about 2 hours to go on the flight, another child started on the other side of me. I couldn't catch a break.
We finally landed and the trek through passport control and customs was quick and easy. Even more surprising, all of our bags came! (Given the short transit time between the flights, I was shocked that my bags made it).
We were picked up by our drivers and I got my first taste of why India is number 1 in motor vehicle accidents. The traffic even at 10pm was as bad as any major city in the US. The drivers were weaving in and out of cars and honking. No one maintained their lanes. There were even a pair of bicyclists pedaling on the opposite side of the interstate. It was chaos. They also drive on the left hand side of the road here (like in England).
We finally made it to our guest house, which happens to be very nice. There is a TV in the rooms, air conditioning, and the beds are OK. Jerry and I finished packing and got a quick bite to eat. Since it was late, the cook, Rhajeev (a really nice guy) apologized to us because he only had Indian food left. I was actually glad he only had Indian food left because that is of course what I wanted to eat. He served us rice, lentil beans, and a green bean & potato dish. The beans and the green beans had a nice little spicy kick to them which made them taste really good (I am sure he went easy on the spices because we are American). He also took the time to show us around the guest house (there is a conference room on the ground floor and a gym). Also, the roof has grass on it and is a really nice area to take in the surrounding sites. I went to bed at 2:30am and the jet lag caused me to wake up at 6:30am. So the adventure begins and I think it's going to be one hell of a summer.
The journey to India is a long one, with 2 flights keeping me in the air for a little over 16 hours. Because I was flying internationally, Murphy's laws require that something must go wrong. We arrived at the airport to find the original flight we were on to be delayed by an hour. They pushed it back another hour and as scheduled it would cause us to miss our connection (there is only 1 flight a day direct to New Delhi, so this would present quite a problem). We were able to get onto an earlier flight which was also delayed and we were unsure if we would even make our connection in New York. All we could do is go to the airport brewery (why Indianapolis' airport happens to have a brewery inside their airport I couldn't tell you) and have a drink.
We made it on our flight to New York and it was further delayed by "paper work" issues...whatever that means. We took off and would land with mere minutes to sprint to our next flight. This was going to be tight. We landed at 8:24pm (approximately) and our Delhi flight was scheduled to depart at 8:30. We sprinted off of the plane to make the tight connection (Jerry, Nick, and Tara were ahead of Krista, Ashley, and myself). I followed Krista who was supposedly following them. Somehow we got lost in the hustle of the airport and Krista, Ashley, and I were running to the airport train between terminals. What we did not realize was that it literally takes you outside of the secured area to get there. A German lady who was trying to make her flight also followed us (her mistake).
We took the train over and got to the security line leaping past everyone. I literally must have gone through all of security, including the metal detectors in 5 minutes flat. I was certain we were going to miss the flight. What really concerned me was if the three of us missed it and the other three that were on our plane did not. I sprinted to the terminal and made it just in time! The gate was closed and they had to open it back up for me. Krista was supposedly right behind me, but I did not see her. I stalled the ticket agent as much as possible, telling her that she was right behind me and that I didn't know if I could leave without her. Anything I could. Finally, she said the plane had to go and that I needed to get on it if I wanted to take this flight. There was nothing I could do. Just as I was handing her my passport, I saw Krista (apparently Krista while racing through security had been selected for extra explosives screening). Anyways, she and I both made the flight. Ashley didn't unfortunately, because of a snafu with the travel agent.
After that nice little sprint, I was placed in an aisle seat next to a couple of really nice people. The mother and son were both Americans returning to visit their family. Their daughter was taking the LSAT on Monday and so she asked me a bunch of questions about law school and applications and the like. I ended up giving her my email address and she said she'd stay in touch.
I learned very quickly in the flight that even though international carriers provide free alcohol, Continental does not. I was quite dismayed when the stewardess was going to charge me $6 for a beer. However, a couple of hours later the seal broke on one of the Heinekens and she was going to have to throw it away. She came back with it and served it to me free of charge, which was super nice of her.
The airplane food was decent, an eclectic mixture of American and indian foods.
Then of course there was the screaming child. It is a law of inevitability that on every international flight I am on, there is a screaming child in my vicinity. I do not know how or why. It's like gravity, it just happens. This one happened to be a special occasion, for it was no ordinary screaming child. This child was a super child with special baby screaming powers like I've never seen before! I did not know it was possible for a child to scream for 8 consecutive hours without taking a break, but it was. The mother just sat there and watched. She didn't try to discipline the child, didn't try to pacify him, did not do anything to mitigate the situation. It was completely and utterly ridiculous. We could probably harness this child's screaming ability and power all of New Delhi for the summer. It was that bad. (which obviously caused me to get little to no sleep on the plane EVEN AFTER taking my tylenol PM). When the child finally stopped with about 2 hours to go on the flight, another child started on the other side of me. I couldn't catch a break.
We finally landed and the trek through passport control and customs was quick and easy. Even more surprising, all of our bags came! (Given the short transit time between the flights, I was shocked that my bags made it).
We were picked up by our drivers and I got my first taste of why India is number 1 in motor vehicle accidents. The traffic even at 10pm was as bad as any major city in the US. The drivers were weaving in and out of cars and honking. No one maintained their lanes. There were even a pair of bicyclists pedaling on the opposite side of the interstate. It was chaos. They also drive on the left hand side of the road here (like in England).
We finally made it to our guest house, which happens to be very nice. There is a TV in the rooms, air conditioning, and the beds are OK. Jerry and I finished packing and got a quick bite to eat. Since it was late, the cook, Rhajeev (a really nice guy) apologized to us because he only had Indian food left. I was actually glad he only had Indian food left because that is of course what I wanted to eat. He served us rice, lentil beans, and a green bean & potato dish. The beans and the green beans had a nice little spicy kick to them which made them taste really good (I am sure he went easy on the spices because we are American). He also took the time to show us around the guest house (there is a conference room on the ground floor and a gym). Also, the roof has grass on it and is a really nice area to take in the surrounding sites. I went to bed at 2:30am and the jet lag caused me to wake up at 6:30am. So the adventure begins and I think it's going to be one hell of a summer.
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