I've had a few requests for pictures on the blog. So...here are some bits and pieces of random information and their accompanying pics, in case you want to have more of a glimpse into our ISB existence!
Outside our dorm at ISB
Life at ISB: This week has been a fairly "normal" one in terms of going to B-school in India.
Classes, homework, group case analyses, and the like. It feels good to get into the swing of things, to learn the ways of working together in an Indian context, and to get caught up on assignments and the ever-expanding list of things to do (though I can't complain too much, as one of the tasks on my list was, "lay by the pool!")
The weather in India is gradually starting to warm, as people warned us it would, but the campus is still vibrant with color from the flowering bushes and trees - a welcome sight it January for a girl from the midwest!
Interestingly, after swimming laps for the past 2 weeks at the aforementioned pool, I was kindly informed that it was the sight of a recent cobra spotting... To be continued when/if I can verify the source of the info. (Perhaps I'm just the gullible exchange student? I hope!)
Sight of rumored cobra spotting...hmm...
Exploring Hyderabad: We made a few trips to local establishments this week for a "taste
of Hyderabad." Ty and I went with our new Israeli friends to a western restaurant in the high-end Banjara Hills neighborhood one evening and then went to a local hole-in-the-wall the following night. Night #1 involved salads, cheese plates, and beverages that we haven't enjoyed in several weeks, but it ended in an auto ride that was enough to make us teeter between laughter and tears! We were glad to know, after our driver tested his brakes against an oncoming cement truck, that the vehicle could, in fact, stop rather quickly! Night #2 involved being waited on by a 16-year old named "Nani" who was visibly shaken at the beginning of the meal, stating in a trembling voice, "It is my first time serving foreigners." By the end of the meal though, he'd told us his life story (complete with introductions to his father and grandmother) and was prancing out after us yelling, "Get good grades and come back again!" Hospital and clinic visits: This week involved two day-long trips to meet with folks in the healthcare space, which made the week all the more exciting for me.
First, I was able to visit my Indian colleagues on a Duke Global Health Institute study through the CARE Foundation. Kevin Schulman, Will Mitchell, and Krishna Udayankumar (all HSM faculty or lecturers at Duke) wrote a great Journal of Health Affairs article on the CARE Hospitals late last year - all of you HSMers should get your hands on it. I'm now involved with the Foundation's rural health assessment of five villages in a region 12 hrs (by car) north of Hyderabad. Although I've met with the India-based team via conference call, it was great to meet face-to-face and start planning the next phase of the project together. By the end of the study, 5000 villagers will have been surveyed to determine their health needs, and the CARE Foundation will plan future outreach programs to serve the communities most effectively. Pretty amazing work, I think!
A note to all coffee-lovers and B-school students thinking about working abroad: Our meeting, like all business meetings I've attended so far in India, was interrupted twice by a woman carrying a tray of lovely coffees & teas - a tradition that I appreciate so very much! The coffee cups in this country are seriously small (read: Dixie cup vs. Starbucks venti), so I take every opportunity I can get to "re-up" on the caffeine here. Although I'd die for a Fox Center refillable mug of organic blend right now, I am deeply grateful to the coffee/tea woman for her frequent visits!
The second healthcare-oriented meeting involved visiting a start-up medical diagnostics company in Hyderabad for a class project. The company is currently receiving funding through a local VC firm, and its mission is impressive: provide high quality laboratory and radiology services to patients at an affordable price. They're hoping to expand throughout southern India and ultimately provide diagnostic capabilities throughout regions that currently have no access or only limited access (potentially unsafe, unreliable, and unregulated).
Interesting cultural conversations: I saw this sign in two clinics where ultrasounds are
regularly performed. Posting of the sign in medical diagnostics centers is mandatory, and it states: "Determining the Sex of the foetus by Pre-Natal Diagnostic test is a punishable Crime for those who do it and for those who get it done & those who encourage it."
Of course, it took me about two seconds to pry into my team member, an OB-GYN who's practiced in India for her entire career. She told me that because male children have traditionally been (and still are, in many areas) favored over female children, the country has historically suffered high rates of "fetucide" (or selective abortion if the fetus is female). Google produced hundreds of political, religious, and other non-objective postings on the practice, but the honesty and frankness with which my teammates talked about the practice was surprising (and refreshing too, signaling increased awareness and intolerance). I've always associated China with infanticide post-birth, and I had no idea that it has been (and is) still a problem in India.
The conversation also led to really interesting discussions with my team members (male & female, Indian, American, & Thai, 20-somethings & 50-somethings, Buddhist & Hindu) about the changing views of Indians in my generation, the amazing diversity of political and religious beliefs in the country, and a number of other fascinating issues. We debated arranged vs. love marriages, gender equality, astrological powers, women's rights (including abortion, contraception, maternal mortality, etc.), the impact of media and technology on India, and the gross disparities in wealth among the country's population. It was so interesting to sense the cultural tide changing as I sat sandwiched between young and old (literally and figuratively) in the back seat of a taxi, waiting for the stopped traffic to inch its way through the Old City.
Other updates: Although we stayed in Hyderabad this weekend (not the norm for the
exchange student crowd - most of whom are off exploring the country), we did start planning the travel schedule post-ISB. We'll have 2 1/2 months to travel through India, and paging through "Lonely Planet India" makes me extremely excited for the adventure. We've loved our time in the villages to date, and we'll likely try to see some remote areas along the way, in addition to the "must-sees." So far, we've got Agra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Calcutta, Varanasi, Shimla, Darjeeling, Goa, and Kerala on the map (with a probable jaunt into Nepal). We know that many of you know great places to though, and we're more than willing to take recommendations!
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