Halfway Around the World and Back

Wow... What a week it has been!

First, call me crazy but I decided to fly back from India to Canada to surprise Namika. I had to orchestrate the whole thing with her sister, Shikha, and one of her best friends, Flavia (Thanks, guys). In the end, I think we executed it perfectly.... Namika had no idea. :)

Namika surprise caught on tape.

I miss being at home where you can get to places without cabs/rick-shaws. After spending 5 days back home (much needed), I flew into Delhi where I took another flight to Udaipur to meet Bram and Axel (my India travel buddies) to begin my North India mini-tour. At this point, I had flown over 50 hours in just 5 days..... severely jetlagged to say the least. But I continue to press on anyways.

Udaipur is a 400+ year told city with some of the most unique views I've ever seen. The center piece of the city is the floating Lake Palace (part of the Bond film Octopussy was filmed here) in Lake Pichola .

The Lake Palace during the day.



Fatech Prakash Palace Hotel by Lake Pichola.

Lake Palace at night. What a view!

From Udaipur, we headed to this town about 100km away called Chittorgarh to attend a Rajasthani wedding. We didn't have anything proper to wear so we spent a day in Udaipur shopping for kurtas (Indian night suit). The highlight of the night must be when we were dragged onto the stage at the sangeet to dance in front of everyone! Sangeet is a Hindu/Sikh event typically held 2-3 days before the wedding where ladies will sing and dance to celebrate the newly weds. It was particularly embarrassing because we were preceded by many beautiful Rajasthani dances. Nonetheless, we all had a good time.

Boys in our kurtas (Left to Right: Axel, Wally, Bram)

All the female relatives waiting for the groom to "bring" home the bride.

One of the performances at the Sangeet. Notice the flashing dance floor, very 80's.

The next morning, Granlent, Shirley, and I flew to Delhi (a 1.5 hour flight). Axel and Bram took the overnight (14 hours) train to Delhi as well. We spent the day site-seeing the city. I find Delhi much more crowded and busy than Mumbai. We are scheduled to be here for the weekend so I will write more about Delhi once I have a chance to explore it a bit more.

Gate of India (India Gate)


Delhi National Museum. I learnt a lot about some of the more famous Hindu Gods/Goddesses (Krishna, Shiva, Ganoush, Ganga, etc.).

Humayun's Tomb. Built in mid 16th century. Those Mughals sure like their tombs.

Hopefully you enjoyed a sliver of what's been happening to me in the past few days. In the next 5-7 days, we plan to visit Agra (Taj Mahal), Amritsar (Golden Temple), and maybe Dharamsala (where the Dalai Lama resides). I'll keep you posted!

ISB Moves to #15 in the World!

I love ISB's school spirit. The 2009 Financial Times MBA ranking came out two days ago and it ranked ISB #15, moving up 5 spots from #20 the previous year. We had a celebration at noon today with opening remarks from the ex-dean, Professor Mendu Rammohan Rao, followed by a lunch buffet at the atrium. I'm really impressed with the school spirit the student community shows. I'm also really loving the campus life because I never did coming from a city school (University of Toronto). It's such a tight community and all the ISB students have been so warm and welcoming. I just came back from celebrating this milestone from the 2008 Student Lounge, an outdoor dance floor with a kickass sound system donated by the 2008 class. I'm not much of a dancer but I really enjoyed being on the dance floor with everyone dancing to Indian music. Nothing beats partying with everyone and then walking about 100 yards back to my room. Back home, I would to hang out with my friends and then drive 40 minutes back to home.

It's been tough juggling between school, work, and traveling but I'm loving it!

WaLLy :)

So Sonu is a bit confused... it's #15, not #51.