The Stern Opportunity

Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: News

"Whatever you can say about India, the opposite is also true."

It's virtually impossible to define my DBi India experience, both travelling with fellow Sternies and studying for two weeks at the Indian School of Business (ISB). After all, incongruity is everywhere in India. These incongruities exist in India's architecture, where multinational corporations construct modern high-rises amidst shantytowns of nomadic workers who earn just enough rupees to feed their families. They also exist on India's roadways, where oxcarts and bicycle rickshaws share the street with autorickshaws, scooters, taxis, and the ultra-modern Tata Nano. And finally they existed in my travels through India, where all the things that drove me crazy were the same exact things that made my trip so unforgettable.

One of the first things I had to get accustomed to was that everything in India takes longer than expected. Just getting from the airport to my hotel in downtown Mumbai was an ordeal. My taxi driver stopped on four occasions to ask people where the hotel was. What should have been a 45 minute ride turned into an hour and a half adventure. I thought that showing him a map would help, but I soon learned that most Indians don't use maps. As an avid enthusiast of maps, I was shocked that so many Indians don't know where landmarks are on a map. In fact, I was even told by a native of Hyderabad that I knew the layout of her city better than she did, simply because I spent five minutes looking at the city map. Apparently, that's more time than she had ever spent. I must confess that getting lost countless times in taxis and autorickshaws was extremely frustrating and nerve-racking at times. But whatever I can say about my time in India, the opposite is also true. These adventures made every single day of my trip exciting - it would have been so boring without those hiccups.

Spending time in India will test your patience, I promise you. The amount of time I spent waiting is well… unexpected. I probably spent more time waiting than doing. In countless restaurants, I waited and waited and waited for the bill to arrive, despite making numerous requests. On countless occasions, I waited and waited and waited for a bus or car to arrive, despite confirming in advance. And while in those buses and cars, I waited and waited and waited to arrive at my destination, because there is no such thing as a direct route in India. The most egregious example involves waiting at our school for an hour for a five-minute shuttle from our hotel, which was literally around the corner. When we called the hotel three times for status updates, we got a different story each time, one of which was that the bus broke down on the five-minute trip. It's sad to think that most of my days in India consisted of some combination of the following: waiting, travelling, eating, and drinking. But again, anything I say about my time in India, the opposite is true. My experience there would have been half as fun without all the waiting. Some of the best memories from my trip were while I was having a blast with my fellow travelers while waiting. I doubt I would have developed such strong bonds with my Stern friends if everything showed up on time.

So I encourage all of you to make a visit to India. It's a remarkable country full of contradictions. You'll love the food, but you'll need to come armed with Imodium and antibiotics. You'll love the sights, but you'll be shocked by the mounds of uncollected trash. And you'll love the excessive levels of service, but you'll have to let go of your idea of personal space.

These are all good things. We need to be pushed out of our comfort zone to understand our world, our city, and even our classmates here at Stern. And DBi India definitely pushed me far, far outside my comfort zone.

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