International Experience - India (part 1)

Thanks to Erin for kicking off our International Experience blog posts. The life of an SOM student sure is hard -- we had to choose from 9 exciting and complex trips. The natural pick for me was India, with its storied past, blistering economic growth, rich culture, and delicious food. Our 9-day itinerary through Delhi, Pune, and Mumbai includes meetings with 20 companies / nonprofits, 2 dinners with SOM alumni working in India, and of course a number of sightseeing opportunities.But before our group met today to begin the official portion of the trip, many of us took full advantage of the past week to explore other parts of India. I and 5 others explored Kerala and Jaipur. Together, we: - lounged on a beach and interacted with the local fishermen - hiked through the hills and tea plantations of Munnar - went on a safari in Ranthambore National Park - explored the courtyards and passageways of the 400-year-old Amber Fort and more. (See pictures below). Yet, even while we were half a world away from SOM, we couldn't quite shake it. We had more conversations driven by our core curriculum than I care to admit, from running back-of-the-envelope NPV calculations of various tourist operations, to considering the competitive dynamic of various intra-city modes of transport (taxi, city bus, tuktuk, camel…). They weren’t the highlight of our pre-trip travel, but they sure added color.