New Delhi, India
by Bernard Ablola
Sep 21, 2009 India 2009, MBA
We touch down in New Delhi on Sunday night, the streets are filled with people. Brown faces are everywhere. We weave through the people, bikes, cars, trucks and animals that fill the streets. I am anxious and excited.
Last year around this time I was in China, the hardware capital of the world, now this year its India, the I.T. hub of the world. A country filled with history. Home to meditation, Ghandi and 2.1 billion people. Home to the booming BPO industry (Business Process Outsourcing).
We drive pass the India Gate and the President’s house and head to The Lalit. The hotel is impressive, surrounded with business people and luxury. A stark contrast from a just a few steps outside. Where we are surrounded by the “streets.” In Baltimore city, we referred to the “streets” as a the neighborhoods where you witness survival. The struggles and challenges are written on the people’s faces.
We pass through the security check point at the hotel and x-ray our items through the metal detector, this quickly reminds us that a few months ago India was the target to terrorist attacks that left hundreds of people dead.
The luxury hotel, filled with the almost unlimited amenities, shields us from what is happening on the outside. It is almost surreal. In just a few steps outside people are living on less than a couple cents a day. India depicts a stark contrast, some live in splendor others live in squalor.
My mission in India is to get immersed in Indian culture, food, people and business to get a better understanding of the globalization of this fast growing country.
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