The Ice Flow

By Red Sox Steve

Agra

I transfered from a 35 passenger bus to an autorickshaw right in the middle of a busy intersection when I arrived in Agra. When I directed the driver to go to the Taj Mahal, it was only because the south entrance to the 350 year old mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal was right near my hotel. As we drove through the city, which has an official population of 1.6 million, it was difficult to ignore that this was yet another bustling urban area, with wide busy streets and bumper to bumper traffic. After I checked into my hotel, the morning fog started to clear and I started out on foot. I could see the Taj Mahal from my hotel's rooftop, but thought it wise to get there early the next morning as opposed to rushing through in an afternoon before sunset.

The Taj Mahal is constructed on a north-south axis, facing south, which is how I knew I was heading west when I started from my hotel for some afternoon exploring. Small shops line each side of the street in the vicinity of the south entrance, and the streets are narrow and windy, so it was tough to maintain any sense of orientation as I walked. Bicycle and auto-rickshaws are the main forms of transportation in this part of town, so I hopped on one and directed him to the other major destination in Agra, which predates the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort. As the rickshaw ambled along a busy street, we passed Shah Jahan Park (named for the Mughal emperor who started construction of the Taj Mahal) on the right, and all of a sudden I saw a large, looming structure getting closer. Although I knew I wanted to see Agra Fort, I had no idea that the fort's walls would have a weather-worn reddish hue to them. As we got closer, I could make out more detail, first the structural arrangement of the fort, and then the fine carvings on the outer walls. When we pulled up, my first thought was, "this place is massive!".

After making my way through the usual cadre of hawkers and on to the entrance, I hired a guide (government-approved, recommended by the Lonely Planet, and well worth it), paid my admission fee and made my way in. The architecture and layout of the fort just inside the entrance were the first things I noticed. We had to cross a moat and go up a long alley way to get to the courtyard, but there were still many gates which sub-divided areas and structures inside the fort. We saw a great deal of sandstone even within the fort, as well as marble walls and columns and even an onyx slab used as a bench. The fort even had a battle scar from the Indian Uprising of 1857 (300 years after Emperor Akbar's modifications in 1573) - the British had fired cannonballs into the fort, cracking the black onyx tablet and a marble portico in the process. The interior of the fort was majestic and had been well maintained, which served as a constant reminder of the wealth and influence of the Mughal emperors. They were able to access human and material resources from as far away as the "Far West" (known to Westerners as the "Middle East") to construct the fort.

The one tragic story associated with the Mughals who occupied Agra Fort is that Shah Jahan, grandson of the mighty Akbar, had the Taj Mahal constructed as a tomb for his deceased wife, Mumtaz Mahal. At the end of his life and before his Taj Mahal was completed, Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb, and forced to remain in the luxurious fort (not such a harsh punishment) until his death. Each day, Shah Jahan, accompanied by his favorite daughter, spent time in a part of the fort called Muasamman Burj, a tower which faces the Taj Mahal. From here, he was able to monitor the Taj's construction from a distance until it was completed in 1653.

I still had a few hours of sunlight left after departing the fort, so I wanted to take in as many sights as I could before returning to my hotel. I hopped on a bicycle rickshaw and asked the driver to go to the other Mughal-era mausoleum in town, the burial place of Mirzā Ghiyās Beg, grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal. Officially, the monument, finished in 1628, is called the Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula ("pillar of the state"); unofficially, many call it the "Baby Taj" due to its much smaller size relative to the Taj Mahal.

There were very few people there when I arrived - like its larger counterpart, architectural symmetry and fine detail govern every bit of its design. The walls of the main mausoleum are made of marble and inlaid with semi-precious stones like jasper and topaz, made into designs like cypress trees and or vases. The garden is perfectly maintained, with trees and flowers neatly placed around the courtyard. The inner walls of the secondary buildings have been worn out over time, however their external walls still maintain the detailed designs first conceived centuries ago.

After a mere 30 minutes, I had ventured to every corner of the monument, snapped sufficient photos and wanted to make one more stop before going back to my hotel: I hopped on the auto-rickshaw and the driver took me to a park along the Yamuna River. From here, I could see a rear view of the Taj Mahal across the dried up riverbed. Although implored (really, pestered) by my driver to go shopping, I decided to return to the hotel, where I could capture some shots of the Taj Mahal from the rooftop as the sun went down. I needed food and some rest because early the next morning, I would take in one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

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By Red Sox Steve

Sawai Madhopur

I boarded the train in Jaipur, and started the weeks long eastward journey that would eventually get me to Kolkata. My first destination after Jaipur was Sawai Madhopur. It is a very small town, so I was hoping things would move a little slower here - I wanted to balance out the chaos of Jaipur and Delhi with a little more peace and quiet. Four weeks in India was a marathon, not a sprint. What also lured me to Sawai Madhopur was the tiger safari.

After a 2 hour train ride, I arrived in Sawai Madhopur, and went to my aptly named hotel: Hotel Tiger Safari. It was just what I needed - quiet, clean rooms, hot water, a nice restaurant and even a swimming pool. As soon as I put my bags in the room, I took a poolside seat, grabbed a Sprite and just said, "ahhh...". Later, I ended up walking down the only street in town to check out the area - I saw a number of hotels and small shops, but that was about it. I took a nap, had dinner, and watched TV before bed, but not before I signed up for the tiger safari which left for Ranthambhore National Park at 6:30 AM the next morning.

When I arrived in Sawai Madhopur, I was battling mid-afternoon heat; when I awoke before sunrise for the safari, the air was surprisingly cool. The open-air canter picked up my group, and as soon as it pulled away I had the wind rushing towards my face and I immediately knew I was underdressed wearing only a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. As we made our way toward the park, we picked up a few more tourists before getting to the park entrance. When we finally arrived, it was clear my fellow tourists with their cameras at the ready, were brimming with excitement. There are safari runs every morning and afternoon, the primary purpose of which is to see a tiger. Although other animals could be spotted along the journey (peacocks, monkeys, birds, deer), it was clear that the potential to see a tiger in its natural environment was the main attraction.

Our vehicle made its way along bumpy roads, and because the surrounding hills blocked the sunlight, it remained chilly. I had to keep my eyes open to see wildlife but my head down to avoid getting the occasional tree branch in the face, and I was freezing my ass off... I was not in the best mood. Because we hadn't seen any tigers, and the vehicle even broke down once, the groans, sighs and expressions on the people around me evidenced a creeping sense of despair that was eroding our collective optimism.

The sun started to come over the hills, we began to see some animals, and everyone's mood started to improve. We passed a watering hole for crocodiles, but weren't lucky enough to spot one. We briefly rested at the midpoint of our journey, and now the canter was headed out of the park. We had taken so many twists and turns, my sense of distances and direction became irrelevant. We spotted a number of lively monkeys and exotic birds, but had yet to see the animal that has been going extinct for decades, a Royal Bengali Tiger. All of a sudden, as the canter was meandering along the rustic road, our guide nervously tapped the driver on the shoulder and pointed into the brush. The vehicle stopped suddenly, and everyone shot out of their seats. About 40 yards from the road, there was a tiger prowling in the jungle! It was a baby male tiger, and he was examining us as intently as we were photographing him. For a few brief steps, it was moving parallel to the road, cautious to avoid us, but not lose sight of us. Instinct and adrenaline fueled subject and viewer - everyone in the group looked directly at the elegant beast as he tried to determine if we were friend, foe, or food.

Everyone grew silent as cameras were powered on and pointed at the powerful creature staring us down. The tiger started toward our vehicle, but still seemed to be a "safe" distance away, at least according to my naive estimations. The guide informed us that this was a baby male, which was more rare than a female AND extremely shy; although from where I was sitting he had NO problem with eye contact! He seemed to want to avoid us and so he crossed the road, avoiding interaction with our group while doing so. Because another safari group pulled up behind us, the tiger passed in front of our vehicle - he was about 10-15 feet from our headlights, when any perspective on diminutive dimension quickly changed. Our "baby" tiger walked slowly across the road while his paparazzi couldn't seem to take enough pictures!

He never changed pace and only slightly altered his direction while he moved. The brush he encountered on the other side of the road was much thicker - soon, because of his deliberate and powerful movements, we could hear the crackling of the bushes, but had lost sight of this striped mammoth. Within a few moments, he appeared, and was steadily moving away from our group. Final pictures and movies were taken, and after a few deep breaths, there was a feeling of exhilaration amongst us all. Ultimately, we were not in any danger, and, after the multiple unsuccessful attempts by some, everyone was pleased we saw what we came for. There is a campaign in India to save the tigers, part of which reminds people there are only about 1400 tigers left in the entire country. We were fortunate to see the rarest of rare species: a baby male Bengali Tiger.

We continued our journey out of the park, and spotted numerous monkeys, deer and India's national bird, the peacock, along the way. My body temperature warmed to normal, and the bone-chilling wind I felt early in the morning had become a cooling breeze while the late morning sun warmed me up. I made two friends on the trip as well, and we would all meet up later to talk about the tiger sighting and take an afternoon journey to the 1,000 year old Ranthambore Fort nearby.

On the afternoon trip to Ranthambore Fort, I got to know Jeff and Jaya, friends who were traveling together and staying at my hotel. There wasn't any signage at the fort, so we weren't able to grasp much of its significance with respect to its ancient history. When we finally got to the top (a winding ascent along a stone path punctuated by large intimidating gates with palatial structures and open grass courtyards at the top), we entered one of the three Hindu temples, and received a blessing from Ganesh, the Hindu god and protector of intellect and wisdom.

In our steps leading to the temple's entrance, we saw a long pathway outlined by a set of parallel bars, which is where a few million worshipers wait in line to receive Ganesh's blessing on an annual Hindu holiday. There was no line, so all we had to do was remove our shoes, enter the temple (no photos allowed), receive the blessing along with a spot of dye on our foreheads and a string bracelet, and provide a small donation before leaving. I was intimidated at first - I didn't want to offend any Hindus by falsely representing myself as someone worthy of a blessing from a religion I didn't believe in, and I didn't want to inadvertently disobey any of their customs. Luckily, neither happened, and after a 15 minute descent to the parking lot, the wind was again blowing in our hair as we returned to the hotel in time for dinner.

The next morning, I would board the train for Bharatpur.

Bharatpur

Sawai Madhopur was quiet and peaceful and Bharatpur was more of the same. Bharatpur, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur... they all have the same "-pur" suffix. If you are an amateur etymologist like me, you start wondering about the meaning of that suffix. On my trip, I found out it is the Hindu word for city. Jaipur was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh in the 18th century, Sawai Madhopur was built by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh I, who came from Jaipur, and Bharatpur was named after Bharata, a brother of Lord Rama (the legendary and mythological king of Ayodhya). Rajasthan, a state formed in 1949 after independence, had been sub-divided into "princely states" ruled by Rajputs, one of the warrior tribes of India. The Rajput ruled states first coalesced under the Mughal emperors in the 16th century, then under the British in the colonial era that followed.

The trip from Sawai Madhopur to Bharatpur was short - after a couple of hours I was there. I hopped in an autorickshaw (think of a go-cart with a roof, powered by "CNG"... Compressed Natural Gas) and we made our way to my hotel, which was just a short walk to one of the major tourist sites of India: The Keoladeo National Park. The park is a bird reserve, with jackals, snakes, ants and even cattle milling about. The birds there were numerous, moved quickly and were spotted from a distance - I came across species like the Ruddy Shelled Duck, White-Throated Kingfisher, Cattle Egret, Rose-ringed parakeet, Spot-billed Duck, and Red-Wattled Lapwing. Some species migrate from as far away as Siberia and through the Himalayas to reach central India.

With my guide, I spent over three hours wandering through the park. I remember seeing owls, ducks, turtles and a wide variety of birds. At the end of a long road, we came upon a large display - on it were hunting records dating back a number of decades. Keoladeo didn't become a protected wildlife sanctuary until Indira Gandhi, daughter of Nehru (NOT Gandhi) was in power in 1971. Prior to 1971, for centuries, it was a reliable hunting ground for both Indian maharajas and the British ruling class. Because the sanctuary contains the confluence of two rivers, local farmers have also used it as a grazing area until 1982. Today, because so many endangered avian species make it their home, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After relaxing in this peaceful town, it was time to plan my escape. Very easy since there was a bus stop a short walk from my hotel - My next city has one of the most amazing and well-known tourist sites in the entire world... After a 2 hour ride I stepped out and jumped into an auto-rickshaw. It didn't matter if the driver spoke English or Hindi because I only had to direct him with two words: "Taj Mahal".

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By Red Sox Steve

It was an innocent enough question. I have been on airplanes many times before, and even longer flights - it's simple: I turn on the iPod, keep food and water consumption at a minimum to avoid frequent trips to the bathroom, allow my mind to drift away from the "armrest war" going on with the stranger next to me, and next thing you know, I'm there. But it was this one question that sent a jolt into the deepest part of my brain, and made me ask myself, after all the planning, all the reading, all the presentations and hours of documentaries and evenings spent talking to my Bangalorean roommate, what I had gotten into.

The flight attendant was dutifully going down the aisle with a cart full of food and drinks, looked me straight in the eye and said, "Western bread or Indian bread?" That was the first time I knew I was as geographically and culturally far from home as I had ever been in my life. That and the map on the tiny screen in the seatback in front of me that indicated the plane was moving east from Amsterdam, across Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, and we still had about 2 hours to go. I was on my way to India for the first time in my life.

I'm probably going to mention the Lonely Planet Guide about 1,000 times as I tell the story of my time in India - but that isn't nearly as many times as I opened it during my month there. I might also mention how heavy my backpack was - I squeezed everything I thought I needed into a single pack, and was still able to carry on. :)

We arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi at around midnight. After filling out the appropriate forms and showing the customs officer my passport and visa (don't leave home without it!), I went straight to the waiting area. My flight was full and there were about three times as many folks waiting at the airport for friends, relatives, colleagues or assigned pick-ups as passengers. My taxi driver, Abdul, was there waiting for me: "Mr. Steve" his sign read. I greeted him, went to the ATM and hoped Bank of America listened when I told them I'd be using my card in India for the month. The familiar sound of the ATM working normally meant I was about to hold Indian Rupees for the first time... no need for dollars for about 4 weeks.

On the drive from the airport to the hostel, I got to know Abdul - we chatted a little about politics, economics, India, America, New York, the weather, families, and work. He's greeted tourists before, which was evident from his broadly-based and descriptive introduction to the city and the country. From the airport, the drive to Connaught Place in Delhi where I was staying was about 40 minutes. It was late at night, so there was very little traffic. Leaving the airport, though, I was immediately able to learn something about India: there is a multi-lane highway that gets people from the airport to the city; however, a huge construction project is taking place to build a high-speed train system along the same route. Later this year, the Commonwealth Games are coming to Delhi, so the municipal government hopes to have this project completed by then. After about 21 hours of travel, I arrived at my hostel in Connaught Place, with plans to see Delhi starting after a good night's sleep.

Delhi

I got to Delhi late at night on a Wednesday, and spent three full days in the city. It's a massive city containing about 14 million people, divided into a few major sections - two of the most prominent being Old Delhi and New Delhi. Connaught Place is in New Delhi and is a highly commercialized area with a Pizza Hut, Mercedes dealership, and Sony store within walking distance of my hostel. It's actually a large outdoor shopping mall with concentric circles of stores surrounding a central park which also has its own underground stop on the Delhi metro.

I had consulted my Lonely Planet about what to do and where to go long before I left New York, but still felt overwhelmed by the choices available to me. I wanted to be a tourist, but being a 6 year resident of Manhattan and remembering the mixed feelings I have about tourists visiting my hometown, I also wanted to make sure I spent as much time learning about the city and its inhabitants as I did taking in all the major sites. Because the city was so large and densely populated, I knew I wouldn't see everything I wanted. The next few days were tough - I was adjusting to the climate and time change (+10.5 hours from NY time), taking my meds (doxycycline, every day, with food & I had ciprofloxacin... just in case), and I had to find some relatively non-spicy meals that didn't make me sick. I had to take it slow while the experience of adjusting to India overwhelmed all my senses.

On my first day, I spent time in Old Delhi, taking in Mughal-era (1526-1850) structures. I saw India's largest mosque, the Jama Masjid, and a fort across the street, simply called the Red Fort. The mosque is well secured due to the long history of conflict and terrorism throughout the sub-continent, and it is surrounded by markets selling everything from chai to clothing, auto and bicycle rickshaw drivers waiting to pick up tourists, and beggars seeking handouts from the easily spotted foreigners who spend time in the area. The mosque is open to tourists most days, but closes at noon on Friday to accommodate worshipers - the area inside the mosque's walls are so massive, it is thought that 25,000 worshipers can occupy the grounds at one time. Right across the street stands the Red Fort, which housed the royal family of India for about two centuries. Every year on Indian Independence Day, the Prime Minister raises the Indian flag on one of the fort's main gates. The Red Fort and the Jama Masjid were both built by Shah Jahan, a Mughal emperor who ruled during the 17th century.

Over the next couple of days, I visited Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated and is memorialized, the Gandhi museum, which describes his life and achievements in pretty good detail, and some parks, tombs, and monuments around Delhi: Lodhi Gardens, Humayun's Tomb and India Gate. Lodhi Gardens and Humayun's Tomb both contain mausoleums for Mughal-era rulers and their families. The different sites serve as a reminder of the layers of history that have swept across northern India for the last half-millennia. Because of limited time and my desire to see other parts of the country, I missed a number of sites as well: Qutb Minar, the largest minaret in the world, the Lotus Temple, a B'hai house of worship, and the Akshardham Temple, a Hindu temple finished in 2005. After spending three days in Delhi, I felt that the trip hadn't started - I was only beginning to get physically adjusted; my curiousity about less well-known parts of the country was yet to be satisfied.

On Sunday morning, I left for Jaipur. The distance to Jaipur from Delhi was about 270km along a main highway, and the trip took about 6 hours due to traffic and stopping (I should have taken the train :) ). As my journey took me through Rajasthan, I noticed the changes in landscape. Much of northern, interior, India is very flat which helps explain why around half its population works in agriculture. During the journey, I also came upon both smaller towns and large industrial developments. In some places close to Delhi, there were construction sites where both commercial and residential properties were being built, reminiscent of a western/suburban development model. As we got closer to Jaipur, however, the landscape started to become more mountainous.

Jaipur

As we approached Jaipur, the first thing I noticed was the number of marble craftsmen along the side of the road. Marble has been a prominent industry in Jaipur for centuries - Rajasthani marble was even used in the construction of the Taj Mahal. The state of Rajasthan is very rich in natural resources, with companies mining things like zinc, copper and even sandstone. Before arriving at my hotel, I decided to take in two of the most important Mughal-era sites in the area: Jantar Mantar and City Palace. Jantar Mantar is an 18th century collection of large-scale astronomical devices. The ability of these tools to tell the time and date, and even incorporate the zodiac calendar with up to the minute accuracy nearly three centuries later, is a testament to their quality and indicates how advanced the Mughals of that era were. City Palace is just that - an 18th century Mughal-era complex built to house the king ("maharaja") and his family, as well as receive dignitaries and provide security in times of war.

After spending a couple of hours, snapping a ton of photos (I loved the accuracy of the sundials at Jantar Mantar - adjusted for their location with respect to Jaipur's distance from the equator) and hopping on an auto rickshaw, I made my way to my hotel, which was in one of the busiest parts of Jaipur. Because it was a planned city before it became inhabited centuries ago, Jaipur has a number of gates around the oldest parts of the city - these were incorporated into Jaipur's design in order to put Hindu architectural theory to use: the idea being that a plan using geometric concepts would increase a city's prosperity and the comfort of its inhabitants (later incorporated into many cities around the world). Furthermore, Jaipur is known as the "Pink City", because of a tribute the Mughal rulers made to the Prince of Wales on his visit in 1853 - they painted the entire city pink in anticipation of his visit.

On my only full day in Jaipur, I made sure to wake early: I was going to hop on a bus that would take me from the rotary near my hotel (just in front of a mosque called Hawa Mahal) to Amber Fort in the next town. My Lonely Planet was right: the buses left every few minutes, cost less than 10 rupees and got me there pretty quickly! Because it was early in the morning, I was on the bus with mostly school children and people going to work. It was crowded so I didn't mind standing. One of the students among this group on the bus had her electrical engineering text out and was reading it intently as the bus ambled along the bumpy road. Even though I was in Jaipur to see things that dominate the city's past, this place has a present and future as well. Some of the world's largest companies are represented in this city of 4 million: Infosys, Tata, Wipro, and Deutsche Bank to name a few.

After about a 30 minute ride, we approached Amber Fort. As soon as I saw the fort, I jumped off the bus. I entered an open gate into a courtyard, and could see the fort at the top of the hill. I started snapping pictures - the sun had yet to come over the surrounding hills, but because no one else was around, I managed to take some pretty good photos. I made my way towards the main path, which is where I started seeing tourists... riding up to the fort on the backs of elephants. I got lucky because I got off the bus a little early... I avoided the fort's main entrance where the elephants (and their "processed" meals) congregated: it stunk something fierce!

Making my way into the fort after climbing a windy path, I was able to see the different parts of this amazing structure. Amber Fort was built in 1592 and modified over the next 150 years to satisfy the desires of successive rulers. It sits high atop a hill in Amber (just 11km from Jaipur) and from here, one can see far into the distance in each direction. The main road leading up to the fort is surrounded by hills on both sides, and is where main commerce and transportation routes exist even today. The town of Amber itself is very small: centuries ago, the maharaja moved all inhabitants to Jaipur, the planned city a short distance to the south.

After taking in Amber Fort and walking around Amber, I hopped on the bus and returned to Jaipur. I spent an overcast afternoon in Jaipur, beyond the gated section of the city. The distinctive pink color adorning buildings in the gated section did not carry over to the more industrialized and populated areas of the city. The place, similar to Delhi, was teeming with activity, but, being a few days into my journey, my adrenaline had worn off: I went back to my hotel, had a brief meal, and fell asleep.

Tomorrow, I would board the train for Ranthambore.

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By Red Sox Steve

I recently attended a program called the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium, which took place in Kingston, RI. The subject of the colloquia this semester is Demistifying India, and the topic of last night's discussion was "Doing Business in India, With India". Follow this link to find out more about this presentation. I want to comment on what I saw and learned because I found this presentation extremely informative.

I've travelled to - and lived in - the developing world, but have not yet been to India. From all that I've read about the "BRIC" countries, these are the places that will lead the world in a half-century. Their massive size, massive population, and access to natural resources means that their standing in the world will dramatically improve between now and 2050. At the same time, these nations are still very much developing countries. I'm also afraid the average American doesn't understand the magnitude of this transformation. Pay attention and learn about India, China, Brazil and Russia at every opportunity to understand how life will unfold in the 21st century.

There were three speakers, two of which were alumni of URI, who presented in the order as listed below:

1) Mr. John Struck, alumnus of URI (undergraduate economics), managing director at venture capital firm Wand Partners and Director of SeedWorks India Private Limited
2) Mr. Tobias Leuhrig, alumnus of URI (undergraduate engineering, graduate MBA), head of strategy at German truck parts manufacturer
3) Mr. Shivan Subramaniam, CEO of FM Global, a global insurance company based in Johnston, RI.

Mr. Struck's presentation was on the development of an agricultural company in India called SeedWorks. Struck, having graduated from URI in the early 1970s, has travelled extensively around the world, visiting over 50 countries in the last 35 years. His perspective was well-rounded, highly experienced and well-informed. The agricultural company that his venture capital firm financed over 10 years ago has performed as one would expect, when considering the nearly 10% growth in Indian GDP over the last decade - amazing! They've seen revenue growth in the double digits year after year, climbing every year. Agriculture makes up about 19% of the Indian economy, and employs over 100 million people. In contrast, the IT outsourcing industry employs a mere 2 million. Unfortunately, because of poor infrastructure and other challenges, a whopping 40% of SeedWorks' product is lost on its way from the farm to the market.

The investment has worked well for investors, and SeedWorks employs about 300 people; but losing such a high percentage of crop on delivery seriously cuts into profits. In addition, SeedWorks owns no buildings in India - it rents every property it occupies because, according to Struck, getting a building permit is so difficult there. In addition, the electrical grid is so unreliable, SeedWorks runs its system of backup generators almost 6 months a year. This business has done a good job of taking advantage of human capital - one of their lead Indian scientists was educated in America and has experience working for an American multinational firm, prior to managing SeedWorks. This is no surprise: many in the Indian diaspora have returned to India to seek employment after receiving educations abroad.

Mr. Leuhrig's presentation was a bit more technical in nature. He described the differences in technology in the trucking industry between Germany and India - with the best automotive engineers in the world, Germany is second to none when it comes to innovations in transportation. India, being an emerging economy, faces a great deal of challenges in the transportation sector, including a lack of safe and reliable trucks and busses on its poorly maintained roads and highways. Where Struck was well-informed and easily able to understand the nuances and differences between doing business in his own (and many other) countries and India, Leuhrig, unfortunately was not.

Coming from a developed nation, going to a developing nation, I understand the temptation to want to inject superior technological knowledge in the interest of progress and development. After all, we are all looking for the best solutions to the problems we find aren't we? Well, it's not as simple outside the sphere of engineering. India is a developing nation, and things like technology, transportation, and infrastructure are not going to resemble what we see in the developed world most of the time. When they do, it's a small victory for progress, but when they don't there are a number of reasons why this would be the case. Here's the thing - Leuhrig is a highly skilled engineer, and, knowing a few other engineers myself, I know they instinctively apply formulae to problems, working out the solution as efficiently as possible. That works, but only in engineering. Yes, India has inferior trucking capacity and technology. Yes, in order to grow its economy it will need the best technology in the world, but it's the structure of the economy in its present form that prevents this from being the case.

Leuhrig made great points about the technological differences between trucks in Germany and trucks in India. Germany, though, has the human capital, infrastructure and technology to support a network of high-end, high-performance vehicles. India, with a delapidated road system, intermittent access to mechanics and even less access to the technology required to maintain a system of high-tech trucks, won't benefit from an investment in the trucks Leuhrig is selling. His presentation confirmed that despite the best efforts of those that espouse the virtues of technology, a more holistic analysis of the situation in India, as well as a much higher level of self-awareness, would help point Mr. Leuhrig and his firm in the right direction.

The last presenter was Mr. Subramaniam. His presentation was on the services that FM Global provides to Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 clients around the world. According to Subramaniam, it takes FM Global at least 3 years to develop and train an engineer for fieldwork. Unlike many other insurance companies, FM Global employs no actuaries, only engineers who contemplate and model outcomes with the intent of providing affordable insurance to clients around the world. He feels, as do most multi-national CEOs, that as the Indian economy grows, opportunities for companies like FM Global to increase market share there will grow as well. There is no stretch in that logic; however the only catch is that in India, in order to sell insurance, foreign ownership of an insurance firm can be no greater than 26%. In other words an FM Global insurance subsidiary must be at least 74% owned by an Indian-domiciled corporation. It is clear that India has little interest in allowing foreign financial firms to move insurance premiums or profits out of India.

The entire presentation was as interesting as it was diverse. The first presenter gave a great example of the success of aligned interests - a foreign financial firm made an investment completely appropriate for India's level of development, in a sector that will only increase with an improvement in India's developing economy AND skills and technical know-how were put to use in order to create a business that will contribute to economic growth in India. The second presenter provided an excellent analysis of the technological disparities that still exist between a high-tech nation and a low-tech nation in the trucking industry, while also confirming that cultural understanding is just as important as technical understanding. The third presenter gave a much more globally oriented presentation as he discussed the challenges facing a multi-national corporation trying to get into the Indian marketplace.

In their own way, each of the presenters confirmed that India will remain an attractive place for foreign investment and strong diplomatic ties for decades to come. While it retains many of the characteristics of a developing country, the economy is growing far faster than many other nations in the developing world. Because of this rate of growth, foreigners are advised to take advantage of opportunities for cultural and economic exchange. India is the largest democracy in the world, and borders some very dangerous nations - because of its geographic location and growing economy, India and the nations of the developed world must maintain and even strengthen their partnership, in the interest of mutual benefit.

Posted by Red Sox Steve at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Mary Hannington

From Sybil Vane over at Bitch PhD:

Mr. Vane has this coworker who regularly sends out to a handful of coworkers emails that present her hyperbolic and hysterical fiscal conservatism in reductive bullet points. Copied and pasted from some mass email type thing. E.g. "The free market did not create massive budget shortfalls, big gov't did! The free market did not create ineffectual public schools, big gov't did!" The sort of thing that Mr. Vane generally ignores, because there's really only one confrontational type in the family, but the other day she sent one that was all about big gov't and the big banks and the Fed, etc. So Mr. Vane, who has just finished reading Ron Paul's End the Fed [which yes I know, is it's own thing], writes her and says, "You might be interested in reading this, I feel like you might be surprised to learn about the connections between the Fed and some of your favorite old timey free market capitalists." And so she writes back and says, "How could I take anything that guy says seriously, he doesn't even believe he is who god made him to be."

And so Mr. Vane thinks, ummmm, ok. I mean, Ron Paul is a Bible thumper, right? Whatever, this woman is clearly loony.

And then 2 hours later she emails him to say, "Oh man, I have to apologize, I was telling my husband about the book you recommended and he pointed out that I was thinking of Ru Paul."

And apparently poor “Tea Party Paul”, Ron not Ru, is being asked to leave the “party” by the anti-incumbent Tea Party movement.

This despite the fact that Paul’s fundraiser held on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party is said to have started the whole Tea Party movement in 2007, though others argue it was CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s rant calling for a “tea party” in Chicago.

Tim Graney, who is running against Paul in the next congressional election, formerly of the Katy Tea Party Patriots, said that the sentiment is false. Graney and another Republican candidate for congress, who sponsored a local tax day Tea Party rally last April said and that Paul had nothing to do with the Tea Party foundation and is not paying attention to his district and earmarking bills.

Paul shot back that the earmarks don’t matter because he votes against all appropriations bills anyways.

Still there is Tea Party favorite Paul’s son Rand, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville. An event attended by a crowd of 600, who were described as white, older and mostly southern.

BUT all is not warm and tea-like in Tea Party town.

Outside of the Republican Party 42% of adults have never even heard of the Tea Party.

Still others cry “Amateurs!”

There is a 20 year old planning to run on the Tea Party ticket in 2010 in Boston and a math teacher, who organized “porkulus” (a combination of the word “pork” and “stimulus” coined by that clever drug addict and radio announcer Rush Limbaugh) protest in Seattle and Mark Meckler, a California attorney and now a national Tea Party figure, who felt that Rick Santelli “was speaking directly to me.”

His group, Tea Party Patriots, suggest “Stand up and shout and sit right back down.” as a way to disrupt your representative’s speeches.

According to Meckler they are a “non-partisan” group and are endorsed by other such non-partisan folks like Michelle Malkin, Parcbench, Freedom Works, Red State and Red County.

Despite the fact that liberals have argued that conservative PACs like Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks were behind all these parties and used professional PR firms to create the feel of a grassroots movement Tim Philips of Americans for Prosperity assures us that the Republican party is too “disorganized” to pull that off.

Abundant groups of Tea Partiers have turned up like 9-12 Delaware Patriots, the Louisiana Tea Party Federation and Lewis & Clark Tea Party Patriots, who have recently called for their Democratic senator to be hung.

There is even a Tea Party Blog, where hilohaw is planting an avocado tree in Hawaii to honor of the Tea Party movement. She compares the ten years the tree will take to mature and the tens years it will take to tap oil resources and calls for us to start drilling now! She says it would be okay to put up some windmills and solar panels too.

Speaking of trees… Tea Partier Fred Neff says, “…liberals use Science to cut away at the Tree of Liberty.” He goes on to explain how Science manipulates us.

And mach1, who hopes the Tea Party will blossom like the tree says, “Go Tea Party Go!” He is clearly of the anti-incumbent Tea Party variety and suggests, ““Vote out the incumbent” should be the mantra - even if the other choice is a complete nut case. A nut case is better than the self-serving leaders we have now.”

The Northwest Side Tea Party of Cincinnati meets at Clippard Industries next to the Sunoco every month.

Tea Party Nation of Tennessee is expected to make a profit in the high “two figures.”

And last time I checked the Tea Party Patriots (Official Home of the American Tea Party) had almost 30,000 members, who are all presumably standing up and shouting and sitting right back down all across this great nation of ours.

Posted by M. Hannington at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Red Sox Steve

In February 2010, for the first time in my life, I'm going to take a trip to India. When I mention to people that I'm heading to India, one of the first things they want to know is, "why India?"

It's hard to pinpoint when contact or proximity to someone or something Indian first made an impression on me. Sure, there were a few Indian students in my class throughout my junior high and high school years in Rhode Island; by the time I went to college in Boston (where I earned my nickname rooting for the Boston Red Sox), it was evident that I had much to learn. One of my closest friends in college was Indian and introduced me to Indian food for the first time - it was an acquired taste I didn't have the first time I sat down ("how am I supposed to put this all together with my hands?").

In the early 2000s, I paid little attention to world affairs... I studied science after all, and never even thought of studying abroad. Yep, that WAS me... boy how things change! In 2002, I joined the Peace Corps and soon after my arrival in Guyana, consistently started to encounter a culture that was distinctly Indian for the first time. Chicken curry, Diwali, Ramadan (13% of India is Muslim, the world's largest Muslim minority population) and some of the history behind the British colonization of India came on to my radar as I adjusted to life in a foreign country. The world was a lot bigger than I ever imagined.

After returning to the US, life in New York exposed me to a multicultural world. My goals here were primarily economic and my first job was in finance. Although I wasn't exposing myself to India during my working day, there were plenty of learning opportunities available as I made decisions about my future. During the latter half of the 2000s, the idea of India as an emerging economic powerhouse became more widespread. As I started to learn more about India, the facts began to astound me: a nation of 1 billion people, a rapidly growing economy, a former British colony, layers of history and culture, massive cities, and the list goes on and on.

Which brings me to the present day. The amount of reading I've done on India and the numerous movies, documentaries and presentations I've watched only begin to scratch the surface of what I am about to learn. The immensity of this nation and the background of its people mean I could study India for the rest of my life and still only know a fraction of what is out there.

But now, I've got to wade away from a theoretical and academic perspective and into a more tangible one. My feet will be on the ground there very soon, and I've got to figure out where I'm going and what I'm doing.

First, I had to take care of vaccinations. I went to the travel clinic at Miriam Hospital in RI, and learned that the following were needed for India (for official information on vaccines for India or any other country visit the CDC website at www.cdc.gov):

1) H1N1
2) Hep A
3) Hep B
4) Japenese encephalitis
5) Rabies
6) Seasonal flu
7) Typhoid
8) Measles (aka "MMR")
9) Polio
10) TDaP
11) Malaria

Traveling on a US Passport means you can't go to India without a visa, so I got a 10 year tourist visa in my passport. With my vaccines, visa and passport, a money belt, neck pillow, Lonely Planet (1200 pages!) and a few other items, I'm good to go!

I'm planning on spending 4 weeks in India, and here is the itinerary I'm working with, remembering to include flexibility at all points along the trip:

1) Days 1-4: Delhi - After a 25 hour flight which includes a 5 hour layover in Amsterdam, I land in Delhi. Delhi is a massive and very crowded city with a growing population and an urban renewal effort taking place ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Over the last 2500 years, at least eight cities have been founded in the area of Delhi, with New Delhi being the most recent, completed by the British in 1931. I'll be staying in Connaught Place, which is situated right between New Delhi and Old Delhi. Connaught Place was constructed during British rule, and was named after the title given to Queen Victoria's third son, Prince Arthur - Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. In Delhi, I'd like to visit a few different sites, some of which are a 15-20 minute walk from where I will be staying, and are listed here in no particular order:

- Gandhi Smirthi: the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948. A memorial has been placed at the location, and there are numerous photos and other works of art there. Gandhi had been staying there for 144 consecutive days before he was shot by a Hindu extremist.

- National Gandhi Museum: After Gandhi's assassination, a number of his personal items were collected from around India and assembled in Mumbai. Eventually, Gandhi's effects were moved to their current location in Delhi. I also hope to see the Raj Ghat, a short walk away from the museum, where Gandhi was cremated.

- National Museum: The museum, the largest in India, has a collection that covers 5,000 years of Indian history. The wide range of items in the museum include Buddhist art, European coins, Mughal weaponry and Persian manuscripts. Wow!

- Nehru Memorial Museum: Jawaharlal Nehru, who died in 1964, was the first prime minister of India. The museum is located in the "Teen Murti Bhavan" ("House of Three Statues") on Teen Murti Road. Nehru occupied the house as the first prime minister of India, taking it over from the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in India. After Nehru's death, the house was converted into a national memorial. It also contains one of the four Nehru planetariums in the country.

2) Days 4-6: Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Agra is a 2 hour train ride from New Delhi, conveniently located just to the north of Connaught Place. According to my guide, a train leaves each day at 6:15 AM. The state of Uttar Pradesh is just east of Delhi, and I'll be visiting a few cities here, including Lucknow and Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh was the centerpiece of the Buddhist empire of Ashoka the Great, 2000 years ago. Agra was the first capital of Ashoka's empire, which stretched across the subcontinent from Afghanistan to Bangladesh. Agra sits right along a bend in the Yamuna River and is home to one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world, the Taj Mahal.

- Taj Mahal: Designated as a World Heritage Site in 1983 and over 300 years old, this is the top tourist destination in India. It is opened from dawn to dusk everyday except Friday to tourists, and on Fridays if you are attending prayer at the mosque.

- Agra Fort: The Taj is not the only World Heritage Site in Agra. Construction on this fort began in 1565 by Emperor Akbar, completed by his grandson who also built the Taj, Shah Jahan. The fort and the Taj are a little over a mile apart.

3) Days 7-9: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. To get from Agra City (AGA) train station to Lucknow Junction train station (LJN) takes about 4-6 hours. Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh, and was the site of the First War of Independence, in 1857. The Residency, a compound built by the British in 1800, was seized by Indian freedom fighters in 1857 and held for over 100 days. 2000 people died in an effort to defend the Residency. There are also Shia mosques and tombs in Lucknow, namely the Bara Imambara and the Hussainabad Imambara, which I will also try to see.

4) Days 9-11: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The train ride from Lucknow to Varanasi is about 6 hours. Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities and has been a cultural and religious center in North India for a few thousand years. It lies right along the Ganges river and is thus a prime location for deceased Hindus to be cremated along the city's ghats. By being cremated along a sacred river like the Ganges, the dead can achieve "moksha", a release from the cycle of birth and death.

- The Durga Mandir (Temple) is situated in Ramnagar of Banaras (or Varanasi). It was built 500 years ago and is under the control of the royal family of Banaras State currently. This temple is devoted to Hindu deity Durga. The temple has a large stone built pond with it. The Durga Mandir boasts of its fine stone works, which is a fabulous example of north Indian stone work arts.
- Kashi Vishwanath Temple, also called Golden Temple, was built in 1780 by Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, located on the outskirts of the Ganga. This temple makes Varanasi a place of great religious importance to Hindus because Vishweshwara or Vishwanatha, the aforementioned Jyotirlinga of the Lord Shiva is enshrined here. A single view of Vishwanatha Jyotirlinga is considered to merit more than that of other jyotirlingas.

5) Days 12-16: Calcutta ("Kolkata"), West Bengal. The train from Varanasi to Calcutta is 14 hours. In Hindu lore, the God Shiva found his wife Sati's charred remains and vowed to do a "dance of destruction", which was only stopped by Vishnu, the supreme God of Hinduism. In Vishnu's effort, Sati's body was dismembered into 51 pieces, and one of her toes fell near Calcutta, in Kalighat, where a temple now stands. In 1686, British explorers arrived at the mouth of the Ganges and the area was signed over to the British East India Company.

- Victoria Memorial: The memorial is designed in what is known as an Indo-Saracenic style, and is referred to in the travel guide as a combination of the Taj Mahal and the White House. Inside it is both a memorial to the late Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee and a museum.
- Indian Musuem: Here, there are 1000 year old Hindu sculptures, minerals and even a whale skeleton.
- Mother Theresa's Mission: Here is where Mother Theresa lived from 1953 to 1997, and where she lay entombed, along with some of her personal effects.
- Sunderbans Tiger Reserve: I'll have to first visit the West Bengal Tourism office in the section of Kolkata called BBD Bagh to see if this is possible. It seems like any excursion is at least a full day, maybe two, to see one of the largest concentrations of tigers in the world.

6) city, days 16-18, cross country train trip to Mumbai

7) Days 18-22, Mumbai, Maharashtra: First occupied by Koli fishermen, then Hindus, then Muslims, then Portuguese, then annexed to the British via royal marriage, THEN leased to the British East India Company in 1668, Mumbai is the most populous city in India.

- Fort Area: The High Court's design is based on a German castle and a visitor can go inside and take pictures for free.
- Fort Area: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (aka "Victoria Terminus", "VT" or "CST") - this is the busiest train station in Asia and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Worli: Nehru Center. The Nehru Center contains a planetarium, as well as a history exhibition called "Discovery of India".
- There is a walking tour that starts in Fort, which takes about 3 hours to complete. It starts in Colaba at the Gateway of India and ends in Churchgate.

8) Days 23-26, Jaipur, Rajasthan: Jaipur is an 18 hour train ride from Mumbai, and is the capital of Rajasthan. The Rajputs are warrior clans who claim to have occupied Rajasthan for 1000 years prior to British arrival. After the British colonized India, Rajput maharajas regained much of their states' independence, which had been lost under the Mughal empire. Consequently, the maharajas were well compensated by the British in return for cooperation with their colonial rulers.

- Iswari Minar Sarga Sal: From this minaret, a viewer can see what is known as the "old city" of Jaipur.
- Amber Fort is located in Amber, 11 km from Jaipur. It was the ancient citadel of the ruling Kachhawa clan of Amber, before the capital was shifted to Jaipur. Amber Fort is known for blending both Hindu and Muslim (Mughal) architectural elements, and its ornate and breathtaking artistic mastery. The fort borders the Maota Lake.

9) Extra time: Udaipur, Rajasthan (between Mumbai and Jaipur): The train ride from Mumbai to Udaipur is 16 hours. Udaipur is in southern Rajasthan, and has been referred to as India's most romantic city. It was founded in 1559 and on the eastern side of Lake Pichola. The City Palace and City Palace Museum are on the eastern side of the lake, and, aside from the lake itself, seem like they are the most prominent attraction in Udaipur.

Posted by Red Sox Steve at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Red Sox Steve

This is the third and final part of the series I am writing, regarding my desire to obtain Italian citizenship. The first piece I wrote was in March 2009, the second piece in November, and here we are in early December, and I have my Italian passport!

In March, I was still waiting for the most critical document to come in - the Certificate of Naturalization, which was originally given to my great grandfather in 1926. It arrived in June, and at that point I finally had all the documents I needed. I gave myself the summer off, and by late August and early September, put the final pieces of the application in place.

As I discussed last time, I needed to get apostilles and translations for all the birth, marriage and death ("BMD") certificates related to those events which took place in America, and I needed to complete Forms 1 through 4 of the application, which can be found at the very bottom of this page.

To get the apostilles, I sent the BMD documents to the RI Secretary of State's office, with a check in the amount of $5/request, a letter stating my request, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. I had the documents back in about 10 days with the apostille (a 1 page letter signed by the Acting Deputy Secretary of State, in my case). For the official translations, I used the extremely reliable translators I found on the internet - www.italiandualcitizenship.com. I paid the company through paypal ($75/page), sent them scanned copies of the certificates, and had the documents back via email in about 2 weeks.

At this point, it was about mid-September, and the appointment date in mid-October was in sight. After making the appointment 10 months ago, it was finally getting close. I had some concerns - what if the consultants I had spoken to were all wrong about my eligibility?

They weren't, after helpfully reviewing my documents with me.

What if I made a mistake with the documents, and either didn't have something or missed a piece of information?

Not to worry, apparently the policy at the NY consulate is that you have about 2 months after your appointment to transmit all the necessary documents. The consular officer will advise you as to what is needed, and provide you with instructions for transmitting the documents.

Because it had taken me almost 2 years to get all the documents, I really wanted the appointment to be the end of the process. Further, I was in the most extensive of the 5 categories eligible for citizenship (from the website www.italiandualcitizenship.com): "Your paternal or maternal grandfather was born in your native country, your paternal great grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of his birth, neither you nor your father nor your grandfather ever renounced your right to Italian citizenship" AND "A woman born before 01/01/1948 can claim the Italian citizenship only from her father and can transfer it to descendants after 01/01/1948."

The rules at the NY consulate are that you have to show up at least 15 minutes before your appointment, bring your passport, a copy of your passport, your application, a copy of your application, and a utility bill to show you live in the consulate's jurisdiction. Oh, and you can only bring a small bag with you to carry these things. Getting in went pretty smoothly - they let me in through a metal detector and shuffled me right upstairs to the citizenship/visa section. There I waited for about 20 minutes before I was finally called to meet with the consular officer.

We sat down, and the first thing he wanted to know was what category I was in. He was gruff, but professional as I mentioned I was getting citizenship through my grandmother's father. He called up a spreadsheet template on his computer, and began to ask to see my documents so he could keep them and record relevant information in the spreadsheet. I passed page after page across the desk while he recorded the information and kept all documentation.

By the end of the appointment, he was able to confirm that I had all necessary documents, I was eligible for citizenship and - here is the most important part - I would be contacted by the Italian government via letter; at which time, they would notify me that I was registered in Itri (where my grandparents came from) as an Italian citizen living abroad. My appointment was on Oct. 15 - on Nov. 10, I had received an email with the subject line: "Riconoscimento cittadinanza italiana". I had been registered as an Italian citizen! From here, it's a piece of cake...

About a week after I got the email, I returned to the consulate with a printed copy of it, a completed passport application, 2 passport photos, and the application fee of $120. I waited around for about 30 minutes, handed in the application and was told that my passport would be ready in 10 working days. I paid, kept the receipt and left. I returned on the appointed day, waited for a few minutes, picked up my passport and left!

My biggest piece of advice to anyone interested in this is to do your best to get the documents beforehand to determine whether you are eligible. There are 5 different categories of eligibility, so if you aren't eligible in one, you may be in another. Of course, do your best to keep everything organized because it takes time to obtain documents and then to obtain translations and apostilles. Further, I recommend that the applicant make it as easy as possible for the people receiving your requests for documents or information to assist you. I was very intimidated by the process at first, especially because I was in the most difficult category. I also had many relatives who have either passed away or simply don't remember dates, locations or specific events from so long ago. Therefore, it is hard to get certificates stating that these events have taken place without a great deal of searching. In other words, I had my work cut out for me, and felt like I was "flying blind" about 80% of the time. On the positive side, I gave myself plenty of time to get documents, felt as though I had good fortune because I got all the documents I needed, and did my best to keep everything in order.

In the process of investigating my family's history, I learned a great deal about what my ancestors' lives were like, as well as the challenges they faced both in Italy and the US. I was able to assemble a great deal of facts about my family's background - where they departed from in Italy, where they arrived in the US, how long it took, what time of year they endured the North Atlantic (January and February! Brrr....!), where they lived upon arrival in the US, where they worked, and when they passed away. Being a dual citizen makes me feel as though my ties to both countries are stronger than ever before - I often joke with friends that in getting my Italian citizenship, I am "undoing" what my ancestors did nearly a century ago by trying to get citizenship to the country they left behind.

They desired a better life and in doing so, felt they had to leave their country and the only home they had ever known, in the interest of giving themselves and their children something greater, yet unknown and unfamiliar. By having 2 passports, I think I am linking their past with my present. Italy and the rest of the EU nations are vastly different than they were even decades ago, as is America. Advances in technology put to use in areas like commerce and warfare mean that humanity is now bound closer than ever been before to events which take place thousands of miles away in unfamiliar places. Through this process, I have attached myself to a different and unfamiliar part of the world, which is something I have in common with what my ancestors were attempting nearly a century ago. Buongiorno!

Posted by Red Sox Steve at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)