Burning Daylight Outdoors: India Day 4: Bombay Stock Exchange, Dinner & Desserts On The Town

Today was a packed day. We began with three hours of lecture. I will have to ask how lecture works for our Indian friends, but I know for us as American students, we don’t do well sitting and paying attention for 3 consecutive hours. So this was a bit difficult. It was, however, very interesting for the most part. Professor Ambulkar discussed small and medium enterprises, which basically translates to entrepreneurship in India. Being that my major is management with an interest in entrepreneurship, it was right up my alley! We viewed a short video about Mirakle Couriers: This is an Indian courier service which employs deaf people. From what I understand, those who are handicapped in India are nearly unemployable, and when they do receive jobs it is usually menial work which earns very little and does very little to boost the individual personally. The young man who pioneered this business is a graduate of The H.R. College of Commerce here in Mumbai. This is the college which is hosting us while we’re here. He is brilliant in my book for doing something so forward in a country that is set so strongly in tradition and customs. I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture and would love to hear another!

This was followed by lunch at the college. Every day we find more to talk about with our student hosts. I know it will be hard to leave them on Friday. They have helped make our first days in India wonderful and we are all very grateful!

After lunch, we visited the Bombay Stock Exchange which is the largest exchange in Asia. There, we listened to a lecture about the exchange, its importance, and how it interacts with the economy here. We walked through our first actual metal detectors to get in. There are many metal detectors around town, though none of them ever function (at all—as in, they aren’t even powered on). Once inside, we went straight to the 18^th floor which is the only floor we had clearance to be on. We listened to the lecture and then went to see the view from the cafeteria. It was a nice view of the surrounding area and we took a few pictures.

Following the view, it was time to leave. Well, this became and adventure. About half of us got into an elevator which was sent on its way, without one of the officials (of which there were two) in it with us. We didn’t get out when we were supposed to, and did get out when we weren’t supposed to…On The Wrong Floor! Remember, we don’t have clearance to be anywhere except the 18^th floor. After much deliberation and finger pointing, we got ourselves back into the elevator and to the correct floor, where our guides/officials still had not arrived. A couple of minutes later, they joined us and led us down some stairs, through a renovation area of the building, and down a very long corridor. Now, normally, this wouldn’t be too big a deal, except that the entire journey was led by a couple of our students who had no idea where to go. One would think that it might make sense with two guides, for one to lead and the other to follow. I guess that isn’t done here? I was not alone in my irritation in the lack of guidance on this particular outing. I feel like, despite our lack of clearance, we could have found ourselves into anywhere in the building. The security clearly isn’t very secure. Additionally, I snapped at Divya (one of our host students) when she called us all stupid for not getting off the elevator. I felt badly later for being rude to her, though I was truly irritated and I tend to show my feelings.

After this, we walked to Starbucks (I know, Starbucks in a foreign country?). Everyone was excited for the free wifi, which didn’t work for us. But the coffees and drinks were a touch of home after a few days of nothing home-like at all. It was nice, actually. And a bit funny as a couple of people have been asking for Starbucks since the plane touched down. So, we finally got our Starbucks, and in the first Starbucks constructed in India. We visited with our hosts and gave them some good laughs at our banter and excitement over silly things. We were behaving entirely as typical Americans in a coffee house, and I think they were quite amused by it. At one point a few of us from each group (Indian and American) were waiting to use the ladies room. Ria and I were just cracking up and being our very loud selves. When I returned from my turn in the restroom, I made a typical American comment: “Whoever designed that bathroom should be shot!” The girls thought that was just so funny!! All kidding aside, it’s entirely true. The Starbucks is the largest I’ve ever seen. It’s something like 4500 square feet. Yet somehow, the bathroom has one door which opens all the way to the wall of the next door, which opens to just clear the toilet. Through the first door is a space large enough only for the sink. Very poorly designed, Starbucks!

So, you might think that after all of this in one day, we’d be finished, no? Nope, not even close! We followed our coffee break by desserts in a small patisserie. I’ll have to find out the name of the dessert we tried. All of the students have been talking about it since we got here. In a small fried shell were little beadlike somethings (they sort of resembled cous cous in appearance) in a sweet and spicy liquid. It was interesting. I didn’t love it, and didn’t really care to eat another, but it wasn’t bad.

Finished yet? Nope. A couple of the guys have talked about nothing but wanting to eat MEAT for like a day and a half! Meat, please give me meat! Much of the country here is vegetarian, and nearly all of our meals have been either largely or entirely vegetarian. The best way to describe it is that we are used to very substantial meals: Big burgers, sandwiches, burritos, things we can hold in our hands and take big juicy bites out of. Here, people eat small bites, often with a piece of bread in their hand. We have eaten a lot of rice with various sauces, some with a tofu-like protein source, often with beans of some sort. While most everything we’ve had has been tasty, it’s just not quite satisfying after multiple meals in a row. Well, our hosts were obliged to appease the gents that were so adamantly requesting Meat. Dinner was very good. I had butter chicken which is entirely unlike the butter chicken one might find at an Indian restaurant in the US. Our table received its food, the next table received its food, and the third table (which included one of the boys who so desperately needed some “bland meat”) waited and waited for their food. They eventually left and went to McDonald’s nearby in order to get chicken sandwiches. I actually felt very badly for them. It was very late, and they were hungry. We were all tired and simply ready to eat.

All in all, it was an interesting day. One of the students asked me today how I like India and Mumbai. I wasn’t very sure how to answer her as I don’t really know. Despite the fact that people are people over all and have in common basic needs and wants, the city is so very different in almost every way from home. It’s big and loud! I took some videos to try to capture the sights and sounds, though I don’t feel as though you will get the picture as I had hoped you might. I’ll have to post those later as I don’t have enough wifi access to do it now. I’ll try to see if I can get one, maybe during our walk in the morning, which better captures the craziness and uniqueness of this place. I think my response will still take a couple of days to figure out.

My feet are still swollen. A friend of Ria's lives here in India and happens to be a doctor. I asked her about it and she said to elevate them as much as possible. I'll keep doing that and hope it gets better. They didn't get bad today until this evening after a long day of walking. One day at a time, though I sure would like to know why this is happening.

Until next time, keep on burning…