Bannerghatta National Park in Bangalore

I feel that I need to explain what I am actually doing in India, so that no one thinks that this is just an awesome, all-expenses-paid (by my parents) vacation. I came on this trip as part of a Northeastern University program to study Marketing in Asia. We are a group of 24 students with one professor who came with us from the US, and a TA (teachers assistant) that is Indian. If we are not traveling, we have lectures about four times a week or more. In these lectures we discuss cases of either Asian companies and why they are failing, or American companies, and how they should enter the Asian markets. On top of those lectures, which usually run for about 3 to 4 hours each, we do a lot of visits to different companies such as Ogilvy (the largest advertising agency in India), Rickshaw Design (another popular advertising agency) and Infosys (one of the largest tech/software companies). The professor tries to include site visits every day or second day, but sometimes it just doesn't work. Lastly though, we have projects, papers, and presentations that are never ending. That is why some of my posts are a little bit rushed or contain minor errors (please bear with me). 

Seeing as our schedule is just so hectic, we are meant to get Sunday's off to ourselves to submit our weekly reflections, work on our multiple presentations, as well as relax a little bit. Unfortunately though, this Sunday (Jul/27) we did not get off. It was the only day that the professor could fit in our visit to the Bannerghatta National Park of Bangalore, and after seeing all the lions and tigers, I wasn't too fussed about not having my Sunday off (until I got home and realized I had 4 hours to write a 1500 word case analysis paper). 

The Bannerghatta National Park is a huge park in Bangalore that contains a safari, a zoo, a butterfly enclosure, a national park, an aquarium and an animal rescue center. We visited the zoo and did the safari tour. During the safari we were able to see lions, bears, tigers and elephants that are natural to India. Many of these animals were in the park as part of their rehabilitation. I think that is why they were all kept together, and were all so mellow. The safari only lasted about an hour, but it was a fun experience. The zoo was horribly depressing though. All of the animals are kept in terrible conditions, but I honestly did not expect any better. The care and compassion for animals like that of in the US cannot be found in many places around the world, which is very sad. Overall though, it was definitely a culturally enriching experience!

Emalisa xo

I was trying to get a shot of the students on my side of the car, but my friend was obviously not pleased to be in the picture (or not pleased at my facial expression? not too sure) hahahahahha.  

First sighting: blackbucks. 

Three elephants casually hanging out in the cooling waters of this lake (pond?). So peaceful.

Next stop: bear safari! All animals were contained in different parts of the park. There were gates between each section such as this one.

These bears weren't very large, but they were very cute. 

There were at least 20 of them sleeping along the road. The car noises did not fuss them at all.

In another enclosure, we saw some lions.

What bothered me was the fact that they had about 20 male lions together in this enclosure. That is not natural at all. 

I got to see a white tiger for the first time in my life! 

I believe it was a male tiger, and he was absolutely gorgeous!

Such an elegant creature.

A regular tiger. He was very restless because it was approaching their lunch time. Most of the animals in this park were going through rehabilitation, so come a certain time, they begin getting restless for their medication. 

The national park was quite large. After being in Mumbai and Bangalore, it is a privilege to see vast amount of green land. 

Outside the park there were many stalls selling snacks and fruit. This is a young boy make sugar cane juice. I am still amazed at how hardworking this culture is.

Seeing as we were close by, we decided to take a stroll through the zoo of the national park, and it completely broke my heart. All the animals were kept in such small cages, and were barely given any water in this heat. This is an example of the amount of space these hippo's had to live in. You could almost feel how depressed these animals were. 

The signs in the zoo definitely had me wondering. Literally have no idea what this could possibly mean...? 

Seems like in India you can adopt exotic animals from a zoo. That's another first... Keep in mind that this zoo had crocodiles, snakes, indigenous birds, monkeys, among other animals.

When I saw this, I assumed that I was looking at a leopard, but then I saw the sign that was next to the enclosure (see image below).

So it was either a leopard or a panther? This country never fails to keep me wondering!

Mysore Get-Away

Last Thursday (Jul/24), we took a quick trip to Mysore for two nights after our stay in Juhu Beach, Mumbai. Our plane journey from Mumbai to Bangalore was meant to take about an hour and a half, but because we are in India, it ended up taking about 4 hours. Surprisingly, I have gotten quite used to the fact that time is not as valuable here as it is in the US. After flying we had to take a 4 hour bus ride to the more rural city of Mysore. I personally really love going to smaller cities like Aurangabad and Mysore because there aren’t as many people, and it feels like you are experiencing a more real “India”. Also, when we visit these smaller cities for a couple nights, we stay in fancy hotels. In Mysore we stayed at the Guest House of the Mysore Palace. During colonial times, the ruler of Mysore and Bangalore, Tipu Sultan, built palace-like 

guest quarters for the British guests to stay in while in India. It was actually very beautiful with old wooden doors, glass furniture, an old but classic bathroom, among other things. I love experiencing things from the older ages, and so I loved it.  

The first night that we arrived, we were actually quite exhausted, and so after a buffet dinner at the hotel we all retired to our rooms. The following morning we had to get up at the crack of down (9AM departure times honestly has started to feel like the crack of dawn for me) and our first stop was the Mysore Palace. This was one of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen in my life. The walls, ceiling and floor were all beautifully decorated with such detailing using paint, plaster, gold, ivory and other materials. We weren’t actually allowed to take any pictures in the palace, and seeing as I am too scared to disobey the rules, I took some pictures from my friends below. Honestly though, these pictures do not do justice to this palace at all. The main theme color for most of the rooms was a blueish-green color. Almost like the Tiffany’s blue, but a bit greener. Absolutely stunning. 

After all of our walking, we were treated to another typical South Indian meal. Unfortunately, the restaurant we went to did not serve the food on a banana leaf, but the food was quite good. The difference between South Indian, and North Indian food is that South Indian incorporates curries, while the food from the North is generally drier (such as the dry Tikka Masala and Biriyani). All of this food made it quite difficult to pay attention during our visit to the Infosys training campus in Mysore. The Infosys campus was very strange though. It was so perfect that we thought we were going to brainwashed and forced to stay in India forever or something, hahaha. It did not feel like we were still in India at all. Previously, I worked in the Staples, Inc. home office in Framingham, MA, and I think they should learn a lesson or two from Infosys to see how they can improve their campus, haha. 

The next day we had to begin our drive to Bangalore, and along the way we visited another one of Tipu Sultan’s palaces. This palace used a lot of persian design in the architecture and in the paintings on the walls and ceilings. I find this type or art and architecture very, very beautiful. To be quite frank, everything that I see is so, so beautiful. As I mentioned before, India is completely and utterly blowing through all of the preconceptions that I had. As of today, I only have two weeks left in this beautiful country and it is a bittersweet feeling: I almost already miss the food and people!

First, we visited one of Tipu Sultan's palaces in Mysore. It is now a 5-star hotel. So fancy.

We then visited an arts and crafts store because we arrived at the palace too early. I was trying to prove to the store that they're not the boss of me. 

A piece of wall decor I bought!

The gates of the Mysore Palace. 

The Mysore Palace in all its glory! It is absolutely massive.

One of the rooms in the palace. This is the gorgeous blue-green color I was talking about. Note all of the detailing on the pillars and ceiling.

There was detailing in everything. Can't believe all of this has been around for about 100 years now.

One of the ballroom-type rooms in the palace. Ceiling looked like what you find in a grand cathedral. Again, the green color is present.

View from the open space of the palace. The ruler would receive his audience, and address the city of Mysore in this room.

The Infosys Mysore Training campus. Unbelievably modern and technological. 

In this dome there were several classrooms and auditoriums. Beyond cool.

The main building of the Infosys campus. Anyone else notice it looks very similar to the White House? Didn't think there was anything like this in India.

Jack fruit tasting at a local market in Mysore.

I was surprised to see how much stock of potatoes and onions these people had to sell. True entrepreneurs.

It was interesting to see how everything was organized by color; the greens with other greens, browns with other browns, etc. 

Where Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore and Bangalore kept all of his gun powder. Surprised this was never blown to bits, haha.

View from Tipu Sultan's palace on the outskirts of Mysore. Gardens were very western. 

On our drive to Bangalore we made one final stop at a market where silk worm pods are sold. This was quite nauseating seeing as you could see the worms moving in the pods. People buy bags of these pods, take them home and boil them. When they boil the pods, the worms die and they are able to harvest the outside of the pods in long strings that are then made into silk. It is interesting to look back at, but at the time it was definitely just weird, hahaha. 

Ellora Caves of Aurangabad

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am dedicating two posts to my trip to Aurangabad. On the second day we visited the Daulatabad Fort - which was absolutely magnificent - as well as the Ellora caves. The Daulatabad Fort was occupied by various kings throughout history. It is known for its' impenetrable walls and great protection. Not only are the walls extremely thick, but the fort has many posts for canon's and for men with artillery to hide. It also has very narrow passages and various  fake doors to confuse intruders. It was quite interesting walking through it and imagining how hard of a time intruders would have had going through this fort. It also had a beautiful mosque located inside of it, that was occupied by a Hindu woman placing bindi's on people's heads. It was quite a trek exploring this fort. Towards the end, many of the students wanted to climb up to the top of the mountain, but I returned to the bus because climbing up to one of the highest peaks in the area, in 100 degree weather, isn't really my type of fun at 10AM. 

After finally ensuring that all the students were alive and present, we drove to the Ellora caves. I thought they were going to be very similar to the Ajanta caves that we had seen the previous day, but they were significantly different. Unlike the Ajanta caves, Ellora caves were made by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. It baffles me how these three religions managed to abide peacefully by each other in these caves. Because we had to go to the airport in the early evening, we didn't have too much time to explore the Ellora caves, but we did go cave #16, The Kailasa Temple. 

Words or pictures cannot describe this World Heritage Site. It is absolutely huge in size, and all of the walls are beautifully decorated with detailed sculptures of Hindu gods. This temple was built to honor Shiva, the destroyer (the god that will eventually come down and destroy our world). It took about 100 years to finally complete this temple. I just don't understand how these people were able to create something so huge. Building a 29 meter structure without any modern-day technology can be a little difficult, no? I'm just so glad I was able to go and see this greatness for myself. Aurangabad surpassed all of my assumptions, and I will never forget my trip and experiences there. 

Emalisa xo

Daulatabad Fort. The walls of this fort are known to have been pretty much impenetrable.  

There were many sections to the fort. If the intruders made it through the obstacles in front of the fort, they were then faced with these area containing fake doorways and canons. 

The way that it was built, meant that you never really knew if you were taking the correct path somewhere. Many paths led to dead ends.

The Dautalabad Chand Minar. Second highest tower in India (64m high). Was built to commemorate the recapturing of this city.

In the fort, there was also a beautiful mosque. 

Posing next to the Chini Mahla, meaning "Chinese Place". No one knows why it was names Chinese because the Chinese never came to Aurangabad. It was also used as a prison. 

Feeling like i'm on top of the world!

Outside the fort there was a small market selling the most brightly colored guava's I have ever seen! Isn't that color gorgeous?

The Chand Minar from a distance.

Outside of the Ellora caves, we were greeted by these adorable monkeys. Several students took pictures with them, but I opted not to catch diseases. 

Ellora caves.

The most famous, Ellora cave number 16, Kailasa Temple. This is a Hindu cave.

There were many gods and goddesses portrayed along the walls. These are the Hindu gods of love (I believe), sharing a sugar cane to represent how sweet love is.

I think this is Shiva, the destroyer's wife, fighting a buffalo/human. The details escape me sometimes.

Absolutely magnificent.

One of the phenomenon's around this place is the fact that the architecture still stands. Note the 10 feet of rock that is over the covered area. 

Just to emphasize how massive it al was.

I cannot understand how someone thought to do all of this in a mountain.

About 70% of the group!

We then decided to climb all the way to the top to get some better pictures of this temple. I have a fear of heights, and so I don't know how I actually did this. Looking back at these pictures scares me so much!!

They literally built a temple inside a mountain. 

Looking back, I probably am too close to the edge of this rock, haha.