Delhi is Delicious

Today was an early morning. Train food service workers woke us with drawling but persistent calls for “chai, chai, chai chai” at 6:30 am, leaving us ample time to arrange our luggage before a 7:30 am arrival in New Delhi.  Although the overnight bunks were a tight squeeze, the group mostly slept well and compared the quarters to cozy barracks. (There was one unwelcome insect visitor, but he was expelled early in the night for lacking a formal ticket.)  Thanks again to the coordination of Chetan and his associates, we arrived at the New Delhi executive lounge with ease, where we were able to nab a hot breakfast and showers before a full day of meetings!

Our first stop in was the Social Outreach Foundation, a primary school for underprivileged students from slums in NOIDA.  The teachers welcomed us with hot, flakey puff pastries and tea, and students performed a short show of singing and drumming performances.  Stuffed and entertained, we toured classrooms from kindergarten through fifth standard. We were able to ask students about their lessons, and they had many questions for us about food and weather in the United States. Our visit also included a panel discussion with SOF teachers and a question and answer session with former SOF students who are now pursuing secondary or post-secondary degrees.  Of course, we could not leave without another meal, this time steamed or fried rice patties, spicy vegetable stew, lentils, and more tea and coffee.

Next we headed to the World Bank to meet with Martin Rama, Chief Economist for the South Asia region, and Maria Correia, Sector Manager for Social Development in the South Asia region. The two fielded broad questions about the World Bank’s role to help India’s’ economic growth and social inclusion as well as spoke to specific projects’ successes. The two were extremely knowledgeable and very generous to give us over an hour of their time.

Finally, tired and ready to strip out of our business attire, we arrived at the ITC Sheraton in Delhi.  Were we in for a surprise!  The hotel was our nicest of the trip, with white tiled floors and leather couches in the lobby, and shinny brass-handled staircases that wound up to the second level.  We had a little time before dinner to shower and unwind, then headed to the hotel’s lauded Oriental fusion restaurant to meet Adam Roberts, India correspondent for The Economist. Although many of us were convinced that the endless appetizers were our dinner, there were many more courses to follow: soup, entrées and finally dessert.  Roberts was extremely insightful about issues of Indian politics, reform and corruption, although he had little time to grab bites between our fervent questions! A straw poll among the group as to whom we would vote for Indian Prime Minister was a contentious but rich starting point for the conversation.

After a packed day spent traveling, debriefing and eating, we snuggled into our plush comforters for a very deep sleep.