Guest Speaker Panels, Music and Cooking in Powai
We began the day on Friday 5/20 with an academic panel
discussion with four professors from IIT-Bombay. The first speaker talked about
the state of inequality as it relates to access to electricity in India. Next
we heard a detailed lecture about the climate science of the Indian Summer
Monsoon. This was followed by an interesting talk about urban planning and
finally a brief discussion of the Solar Cell research being undertaken at
IIT-Bombay; this final talk was given by Professor Auroop Ganguly’s brother,
Swaroop Ganguly.
After eating a quick lunch at the hotel due to time
constraints, we attempted to go the the Sanjay Gandhi National Park to see the
Mithi River in its pristine state. The Mithi River runs 15km from the national
park through the heart of Mumbai. The state of its well-being has been
neglected by the Indian government for too long—it is heavily polluted for much
of its course. Untreated sewage and trash litter the river as it runs through
the Dharavi slum. Mumbai’s goal is to clean up the river and put walking paths
in on each side; this is a great idea but the political will and funding for
this project is lacking.
Unfortunately, we were not able to see the river in its
natural beauty at the national park, so we instead took a stop at Powai Lake to
have some street food and admire the view. I first ate some roasted corn with
lime and chili salt (10 rupees) then a masala dosa (30 rupees). As a reminder,
the conversion rate is 65 rupees = $1. The dosa was not the best that I have ever
had, but still a great investment. We returned to the hotel after our dinner of
street food and went to bed early to prepare for the long day ahead.
On Saturday 5/21 we began the day by moving to a nicer hotel
in a more exciting area of town. Upon our arrival, we had another panel of
guest speakers. Swaroop Ganguly spoke about elite universities and the
differences between universities in Indi and the US. The next speaker spoke
about the start-up culture in India. We then heard from a screenwriter who has
worked on many well-known Indian movies, then from a retail expert. He briefly
used Apple as a case study in his discussion of branding. I learned something
new about the Apple logo. It is a tribute to Alan Turing (who cracked the
Enigma code during WWII) who died by eating a poisoned apple; this is why there
is a single bite taken out of the logo. The final speaker talked about the
concept of “jugaad,” the Indian entrepreneurial and innovative spirit to create
cheaper, more accessible versions of necessary products without decreasing
their quality. This was a recurring concept when I came to India in 2014; I am
looking forward to seeing more examples of this in action.
I went out for lunch with Rose and Udit—we had some great
dosas yet again. This time I got one with paneer and potatoes on the inside. It
was delicious as usual. It is interesting to see how little change there is
over the span of two years. The food, prices, menu, and location of the dosa
cart are exactly how I remember them from my previous trip. After our lunch,
Udit said “okay, no more dosas. You have had these before—let’s try something
new.” Today he will be taking us somewhere new for lunch. I am confident that
it will be great as well.
Last night we had two incredible cultural experiences:
musicians demonstrated some of the different types of Indian folk music and a
master chef took us on a culinary journey through the history of India’s food.
One highlight of the visit from the musicians was the chance to try a few new
instruments. My favorite was one whose name translates to “underarm baby.” A
melon-sized hollow structure with a goat skin stretched over one end. Two
strings are attached to the skin and travel through the hollow cylinder and are
connected by a handle. While holding the hollow cylinder under your arm (hence
the name of the instrument) you strum the strings with a wooden pick. The pitch
of the strings can be changed by pulling the handle farther away from your
body. It is mainly a percussive instrument, but the ability to change pitch
adds another element to its function.
For dinner, we had a five-course meal prepared by a chef who
manages the kitchen of a 5-star hotel in Mumbai. He has had the opportunity to
prepare meals for many celebrities, including Bill Clinton. The food was made
to represent a wide variety of the tastes that can be found in India. Some,
including the paneer in tomato sauce and rice with vegetables from the first
course, was incredible. Other courses, including a mincemeat pie, were
interesting to try but not items I would order again. The dinner was framed by
the history of India—each of the courses incorporated elements that were unique
to a certain time period or influential local culture in India. It was cool to
learn about when different foods entered into the Indian culinary repertoire. For
example: tomatoes, a staple of many Indian dishes today, have been used in
India for less than 200 years, a blip in the country’s 5000-year history.
Course 1: Paneer, Rice, and Cake
Course 2: Mincemeat and Chicken
Course 3: Paneer Tikka and Dal
Course 4: Lamb and Chorizo
Course 5: Dessert
Today, Sunday 5/22, we had an academic session all day. I
went to lunch with Prof. Ganguly, Udit, Rose, and Manoj (our guide) at a
Bengali restaurant near the hotel. We had some interesting food including a
burnt mango drink, a banana leaf dish, potatoes cooked with mustard seed, and some
sweet dal (lentils). All for only $8 each. The ice cream we had for dessert was
awesome, a caramel-like flavor. I have been told of another good ice cream shop
near our hotel that I will try before we leave Powai on Wednesday.
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