Time in India is almost up...

Today was our last lecture at SDM-IMD. Professor S. Padmanaban spoke on "E-Governance in India: Overview Imperatives & Business Opportunities". It was a very informative lecture. One piece of information that I found of particular interest was when he was discussing e-governance in India and how it involves the use of the Internet and aims at giving citizens choice of when and where they access government information and services. This explicitly relates to what Friedman was saying with his Triple Convergence idea in The World is Flat. Friedman states "It is this triple convergence--of new players, on a new playing field, developing new processes and habits for horizontal collaboration--that I believe is the most important force shaping global economies and politics in the early twenty-first century. Giving so many people access to all those tools of collaboration, along with the ability through search engines and the Web to access billions of pages of raw information, ensures that the next generation of innovations will come from all over Planet Flat (181-182)". Professor S. Padmanaban said that even the farmers and the 500 or so villages that are inaccessible by road can still participate in e-governance. This is accomplished by having kiosks out in these rural areas with wireless Internet access allowing them to stay connected to e-governance. As Friedman would say, as the world is becoming flatter people can plug and play from anywhere.

Drew, Felix, Nancy and I then went to our friend's house Hareesh (auto-rickshaw driver) to have a meal for the holiday today. It was a great meal. It was also so nice to be in their home and have a real Indian experience. Although his home was small, it was actually very nice and cozy inside. As said in previous posts, even though some Indians live in small quarters, they still enjoy life and show no sign of self-pity. This is exactly what Hareesh did with his family. They were laughing like they had everything they could ask for in the world. Also, they were very hospitable which is what I have experienced throughout this whole trip. It was a really fun time. I feel like I got the best of both worlds, because I stood in a nice hotel for 2 1/2 weeks (not having to worry about cleaning the room, hot/cold water, etc.) and I also went to a locals house to have a true Indian experience. It really complemented my other experiences on the trip nicely. I feel like it was perfect timing for Hareesh to have us over, because it really ended my stay in Mysore on a positive note. Some pictures are below of our visit to Hareesh's house.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Our farewell dinner was tonight and it was at The Metropole, which not only had good food but also had a great ambiance to it. It was great to be with everyone one last time in Mysore. It was sad to say goodbye to all the SDM-IMD faculty, who proved to be great additions to our stay here in Mysore. Also, I am really going to miss the good friends that I have made on this trip. "From Minnesota to Mysore" was really an appropriate title for this course because it brought that home feeling I get in Minnesota with me to Mysore. Now all I have to do is bring everything I learned from Mysore back with me to Minnesota. Attached below are some pictures of the farewell dinner.

Also, I want to note that is my final blog. Thanks to everyone who has read and commented on it. It was really fun to share my experience and insights with you!!