Wedding Prep: Food, Henna and Clothing

We are in Ahmedabad, India today for the wedding of Brijesh Vora, who is one of our teammates at the MASIE Center.

Brijesh is marrying "Pinky" on Sunday and we are the guests of him and his family as we participate in this multi-day ceremony. This has been a wonderful set of "firsts" for myself and Cathy:

• Veggie Food Galore. The Vora family are vegitarians and we have been eating awesome food of great spice and flavor. His relatives are hosting hundreds of people in their urban apartment and the food/fragrences fill the space .. along with lots of love from cousins, aunts and more. The tables have flowed with new veggie dishes that would be the active envy of the several vegitarians back at our office. Cathy and I have loved the variety.
  
  
  
• Outfits for the Wedding: Here is a picture of Cathy and Brijesh at the store. The Vora family insisted in buying new clothing for Cathy and Elliott for the wedding. So, we spent part of the morning trying on colorful garb and jewlery for Cathy and a special "wedding pajama" for Elliott. While we were told that it would be fine for us to wear Western garb, the family really wanted us to join them in experiencing the wedding in this special clothing. We will need help in getting into some of the clothing and that is part of this cool experience.
  
  
  
• Henna Galore: A young teenage boy appeared at Brijesh's apartment with the task of adding Henna to the hands of the women. He worked freeland and quickly. It was a communal experience ... from the great conversations amongst the women and the special role that the men had (holding the cell phone to the women's ears - so they didn't mess up the paint on their arms. Tomorrow, it is off to the beauty parlor and the barber shop for more "polishing" before the big day.
  

Taj, Learning, Cow Dung Fuel and More

Spent an awesome 24 hours at the Taj Mahal. The views, the history and the sense of beauty was beyond expectation. And, a perfect place to celebrate a birthday and anniversary. Here are a few random experiences, thoughts and learnings:

• Learning Deep in People's Psyche: Once more, we were bombarded with a sense of how important education and training (and certification) were in people's view of their future and their family's options. In the poorest towns, there were billboards and advertisements for IT Training, Hospitality Training and More. Almost every service person we met talked proudly of the training they had received and the role that education was playing for their siblings. The first words from our drivers were about the programs that their children were in, due to the generous tips of tourists such as us :)
• Weddings and Family Traditions: As we are about to take a flight in a few minutes to a 4 day wedding, we explored Indian marriage traditions in several of our conversations. Clearly, "arranged" marriages are still the norm for a good part of the country. One of the elements driving this is the deep obligation that exists for a son (and his new bride) to take lifelong responsibility for his parents as they age. Our last driver, was from a low income village and as he said "not-rich" caste. He had 5,000 people at his wedding and was now in the midst of finding a husband for his 22 year old daughter, before he turned his attention to this two sons.
• Cow Dung Fuel: As we made our way from Agra to Delhi, we passed carts piled high with organic fuel. Actually, cow dung patties -- that are dried and then used for cooking fuel. A highly "Green" approach to recycling. There is apparently no bad odor and it is seen as a healthy addition to the air as burned.
  
  
  

The Taj... Breathtaking and Emotional on a Birthday

Just a few moments ago we arrived at our hotel, the Oberoi in Agra. It is one of the most incredible hotels that I have ever stayed in. But, even more powerful is the view from our room.

The sun is coming on the Taj Mahal. It takes the breath away and the tears flow in awe. From the moment we arrived in this hotel..with the ancient beauty, peaceful music and a red mark placed on our foreheads ... there is a sense that we are at a very different place. And, what a place to celebrate my Birthday and our Anniversary.

Birthday at the Taj Mahal and Several Notes

Tomorrow, we are heading to Agra, to spend my birthday on May 13th (and a rescheduled anniversary) overlooking the incredible Taj Mahal. Cathy has planned an incredible day for us - starting at 5:30 with a ride to Agra and then an exploration of the Taj. We will be having dinner overlooking the Taj Mahal and then do a sunrise walk to the incredible site. What a cool way to celebrate my 59th Bday and our 14th Anniversary.


Delhi is experiencing a reduction in pollution as a result of the mandatory use of natural gas on public transport vehicles, including buses, taxis and "auto" motorized rickshaws. The traffic in Delhi includes a constant musical set of horns - as these vehicles and cars/trucks weave, duck and "kiss" each other in a most unusual traffic pattern. It will interesting to see what happens when the TATA $2,000 car is introduced later this year. There are over 200,000 reservations for the first batch of $100,000 cars.


A visit to McDonalds was fasincating in a country that does not eat beef. Here is a picture of the Tikka Burger, which was made from Spicy Potatoes. It was interesting to see other variations of the McD's menu - including much spicier alternatives to ketchup. Impressive was the "recycle" bin for all packets not used.



We had a great afternoon at Accenture, meeting with their Learning Development Team - a widely talented group of instructional designers, graphic experts, implementation managers and other learning professionals. Working with their counterparts in Accenture offices in Texas and Illinois, they are producing a wide range of learning projects for Fortune 500 companies around the world. Once again, I was impressed with the depth of interest in next generation models of learning and development.

Conversation with Learning Colleagues in Delhi

Learning Strategies, Learning Outsourcing, Social Learning, Instructional Design and Learning in a Changing Economy were just a few of the topics that soared around the table during a two hour dialogue with a dozen learning colleagues in Delhi today.

Organized by Sangeeta Murthi Sahgal from Lumis Partners, we had colleagues from Indian companies as well as Indian divisions of groups like GE and IBM.

Clearly, some of the issues facing learning in India are parallel to those in the US and other parts of the world. From proving the worth of learning to the shifting nature of design.

Some of the unique to India discussions included these points:

• Move beyond the stereotype that learning designed in India is efficient but not creative. It is critical to ask for and design a process that will give the instructional design teams the mission to go wider. There is a strong animation and gaming skillset in India that is rarely tapped in eLearning projects.
• View Learning deliverables as part of the process rather than just products (eg. x number of modules).
• The need to provide skilling to the millions of people in India that are way below the poverty line ... and to create new ways of engaging business in that effort.
• The impact of increased taxes on outsourcing in the US may have on the learning projects sent to India.
• The rise in social learning, collaboration and coaching in a scalable, global learning delivery model.
• Add a usability and feedback loop between instructional designers and the project sponsors.
• Shift in the competencies for Instructional Designer higher education programs.

Skilling, Scents and Global Slogans

After a day of flights from New York, we are now here and rested in Delhi, India. A few quick impressions:

Skilling & ReSkilling: We were struck by the culture of Skilling and ReSkilling evident at every turn in India:

• From the conversations with our driver about his goal of saving enough money for the proper schooling of his 6 year old girl to have a proper change of rising her position in the world.
• The morning newspaper had a 12 page section just with on-line programs at the graduate, college and vocational level.
• A huge ad saying "When I see a Resume with a HP Certification, the rest go in the Bin"
• Large stories linking the new tax proposed by Obama on Business Process Outsourcing to advice about which degrees would be impacted.

Global Slogans & Elections: Just when we thought the election cycle was over, we have been experiencing the end stage of a very long national campaign here. And, the slogan of one of their parties is " Yes We Can!" The engagement of young people has also mirrored the US 2008 election cycle as well. What makes this interesting is the importance of the parties forming coalitions to be able to have a majority. There is 24 by 7 coverage of the elections on several channels and it feels almost like "deja vu"

Scents: Every time we enter the lobby of our hotel, we are bombarded with new scents and fragrances. Jasmine greeted us at breakfast this morning.

We are off for meetings with Learning colleagues this afternoon and then drinks with folks from the US Embassy this evening.

Learning Questions to Explore in India

While in India, we'll be exploring the following questions with our colleagues:

• Sourcing: What is the status of the Indian "sourcing" or "outsourcing" market?
• TRENDS: How is Social Learning, Mobile Learning and Performance Support being deployed or developed in India?
• Economy: What is the impact of the world economic "slowdown" on the India Learning field?
• Education: What are the key programs to develop Learning Professionals and Learning Leaders in India?
• Learning Styles & Lessons: What are the aspects of the education system (K to Higher Ed) that influence the learning styles in India?

Please add to this list via comments.