India Again!: ASEAN-India Youth Exchange Program, Part 1 - Jaipur

Prologue:

- After 3 weeks of waiting, I received an e-mail on the 30th of October, while watching some horror film on HBO. My heart pumped so much, my hearing was muffled, and my breathing almost stopped. The National Youth Commission had sent me a notification regarding my acceptance as one of the 25 delegates of the Philippines to a two-week exchange program in India. There would be a total of 250 delegates (210 actually,) from the ten ASEAN countries, and the whole trip (including pocket money, heehee) was sponsored by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII,) "non-government, not-for-profit, industry led and industry managed organisation, playing a proactive role in India's development process" (according to CII's website.)

- CII, hand in hand with the Indian government, organized this exchange program in line with the 20th ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, where the Philippine delegation was headed by Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay. Also, this exchange program's main theme this year was partnership in trade and commerce. The highlight of the exchange program was both delegation's (Binay's and our youth delegation,) attendance of the Car Rally Flag Down in Delhi. The Car Rally is another ASEAN-India project, where drivers from ASEAN countries would drive (race?) through almost all ASEAN countries, plus India, for around two months.

- My acceptance to this program put all my sudden Indian-Embassy-related events in place: the dinner on the coast guard ship Samrat, the press conference in Dusit Thani, and had we not departed the country on the 10th, we would have even attended another dinner + cultural show on the Indian ship, INS Sudarshini, that docked in Manila a few weeks ago. More importantly, I was ecstatic to see India for a second time after a mere year and a half after my first trip to the "mother land."

- The Philippine delegation was comprised of: Israel Jayson Vinta, Rachel Mary Ann Basas, Mark Gino Aliperio, Adelle Rico, Reymund Flores, Mavreen Rose Tuvilla, Carla Baybay, Ephraim Domingo, Monica Cua Co, Marygrace "Gracie" Perpetua, Mhelcar "Manunudlo" Anierdes, Justin Patrick "Japs" Samson, Rose Ann Laza, James Miraflor, George Michael "Gem" Regino, Joseph Navarro (my roommate!!),  Tyrone Reden Sy, Michael Georche, Babelyn Cabalar, Corazon Buala, Jackielou Bagadion, Rhisan Morales, John Ryan Recabar, Hazielle Paculba, and of course, there's me.

- The Philippine delegation was grouped with the Bruneian and Cambodian delegation, and started its first leg in Jaipur. The second group, the Malaysians, Indonesians, and Lao delegation, started in Mumbai. The two groups exchanged locations after a few days. The third and fourth started in Hyderabad and Kolkata respectively, and both groups also exchanged locations. All 210 delegates met in Gurgaon/Delhi after the exchange.

Without John, Ann, Carla, and Monica

Without Rhisan

The Real Deal:

- December 10-13, 2012, Monday to Thursday.

- Our group flew to Guangzhou International Airport around noon of the 10th, had a short stopover, and had a long flight from Guangzhou to New Delhi. We were welcomed by Ms. Bhavna Kataria in Country Inn Hotel, together with some from the Bruneian delegation; the Cambodian delegates had arrived earlier, and had gone up to their rooms.

- Since my travel to India this time was during the winter season, despite being snowless, Northern India was "freezing," as one of my Indian friends would say. Temperatures at night and early morning would drop to single digits, and day temperatures reaching less than 25 degrees Celsius. Mumbai, on the other hand, was the only warm place we encountered, since Mumbai is located in central India (only considering top-to-bottom geographic location,) and more or less has a tropical climate like the Philippines.

Crazy NAIA restaurant menu.

Tyrone's first Chinese food in China.

I never thought I'd see this airport again!!

- Our real "first day" was on the 11th of December, when our butts had become sore from a half-day land travel to far-flung Jaipur, also called the "Pink City," one of my favorite places in India. Jaipur is the capital, and largest city of Rajasthan, a hill-and-dessert state; Jaipur is closer to the hillier parts of the state. Mr. Ashish Modi met us in Jaipur, and he and Ms. Bhavna took care of us in Jaipur. Journalists/bloggers from Skarma, a media consultancy company, followed us around to interact with us, and document everything. In Jaipur, a bubbly Pranika was there to document our group.

- Our hotel in Jaipur was Marriott, just like the rest of our hotels in India. However, the Bruneians, Cambodians, and my co-Filipinos felt that the Marriott in Jaipur was the best, compared to the Marriott hotels in Mumbai or Gurgaon. For one, Marriott Jaipur was massive, and its buffet selection was endless.

- We rested for a while after reaching the hotel, and for our first night in the Pink City, we were brought to Chokhi Dhani. Chokhi Dhani is a Rajasthani-themed village resort, showcasing the traditional arts, crafts, and cuisine of Rajasthan. Each station had something Rajasthani to show, from puppet shows, dances, magic tricks, pottery, balancing acts, etc. There were also camel-riding, elephant-riding, and dress-up-plus-photo-taking stations. Despite the amazing, and colorful treats Chokhi Dhani has to offer, what made a lasting impression for our group was the food.

- We were all seated on the floor (or small stools,) in a small courtyard, and were each served a traditional Rajasthani thali (a sort of big dinner platter.) The bowls and plates were made of banana leaves, and our mugs made of crude clay. I appreciated the authenticity of the dishes greatly, but, as a unanimous opinion, we didn't quite like the food; some of the food there tasted a bit differently from the "usual Indian food" (although my Indian friends would beg to differ that there is no such thing as "usual Indian food" due to India's diversity.) Still, I think I was the one of the few who might have enjoyed Chokhi Dhani food a teeny weeny bit. (The Malaysians, Indonesians, and Lao people who exchanged locations with us had a different Chokhi Dhani experience, and did not have dinner at the same place as we did. Therefore, they seemed to have a better Chokhi Dhani experience, at least in terms of the food only.)

Irregularly-shaped Coke can.

Marble Hindu temple.

I ain't happy when my shirt is the same color as one of the hotel's sofas.

"CII" designed using flowers and powders. This is called a "rangoli" or "kolam."

Warm Chokhi Dhani welcome drink. Tasted a bit "rooty."

Folk dance

Puppetry.

Gem's long lost Bruneian brother, Farhan.

Pottery.

Hard to ride on a giant camel. Haha. (With Ann Laza.)

Prince of Jaipur?? :D:D:D:D

With Japs and Manunudlo

Gem the warrior. Haha.

Tyrone and Monica.

Chokhi Dhani food. :D:D:D:D

- The following day was a full-day tour-day. We went to the yellow-bricked Amber Fort in the morning, and hiked up the small hill. Going up the Amber Fort is usually by elephant, but I'm still not sure why we were not given the chance to ride the elephants up. (Possibly because of the sheer number of tourists who want to ride the elephants too, and logistics and timing would be more difficult then.) We all made friends with each other, sharing the pain and tiredness of "climb[ing] every mountain."

- Our tour in both the Amber and Jaigarh Forts were done in a peek-and-leave manner. Apparently, we started late in the day, and might not have enough time for all the other things we needed to do. However, seeing the Amber Fort again still left me in awe, as the Amber remains to be one of the more colorful, and skillfully-made forts of India. The Jaigarh Fort, on the other hand, was something new to me. Situated on the opposite hill of the Amber, its main feature was the Jaivan Cannon, the world's largest cannon on wheels. The Jaigarh also has a small museum on weaponry, and another of the royal family of Jaipur. Throughout the day, we were trying to take photos of flocks of birds, since there are tons of birds (pigeons, I suppose,) around Jaipur.

- We had lunch in Mayur Banquets, while having a lecture on Indian philosophy by R.K. Poddar, an Indian theologian, and one of the council men of CII Rajasthan.

No, it's not what you think. Haha.

Albert Hall Museum, view from the bus.

Jal Mahal (Water Palace,) at the right side.

Amber/Amer Fort from the ground.

 

Plenty of birds!!

With Pranika!! :D:D:D:D

The courtyard where Jodhaa Akbar was shot, together with one of Bollywood's biggest fans, Mavreen.

In Jaigarh Fort.

With the world's largest cannon on wheels!!

With Joseph and Tyrone.

Jal Mahal from the peack of the Jaigarh.

Jal Mahal again. :D:D:D:D

Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds) from the bus.

 

With Mr. Poddar.

 - We ran out of time to visit both the City Palace and Jantar Mantar, so the organizers opted to visited just the Jantar Mantar, as it is a UNESCO world heritage site. The Jantar Mantar is an ancient observatory from the Mughal era (Islamic empire,) where devices used to measure time, constellations, sun positions, etc. can also be found. This time, I made sure that my camera's battery didn't run out of power like the last time. I was also able to take some photos of the City Palace facade, as it is just located right beside the Jantar Mantar.

With Ms. Bhavna

Jantar Mantar and the City Palace behind.

- The following day, our last full day in Jaipur, was reserved for "official matters." We visited Mahindra World City in the morning, and saw a city in the making, where big companies will be situated side by side with their employees's residences. Commercial structures will also be built, and resources, such as water, are foreseen to be recycled and reused.  

Lady working on the garden hose. Yes, people in India work with that kind of attire.

With Mr. Pankaj Singh of Mahinda World City

- After lunch in Mahindra, we proceeded to Jaipur's Global Institute of Technology (GIT,) where we interacted with the school's students, and asked each other on  business, tourism, and educational opportunities and circumstances. The forum/Q-and-A was closed by the students by posting a question on our sentiments regarding our visit to India. As all eyes were on me, as I was sort of assigned by the Philippine group to be their "agent of soft diplomacy" due to my knowledge of some Hindi, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to share my sentiments. I never knew it made a big impact on the students, despite not saying anything "deep," so much so that the Chief Operating Officer of GIT, Mr. K.C. Sharma, hugged me tightly when I introduced myself to him during our snack time in the schools' cafeteria. Many students also came to congratulate me, again, to my immense surprise.

- We all went to Rajasthali Emporium to do some initial shopping. As expected, stuff in government emporiums are usually priced a bit higher than usual, although still within a reasonable range. However, since we were part of an official delegation, it's quite certain that we won't be taken to non-government-operated stalls to buy cheaper souvenirs. 

Students playing cricket.

Second from the left: Mr. Sharma (the one who hugged me,) and far left: Mr. Ashish Modi from CII

With my newly-bought turban!!

- On morning of the 14th, we all departed for sunny Mumbai. I'm looking forward to visit Jaipur again, and hopefully I'll see the other jewels of Rajasthan, like Jodhpur, the blue city.