Purdue Family! =)

Boilermakers in India! Shivam, Myself, and Tapish

This blog post might turn into a rant about how much I absolutely love Purdue. Purdue has given me so many friends all over the world. No matter where I go, I know there is another Boilermaker to hang out with or help me out. This weekend is a great example of this. Shivam and Tapish are two friends of mine from Purdue. They studied chemical engineering with me, and for the last three years I have had basically every class with these boys. This year they graduated and now have big people jobs..look at them growing up! Both of them moved back to India after graduation. Shivam now works for his dad's company (and is basically an international businessman now lol) and lives in Ahmedabad (we are planning a trip there the first weekend in August). Tapish starts work in Belgium in July, but will eventually return to India and take over his dad's business. The two of them have been absolute dolls since finding out I was coming here.

So happy to see them!

Shivam came up to Delhi this weekend to visit me and his best friend Aditya, whom is interning in the Delhi area this summer too. On Friday night, Shivam and his dad arranged for a driver they knew to come pick Marisa, Melanie, and I up and take us home from the Khan Market, a VERY upscale part of town. The three of us were in aw of all the gorgeous houses we passed; most were more glamorous than those in Beverly Hills! It was so fun to see some of my Purdue friends in INDIA! I kept saying, "Oh my gosh I'm in India! We are in India together! How cool is that?!" <--That sentence came out of my mouth no less than ten times that night. I met some awesome people and got to hang out with people I already knew were awesome. There were 9 of us total, and we had a little room in the Boombox Cafe. We met a girl named Kavya; she knew Aditya and Shivam through a mutual friend. She was awesome and promised to take the three of us girls shopping =) We are obviously pretty excited about that. We know she will take us to some awesome places! Hopefully this time I finally find a kurta that looks good on me! We sat there for hours hanging out and catching up on life. As I'm writing this I still can't get over that I'm in India and hanging out with two people I met at Purdue in India. Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE Purdue =).

Myself, Tapish, Melanie, Marisa, Aditya, and Kavya! Loved hanging out with all these old and new friends!

Tapish and I!

Shivam and I!

Don't the girls look cute?! =)

Melanie, Marisa, and I

Aditya, Marisa, Melanie, Myself, and Shivam in front of a statue of worship to a Hindu God

Melanie and I

Old Friends (Aditya and Shivam) Teenage Friends (Shivam and I) Baby Friends (Aditya and I)

The next day we all went to The Grand Hotel in Vasant Kunj. Tapish said that most of the good dancing clubs in Delhi are in hotels. The Grand Hotel was pretty grand to say the least. We danced a bunch! Let me just tell you how much I love Bollywood music. I love it. This song is my jam:

Shivam and I discussed plans for visiting his home town in Ahmedabad. Aditya and I discussed plans for us all to go to Rishikesh together for a white water rafting extravaganza and yoga class (Rishikesh is the world capital of yoga..it was basically born here).

On our way to The Grand Hotel

Aditya, Shivam, Melanie, Marisa, Myself, and Tapish at  The Grand Hotel

Now here is a crazy story for you..so when Tapish was driving us home we were pulled over by a police check point. The police were stopping everyone to ensure 'the drivers were sober, and the car had the proper paperwork for being on the road.' We were stopped for what seemed like 10 minutes. When Tapish came back in the car I said, "Wow, that was thorough." He replied, "Not really, they just wanted money." This statement was followed by complete shock on our ends and a lot of follow up questions. Apparently cops here stop people for no reason and make you pay them off to let you go or leave you alone. When I told my mom about what happened she said the same thing happens in Brazil! (Side note: For those that don't know, my family lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil--yes the country, as in the one in South America and not the town in Indiana) The whole concept of this blew my mind. If a cop tried to do that to you in the States, you could sue the pants off of them, and they would be fired!

The Gang at KOD!

 Wednesday Tapish, Aditya, Melanie, Marisa, and I all went to The Kingdom of Dreams. The Kingdom of Dreams is a live entertainment theatre and cultural center. There are two theatres that feature Bollywood style musicals. There is also a huge culture gully where 17 states of India are represented. Each state's area is  themed for what it is best known for (Ex. Goa has a beach shack because Goa has some of the most gorgeous beaches ever.) in both architecture and decorations. Each state has food that also represents its culture. Tapish told us to not eat lunch before coming and boy was he right! The food was THE BEST! We had food from the states Punjabi and Bombay. At Punjabi we had the best minced lamb dish that had peas, tomatoes, and I'm sure a variety of other things that I had no idea about while eating it. The point is...it was DELICIOUS! We also had a buttered tandoori chicken dish which was also absolutely delicious. Add some naan to soak up all the sauce, and you have created my favorite meal thus far while in India. It was fun visiting the food joints because we would get 2 or 3 things and split them among all five of us; it was a great way to get to try a variety of things! When we walked into The Kingdom of Dreams, I immediately felt like I was in a Disney theme park. The atmosphere was identical, and I was behaving exactly like a five year old would when visiting Disney for the first time. The establishment itself is pretty young, and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is its world ambassador. Each state has its own dance that is performed throughout the night. I loved watching the mini shows that were performed every half hour or so in the cultural gully. The costumes were very elaborate and each represented the culture of the different Indian states. It is interesting to me how different the cultures are of each state in India. I feel like food from each state is extremely specific and each state has its own unique culture tied to it. This is true to some extent in the US but definitely not to this level of detail.

The Theatre

Entrance to the Culture Gully

The girls and I

These next few pictures are from the dance of Punjabi!

First peak inside

Puppet Show!

Nataraj, the God of Dance, is in the far left of the photo.

 More Dancing!

The peacock dance!

Below are 14 pictures of me making pottery at KOD...I know, I know it seems a little excessive, but I needed proof!

Haha I was sooo proud of myself =)

Such a cool place! We had so much fun!

Purdue CHEs at the Kingdom of Dreams!

The ultimate mirror pic!

Also on Wednesday, Shivam messaged me saying he will be in Delhi this weekend, so we are having India Purdue Reunion round two! Yay! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Purdue and all the people I've met there?! =) I feel like we are getting so much more out of the experience with their help! Who better to show you around India and teach you their culture than Indian friends, right? Tapish is being awesome with helping us plan a trip to see the Taj Mahal! It'll be a fun road trip for all of us. I'm really glad he is coming along! I'm also pumped to stay with Shivam and his family later this summer in Ahmadabad! 

This weekend will be a little lower key. Mostly the plans involve hanging out with awesome people, eating kebabs, and shopping!

Love, 

Sequoia

*Update: It looks like the nasty monsoons are going to keep us from going white water rafting in Rishikesh   =(  but there will still be yoga!