Delhi & Bhopal

I managed to get out to Delhi before my flight and see a bit of the city. President's House, India Gate, and the Lotus mall. Truly amazing sights. The stately quality of the President's mansion was striking, and it was interesting to see people milling about around the India gate. I imagine the U.S. equivalent might be the crowds in D.C. -- if there IS a U.S. equivalent.


The bottom floor of the mall looks more like a museum of sacred artifacts, with well lit exhibits dotting the walls. There was also some kind of inverted fountain where thin streams of water were pouring down from the ceiling in a circle. It had a spiritual quality to it, and in addition there has to be a physics problem in there somewhere.



I ascended a few floors and met a very gracious man who showed me some carpets he was selling. I asked him if I could take a picture of one of them and he said, "you can buy it!" Wasn't even going to try to fit that thing on the next six five planes I was taking.

On my way from place to place, I collected some nice footage and pictures of motor vehicles in hopes that we might be able to use them for some velocity and acceleration problems on the physics CD. The various modes of transportation on those highways was striking: motorcycles, bicycles, buggies, walkers, rickshaws shared the highway. And the traffic was at times more intense than Boston traffic, which is saying something. It was incredible to see all these different vehicles on the same highway - mostly peacefully, but at times jostling for a position. The chorus of beeping was a new thing too.

Later in the day, I took a flight from Delhi to Bhopal. Compared to the other flights, this was like a walk across the street - a quick hour, where I was able to see the respective cities from a bird's eye view before and after the flight. Upon my arrival in Bhopal, I was promptly picked up and shuttled to the hotel, which has some nice internet access in the lobby. Unlike the majestic isolation of the Orchid Hotel, this one is more in the middle of things.

Tomorrow I begin school visits in Madhya Pradesh. I am curious to see the types of teaching and learning that will be occurring at these places. Of particular interest to me is the resources teachers will be pulling from in their classes, and how the students will be responding. I am also curious as to what topics grab the interests of the students, and what issues, particularly in science, they see as relevant to their lives. After the school visits I hope to have a better understanding of the types of technology aids that can be woven into the learning environment.