Day 1 – Monday (16.10.2023) – The Incredible Journey Begins
Hello from India! Our INDO-GERMAN Challenge for Sustainable Production began on October 16th with loads of excitement. We all gathered at Braunschweig Hauptbahnhof early in the morning, ready for our journey.
Our day kicked off at 6:30 AM when we headed to Frankfurt. The journey was long but filled with chatting, laughter, and anticipation. At 1:40 PM, we boarded our flight to New Delhi. Looking out of the plane window, we saw the vast Indian landscape welcoming us.
The drive from New Delhi to Pilani was an adventure in itself. It felt like a wild ride with no strict traffic rules. Cows and dogs on the road, honking auto rickshaws, and people walking everywhere made the journey unforgettable. We even saw some camels along the way, which was pretty amazing. Our experienced driver managed the chaos and made us feel safe. It was a unique Indian road experience.
When we reached Pilani, we were tired and hungry. We were served a spicy soup for breakfast, and it was delicious, especially when eaten with roti. Of course, we had to have some chai.
After a short rest, we woke up and had a tasty, all-you-can-eat lunch around noon.
The day continued with a tour of the campus, where we met our Indian fellow students. They were so warm and welcoming, making us feel right at home. The campus was beautiful, combining stunning architecture with nature.
As night approached, we headed to bed, excited to start our work on the Engineering of Circular Business Models for PV-panels the next day. We’re also looking forward to exploring the local culture and the BITS Pilani campus in the coming days.
Stay tuned for more stories from our incredible journey. It’s going to be a mix of learning, adventure, and fun.
Day 2 – Tuesday (17.10.2023)
The second day of the time at BITS started with a little bit more sleep compared to the last night and a breakfast which included more than 2 different kinds of soup. All of us were motivated to start into the group works and getting used to the topic of the challenge. After breakfast we gathered in our groups and started checking out the task and the first steps. We stepped into the topic by reading relevant literature and discussing how we want to work on the overall tasks.
For lunch break the Indian students convinced us to go to the canteen on campus together although some of us were not sure about trying the food outside VFAST at first. But on Wednesdays the food in the canteen is all about paneer and we loved it because it was very tasty and not too spicy. It was a new experience compared to VFAST because the food was served on metal plates.
After another group work session in the afternoon, we were requested to show our passport to the security office of the Pilani Campus. Even though it was a little annoying to wait until everyone was finished, we managed to keep the good mood in our group and started some further planning for our trip after the time at the campus.
The evening included a lot of interesting exchange with many other students of BITS. Our Indian group colleagues introduced us into the club-culture of BITS. In these clubs, the students find most of their friends and can share their interests. They showed as around different areas where people were working on big and beautiful paintings for an upcoming cultural festival or where they were following their passions in music, either traditional or modern. Some even improvised a short traditional song only for us. We went to the gym and to different other rooms where students were working on their projects. It was very inspiring to see their enthusiasm for the topics and their openness to show us around. The day ended with a tasty Chai and some Peri-Peri fries at the All-Night-Canteen.
Day 3 – Wednesday (18.10.2023)
Today was another exciting day of our Indo-German Challenge here in India. The day was packed with activities, adventures and new experiences that made it unforgettable. It started with breakfast, but only half of us showed up for it – probably because we were still full from all the great food we had eaten the previous days. After breakfast, we participated in some productive group work, and returned to VFAST for lunch. There, as always, we had a wide variety of delicious dishes. After lunch, we settled into the online lecture “Introduction to Sustainability” by Prof. Dr. Herrmann. The lecture was informative and interesting. Of course, there was a chai break in the afternoon, because when you are in India, you have to drink chai! It is an integral part of the experience. In the late afternoon, we played an epic game of volleyball with our Indian friends, although some preferred to play soccer since there were more than 12 of us. Afterwards we went back to VFAST to shower and have dinner, and once again the Indian cuisine blew us away. In the evening, the Astro Club invited us to go stargazing. We were able to view Jupiter and Saturn through their telescopes and heard the sad story of how their unique telescope lenses were stolen during COVID. As the clock ticked toward midnight, we gathered for a late-night chai, and while drinking warm, aromatic tea, everyone chatted nicely and bonded more into an incredible exchange group. Finally, we went to bed around 2 a.m. and tried to process all these incredible moments of learning, friendship, and adventure in India.
Day 4 – Thursday (19.10.2023)
The fourth day on Campus started with the typical Indian breakfast, consisting of way more food than any of us would normally have in the morning, but by now we were mostly accustomed to it. More than saturated again, we went to get a few hours of groupwork done, until we started into an intercultural workshop to help us understand the habits in India and Germany. We talked about the specifics of each other’s culture, like festive occasions, work-live-balance, family live and about the thoughts that both the German and the Indian students had regarding both countries and cultures.
After this workshop we had lunch at VFast and finish the group work for the day. In the evening it was time to visit the campuses very own temple dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of learning and education. The temple was a beautiful piece of architecture with incredibly detailed decorative marble-artwork. It displayed not only representations of various gods, but also of influential or famous scientists, philosophers, or religious and cultural leaders from all over the world.
Now it was time to rush back to the hostel, change into our sport clothes and run to the basketball court, because we took more time at the temple than expected. Our fellow Indian students booked the court for us, so everyone who was not yet exhausted enough from the day (or the previous days, as some of us were still recovering from blisters they got during the soccer session yesterday when they gave all they had to make the decisive goal), had a very nice time playing a few games before dinner. BITS really offers great possibilities to do various kinds of sports.
Now hungry again we went to get something to eat at the Connaught Place, which is somewhat separated from the rest of the campus. The different kinds of paneer and chili honey potatoes were amazing, it might be the best place to eat on campus. After having a so-called Moonlight-Beauty-Shake for dessert, which is basically a very sweet kind of blueberry milkshake, we went back to VFast, looking forward to many more amazing experiences to come for the next days.
Day 5 – Friday (20.10.2023)
Yoga and Library Visit
Day 5 of our stay at BITS started a few hours before breakfast with an early morning yoga session. After so many experiences during the past days, it was nice to bring some stillness and awareness to the moment. The instructor was patient enough with us so that even our yoga-first timers were able to keep up with the relaxing session. Some of us said they have rarely felt so quickly beamed away from the here and now. Well, could also be, because we were still very tired from the night before.
Refreshed and connected to our bodies and minds, we moved on to the next item on the program list: a visit to the library. The library had a large entrance hall with high ceilings. It was decorated here and there with various plants and there was a round square with columns over two floors, which naturally cooled the building in a special architectural way. Apart from the impressive building, the library appeared almost as expected: on the two floors you could find the typical shelves full of dusty books, just like in Braunschweig. The experience differed a bit from what could be seen in Germany, due to a small special feature: we were very surprised when we were allowed to take out the books in a room with display cabinets and scroll through them. The books were really old and some of the pages were almost about to break. This would never have been allowed in a German library. Better put them back in the display cases quickly!
Cake, Food, Group Work
After a short detour for coffee and incredibly soft, delicious brownies at Connaught Place and then lunch at VFAST, it was back to group work for a bit of productivity. For three and a half hours, heads were spinning with energetic discussions. Afterwards, we had definitely earned our chai and Momos at the Food Ministry!
Dancing, Culture, more Food
Today we skipped dinner at VFAST, because we were invited to the Hindu Navratri festival that was happening on campus. The festival took place in the open air on a large meadow in a somewhat remote corner of the campus, so we took a tuktuk there; this time one with brightly colored wheels, jewelry, and a disco roof – a genuine party tuktuk!
The festival itself was no less colorful: almost everyone was dressed in traditional, super-beautiful, colorful Indian clothing. This made us feel a little underdressed, but we were welcomed, nonetheless. There were all kinds of people here, from big to small: we were told that especially the professors were here with their families and children. Some even had a few musical performances at the festival. Just as casually, we were suddenly greeted by a serious but sincere and warm man in a bright yellow kurta: it was Vice Chancellor Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao himself! The man whose story and name we had read that morning engraved in granite in the library. He gave us a warm welcome, joked a bit about the differences between German and Indian customs and praised and thanked us for our cooperation. Very chill guy!
It wasn’t long before we were approached from the other side: the festive dance to honor the goddess Durga was about to begin! Two very festively dressed women made their way to the stone stage on which an statue of the goddess Durga was enthroned. Drums started to play rhythmically, the women held clay jars containing smoking ash and they danced wildly around the stage in front of the goddess. We were told that when the ashes fell out of the jug, it was the next person’s turn. However, no matter how wildly the two women danced, somehow the ashes always remained inside the jug. Then they pointed at us and waved us onto the stage. Eh, what? Us? We didn’t quite know what to do with ourselves and just stood there with our German bafflement. But then, cheered on from all sides, first the girls and then the boys dared to go on stage. We took the jugs and danced like the others did – at least we tried to. Before we knew it, a big circle had formed around us and everyone was dancing together. The drums were shaking, there was whistling and cheering. It was crazy. We enjoyed the rest of the evening with another cultural program, delicious snacks that we all shared from one plate and a lot of cool conversations. Another day full of experiences at BITS!
Day 6 – Sunday (22.10.2023)
On Sunday at around 6:45 AM, a group of us, Indian and German students, set out to witness the sunrise from a small mountain near the campus. On our way there, we explored some streets of Pilani and the nearby rural area on bicycles. It felt a bit strange at first to ride close to the many free-roaming cows on the streets. After climbing numerous stairs to the top of the mountain, we enjoyed a breathtaking view of the area and visited a small temple at the peak. Coming down the mountain, we had the chance to observe the first unsteady steps of a newly born calf. After breakfast, we headed to downtown Pilani to purchase traditional Indian clothes for an Indian wedding in Delhi that we were invited to after the challenge. Navigating the narrow and busy shopping streets of Pilani was a unique experience, giving us a glimpse into daily life beyond the campus.
In the afternoon, we took a bus to the city of Mandawa, about 1.5 hours away. There, we first visited a “Haveli,” an impressive traditional townhouse of a wealthy trading family from the 19th century, now converted into a museum. We explored amazing old wall paintings and a huge collection of antiques on multiple floors around a courtyard. Later, we spent the evening on the rooftop of another historic house called “Mandawa Kothi,” watching the sunset with chai and guitar music over the city’s roofs. Following this, we had a shared meal in the beautiful courtyard of the building. During dinner, most of the German students watched their first cricket match and learned some rules of the game. India was playing in the Cricket World Championship on that day, and many Indians were excitedly following the game. Cricket is very popular in India and the games were especially interesting at the time as the World Cup was being held in India that year. After dinner, the evening concluded in another courtyard with dancing to a mix of Indian and German music before we headed back to Pilani.
Day 7 – Monday (23.10.2023)
Today was our last complete day at BITS Pilani. Tomorrow, there will be a public holiday as the highlight of the celebrations and preparations we could witness over the past couple of days. So today was our last working day here in India and in the morning the groups were busy preparing their presentations for the afternoon. After a short lunch break we met again and the groups shared which progress they had made over the last week and showed their intended next steps. After each presentation there were many questions from students as well as supervisors and always long discussion. It was apparent that everyone was interested in the others work and curious to see how everything will finally come together at the end of the indo-german challenge. Although the presentations took longer than planned, we still had a feedback session to conclude our first part of the exchange. Overall, the students seemed to be happy about the time and activities spent together, but there were still many challenges to face regarding the upcoming steps in our work. In the evening, we visited the festival again, but we came quite late and could only see a bit of music. Some of us also tried more spicy food to figure out where our limit is. The evening ended with good ice cream and many conversations between Indian and German students and we will be happy to meet again in Germany three weeks time.
