Homeward Bound

 

My trip back home was uneventful, and I was absolutely thrilled to be reunited with my parents. It will take me a little while to get used to the winter weather here. As you can see below, I was greeted with a beautiful blanket of snow upon my return!

I am delighted to be back in Philadelphia. As I share the stories of my time in India with my family and friends, I am struck by how absolutely blessed I have been to have had this opportunity through Deloitte Consulting. I met so many kind and helpful people and saw as many incredible things that I never would have imagined that I would see in my lifetime.

I am so thankful to everyone who had a part in making this Immersion Program such a great opportunity. It was an invaluable experience that I will never forget.

Home Sweet Home!

What's this white stuff?

  

 Trees are beautiful in every county.

Of All Things HP

The next morning, I said goodbye to Alex and hopped on the tube to meet up with my college friend Janine, who is currently in London for grad school. We had a pretty quiet afternoon together, spending most of the afternoon shopping at the large shopping, which sadly beat the socks of the King of Prussia mall. It was right next to her dormitory!

Needing to buy a football related Christmas gift for my dad in the Piccadilly Circus area of London, Janine and I went into the heart of London in the evening.

For dinner, we indulged in something a bit more American, and went to the newly established Shake Shack in Covent Garden. Surprisingly enough, this was the first Shake Shack experience for both of us and it was FANTASTIC. Thankfully, I know that one has just opened up near my own home sweet home.) In any event, we turned in early, knowing that we would have an exciting day ahead at the Harry Potter Studio Tour!

The next day, we made our way to Watford Junction station, where we were picked up by the magical bus that took us to Leavesden Studios, the filming location for the Harry Potter series, which is now open to the public.

I had taken the tour the previous year with Alex, but I knew that Hogwarts would be decorated for the holidays, so I was looking forward to a return visit and a completely different experience.

Having been there before didn’t lessen any of the magic and I was just as giddy when the doors to the Great Hall were opened, and I was immersed in my favorite fictional universe of all times.

 

I couldn’t believe all of the Christmas decorations and costumes that were hung and housed in the Great Hall. The attention to detail of the set was incredible, and the animated snow falling outside the window behind the Hogwarts faculty table made it seem all the more real. After our time in the Great Hall, we began the self-guided section of the tour, where countless props, sets and creatures could be seen. If anything had ever been decorated for Christmas in the movies, it was now decorated on the tour, including the Gryffindor Common Room and the Weasley’s kitchen.

 

 

 

Janine and I had a great time reliving our favorite moments from the films and taking our pictures with some of the incredible set items, like the Knight Bus and the front porch of Number 4 Privet Drive. We took a break halfway through the tour for some Butterbeer before entering the second sound studio which houses the set of Diagon Alley!

 

We peeked in all the shop windows and imagined that we were buying our Hogwarts school supplies before we were led into the room with the large scale model of Hogwarts. It was covered with snow for the holiday season, and the ever-changing light colors gave the room an even more magical atmosphere. It was the perfect way to end the tour, although Janine and I still spent our fair share of time in the studio shop!
 

 

Eventually, it was time to leave the studio behind (until next time) and heading back to Janine’s for dinner. After a trip to Wagamama and a night of movies and packing, I turned in to have my last night of sleep in London. It was finally time to head home!

Hitting Some Favorite Places

Sports Direct for all things football, British that is.

A lunchtime favorite from Study Abroad days.

Eight floors of REAL books.

Apologies for these "place holder" photos.

The real thing and notes to follow soon.

A Perfect Weekend!

When Kalie and I arrived at Heathrow after our long flight from Hyderabad, it was hard to believe that our time in India was over. However, once we emerged from the London Bridge Tube Station to meet up with my childhood friend Alex and discovered how chilly it was in London, it wasn’t hard to believe that we weren’t in India anymore.

After dropping our bags off at Alex’s apartment and grabbing a small lunch, we spent some time walking around the city and taking in the spectacular Christmas decorations. We were definitely missing the Christmas spirit in India, and although we knew that Christmas was coming, it was exciting to actually feel it in the air and see it in the lights and trees that could be found in some of London’s most well-known paces.

The evening quickly became chilly, and we made our way to the restaurant Alex had chosen for our dinner. We settled in for drinks and an appetizer before we were met by Alex’s other friend Emily!

 

We all enjoyed a traditional English dinner of pie, and Kalie and I shared many stories of our time in India. After dinner in an attempt to fight off my jetlag, I joined Alex and Emily at one of their friends’ apartments in my old South Kensington neighborhood for a Christmas party. It certainly felt like a scene from Love Actually, and I was even able to reconnect with some of Alex’s friends from the University of Bath whom I had met the previous year when I visited Alex. Finally, I started to get tired and Alex and I went back to her place for a great night of sleep!

 

The next morning, we set out with Kalie to get the full English Breakfast experience! Alex chose an excellent place that I’ll need to remember for the next time I visit my favorite city! Filled up and energized for the day, Alex went back to her apartment to prepare for a work assessment while I showed Kalie around all the iconic spots of London.

We walked from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben to Westminster Abbey, before heading over to Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. Although it was drizzling, the weather held up for us until we got the tube back to Alex’s. Kalie grabbed her bag and headed back to Heathrow to catch her plane to go to Germany with Jon, Katie and Stephanie.
 

 The Palace of Westminster,
commonly known as the  Houses of Parliament.

 

Clock Tower, now officially Elizabeth Tower, renamed in 2012
to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

 

 Admiralty Arch near Trafalgar Square

 

 Sculpture of Eros in Piccadilly Circus

 

Tower Bridge, not London Bridge, is in the distance.

 

After her departure, Alex and I had a quick lunch at Pret a Manger, one of my favorites, before setting out on our journey to see Liverpool play Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

 

As a Liverpool fan sitting in the Tottenham section, I was sure to wear my jersey underneath my other clothing! Getting to the stadium was a piece of cake, and we took our seats in anticipation for the afternoon’s match. The crowds filed in and before we knew it, the match was on!

 

The English are just as serious about football as I had thought they would be, and there was much cheering and chanting as the players took the field. Our seats couldn’t have been much better, offering us a great view of the field (we were right in corner-kick territory) while still protecting us from the chilly wind and rain!

 

As the match progressed, it did not look as though things were going to go well for Tottenham. Liverpool led 2-0 at the half, and we found ourselves surrounded by some very disgruntled Tottenham fans. Liverpool seized on its success in the second half and finished with a strong 5-0 score by the final whistle. The stands had steadily cleared out with each ensuing Liverpool goal, and by the end of the game there weren’t nearly as many people in our section of the stands.

 

Liverpool 5 - Tottenham 0

"Liverpool have pounced with savagery!"

I just love being here! The Brits have such a way with words.

 

Despite the disappointment of the home-team fans, Alex and I had a great time and made our way back through the crowds and on to the tube to spend the evening eating and watching movies at her apartment. I was thrilled to be able to check "attend a Premier League match" off of my bucket list! 

Early Christmas Presents!

Kaile and I will be touring London with childhood best friend, Alex on Saturday.

 

There are NO words!

Sunday, December 15th - White Hart Lane - 4PM.

And later in the week, with Villanova Pastoral Musician friend, Janine ....

 

JUST A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS.

 But then again, there is Christmas in West Chester, PA.

Final Goodbyes

The week has been a blur. The presentation went really well. Today's finish was actually AWESOME. Our senior leadership judges were insightful and very complimentary. Congratulations everyone!

It hardly seems real - packing for the FINAL time - getting ready to leave all of the great friends we've made here in Hyderabad, especially amidst a flurry of last minute work assignments. Imagine!

We need another week for proper goodbyes. All we can say is THANK YOU! THANK YOU! - धन्यवाद - for your warm welcome, caring concern and especially for sharing your exceptional expertise. It has been an irreplaceable experience that we will always value.

Thanks to EVERYONE at the Lemon Tree, who made our stay almost like being at home.

And good bye (again, in some cases) to six very special BTA colleagues. I'll have one more day with Kalie in London and many Friday afternoons in Philadelphia with Danny, but the way things go at Deloitte, I may well bump into old friend, Om or new friends Katie, Jon and Stephanie in the coming year! Meanwhile, thanks so much to each of you, as well. What a blast! Safe travels home to you all.

AND SPECIAL THANKS to Ian Wright, who encouraged us all to be here, Chetan Maduri, who was SO helpful at every turn, all the staff back in the States and here at Deloitte USI, who worked so hard behind the scenes to make the program a success. Very well done, to all.

Hummmm. Leaving the building for the final time is much harder than I thought it would be.

An Early Start to the End

After a very late night, which included an unscheduled meeting with senior manager, Nandu Giriyapur, I'm happy to report that we've made good progress on the case study. We actually presented the first part of the our work this afternoon.

The case study has really increased our confidence in problem solving with SAP. Chetan was very impressed and we feel confident that the rest of our presentation will go well tomorrow.

So the FINISH LINE is in sight! (Enough with the clichés, right?) It will take a while for us to process this final task - all that we learned, to say nothing of all that we have experienced here these past TWELVE weeks.

On the one hand, I've surprised myself, but then again, it wasn't as easy as it may have looked! More thoughts later.

Are You Kidding Me?

Soooooooooo, I'll have to admit, things are a little stressed out today. Our timing on the Goa excursion might have not been ideal AND client worked has picked up as well! Guess they don't want us to slip out of town quietly.

Presentation of our case study is scheduled for FRIDAY afternoon. We're in the testing phase - verifying that all of our SAP configuration work is A-OK and sorting out the last few bugs in our integrated solution.

Chetan, our immersion program coordinator, has been very helpful - allowing us to tweak the testing schedule and giving us pointers on how to prioritize our presentation. BUT assembling the final product and getting our act together is going to come right down to the wire. As they say in horse racing -- "it's going to be a photo finish!" Say a few prayers for us.

Blog Stats Update

The blog is now 140 days old. We've been in Hyderabad for 80 DAYS and our time here is rapidly coming to an end. I expect to add notes and pics from the Goa trip and cover my London week before closing up shop, but given the demands of our case study, these will come a little later than usual. Please be patient.

Meanwhile, an update on readership. Thanks to everyone in India who's checking it out!

• United States - 2,953
• Malaysia - 2468
• Indonesia - 256
• India - 181
• Serbia - 154
• France - 53
• UK - 35
• Germany - 28
• Russia - 16
• Ukraine - 12

Goa: God's Country - II

We were up bright and early for breakfast before setting back out into the jungle for our trek of about seven miles to Dudhsagar Falls.

Before taking off, there were the obligatory group shots and general craziness. But to my surprise, I discovered that cricket can be played at any time and any where in India.

But I digress. We walked through all sorts of scenery, from dense jungle and forest, to open flatlands and small villages. It was during the jungle part that our guide was MOST VALUABLE.

Fearless Fivesome: Om, Me, Kalie, Jon and Danny

 

We trekked up and down a variety of steep hills and even had to cross several rivers on our way to the waterfall. At about lunch time, we could hear the loud sounds of rushing water and knew that we were getting close!

 

No trails here. That's me crossing the river in the red.

As we descended a steep hill (we had to hang on to tree trunks until we were sure of our footing), we arrived at the top of the waterfall. Although it would have been incredible, I’m sure, to see the waterfall from its base, it was amazing to be at the top. Water was rushing all around us and the view was breathtaking.

 

 

We lounged around on the rocks and ate lunch before spending the afternoon climbing up to the higher parts of the falls, over slippery wet rocks. Some went swimming in the falls, but I was happy enough to just stick my feet in. Fortunately, there were no leeches this time around!

After packing up our things, we walked back towards one of the villages that we had passed. Three buses picked us up there and took us back to our campsite to retrieve our bags. Once we were all packed and ready to go, we had a three hour ride before we reached the overnight bus that would take us back to Hyderabad. It was very similar to the Kraft charter busses that are common in the US, and after a day of trekking it didn’t take me long to fall asleep for the night.

We reached Hyderabad at eight o’clock in the morning on Monday, giving us Immersioners plenty of time to shower and grab breakfast before heading into work!

 

It was another grand excursion on our last weekend in India. Many, MANY thanks to JIA coordinators:

Satej Shinde

Santosh Iyer

Venkata Kalaga

Vamsi Parepalli

Gurupreet Chabda

and all the new friends we made over the weekend.