IIT Campus & Hittin' the Books

So my posts so far have given you some idea of the fun we are having but believe it or not we have been doing a little bit of work as well. I spent my first week researching photovoltaics and solar thermal energy. I also started thinking about some applications of solar energy in rural homes in India. Thank god for the internet. (side note: its crazy how much we rely on electricity...we truly appreciate it when we have power outages here - happens about once a day for an hour or two) Anyways, in the second week I started, and continue to, do some tests outside measuring solar radiation and temperatures at various times of the day (47 degrees is the new highscore haha) Also I have started doing some tests with photovoltaics and seeing how fast it takes a panel to charge a battery. I have lots of help from our research assistant Ritesh (guy in the red shirt - middle picture). Last week we got some new equipment - "Solar Power Generation Experiment Equipment". A couple of people from Korea came down to train us and helped us get familiar with the equipment (made for some hilarious conversations full of language barriers between the two parties). I spent several hours trying out different circuits from the lab manual. I also got to play around with the 3D printer that Jon is using for his project. In addition to our own projects, Jon, Allen and I have been sitting in on a class called 'Energy Water Nexus'. The professor is got a very different style of teaching but is very good. He often asks us questions about Canada during the class (some which we have absolutely no idea how to answer). Any ways, that's it for now...oh, here are some pictures of one of the campus buildings and our new lab equipment.

Making Friends & Visiting Forts

You will be happy to know that we have been making some friends here in India. We are very popular among the security guards that work on campus. Amongst one of them is 19 year old, Mehendra. He offered to take us to the one of the famous forts here in Jodhpur, Mehrangarh Fort. After that we travelled to Jaswant Thada which is a traditional cremation ground of Jodhpur rulers. After an eventful day in the sun Mahendra took us to his house, introduced us to his family and served us some authentic Indian tea.

Jaswant Thada

Umaid Bhavan

Saturday brought on adventures of its own! After a lazy morning we decided to visit one of the wonders of Jodhpur - Umaid Bhavan Palace. Rickshaw encounters are endless! As soon as they see Jon and Allen the rate seems to skyrocket. Initial asking price to travel 3 kms = 100 rupees, price agreed upon 50 rupees haha. Even tourist locations rip off foreigners haha.

I digress… Umaid Bhavan Palace is remarkable. Rather than me describing it, take a look!

Settlin' In & On The Rocks

So we have finally settled in to our new surroundings, familiarized ourselves with the campus and even found out the local rickshaw rates! YEAY! No more getting scammed! (bit of an over statement) IIT Jodhpur is small compared to the rest of the IIT's but thats only because of its temporary arrangement and fairly new establishment. It currently uses a local college's campus while the new IIT building and residence is being constructed. As for work I have been asked to spend the first week learning about solar panels and their applications. So I've hit the books…haha barely…

After a relatively unproductive work week we treated ourselves to an authentic Indian non-vegetarian meal….and a few drinks :) If you find yourself in Jodhpur, Rajasthan don't forget to hit up On The Rocks restaurant. We filled ourselves with chicken tikka and authentic vegetable biryani! I haven't been that bloated and content in years! 

Drinks @ On the Rocks

The Three Musketeers Reunited in India

Allen Chee has just touchdown in Jodhpurtown!

Ways to Conquer the Jodhpur Sun

1. Sunscreen
2. Wear hats!
3. Drink lots of water
4. Don't go out between the hours of 12-4 pm
.......
5. Even then you just can't! :(...

Flights, Scams & Premature Ejections

Our flight to mumbai was as expected long and uneventful, although Jon and I watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Good movie! After a tedious 15 hours and the numbing of our behinds we finally saw the lights of Mumbai down below. It was hilarious to see Jon's reaction as we walked outside the airport and were hit with a wave of humid heat. My aunt and uncle recieved us outside and we headed to a restaurant called Sagar to eat. After that we headed for our hotel and parted ways with my relatives. So after a relatively sleepless night, thanks to the jet lag and the constant sound of planes taking off (note to self: never book a hotel close to the airport) we would be finally headed for our final destination.

Haha this is where the fun part begins. So we get out of the hotel and take a rickshaw to the Santa Cruz Domestic Airport. We definitely overpaid and got off at the wrong terminal! While we start walking to the right terminal a guy starts hassling us and says the terminal we want to go to is far away (even though we can see it from where we are). For some stupid reason we take his offer for a ride to the terminal. Bad idea! Haha within seconds he tells us we have to pay him 500 rupees (5times the price and 1/100th the distance). Jon and I immediately look at each other and ask them to stop the car right away. We get our bags out and start walking towards the terminal like the original plan. Turns out that the terminal is literally less than a 100 meters away (felt pretty stupid at this point). Note to self: don't get into random cabs!

So we check in, eat on the airport food court and get ready to board our flight to Jodhpur, Rajasthan (our final destination to IIT). After an hour of flying we begin our descent. We get ready to leave the plane and I have a bad feeling for some reason. So I ask the flight attendant if we have landed in Jodhpur. Turns out we are in a completely different city (Udaipur). Phewf! That would have been terrible! Getting off at the wrong city would be the absolute last thing we need after traveling two days straight. So we get back to our seats and continue on....finally we are in Jodhpur (the right one this time haha).

Headed for Mumbai :)

So after the uneventful 5 hours in transit at the Newark airport we are finally headed for Mumbai!

Delay in toronto!

So I took a bus this morning from kincardine to Pearson Airport and met up with Jon. So our original flight from Toronto to Newark has been delayed from 12:52 to 13:26...boo! Just means less transit time in Newark tho so it's not too bad. - Anirudha signing off

All Packed and Ready to Go!


Its less than 24 hours till I leave for Jodhpur, India. Woooo! Getting pretty excited...I'm travelling with Jonathan Kusins who is also at IIT for the summer but working on a different project.

We first fly to Newark, USA and then straight to Mumbai, India. We are staying in Mumbai for the night and then fly out to Jodhpur in the morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping everything goes smoothly :)

- Anirudha