Saturday, May 18, 2007: Party Time

This is a photo of Nate and I outside Microsoft headquarters here in Hyderabad. We visited them Friday morning. They have a pretty incredible facility. Similar to the other places we have visited, an employee has absolutely no need to ever leave - its a palace. There is a cricket field, basketball courts, several gyms, billiards areas, tons of stores, cell phone service providers, libraries, cafes, all kinds of entertainment centers, an ampitheater, and anything else you would ever want to put inside a corporate campus. Not to mention that the grounds are perfectly manicured and like one would come to expect in India littered with workers as well as security.Yesterday (Friday), all of the students finished their first two midterms at ISB. Just like the average college student, they wanted to celebrate. Since all the students live on campus in fairly nice resident housing, the campus was crawling with small apartment parties and outdoor gatherings. KingFisher, the beer of India, was being consumed in mass. Nathaniel and I received invitations to just about every party on campus - being as cool as we are. About 11:30 pm, we finally made our way over to Student Village 2 - apartment D4. It was a small gathering and everyone was so welcoming. They were drinking the Indian equivalent of a 40 oz beer (KingFisher Brand) as well as the typical mixed drinks and some other random Indian beverages. The party reminded me just of dorm party at Penn (just with much nicer people and obviously all Indians). An iPod was pumping Love Generation from a set of small speakers, there were booze, cups, and mixers strewn about and everyone was as drunk as could be. The funny thing though is that a lot of the students here are married and their wives are here with them living on campus. Some even have children who live on campus as well. Not to mention most of them are almost 30. It makes for an interesting dynamic and nonetheless they still know how to have a great time. I met a few really attractive Indian women, whose names I can't remember but they had beautiful faces. Speaking of names, trying to keep them all straight is nearly impossible. They all sound so similar and everyone is so eager to meet and greet us that its not possible to keep them all straight especially when they are spoken with a thick Indian accent, which half the time isn't even discernible to an American ear. Nate and I stuck around the party until 1 am. We met some real characters including on guy named Pavan who is from New Jersey and was completely smashed.Tonight (Saturday) the students put together a big party at the Rec center by the pool. Its an all black party - good thing I only brought pastel colored shirts, white and khaki. They are bringing in a local DJ as well as a bar and bartender. These MBAs don't mess around. Apparently its going to get wild India-Style. Can't wait to see what its all about.