Wow! That trip was amazing! I had so much fun and learned a lot from this study abroad experience! I learned that there are more than hundreds of ways to think about a solution to however simple a problem is. Everyone is different and can interpret each thing differently. Being able to hear them voiced in class opened my eyes to new ways of thinking of things. The last day of the course was the hardest, even harder than the final test itself! The bond we created with one another with the Indians at KLE and China towards the end of the trip was tight-knit! I did not want to leave my friends behind in Hubli! I no lie, teared up on the last day! I never cry! My team was the best; we worked on NeoMotion Wheelchairs. It was the best because we all communicated and were all on the same page. We all had more or less same personalities, which I think helped out a lot!
All in all, I would like to thank Prof. Mehta for this amazing opportunity and would love to study abroad again at some other location!

UML, KLE and NUPT students has an enjoyable day at the Ustav Rock Garden, a unique art, culture and fun place! It is a creation of an artist who has a vision to recreate what India was (and is in some areas) 100+ years back, how life was in a village and combine that with other fun activities like mud bath and rain shower! Real life like figures and statues are created by artists telling stories of yesteryear. Students enjoyed learning culture and tradition from their friends and took part in rain shower and other fun activities. They also had a taste of typical local indian cuisine, and they thoroughly savored, some went for second time! The day clearly displayed their comfort with this environment, no hesitation to use fingers to eat, no hesitation to try new things, soak in the warm sun and have fun with little school kids, their new friends!

On Monday we had a very special guest, Desh Deshpande, visit our class and interact with students. Desh, a well known serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, has been a very strong supporter of our GE2 program since its inception in 2014. He has come to all our sessions in Hubli. Typically, he will have a very brief opening comments and then jump right into fielding students questions.  Students asked a variety of questions about Desh’s entrepreneurial journey, challenges, lessons learned, his social entrepreneurship activities, etc. Desh spent over an hour interacting with students and also individually with a few students. This was one of the highlights of this 2-week session. Students learned a lot from a successful entrepreneur and enjoyed immensely this opportunity.

Arriving Hubali on December 29, students from US and China were greeted by KLE faculty (Prof Nitin Kulkarni) and his army of student volunteers!

At the Scholar House, where students are staying, they were greeted by KLE volunteers with a traditional Tikka and Garland, Welcome to India!

After a very short rest, students were shown around the campus and attended an orientation session that included presentation of different Indian cultures and introduced them quickly to India. KLE students performed classical Indian dances, sang Bollywood songs and gave an overview of Indian customs, traditions and religions.     

Dinner at the Hans Hotel on January 2. From left to right: Jonathan, Mya, Patrick, Jacqueline, Ashwin, Ronak, Sahil, Abbey, Chris, Sean, Hannah, Mike, Kanmani, Nadine and Connor.

Since arriving on December 29, students were busy with class sessions, projects, exercises and getting to know India and new friends. Also celebrating the New Year in a unique way! So, a time off to enjoy a more relaxing and delicious indian cuisines. Also, share their to-date experiences with faculty and other students. Some liked it very hot (like Sean) and some liked it mild (like Abbey), but all enjoyed and had fun. A big day January 3, visiting Akshya Patra, The Kitchen serving almost 200K children each day 365 days a year!

Had a taste of typical south Indian cuisine last night! This was in preparation for the upcoming Winter 2019 Study Abroad – Hubli, India. This will be our 6th session since starting the program in 2014. We will have 13 students and 2 faculty travelling to Hubli on December 27. Students from NUPT China will join along with KLE Tech Univ. Expect another amazing experience for students!