Day 10: Tuesday, 16 December

Update on today's corporate tour (from Sheree) Today we started our day by visiting Infosys Unlimited. They are an Indian global technology services company based out of Bangalore. They have campuses all around the world, including the United States. We got to tour their Mysore campus and it is massive! This campus has the ability to accommodate up to 14,000 trainees at once; they also provide housing for these people. They also donate their older computers to families that are underprivileged and teach them how to use the computers. This Infosys campus also has a swimming pool, bowling alley, multiple cafeterias, gym, and library. You name it, I'm sure they have it. It almost feels like it's own little city within the city. The grounds are beautiful!

The gentlemen are looking good!

The whole group, including our Infosys tour-guide.

Infosys update (from Joe)
Today we visited Infosys in the city of Mysore. The global technology company is comprised of over 150,000 employees in several countries all over the world. The facilities we visited contained the living quarters and training centers with capacity for about 14,000 trainees at any time. The campus recruits college graduates in order to close the gap between their experience and desired industry standards in a wide variety of technologies.

We learned about the growth that the company saw as they grew from a small firm, starting off with the equivalent of $250, to becoming a leader in technology world-wide. Today, Infosys continues to develop products like banking applications, MRI machines and much more. We were told that the goal is to create innovative technologies with the end user in mind. 

Aside from being a leader in technologies that could potentially help us all, Infosys has been involved in social responsibility for sometime. The campus saves 40-50% of its energy costs with its green initiatives. The company contributes to CSR as required by law, but has had a foundation set up since 1996.

The campus is massive and seemed like a great environment to learn and work. Trainees live and learn here for 4+ months. We heard that recently, the company held training in Detroit and and 70% found placement immediately after.  Very little training is outside of India. For example, Detroit only had 100 students. But, with the goal of developing the talent pool of India, Infosys seems to be doing a lot to develop the future of technological engineers.

 

The Mysore Palace. After touring Infosys, we returned to the Hotel "Standesh the Prince" for another amazing lunch, checked out of the hotel and toured the Mysore Palace. This has become India's most popular tourist destination, ahead of the Taj Mahal. It was packed with tourists, primarily school groups and the traveling pilgrims along with a smattering of westerners. We had the tables turned on us when people were taking pictures of us, often not even trying to hide what they were doing.


Below is a shot of the group prior to entering the palace (you have to check your camera and no photos are allowed inside so I can't show the ornate detail including teak-carved doors, paintings, stain glass ceilings (made in Glasgow, Scotland). In the shot below, note we have been photo-bombed by Indian tourists!

Thoughts on Mysore Palace (from Lisa)
The Mysore Palace was breathtaking to say the least. Smack-dab in the middle of the city you have an amazing three story mansion made with gray marble, which is filled with some of the most beautiful paintings and furniture. This truly creates the illusion you are walking back in time and are on your way to meet with the King and Queen. At the end of the tour we got to have the royalty experience ourselves, all having the opportunity to ride elephants!

Elephant rides (and a camel!) at Mysore Palace