Bye Bye Mysore

Our last day in Mysore! In the morning, we had a lecture on e-governance that was interesting. However, like many of the other lectures, I wish the talk had focused more on unique implementations of e-governance in India rather than the ongoing talk about what e-governance is, the key imperatives for e-governance implementation, etc. All that stuff could have been on a single slide. Then, it would have been great to talk of a couple of case studies on how information and communication technologies have been used particularly effective to improve relationships between the government and its far-flung rural citizens. The case study we saw briefly on the first day – on the kiosks farmers used to check fair prices – would have fit in well here. I think that would have made for a much more interesting session – a focus on unique applications in India that resolve some of the unique problems India faces in being a true representative democracy such as illiteracy and poverty.

In the evening, we had a farewell dinner at the beautiful Hotel Metropole another of the great old turn-of-the-century buildings built by the Maharajah. As usual, the SDM-IMD hosts were fantastic. They humbled us with some great gifts (including the SDM-IMD jackets that Al and I were lusting over earlier in our trip). It was a great ending to a great trip. Very nice food, excellent company, and beautiful surroundings.

Back to Mysore

Yesterday and today have been quite productive work-wise. Having a nice, fast broadband connection at my uncle's house has been godsend. I have been able to deal with a bunch of UMD work that has been piling up at an alarming rate in Duluth. Although I know I'm going to be snowed under (both metaphorically and literally) when I get back, it was nice to sit here with the remote desktop connection and make a dent (however small) into the email that has been building up there. I still am surprised at the Internet connectivity in Mysore. I guess that is one of the many things that will be upgraded soon as there is a greater demand for connectivity from people in the area.

Last night I woke up a few times with a very bad cough (my nose seems much clearer now). Finally, my mom came in very early in the morning and forced some more cough syrup down my throat. That helped as I ended up sleeping until 9 AM.

I took the famed "Volvo bus" back to Mysore. It was an excellent experience. The bus left at 3:35 and offered air conditioning and comfortable reclining seats. The seats reclined quite a bit, actually, which allowed me to take a nice nap. The ride was comfortable. After we left the bus station in Bangalore, the conductor brought each of us a moist towelette and then a bottle of water - better than Northwest Airlines! Not bad for a Rs. 190 trip. The trip also took less than three hours. I was actually back in my hotel room by 6:30 PM.