Women's Squash Visits Historic Sites, Travels to Chennai
Photo of top-ranked Harvard women's squash team courtesy of
Chris Smith.
The top-ranked Harvard women's squash team is traveling to India
for an 11-day training and service trip. Members of the team will
post regular blog entries on GoCrimson.com during their trip over
the next few weeks.
Blog Post by
Vidya Rajan ’13 on Jan. 5
Blog Post
by Alexandra Zindman '11 on Jan. 8
Blog Post
by Cece Cortes '12 on Jan. 9
Map of Harvard
Destinations During Trip to India
Photo Gallery of Harvard Women's Squash in
India
Post by Vidya Rajan '13
Looking forward to training in Chennai, we bid a poignant goodbye
to Mumbai and its various sights and sounds after three days of
acclimating to the humidity and training under the toughest
conditions of the season.
On our final day in Mumbai we took time to drive around the city,
visiting Mahatma Gandhi's house and the Chatrapatti Sivaji Museum,
where we had an exposure to some Indian history and culture. In
addition, we drove by Mumbai's Victorian architecture as we briefly
saw Mumbai University, the High Court, Rajabhai Clock Tower, and
the Victoria Terminus. Finally, we got a taste of the hustle and
bustle as we drove through Crawford Market and Bombay Bazaar.
We immensely appreciated the Mashruwalas' hospitality in guiding us
through the city, treating us to meals, and inviting us to their
home on the final day of our Mumbai stay. It is thanks to their
help that we stayed satisfied and well-fed throughout.
Overall, our Mumbai experience was one that was exciting,
enlightening, and enjoyable. Though our food, transportation, and
general living conditions sheltered us from the way most of the
people live in India, it was a conscious choice to start things off
like this in order to ease us into the reality of India.
This decision was a good one, as the team found the transition to a
foreign country to be better than expected. "India is not as
difficult to adjust to as some might think," coach Satinder Bajwa
said, and by the end of our Mumbai stay many team members could not
agree more. In fact, the general sentiment was one of enthusiasm
and interest in seeing more simply because Mumbai was so different
from what anyone had previously known.
There will be more differences to come as we explore Chennai, a
city in Southern India that speaks a different language and even
boasts a different cuisine. Keeping in mind that the theme of the
trip is "adaptability," however, we are ready to deal with whatever
we may encounter. Up next is two and half days in Chennai and
squash training at the India National Training Center which is home
to the best junior and pro players in India. We have a match
against the best 12 women in all of India in two days and are
really looking forward to the match.
