Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone!

I figured by this point a large number of people reading this blog post would be in different time zones, so I decided to cover the appropriate greeting for the entire day. Being the first intern of the CASI class of 2013 to be leaving for India it seemed only fitting that I get this introductory post out and online as soon as possible

My name is Akhilesh Goswami, and I am a rising junior from the Wharton School (Class of 2015). I will be concentrating in finance and management and hopefully entering the financial services field once I graduate. Now a little more about me, I grew up in Bahrain, this gorgeous little island of the east coast of Saudi Arabia, and completed my entire education here – meaning Bahrain is home. Given that both my parents are Indian, and I have an Indian passport it made the entire ‘where are you from?” question a little confusing – something which ironically enough led me to apply to the CASI internship this year.

Over the next few months I’ll be working with the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry which is based in the beautiful city of Pune, Maharashtra. DICCI (http://www.dicci.org/) is an organization that sees entrepreneurship as a means of social empowerment and has seen tremendous growth in the last few years. The reason that I applied to intern at DICCI was that, being an Indian but never having lived in India I was constantly bombarded with the scintillating new heights of economic progress and growth India seemed to be reaching – but every time I visited the growth did not seem to be at every level of society. The question I look forward to exploring this summer is why this growth india has seen as a nation hasn’t filtered down to each level of society, and more importantly what can be done about this inequality that we see.

Though if I’m honest academia isn’t the only thing I’m excited for in India. From what I’ve read and during my few short visits, Pune is an incredible place. It’s reputation as the ‘Oxford of the East’ is one that comes with good reason, and the more I read the more excited I become to spend an extended amount of time exploring and discovering this city. I’m a huge motorcycle fan, and am already planning to try and get my hands on a Royal Enfield, I’ve heard the best way to see the Western Ghats is on two wheels. The next two months are looking fantastic  right now.

I leave for Pune in about 15 hours from Bahrain, this summer promises to be an adventure.

First Challenge: Getting there in one piece

Till then, enjoy this Time Lapse of the Western Ghats. I found – stunning.

Akhilesh