Martyn Collins, Digital City Festival Director
Day 5: Final days in India
5.30am start from my Bengaluru hotel then taxi, airport, aeroplane, airport, taxi, hotel in Delhi and then…time.
Three hours time to be precise. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grasp India’s essence, breathe its air, eat its food, taste its life. Three hours is hardly enough time to do all these things properly so I’ll not pretend I managed to.
What I did do though, was jump into a taxi and head off to one of the largest Hindu temples in the world – Akshardham temple. A place that embodies ancient religion with crowds that you could find at the Trafford Centre on a Saturday. It’s a modern purpose-built complex steeped in religious history that was opened in 2005.
The Akshardham temple is the largest Hindu temples in the world
The intricate design ensures that there’s meaning chiselled into every piece of carved Rajasthan pink sandstone and Italian marble. It is beautiful, soulful and heartwarming. Thousands of people visit the temple every day to worship, reflect and marvel. If you have a chance, you should go.
The only way to follow a visit to Akshardham is to be invited to a ‘Manchester comes to Delhi’ reception at the British High Commission.
From the outside, this sort of event may just look like a bunch of posh people dressed up plus speeches, drinks and canapes. But in reality, events at locations like this, hosted by high ranking British officials, act as a magnet for very senior people to come and network.
Introductions happen, conversations start, business cards are exchanged and opportunities for high-value connections quickly become possible.
The connections made this week will bring new companies into the region. Businesses who are all looking to find new clients, create new partnerships and invest in Manchester to help secure their future.
This brings Martyn’s India diary entries to a close. He’ll be spending the remainder of his time in India visiting the offices of IT giants Tech Mahindra, HCL, and IIT, India’s equivalent of Boston’s MIT.
Below you can see what Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham thinks about their trip to India.
GM Mayor Andy Burnham reflecting on Manchester’s trip to India
Find out more about the city-wide industry festival coming to Manchester in March 2020.
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