The Duke delegation is converging on New Delhi from various points on the globe and we are preparing for a busy week. Getting here last night was the simple part — an uneventful fourteen hour nonstop flight from Newark and a rather colorful 30 minute drive from the New Delhi airport to the heart of the government district, passing landmarks like the India Gate (commemorating Indians who participated in World War I) and the awesome — in the literal sense — 340 room Presidential Palace, which was constructed as the British viceroy’s residence and, at least according to Wikipedia, remains the largest presidential palace in the world.

President Brodhead has been busy since Friday, though, starting with interviews by journalists from two of the largest magazines in India, Businessworld and India Today . We have also spent some time exploring places like Old Delhi, Embassy Row, and, for train aficionados like me and Bruce Kuniholm, the Indian Railway Museum with its collection of steam locomotives and saloon cars. Transit in the city has been by tuk tuk, the ubiquitous green three-wheeled rickshaws that perform seemingly gravity-defying feats of locomotion as they slalom between trucks, cars, pedestrians and motorcycles. As one driver pointed out, to get from one point to another in New Delhi, you need a good horn, good brakes and good luck.

We just finished a lovely dinner with some 30 Duke alumni and parents, some of whom had come in from Bangalore and Calcutta to visit. All were very excited that the university’s leadership took the time to visit the country that now sends more students to Duke than any other save China.

Here are some some pictures from the dinner at the elegant Imperial Hotel (your ace photographer was not quick enough on the draw for captions, though those will come):