Americans interning at Infosys tried to play a cricket match yesterday, but were flummoxed by the rules. They soon turned their bats into sledges and played some baseball. Many interns are trying to learn dance like the Hindi movie stars.

Some 175 students from 95 universities, including Harvard, Wharton, and London Bussiness School, have come to Infosys to take part in its InStep internship programme.

Cross-cultural learning with Bollywood

Their aim is to learn technology and business skills. Indian films have become a big draw among the visitors, prompting Infosys to conduct workshops to teach them to dance like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.

Brianna Dieter, an intern turned employee, explained how it all began: "Once a group of interns happened to watch Om Shanti Om, and they were so fascinated they demanded a workshop on Indian film dancing."

Manav Ladwani, an American intern of Indian origin, volunteered to teach the dancing. His group will soon present a dance show based on Hindi film songs.

The interns also liked Dilwale Dulhania Lejayenge and Taare Zameen Par. The boys fell in love with Deepika Padukone.

Among the interns, the biggest contingent is from the US, and they were thrilled to watch India's batting stars M S Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar. They wanted to learn the rules of the game.

"We asked Infosys cricket team captain Madhu B K to teach the interns. The enthusiasm is amazing," said an Infosys spokesperson.

But when they tried their hand at the game yesterday, the rules proved a bit too complex, and they switched to a game they knew: baseball.

"Cricket and Bollywood dance have become a part of cross-cultural learning, which is one of the basic principles of our internship programme," said Sanjay Purohit, vice president, corporate planning and business assurance, Infosys.

Infosys has been conducting InSteps for nine years. On July 11, the visitors will be inducted into the internship.