My brilliant and entrepreneurial friend Angel, the CEO and founder of an executive search firm, was onto the outsourcing trend before it became a matter of course for North American businesses. He runs his business from his Toronto HQ office and his India office is in Baroda (Gujarat).
Some years back, Angel read an article written by Ravi* (or Sam, to his North American clients) who was working as a journalist at the time in an Indian newspaper and was so impressed, he contacted the paper and had it put him in touch with Ravi. After a lengthy conversation, Angel was impressed enough to offer Ravi – with no previous business marketing experience - the position of the head of the marketing department in India. For a few years, Ravi, from Hyderabad, worked for Angel’s firm, under the direction of my friend Krista, in Winnipeg. They communicated and ran a 20 plus employee marketing department through MSN messenger, Skype, and email.
A few years ago, Ravi left Angel’s firm, though he remained in touch with Krista (who kindly put me in touch with this lovely family) Ravi’s wife, Radha, now works part-time for Krista’s cousin who runs a business out of Newfoundland of “virtual assistants” – where Canadian businesses use employees in India, like Radha, to perform routine administrative functions at way-less-than-Canadian hourly rates.
When Ravi and Radha were first married, they moved into a small one-room apartment. They now live in a comfortable two-bedroom (plus office, kitchen, living room) apartment in a friendly and quiet neighborhood with their adorable 8-year old son, Babalu. Though they received pressure from friends and family to further expand their family, they made the decision to maintain their happy and small threesome and to, in Radha’s words, “give their son a good life.” And a good life he has – filled with lots of love and attention from his doting parents and family, video games and trips to the Imax (game station) and to Necklace Road, digital TV, and a top-notch education at a Christian private school (though the family is practicing Hindu).
Radha and Ravi are wonderful parents and have an unfathomably loving relationship. Theirs is a “love marriage” (as opposed to arranged) and they took time to show me photos of their wedding and tell me stories about their courtship 10 years ago (the two were classmates from third standard). Radha’s younger sister - a lovely and bubbly 30-year old businesswoman with a Master’s degree - on the other hand, has agreed to an arranged marriage. The engagement party is to take place in February. While the two have spoken on the phone, they have never interacted in person or discussed any serious topics. Last night Ravi and Radha were trying to convince her that it would be a good idea to meet her future husband in person before the engagement to discuss their mutual expectations and to make sure her fiancée has no deal breaker traits (like habitual drinking). She was quite resistant to the idea and moreover seemed to be resigned to whatever her future married life would hold for her. She told me she had never really wanted marriage for herself but that Radha convinced her that marriage and children are an inevitable part of life and so it was simply what she had to do.
Radha’s sister, brother, and mother live in the apartment just across they way and the families breeze in and out of one another’s apartments all morning and evening, as do a parade of cute kids who live in the same apartment block who come looking for Babalu to play.
Though Ravi and Radha feel that their lives have improved in step with the expanding Indian economy (currently growing at an astounding rate of 7% per year), their lives are by no means worry-free. Ravi is currently employed with the IT firm Satyam (which translates to “truth”). About a month ago, irregularities in the financial statements of this top Indian firm were noticed and from that time onward, a far-reaching and unprecedented fraud became unraveled. The head of Satyam had cooked the books for the last 7 or 8 years. Now seen as India’s own Enron, there is uncertainty about the future of the firm (the Government has stepped in, disbanded the old board and created a new Board to try to see what can be done to salvage the firm) and of the 50,000 employees at Satyam. Though Ravi and the very supportive Radha, are keeping a positive outlook – during my 4-day stay with the family, the television was set to the non-stop commentary, press conferences, and breaking news stories about this firm.
Also of concern to the family is the economic situation in the United States and some indications from Obama that the US may begin to take a more protectionist approach to its own economy- imposing tariffs on corporations that could obliterate the financial advantage of outsourcing to India (note: I have no idea whether or not this is likely or even possible).
Ravi also cautioned that the news about India’s massive growth is somewhat misleading. According to him, while the top 30% stratum of society has prospered with the gains in the economy, the lower 70%, which lives below the poverty line, has not seen any real substantial benefit from India’s growing prosperity. When I asked them what was the biggest challenge to improving the lives of the majority of Indian citizens – they both readily agreed that it was government corruption and the problem of illiteracy.
While poverty is on plain view everywhere in India, I have, by all accounts, been maintaining a comfortable budget/mid-range touristy distance from the gritty 70% reality. I did get a small glimpse into some of the work others are doing to aid the disadvantaged when I visited my friend Babu’s charity in Hyderabad. I met Babu and his wife, Padmini, during my work on the Air India Inquiry. Babu and Padmini lost both their sons when Air India Flight 182 was bombed in 1985. Babu started a trust fund in honour of his sons 1988 and has used that money since that time to further charitable causes in India. When he retired from his chartered accountancy practice in Toronto a few years back, he bought a home in Hyderabad and now spends 6 months of the year in India supervising the trust and helping at the charities that he supports. When I told Babu last year that I was planning to visit India, he told me about his charities and said that I should visit him if I came to Hyderabad. When he learned I was coming to Hyderabad he offered to arrange for me to visit one of the schools he supports for special needs children. He met me, along with his friend Rani, apparently a famous author in the area and fellow supporter of the charity, and we drove together to the school. They greeted me with embarrassing delight – presenting me with a garland and bouquet of flowers. A few of the students came up to me and said “Namaste Nadine” over and over again. They brought me into the tiny school house – the size of a tiny bachelor apartment that houses all 40 special needs students (and about 6 teachers). The couple that runs the school is a remarkably selfless couple that double (triple? Quadruple?) as physiotherapists, teachers, administrators, outreach coordinators, etc etc. The children come from nearby slums and but for the school, would be totally neglected by society. The teachers try to teach the children the skills to take the most basic care of themselves (hygiene etc) and then try to teach then skills so that they can eventually work selling items they make or helping out in stores, for example. The kids were very sweet – one sang me a song and another did a (very good) Michael Jackson dance impression for me. There is lots more to be said about this experience, but I’ll save it for another time.
I’ve not written much about what I actually did in Hyderabad. I really had a fantastic time and saw a few tourist sights – including Ramoji Film City which is the world’s largest film park (complete with fake Rajistan, fake Taj Mahal, fake airport, train station, bus station, church, London, Japanese garden and on and on…) It was 50% spectacular and 50% ultra lame. The amazing part was the gardens and structures and the lame part was the wannabe Universal Studios Theme Park part – which involved a ride that was like something out of a Simpson’s parody (picture a train ride past numerous rooms of creepy and unsophisticated dolls moving their arms up and down up and down to childish music) and a “Spectacular Show” with sad Malaysian girls with dead eyes and plastic smiles kicking not very high and not exactly with the beat in their acrobatic routines.
I also went to see Golconda Fort – a huge and impressive 500-year old fort and went with the family to a Hindu temple where I made the mistake of drinking some yellow water I was offered by a priest. The first time I was offered it (in the palm of my hand), I made a show of lapping it up while letting the water slide down my wrists (and thus not actually ingesting any of it). This trick had worked in the past. However, this time, a few onlookers saw what had “happened” and told me to take more. I cracked under pressure and lapped it up. The result was a worrying tummy ache that I treated with Pepto and all seemed to be okay after that. It seemed that I had managed to survive my first month in India almost stomach incident free….
Today, however, I am in Chennai (Madras) for the day (before I fly out at 11pm tonight for Vietnam (via Singapore)). So far, I’m not finding it very relaxing or friendly. In a few short hours I have been scammed, yelled at, harassed (in a non-threatening way) and condescended to. It seems fitting, therefore, that I dropped my first made-in-India watery stool in the local coffee shop WC here a few minutes ago.
* Note I have used fake names for my hosts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Leaving Chandigarh
I was very sad to leave my friend Yogi and his family in
It seems that many in
Yogi dropped me at the airport, after a quick stop to use the posh bathrooms at the Chandigarh Taj Hotel (where I got my photo taken with a number of Bollywood celebs). It was so lucky that I met him on the flight to India and I’m glad that I got over my fear that he was part of an evil plot to lure me to Chandigarh to steal my kidneys and trusted my instinct that he is actually just a really nice guy. I’m hoping that we will keep in touch and that I’ll be able to show him similar hospitality if he is ever in
Monday, January 12, 2009
That mysterious spice...
So it has been very hit and miss with the coffee here. On the very, very early train from Mysore to Bangalore about a week or so back I purchased two (tiny) coffees on the train and was unable to drink them. The milk had a very strange taste and smell and I assumed that either the taste was coming from the thumb sweat from the vendor who stuck his thumb once in each cup as he was filling them up, or else from some mysterious spice that was being added to the coffee. However, I've now tasted this "spice" a few more times. I finally asked Chitra, with whom I'm staying in Hyderabad at present, what she put in her coffee (that had this spicy taste). Coffee, milk and sugar, she said. I was puzzled until this morning when I asked her some questions about cows in India and she revealed that her family drinks buffalo milk. Mystery solved, I think.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Business and Pleasure
Hello from Chandigarh!
Again, there are too many adventures to sum up in a quick blog post. I've been in the Punjab\Haryana for the last few days with my friend Yogesh and his delicate Italian friend, Claudio. We've joked many times about the potential for our threesome to be the basis of a blockbuster Bollywood (comedy) film.
I met Yogesh (or Yogi, as his American and UK friends call him) on the plane from London to Paris. He was sitting one seat away from me and we realized that we both needed to transfer to the Delhi flight. He is from Chandigarh and has been in Boston and the UK for the last 11 years. He comes back to Chandigarh about twice a year to visit his family here and told me that he would be happy to show me around the Punjab. He has been a fantastic host, to say the least. Chandigarh is unlike other Indian cities in that it a planned city with a grid-system of streets and many, many parks.
Claudio is a friend of Yogi's from the UK. Claudio and his girlfriend moved to the UK about a year and a half ago and Claudio was tutored by Yogi for the GMAT exam. From what I can gather, Claudio's father was a very olive oil and wine businessman in Italy. Claudio is eager to start a business and along with our tourist adventures, we've met with a number of factory owners and textile business people (men, all) to discuss the possibility of Claudio's (very vague) idea about starting a high-end t-shirt business in Italy. We've met with people in Ludhiana- the textile capital of India where there are "tax-free" zones and shops that make product for Nike, Reebok, Tommy Hillfiger and other big-name brands. It has been extremely interesting to learn a bit about how business is done in India. Yogesh also set up a meeting with his uncles in Amritsar. One of his uncles is essentially the Godfather of the textile industry in Amritsar. His role is acting as a commission agent between manufacturers and buyers and his family is the only deal in town. To meet him, we were led down allyway after alleyway of small stalls full of his product and employees. At the centre of it all was his office where he met us, in a suit, and was the only one able to sit on a chair (which is a sign of his status). The rest of the uncles and employees sat on the floor. He talked to Claudio about the business and gave us a small tour and showed us some of his products.
Amritsar was an amazing city. We saw the spectacular Golden Temple as well as the border ceremony at the Wahah border between Pakistan and India. Words cannot describe the spectacle that occurs twice a day (during sunrise and sunset). Crowds gather on both the Indian and Pakistan sides of the border. The ceremony began with loud music being played on both sides of the border. About 50 women began dancing and singing beside the border gate (and a one woman grabbed my hand and dragged me down to dance along with the others). Then the cheering began. Neither side is allowed to insult the other - but each can proclaim its own greatness. The Indians cheered Long live Hindustan, where as the Pakistanis shouted that Pakistan was supreme. Then soldiers in elaborate costumes begin stomping and kicking towards the gate separating the two sides. For a brief moment, the gates open - there is a lot of shouting and grimacing. And finally, a shaking of hands before the gates are once again closed. It was truly theatrical and fun to be with hundreds and hundreds of proud and cheering Indians.
This morning Yogi's mom taught me to make chappatis (and said, in Hindi, that I was very good for a first timer (but I think she was being kind- my bread was more of a square than perfect circle)). This afternoon Yogi and Claudio are going back to Ludhiana to talk more business and I'm heading to the famous Chandigarh rock garden with his family. Tomorrow I'm flying to Hyderabad and will be saying goodbye to Yogi and Claudio.
Gotta run- once again I'm leaving out many stories and descriptions of events and funny stories. Oh yes- I ended up flying Air India on the way to Chandigarh. After a hair-pulling mixup at the airport in Delhi, I discovered my flight to Chandigarh was cancelled and I had been rebooked on Air India. While the landing was - um- abrupt- it was overall an okay flight.
Miss you all!
Luv Nadine
Again, there are too many adventures to sum up in a quick blog post. I've been in the Punjab\Haryana for the last few days with my friend Yogesh and his delicate Italian friend, Claudio. We've joked many times about the potential for our threesome to be the basis of a blockbuster Bollywood (comedy) film.
I met Yogesh (or Yogi, as his American and UK friends call him) on the plane from London to Paris. He was sitting one seat away from me and we realized that we both needed to transfer to the Delhi flight. He is from Chandigarh and has been in Boston and the UK for the last 11 years. He comes back to Chandigarh about twice a year to visit his family here and told me that he would be happy to show me around the Punjab. He has been a fantastic host, to say the least. Chandigarh is unlike other Indian cities in that it a planned city with a grid-system of streets and many, many parks.
Claudio is a friend of Yogi's from the UK. Claudio and his girlfriend moved to the UK about a year and a half ago and Claudio was tutored by Yogi for the GMAT exam. From what I can gather, Claudio's father was a very olive oil and wine businessman in Italy. Claudio is eager to start a business and along with our tourist adventures, we've met with a number of factory owners and textile business people (men, all) to discuss the possibility of Claudio's (very vague) idea about starting a high-end t-shirt business in Italy. We've met with people in Ludhiana- the textile capital of India where there are "tax-free" zones and shops that make product for Nike, Reebok, Tommy Hillfiger and other big-name brands. It has been extremely interesting to learn a bit about how business is done in India. Yogesh also set up a meeting with his uncles in Amritsar. One of his uncles is essentially the Godfather of the textile industry in Amritsar. His role is acting as a commission agent between manufacturers and buyers and his family is the only deal in town. To meet him, we were led down allyway after alleyway of small stalls full of his product and employees. At the centre of it all was his office where he met us, in a suit, and was the only one able to sit on a chair (which is a sign of his status). The rest of the uncles and employees sat on the floor. He talked to Claudio about the business and gave us a small tour and showed us some of his products.
Amritsar was an amazing city. We saw the spectacular Golden Temple as well as the border ceremony at the Wahah border between Pakistan and India. Words cannot describe the spectacle that occurs twice a day (during sunrise and sunset). Crowds gather on both the Indian and Pakistan sides of the border. The ceremony began with loud music being played on both sides of the border. About 50 women began dancing and singing beside the border gate (and a one woman grabbed my hand and dragged me down to dance along with the others). Then the cheering began. Neither side is allowed to insult the other - but each can proclaim its own greatness. The Indians cheered Long live Hindustan, where as the Pakistanis shouted that Pakistan was supreme. Then soldiers in elaborate costumes begin stomping and kicking towards the gate separating the two sides. For a brief moment, the gates open - there is a lot of shouting and grimacing. And finally, a shaking of hands before the gates are once again closed. It was truly theatrical and fun to be with hundreds and hundreds of proud and cheering Indians.
This morning Yogi's mom taught me to make chappatis (and said, in Hindi, that I was very good for a first timer (but I think she was being kind- my bread was more of a square than perfect circle)). This afternoon Yogi and Claudio are going back to Ludhiana to talk more business and I'm heading to the famous Chandigarh rock garden with his family. Tomorrow I'm flying to Hyderabad and will be saying goodbye to Yogi and Claudio.
Gotta run- once again I'm leaving out many stories and descriptions of events and funny stories. Oh yes- I ended up flying Air India on the way to Chandigarh. After a hair-pulling mixup at the airport in Delhi, I discovered my flight to Chandigarh was cancelled and I had been rebooked on Air India. While the landing was - um- abrupt- it was overall an okay flight.
Miss you all!
Luv Nadine
Monday, January 5, 2009
Quick Update
Hello all and Happy New Year from Bangalore!
I wish I had started this blog earlier because each day brings a zillion small adventures and funny moments that seem to quickly dissipate into a detail-less overall impression in my mind. Like today, for example, my rickshaw driver saw that I was nervous about crossing the busy street when he let me off and he actually parked his vehicle, took my hand, and led me across the street. Or the way the child who was working at the coffee shop I visited this morning must have searched every shop on the street until he found me to deliver the sweater I'd forgotten in the store and how I then tried to offer him an ice cream as a reward. When he didn't understand what I was trying to tell him ("No Engliss...Engliss!") I tried to do my best mime impression of someone enjoying an ice cream - at which he giggled (without understanding what I was doing - or at least without understanding correctly) and ran off in the other direction. It seems that I have a better memory for the scams I've encountered - which, as anyone who has been a tourist in India will know, are a daily reality. Today I fell for the old "I'll take you to the famous flea market trick" - which involves the rickshaw driver taking you to a terrible and over-priced store with very pushy vendors who provide free clothes (or other incentives) to the rickshaw driver on a per-customer-delivered basis. But I'm getting smarter. These terrible stores often have cleanish Western-style toilets for their tourist customers. So I made good use of their facilities and helped myself to some extra toilet paper (which - as my sister taught me - is gold in India). Similarly - when Neeta, Salim and I were somewhat diappointed with our expensive so-called "4 star hotel meal" on New Year's eve (which was provided in a gymnasium-like room without tables - people were sitting in chairs along the walls and in the centre of the room and balancing plates on their laps. There were not even enough chairs and many had to eat standing up) I stuffed my purse with bananas for the road.
But my overall impression of India is a good one so far. I've seen amazing beaches along the coast of Kerala, beautiful temples, hiked in the Kodagu region (aka the "Scotland of India") and stayed on a coffee plantation (my dream come true - and first decent coffee in India). Today is my first full day on my own. The people have generally been extremely friendly and generous. I spent the first week with my sister in Kerala (with an initial side trip to the Taj Mahal) and then met up with my friends Nimi and Grant in Fort Cochin for a very fun night and then flew to Bangalore to meet Neeta and her husband, Salim. The three of us (Neeta, Salim and I) spent New Year's in Mysore and then went to the Kodagu region together for amazing hiking and coffee. On my way back I visited a Buddhist temple and monestary where I met a very sweet monk who gave me a personal tour and then invited me and Joanne (someone I met in Coorg) up to his dormitory room and bought us each a peach soda while we did our best to communicate with him given his broken English and our non-existent Hindi. At some point he kept asking me if I wanted to see "He Vin" which I thought meant heaven. So I said that, of course, I hope to see heaven. At which point he told me to wait, he turned and ran up to a gate at the side of one of the temples, and then came back, looking dejected, and said "No sorry, He Vin, it is lock." I'm hoping this is not a bad sign.
Tomorrow morning I'm flying north to Chandigarh to meet up with Yogi, whom I met on the plane on the way to India. His family lives in Chandigarh which is about 4 hours away from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. He, his friend from Italy, and I will likely rent a car (and driver) together for some sightseeing.
Some quick other general impressions before I forget them:
* The moustache rate is approximately 85% here. More on that later.
* The food is amazing and crazy inexpensive. We've been eating a lot of thali which is basically an all-you-can eat buffet of Indian food but they bring the food to you. I've had a number of amazing and gut-busting meals for less than $1.50.
* The Vengaboys seem to be very popular here. More need not be said on that topic.
I will sign off here and will try to be better at writing and updating. I miss you all so please send news from home. Please excuse any typos, poor grammar, or incoherence in this email. My excuse is a lack of sleep and caffeine.
Luv Nadine
I wish I had started this blog earlier because each day brings a zillion small adventures and funny moments that seem to quickly dissipate into a detail-less overall impression in my mind. Like today, for example, my rickshaw driver saw that I was nervous about crossing the busy street when he let me off and he actually parked his vehicle, took my hand, and led me across the street. Or the way the child who was working at the coffee shop I visited this morning must have searched every shop on the street until he found me to deliver the sweater I'd forgotten in the store and how I then tried to offer him an ice cream as a reward. When he didn't understand what I was trying to tell him ("No Engliss...Engliss!") I tried to do my best mime impression of someone enjoying an ice cream - at which he giggled (without understanding what I was doing - or at least without understanding correctly) and ran off in the other direction. It seems that I have a better memory for the scams I've encountered - which, as anyone who has been a tourist in India will know, are a daily reality. Today I fell for the old "I'll take you to the famous flea market trick" - which involves the rickshaw driver taking you to a terrible and over-priced store with very pushy vendors who provide free clothes (or other incentives) to the rickshaw driver on a per-customer-delivered basis. But I'm getting smarter. These terrible stores often have cleanish Western-style toilets for their tourist customers. So I made good use of their facilities and helped myself to some extra toilet paper (which - as my sister taught me - is gold in India). Similarly - when Neeta, Salim and I were somewhat diappointed with our expensive so-called "4 star hotel meal" on New Year's eve (which was provided in a gymnasium-like room without tables - people were sitting in chairs along the walls and in the centre of the room and balancing plates on their laps. There were not even enough chairs and many had to eat standing up) I stuffed my purse with bananas for the road.
But my overall impression of India is a good one so far. I've seen amazing beaches along the coast of Kerala, beautiful temples, hiked in the Kodagu region (aka the "Scotland of India") and stayed on a coffee plantation (my dream come true - and first decent coffee in India). Today is my first full day on my own. The people have generally been extremely friendly and generous. I spent the first week with my sister in Kerala (with an initial side trip to the Taj Mahal) and then met up with my friends Nimi and Grant in Fort Cochin for a very fun night and then flew to Bangalore to meet Neeta and her husband, Salim. The three of us (Neeta, Salim and I) spent New Year's in Mysore and then went to the Kodagu region together for amazing hiking and coffee. On my way back I visited a Buddhist temple and monestary where I met a very sweet monk who gave me a personal tour and then invited me and Joanne (someone I met in Coorg) up to his dormitory room and bought us each a peach soda while we did our best to communicate with him given his broken English and our non-existent Hindi. At some point he kept asking me if I wanted to see "He Vin" which I thought meant heaven. So I said that, of course, I hope to see heaven. At which point he told me to wait, he turned and ran up to a gate at the side of one of the temples, and then came back, looking dejected, and said "No sorry, He Vin, it is lock." I'm hoping this is not a bad sign.
Tomorrow morning I'm flying north to Chandigarh to meet up with Yogi, whom I met on the plane on the way to India. His family lives in Chandigarh which is about 4 hours away from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. He, his friend from Italy, and I will likely rent a car (and driver) together for some sightseeing.
Some quick other general impressions before I forget them:
* The moustache rate is approximately 85% here. More on that later.
* The food is amazing and crazy inexpensive. We've been eating a lot of thali which is basically an all-you-can eat buffet of Indian food but they bring the food to you. I've had a number of amazing and gut-busting meals for less than $1.50.
* The Vengaboys seem to be very popular here. More need not be said on that topic.
I will sign off here and will try to be better at writing and updating. I miss you all so please send news from home. Please excuse any typos, poor grammar, or incoherence in this email. My excuse is a lack of sleep and caffeine.
Luv Nadine
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