For those actually following this blog, my sincerest apologies for falling off the face of the earth and not blogging for so long. My excuse, you ask?
I was in India. ...duh!
Based on my experiences there in the last 2 weeks of our alledged "vacation", that excuse should suffice. For those who don't buy it, you can read on as I retroactively recreate the not-so-great experiences we had of being cheated by our travel agency as we toured around India...
more to come- lucky for me some of my colleagues wrote about our joint experiences, so I'm going to read their blogs and select the ones that most accurately reflect my feelings on each occassion (and just point you to those!). I'm also working on getting pictures posted as those speak 1,000 words- or so 'they' say...
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Not famous... yet
Posing with Vivek Oberoi
Bollywood was exciting, our brush with stardom....
Vivek Oberoi was starring in the film, which is to be called "Prince" and will be released sometime in spring 2010. He is a thief, and there's a scene in a Post Office (Ghandi Post Office in South Africa somewhere) where he is supposed to bump into me and I drop some letters, which turn out to be whatever clue he is searching for...
Doug and I were screen tested to read a line... (we were in competition against each other!) .... we made the cut, and then they decided to go with the "old man" (we suspect this is why the 2 of us were selected over the others who were mostly in their 20s!)... but he and I were supposed to be together in the scene and I would get bumped into by Vivek and Doug would say the line "Are you alright, young man?"... and then I would bend down to pick up the letters that had fallen....
Sam (from team 2) was here for the weekend, and he and the others in the group that went with us to Film City (a busload full of non-Indians, more than I've seen the whole time I've been here!), were walking around the post office in the scene prior to ours... They spent pretty much all day filming that scene, where Sam was walking around the top of the post office holding a folder, looking officious. In fact, so convincingly, that when I saw him up there, not knowing it was his 'part', I thought he was still on his quest to find a power outlet for his laptop to get his blogging done!!!
So, a lot of sitting around and hearing, "places, SILENCE, video, sound, ACTION" to probably not make it on screen at all, even before final editing cuts.... maybe next time. It was still a fun day, although we all had this crazy idea we would be somewhat productive (we brought our laptops, I had some books/ travel guide with me...) but there was too much of 'go here, sit there, wait here, we're ready for you in 2 minutes, take your jacket off (b/c it was SO hot), put your jacket on (for the scene)...." that needless to say, not much to show for myself at the end of the day, but a well worthwhile experience!!
We heard that Vivek did quite well in a few films, including "Company Zero" which was a hit, but has since been in flops. So perhaps it is better that we are not in his movie... after all, I have a reputation to uphold.
P.S. We did get some pictures with him afterwards and had a nice chat about an NGO he works with to help girls go to school- a couple of hours outside of Delhi- rural area... but my camera has decided not to download pictures anymore, some kind of malfunction. I will try directly from the memory card tonight, and hope that works, or I will be very, very bummed as I have a weeks' worth of pictures still on the camera at this point... :(
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Bollywood, here I come!!
Tomorrow, Doug, Sam (India team 2, from Ahmedebad) and I are going to be extras in a Bollywood film, so we're spending our day "Film City" for the day. Should be interesting.
Since it will be a long day of sitting around, we're planning to bring our laptops and catch up on whatever we can do offline (we're assuming no wi-fi at Film City- at least not accessible to us, most likely!)
Bollywood....how cool is that??
Since it will be a long day of sitting around, we're planning to bring our laptops and catch up on whatever we can do offline (we're assuming no wi-fi at Film City- at least not accessible to us, most likely!)
Bollywood....how cool is that??
Work update
Some people have commented that I haven't blogged much about the actual work I'm doing here, and some might question if, indeed, I really am (especially after reading the post about the day that pretty much involved driving to and from work and being sent out for lunch at Ankour).. but, yes, I am in fact doing quite a bit of work, with more to come! My reasons for not writing as much about that previously were, 1) I have to be sensitive to what my clients might want shared 'out there' , 2) the work is interesting, but the people, events and sights are more different than the work , 3) I'm out of excuses, so I guess I'll write something about the work now...
I mentioned I'm at the Bombay Chamber, and they are looking to 'brand' a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program for their member organizations. Specifically, they have a lot of large companies (we've met with many key Executives at those already) who are doing a lot with CSR, (not quite on the scale that IBM is doing by sending us here for 1 month away from our normal assignments, but still significant efforts), but their medium/ small business members are doing less, as they don't see how they can contribute with their limited resources. So the key is to create a CSR iniative within BCII that can leverage the collaborative knowledge and resources of their member organizations. It must be scaleable for the smaller companies (they won't be sending anyone for a month to another country to do CSR work- but maybe they can spare someone for a few hours a month). It has to be about more than just donating money, which has typcially been India's view of philanthropy- now the shift is to time/ resource skills donation as well. The Chamber's president has determined that Healthcare and Education within Mumbai should be our focal areas.
In a nutshell, that's what Cecilia and I are working on. It is mostly research based, so we've been reading a lot of materials from various sources such as WHO, USAID, local state and city government, websites of other chambers internationally, and we've been having a lot of meetings with various stakeholders and people who have expertise in Health and Education. For example, last night (just before going into the Bollywood move- which was a lot of fun, btw), I got an urgent message from my client, to contact her. I did, and it turns out that the Director General of the Chamber had organized a meeting for me this afternoon with Mr. Jairaj Phatak, Municipal Commissioner of BMC. So off we went to a very cool looking government building across from Victoria terminal (VT- train station) to the meeting. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but we didn't know that yet when I snapped a quick one (with my client's help as my lookout), inside the conference room in which we were waiting...
It was an interesting meeting, and is pretty cool that I got to meet with an important local government officer.
We also had some really interesting meetings earlier this week- including a visit to the Dharaveli slum hospital (as in Slumdog Mill. movie), it was surprisingly empty (at least where we were). we met with a wamn who started SNEHA, an organization set up to help women and children, from a holistic point of view (rather than stop-gap measures for certain issues such as reproductive health, pre-natal care, immunizations, etc. And meetings with various other Execs on the Chamber's CSR committee, as well as attending an HR committee meeting at the Chamber (very interesting, speaker is also a municipal commission, I believe). The speech he gave really highlighted how different things are here in terms of employment law. He was reminding everyone that they need to provide proper facilities for their employees (toilets, lighting, ventilation) and that their are certain working hours and lower age limits for workers. Of course these things are very important, but it was clear from the delivery tone and responses, that these regulations are not really in place at this point in time. At all!
Too bad I didn't get to do the HR work with them... oh well!
I will post pictures of the building shortly, for now, I need to get my 'beauty rest'.. b/c tomorrow, I might become famous....
(see next blog post for the end of this cliffhanger ;)
I mentioned I'm at the Bombay Chamber, and they are looking to 'brand' a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program for their member organizations. Specifically, they have a lot of large companies (we've met with many key Executives at those already) who are doing a lot with CSR, (not quite on the scale that IBM is doing by sending us here for 1 month away from our normal assignments, but still significant efforts), but their medium/ small business members are doing less, as they don't see how they can contribute with their limited resources. So the key is to create a CSR iniative within BCII that can leverage the collaborative knowledge and resources of their member organizations. It must be scaleable for the smaller companies (they won't be sending anyone for a month to another country to do CSR work- but maybe they can spare someone for a few hours a month). It has to be about more than just donating money, which has typcially been India's view of philanthropy- now the shift is to time/ resource skills donation as well. The Chamber's president has determined that Healthcare and Education within Mumbai should be our focal areas.
In a nutshell, that's what Cecilia and I are working on. It is mostly research based, so we've been reading a lot of materials from various sources such as WHO, USAID, local state and city government, websites of other chambers internationally, and we've been having a lot of meetings with various stakeholders and people who have expertise in Health and Education. For example, last night (just before going into the Bollywood move- which was a lot of fun, btw), I got an urgent message from my client, to contact her. I did, and it turns out that the Director General of the Chamber had organized a meeting for me this afternoon with Mr. Jairaj Phatak, Municipal Commissioner of BMC. So off we went to a very cool looking government building across from Victoria terminal (VT- train station) to the meeting. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but we didn't know that yet when I snapped a quick one (with my client's help as my lookout), inside the conference room in which we were waiting...
It was an interesting meeting, and is pretty cool that I got to meet with an important local government officer.
We also had some really interesting meetings earlier this week- including a visit to the Dharaveli slum hospital (as in Slumdog Mill. movie), it was surprisingly empty (at least where we were). we met with a wamn who started SNEHA, an organization set up to help women and children, from a holistic point of view (rather than stop-gap measures for certain issues such as reproductive health, pre-natal care, immunizations, etc. And meetings with various other Execs on the Chamber's CSR committee, as well as attending an HR committee meeting at the Chamber (very interesting, speaker is also a municipal commission, I believe). The speech he gave really highlighted how different things are here in terms of employment law. He was reminding everyone that they need to provide proper facilities for their employees (toilets, lighting, ventilation) and that their are certain working hours and lower age limits for workers. Of course these things are very important, but it was clear from the delivery tone and responses, that these regulations are not really in place at this point in time. At all!
Too bad I didn't get to do the HR work with them... oh well!
I will post pictures of the building shortly, for now, I need to get my 'beauty rest'.. b/c tomorrow, I might become famous....
(see next blog post for the end of this cliffhanger ;)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Falling further behind....
Okay, so I am totally behind on this blog, and am awed by my teammates who not only manage to do their work, but also post blogs frequently, and get some sleep. Oh, and did I mention that many of them are blogging in multiple languages. My only excuse is my long commute to work during which time I cannot get anything done. I've tried. All Cecilia and I can really do is listen to our iPods , sleep, or watch the slums go by.... and not look at the windows where the women are begging with their infants.. if you keep the window open, they reach in to grab you. Very aggressive...
So , for now, I will just list a few highlights of how diverse this week has been.. (I will try to get caught up and post pictures this weekend as I'm staying in Mumbai for a more mellow weekend with only a few of the team members as most are headed to Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal)...
1 We were taken by our client to a meeting hosted by them (BCC&I- www.bombaychamber.com) at the Taj Hotel.. yes ,the one that was bombed and is near Gateway of India. So, off we went, and listed to a few speeches on Agriculture in India... one of which was in Hindi. Then we ate lunch at the Taj conference hall. Fabulous... I took pics of the food, will post soon. Anyway, it was very posh and fancy and the shops downstairs were very lovely (we didn't go in, couldn't afford to do anything but look from afar, I'm sure, even with the exchange rate to Rupees).
2 We had meetings with various Executives- one who is in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility for Mahindra & Mahindra. way on the other end of town, took awhile in the car to arrive there, but got a good tour of the Western side of the city, which, by the malls and the Rolls Royce and Audi dealerships, I'm guessing is where all the money is that you hear talk about in Mumbai. Informative meeting, very interesting, passionate leader and he gave us some great ideas. He also gave us some lovely gifts related to their ESOPS (Employee Social Options Program- for employee volunteerism) and brochures.
3 I attended an HR committee meeting for the Chamber. It was interesting. Lots of talk about issues that you would not hear about in the US anymore- such as how companies should really start complying with the laws about fair treatment for workers (break times, bathroom accessibility ,factory standards etc.) and no child labor.. .basically a lot of things that are now illegal here, but I guess haven't been really enforced. so that was really interesting to me from an HR perspective. and interesting to hear the Executives' responses when the Commissioner spoke on this topic. This meeting also had (as is customary in India) the best Chai (tea with cardamom (I think) I've had so far. We don't get this tea normally at the Chamber, it was clearly an upgrade for the meeting participants.
4 Our IBM gifts went over very well with the Clients.. although Dr. Sen (Director General) wanted to know why the MOMA (Museum of Moden Art) pen I gave has a cap that doesn't fit on the top of the pen. I wanted to know the same when I got mine a few years ago. No answer, will have to check with MOMA on this :)
5 Evenings- some fun nights.. Cooking class #2, great fun, lots of food again. This time was 'hill ' food.. more on that soon. Dawn is our 'scribe' so we'll get the notes from her and post recipes/ pictures soon. One night of noodle soup from a package in my room (gross actually!) b/c I just couldn't eat out again.. I think that might have been after eating lunch at the Taj!
Last weekend was Bandra Fair (Mt St Mary's) . Fun, crowded (really, really crowded) , the typical street fair, junk food, toys and games for the kids.. but of course even the junk food is new and interesting for us. and a handicraft fair where I got some nice silk pillowcases. Cecilia and I did a good job bartering on those...
5 Travel planning- got some new ideas (Amritsar - border ceremony with Pakistan ) of where to go with Jonathan, so am trying to work out logistics and plan with the various festivals that will be going on. (We're leaving unfortunately, just before Diwali, which is really the 'biggie' but there are others. We are also not around long enough for the Pushkar Camel festival, which sounds very cool indeed. Oh well, next trip to India we'll plan for those!)
6 I'm sure I missed a few things, but those were some highlights. which brings me to.. tomorrow.. actually later this morning at this point ! (still haven't figured out why I can't sleep, so I figure I should at least be productive while I'm awake.......benadryl is still not doing vthe job to knock me out properly!)
Tomorrow we are going on a 'field trip' with our client. First a meeting at Tata Power, with one of the CSR committee heads, then perhaps off to TISS (Tata Institute for Social Services)- where our client's husband is a professor (and where she lives , I believe), then... drumroll, to the Dharaveli Slums. Yes, as in Slumdog Millionairre slums.... we are going... to a hospital there..
so I guess it is good I got all those vaccinations (note to self, still need to get reimbursed for those from IBM!) and all those drugs to prevent anything... I hope. I will bring my mask and hold my breath. We've gotten some warnings about what to wear, etc. so will take the advice. I think it will be really interesting, really difficult and really heartbreaking perhaps too. Although tonight someone from our client site told us that many of the slums have every accoutrement, but just live in the slums.. we'll see how it is...
and the word of the day is "chawl" (for slums) which comes from the fact that a chawl is a word for line (lining up) and the people in the slums have to line up b/c of shared bathroom facilities (to brush teeth, use the bathroom, etc.).. our client told us this, I haven't verified it myself (but it is also in the BCC&I's guidebook they provided us, so it should be valid info!)
We also learned why Bombay is called Bombay.. but I think I should make people comment and guess for this interesting tidbit. And don't cheat on Wikipedia!! just take your best guess! will post the answer soon.
Okay, now it is REALLY bed time. Need to be well rested for my slum expedition.
tomorrow night, Bollywood movie- new release just out. Should be very crowded, but hey, that's Mumbai for you!
So , for now, I will just list a few highlights of how diverse this week has been.. (I will try to get caught up and post pictures this weekend as I'm staying in Mumbai for a more mellow weekend with only a few of the team members as most are headed to Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal)...
1 We were taken by our client to a meeting hosted by them (BCC&I- www.bombaychamber.com) at the Taj Hotel.. yes ,the one that was bombed and is near Gateway of India. So, off we went, and listed to a few speeches on Agriculture in India... one of which was in Hindi. Then we ate lunch at the Taj conference hall. Fabulous... I took pics of the food, will post soon. Anyway, it was very posh and fancy and the shops downstairs were very lovely (we didn't go in, couldn't afford to do anything but look from afar, I'm sure, even with the exchange rate to Rupees).
2 We had meetings with various Executives- one who is in charge of Corporate Social Responsibility for Mahindra & Mahindra. way on the other end of town, took awhile in the car to arrive there, but got a good tour of the Western side of the city, which, by the malls and the Rolls Royce and Audi dealerships, I'm guessing is where all the money is that you hear talk about in Mumbai. Informative meeting, very interesting, passionate leader and he gave us some great ideas. He also gave us some lovely gifts related to their ESOPS (Employee Social Options Program- for employee volunteerism) and brochures.
3 I attended an HR committee meeting for the Chamber. It was interesting. Lots of talk about issues that you would not hear about in the US anymore- such as how companies should really start complying with the laws about fair treatment for workers (break times, bathroom accessibility ,factory standards etc.) and no child labor.. .basically a lot of things that are now illegal here, but I guess haven't been really enforced. so that was really interesting to me from an HR perspective. and interesting to hear the Executives' responses when the Commissioner spoke on this topic. This meeting also had (as is customary in India) the best Chai (tea with cardamom (I think) I've had so far. We don't get this tea normally at the Chamber, it was clearly an upgrade for the meeting participants.
4 Our IBM gifts went over very well with the Clients.. although Dr. Sen (Director General) wanted to know why the MOMA (Museum of Moden Art) pen I gave has a cap that doesn't fit on the top of the pen. I wanted to know the same when I got mine a few years ago. No answer, will have to check with MOMA on this :)
5 Evenings- some fun nights.. Cooking class #2, great fun, lots of food again. This time was 'hill ' food.. more on that soon. Dawn is our 'scribe' so we'll get the notes from her and post recipes/ pictures soon. One night of noodle soup from a package in my room (gross actually!) b/c I just couldn't eat out again.. I think that might have been after eating lunch at the Taj!
Last weekend was Bandra Fair (Mt St Mary's) . Fun, crowded (really, really crowded) , the typical street fair, junk food, toys and games for the kids.. but of course even the junk food is new and interesting for us. and a handicraft fair where I got some nice silk pillowcases. Cecilia and I did a good job bartering on those...
5 Travel planning- got some new ideas (Amritsar - border ceremony with Pakistan ) of where to go with Jonathan, so am trying to work out logistics and plan with the various festivals that will be going on. (We're leaving unfortunately, just before Diwali, which is really the 'biggie' but there are others. We are also not around long enough for the Pushkar Camel festival, which sounds very cool indeed. Oh well, next trip to India we'll plan for those!)
6 I'm sure I missed a few things, but those were some highlights. which brings me to.. tomorrow.. actually later this morning at this point ! (still haven't figured out why I can't sleep, so I figure I should at least be productive while I'm awake.......benadryl is still not doing vthe job to knock me out properly!)
Tomorrow we are going on a 'field trip' with our client. First a meeting at Tata Power, with one of the CSR committee heads, then perhaps off to TISS (Tata Institute for Social Services)- where our client's husband is a professor (and where she lives , I believe), then... drumroll, to the Dharaveli Slums. Yes, as in Slumdog Millionairre slums.... we are going... to a hospital there..
so I guess it is good I got all those vaccinations (note to self, still need to get reimbursed for those from IBM!) and all those drugs to prevent anything... I hope. I will bring my mask and hold my breath. We've gotten some warnings about what to wear, etc. so will take the advice. I think it will be really interesting, really difficult and really heartbreaking perhaps too. Although tonight someone from our client site told us that many of the slums have every accoutrement, but just live in the slums.. we'll see how it is...
and the word of the day is "chawl" (for slums) which comes from the fact that a chawl is a word for line (lining up) and the people in the slums have to line up b/c of shared bathroom facilities (to brush teeth, use the bathroom, etc.).. our client told us this, I haven't verified it myself (but it is also in the BCC&I's guidebook they provided us, so it should be valid info!)
We also learned why Bombay is called Bombay.. but I think I should make people comment and guess for this interesting tidbit. And don't cheat on Wikipedia!! just take your best guess! will post the answer soon.
Okay, now it is REALLY bed time. Need to be well rested for my slum expedition.
tomorrow night, Bollywood movie- new release just out. Should be very crowded, but hey, that's Mumbai for you!
Monday, September 14, 2009
India Week 1: a retrospective look
As I look back at our first week here, it is amazing that we have done so much, and yet only a week has passed. And yet strange to think we are a quarter of the way through our work assignment period here- it is flying by. I truly expected to feel homesick and a bit more alone, but it really has not happened yet. Of course I miss people from home, and sleeping in my own bed, but the other adjustments have really not been a problem. Hopefully this trend will continueJ Then of course I have an additional 2 weeks of vacation time at the end, but that will be quite different. I won’t miss home then, as Jonathan will be joining me here which will be great, I’m sure. I can’t wait for him to have some of the experiences I’m having- and of course he will love the food- especially all the masala flavored chips… YUM!
onto the week 1 retrospective... those who know me will not be surprised at the attempt to organize my thoughts into categories to collect my thoughts here ;)
The Team:
We have a great team. The team, as you may have seen from their blogs under India Team 1 on the IBM CSC site (you should check these out, they are much more impressive than mine!) and/or their individual blogs, are from many different countries… we are:
2 from Canada (Dawn and Doug)
1 from Hungary (Cecila- with whom I work directly at BCC)
1 from Germany (Ting- originally from China)
1 from Mexico (Miguel)
1 from Brazil (Fabio)
1 from Belgium (Sandra)
1 from Korea (Do-Yeon)
2 From US (me and Clai)
As you might imagine, having a team from 8 different counties, in and of itself, is an eye-opening experience and opportunity to learn about eveyrone’s cultures, languages and foods… (hence the junk food-fest!)
And I shouldn’t omit Kabi, our facilitator from CDS, the NGO providing the logistics for us whilst here. Kabi has been a huge help even leading up to our arrival, providing tips on what to bring, how to address our clients, how to take the train (1st class A/C car is recommended, in case you wanted to know..others are waaaay too croweded) , organizing our cooking lessons for us and just generally watching out for us while we’re here. She’s done a great job of taking care of us, and making us feel welcome in her ‘adoptive’ country. (She’s from the US originally but has been in Mumbai for about 15 years, and previously spent about 7 years when she was in her 20s, in other parts of India.
The Food:
You’ve already seen a lot of food related information on my blog, even prior to departure with my junk food collection… the remainder of which is sitting in Miguel’s room (he says he is eating Oreos for breakfast daily… a healthy option!) Many of the restaurants here are Muslim, (which means vegetarian options only), so I’ve experienced a fair share already of great vegetarian dishes- most of which I’ve tried before at home, but they are so much better and more vibrant here.. the spices don’t mush together the way they do at home, it’s hard to explain. And the breads are tastier here as well… and food is so inexpensive… we have a $25 / per diem and you could eat very nicely on that, especially given that the hotel provides free breakfast and our client is set on paying for our lunches..
Today’s lunch was actually fairly Western- Cecilia had pizza with ketchup on top (she does this at home in Hungary usually) and I had a snadwhich with Aloo (Potatoes), peas and some kind of greenish medium spicy sauce… grilled. Yum.
Must blog about the cooking lessons – what a great experience that was!! will save that for another day...I wish I could blog during my long commute every day, but it is too nervewracking a drive to do much, other than hold your breath and hope you don't get sick enroute!
Sept 9: Sugar High..benadryl not working
Sept 9- MULTICULTURAL JUNK FOOD FEST!
Gotta get to bed- today was tough -getting through work meetings while so tired... tomorrow will be the same. Perhaps I'm still not 'right' timezonewise.... aargh..took benadryl to force myself to sleep, and it is having NO effect whatsoever, or maybe it is all the sugar I just ingested from our Junk food fest. Tonight we had our multicultural junk food party- each team member brought junk food from their country and we all pigged out. I had this idea from something we did at camp for the International counselors to share their favorite foods with the kids, as part of the "Small World" activity.
Junk food fest India was fun and fattening., no doubt. Some foods were addictively delicious, others were, well, worth trying for the experience, but I won't be going back for seconds (such as the fish and cheese "sausage' stick from Korea... )sorry Do-Yeon, I preferred your other options!
Doug has issued a challenge to the team for an Indian Junk food party, so we will all bring our new favorite Indian junk foods to this event! I will probably go with the masala potato sticks.. those are yummy....or maybe banana /plaintains masala- haven't tried them yet, but they look pretty decadently awful for you.. so I'm sure they taste great.
Gotta get to bed- today was tough -getting through work meetings while so tired... tomorrow will be the same. Perhaps I'm still not 'right' timezonewise.... aargh..took benadryl to force myself to sleep, and it is having NO effect whatsoever, or maybe it is all the sugar I just ingested from our Junk food fest. Tonight we had our multicultural junk food party- each team member brought junk food from their country and we all pigged out. I had this idea from something we did at camp for the International counselors to share their favorite foods with the kids, as part of the "Small World" activity.
Junk food fest India was fun and fattening., no doubt. Some foods were addictively delicious, others were, well, worth trying for the experience, but I won't be going back for seconds (such as the fish and cheese "sausage' stick from Korea... )sorry Do-Yeon, I preferred your other options!
Doug has issued a challenge to the team for an Indian Junk food party, so we will all bring our new favorite Indian junk foods to this event! I will probably go with the masala potato sticks.. those are yummy....or maybe banana /plaintains masala- haven't tried them yet, but they look pretty decadently awful for you.. so I'm sure they taste great.
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