It’s day five (or four
for some) in India. At the moment, we are in transit from Mumbai to Delhi on
what could be one of the last KingFisher flights. Keep your boarding pass as a
souvenir of the declining business. It only proves beer and flying don’t mix.
For ease-of-blog, I’ve
decided to keep it simple and outline my top-ten of the trip so far, with
comments of course.
Number 10:
Stark contrast is everywhere. You’ll hear EMBAs tell you this
when they arrive home. When you see this, it is unimaginable. High-rise buildings over-looking slums brings such a sharp contrast. The fast pace of Mumbai’s growth mixing juxtaposed to
shanty slums depicts wide economic divide. Interestingly, when you discuss this with
locals, you will learn that many of those living in slums remain busy in their
occupations.
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Number 9: Space is a premium: Mumbai has over 20 million inhabitants
crammed into every conceivable spot. Why is this important to point out? As we
speak with businesses, a major issue we find is their obtaining space. We met with one cold
storage business today that has struggled for nearly a year to secure an area
large enough for a warehouse. Or, Habib Hospital, where the owner of their
building waited patiently for enough funds to be gathered to get lending;
without this, getting space would have been difficult and perhaps their
important services may have not been launched.
Number 8: An un-documented statistic: We have heard many times, that the people of India,
particularly those of more poor sections, will prioritize their earnings as: food
first, then education for their children. When you see some areas, we can
assume there is little left afterwards; however, the desire of caring parents
to give the gift of education to their children is a model for all to admire.
Number 7:
Don’t drink the water:
You hear everyone say this and it’s true. It’s no worry though, beer coffee and
bottled water are fine substitutes. Make your coffee with bottled water in the
morning and you’re ready to roll for the day.
Number 6:
Large buses: While a typical large tour bus helps keep us
all together, the logistics of negotiating streets and roads is beyond
description. The upside is the comedic value it brings to nearly all
of us. In here lies one of our great event tales that as a friend, I have
decided not to blog about. That said, I’m sure all of you will hear the tale of
the dead end road and what 3 hours on a bus with no rest room can bring about
for adventure and likely EMBA folk lore.
Number 5:
The food: We’ve scored great on every restaurant so far.
Khyber and Indigo were great. Rumor is these are two of Professor Melvin Menezes’s favorites, and now
ours too. The food throughout the trip, so far, has been
spectacular. This is no small task when you consider how quickly we are moving about in
mass form. That said, depending upon
your tolerance for risk, you generally approach each meal with a level of
caution, carefully thinking: is this water based? Is this a raw vegetable? If
the answer is yes, my recommendation is to pass.
Number 4: Business meetings: There's enough for a blog in itself to
describe the generosity of those we have met with to date. Not simply generous
in their time, but it is also their willingness to share quality information. We have
meet with people from other universities, cold storage companies, importers,
venture capitalists and others. All have offered great information that will,
we hope, lead to a solid Capstone ending. More of this to come in Delhi…
Number 3: New friends and roof tops: At the BU Alumni reception we met two new
friends -- a father and son team who were interested in our projects. They were
kind enough to invite us the next evening to their beautiful home for drinks,
appetizers and great discussion. For over two hours we enjoyed their company
and amazing roof-top patio overlooking the Arabian Sea. We look forward to
reciprocating someday in Boston
Number 2:
Infrastructure Team.
Sure, there are good teams, and then there is the Infrastructure team. Dan, Dan
(sorry I called you Chris again), Prakash (good thing he can speak Hindi), Russ
and Chris. We are all learning at a fast pace and each day we have been lucky
to be having such a good time doing it together.
Number 1: My EMBA friends: I know it sounds like cliché but I can’t
think of a time in my life when a large group of people can come together with
such great attitudes and general pleasure for each other. It is this close
group of colleagues that make the trip a life-changing event.
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