This country does things differently. The streets seem like chaos and although the infrastructure is bursting at the seams, the city of Mumbai manages to stay afloat – and in fact thrive. New buildings and bridges are being built all the time; so too new businesses opening. Hygiene is non-existent but the people don’t seem to know any better. Mumbai Harbour is full of rubbish, the city’s smog is claustrophobic, but on the flip side, the people (despite seeming like they are in a permanent rush) are very friendly and on the whole easy to interact with.
That said, Indian people operate on a very relaxed schedule; at times they will push passed you in a desperate hurry to get off a ferry first; but then other times, your hotel staff may say they’ll do something for you in the next few minutes, but in fact it means the next hour!
The food isn’t my best friend, nor the variance in temperature indoors – with Indians obsessed with having air-conditioning sub 20 degrees – so I have ended up with the flu… but other than these minor complaints, a country that my family convinced me I would not like to visit, has provided many surprises and is actually turning out to be a very pleasant experience.
Poverty is of course very noticeable throughout the country and city, but unfortunately it is to be expected – and having visited a number of other countries with similar problems (eg Cambodia), the culture shock this time around has not been as huge as I anticipated.
We’ve learnt a lot about doing business in India and how there is huge potential for growth in most sectors here. The government does have many regulations in place to ensure international companies cannot just enter the market and dominate, taking opportunities away from local investments, but at the same time, India realises the need to ‘up the ante’ and has been doing so since 1991.
Visiting a country with a population over 1 billion, you do notice people everywhere! You can’t fire people very easily so it’s important you hire the right employees to start with; six days working weeks are normal; and traffic jams are a way of life – including cars/trucks/buses filled to the brim with people.
Yes, India is obsessed with cricket and (Bollywood) movies; but when there’s so much not in their favour, these activities are harmless and easy for people to experience.
One lecture I really enjoyed was learning about Indian culture, customs, the class status, and how diverse the country’s 29 states really are… in language, resources, heritage, people, business opportunities and more.
Later today I will be flying north to Delhi to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the country and experiencing for myself (through observation) this diversity… as except for a handful of site visits to local companies and my day trip on Sunday to Elephanta Island to see caves from the 6th century (a World Heritage Site in fact), I really haven’t had the chance to mingle with the locals and see for myself what India is all about…
So bring on the weekend – and I hope to have more reflections in the not too distant future!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment