April 19 - Final presentation day

me presenting

Tyler, Jessica, Hemal and I
after our presentation

Today was the day. As most of the days Jessica, Tyler and I met in room 314 at 09:30 to start our working day. Today was different though, because we were done. We packed our materials and headed to the IBM Office in Indore, where we would hold our final presentation to Hemal. We started a packed day at 11:00. We were ready and Hemal as well… we presented to her the final outcome of our work and handed over the deliverable to her. We were proud to over-delivered what we have committed to and being able to give Hemal an even better package to start her Women’s Resource Center with. When we finished our presentation she said “perfect, perfect” in the cute little way we have heard often during the last 4 weeks ;o)… obviously a sign that she liked what she has seen. When wrapping up, we all became a little emotional and the first tears had to roll down our cheeks, knowing that our time together with Hemal and her team in Indore will come to an end very soon.



at dinner

But this was not the last time we would see Hemal. The whole CSC India 17 Team, Kabi, Riya as well as Hemal and her family joined us for dinner that night. Hemal couldn’t rest, which she never does, and brought presents for each of CSC team member… the girls got a bag and the guys got a folder made by Concept Society, as well as some Sev, which Indore is known for. Thank you Hemal!

Jessica, me, Tyler, Hemal, her son
and her husband

After dinner it was time to say good bye to Hemal. This was not easy at all. We promised to stay in touch. Hemal… we already miss you!



April 16-18 - How to print in Indore

the printer guy and I

On April 19 we would hold our final presentation to Hemal and hand over the deliverables to her. Until then we have met with representatives from Mahindra, Suzlon and Tata to test the concept but also to get feedback on whether the ideas and assumptions we made are realistic. From all three of them we received valuable feedback which was now up to us to implement those changes so that we could hand over a realistic and feasible concept to Hemal to set up her Women’s Resource Center. Late Wednesday afternoon, Riya was ready to take us to a copy shop in Indore. Prepared with our USB Thumb Drives (that is what they call them here) and the final version of the presentation and all deliverables we went to the shop. The place was crowded and very hot. We had to wait a little bit until it was time for us to print.

me, Jessica, the copy shop guys & Tyler

Unlike to what I am used to at home you are not able to print the stuff on your own, but there is an employee sitting in front of a computer who prints for you. So you end up telling him want you want… which is not simple if you are not fluent in Hindi. Luckily Riya was with us and helped us out. As IBMers are we want it very specifically done in our way and when communication and pointing with fingers on the screen failed I took over the PC for a while. The poor guy, I probably interfered with his personal space now. Anyway, everything got printed and the next stage was to copy all of it a couple of times. Because what we learned was that printing is more expensive than copying... so we did.

I don’t remember how much time we spent in that shop but we got it done and were happy… we had dinner and even had some more time to do a last minute shopping… a leather store and a handbag, this is how the day ended.

April 15 – Meeting the Minister

in front of the minister's house

This morning my phone rang, Tyler telling me that Hemal just called and we have an appointment with the Minister of Industry and Employment of Madhya Pradesh, Kailashji Vijayvargiya. Remember, it is Sunday the only day which is not a working day in India. So we are getting ready to meet the minister. Hemal picks us up and we drive to Old Indore where he has his house. On the way she tells us that he has been hospitalized yesterday and is now back at home but still sick. This is why we suddenly had a chance to get an appointment with him. This wouldn’t happen in Germany… when you are sick; you stay in bed and want as little interaction as possible with others. But this man really must be committed to his work.



the minister, Tyler, Hemal, Jessica and I

When arriving at his place we saw many people in front and in the hall of his house who came to see him. After the confirmation of our appointment we were led into a waiting room. We were told that you usually get little time (2-5 min) with the minister but we are lucky and can expect to have a meeting of about 15 min with him. After a while he joined us in the meeting room and sat down with us. Tyler and Hemal showed him the concept of the Women’s Resource Center that we have been working on over the past 3 weeks and we got really good feedback from him and he promised to support Hemal with this project. Wow… this was great, this is what she wanted. So this meeting went really well. In the end he also introduced us to his wife and his two little dogs. This day could not have gone better... congratulations Hemal...way to go!

Tyler, me, the minister & his wife,
Hemal, Jessica and another minister

April 14 - Village wedding

Bridal Couple

Two nights ago we received a call on Hemal’s mobile phone from one of the farmers in Dewas who we have visited during our first week in Indore. His daughter is getting married this Saturday and he happily invites all CSC members to the wedding. Wow… we cannot miss this opportunity. Six of us went to the wedding. Not knowing what neither an Indian nor an Indian village wedding would be like we asked Hemal a lot of questions, so that we would not turn up with an inappropriate gift or clothing. When arriving at the wedding it took me a few minutes to recognize that the farm that we have visited is the ‘venue’ for the wedding, it totally transformed.

the farm transformed to a festival area

We were welcomed into the wedding with bindis and flowers. After passing the entrance we saw a huge crowd of people… I am not good in guessing but it was more than 700 people I would say. The whole village seemed to be there. Right away we were led to the stage where the newly weds were sitting all evening welcoming their guests, receiving congratulations and blessings. A group picture was taken by a photographer of each of the guests.

After some time, more and more other guests seemed to have spotted us. One has to explain that most of them have probably never seen a foreigner before, they were very excited to see us and plenty of pictures were taken with cameras and mobile phones. After 3 weeks in India we have all experienced plenty of situations where we have been asked for pictures but this was very extreme, felt a bit like being a celebrity.

 

From left: Tyler, Patrick, Maco,
me, Jessica, Amalia and Hemal

Maco feeding me

Then it was time for us to have dinner. We were sitting down in a row on the floor as any other guest. Received a plate and a number of different things were given to us… bread, dal, spicy sauce as well as dessert. It seems to be a tradition that the desserts is fed to you, instead of being put on your plate. Suddenly Maco was missing but he reappeared with a bowl of that dessert in his hands and started feeding us as well as the locals… hilarious ;o)

After dinner it was time for us to burn some of those calories. The DJ played a special song for us which meant translated ‘beautiful faces’ (if I remember correctly) and we went off to the dance floor and enjoyed ourselves, even though there was no way to keep up with the locals.

And then it was already time to leave and go back to the hotel. We really enjoyed the wedding and while driving back we looked at each others photos and relived some of what we have just experienced. Awesome… thanks for the great memories, certainly very special ones.

April 13 – Visiting the IBM Office & Party

me at the reception with IBMers
and security

Today Jessica and I checked out the IBM Office in Indore. Only very few IBMers are currently located there so we were excited to see what it looks like and where it would be located... it looks like any other IBM office in the world… almost felt like coming home.

view from the IBM Office in Indore

But there were a few more tasks on our list. As we were planning for CSC Social Event today we had to do a bit of shopping... when this was done we finally were able to do the jewellery shopping which we had to postpone due to a strike a couple of days ago. And, yes we were successful!



our tinfoil ganesh

The Social event in Room 314 was a success… We have prepared a welcome ceremony; everyone received a necklace made of fresh flowers, a bindi and drew a raffle ticket. When everyone has arrived the party started. Each of the CSC subgroups came up with a game which we played during the evening and easily kept us going past midnight – name the goldfish in citrus café, ‘stille Post’, make something out of tinfoil, a game where each had to write a line and provide the 3 first words of the next sentence that had to be completed by the next person in line. We had a lot of fun... also check out Jessica's blog, she documented the whole night with great pictures...

April 11 & 12 - Elephants at a Press Conference

After two exciting days with the Desi Corps Team we kept working, working and working on Wednesday. On Thursday another Media Event was schedule… a Press Conference about the CSC Program and our projects. Late morning we left to go to the Fortune Hotel where the Press Conference was held. Shortly after we have arrived our NGO partners arrived as well. Mamtha gave us a quick introduction of what to expect at a press conference as it was the first for most of us. After a while the press arrived and Mamtha did a great job in giving the press an overview of IBM’s CSC activities and what it is all about. We were introduced and our NGOs presented themselves. To conclude the Press Conference we answered their questions.

Hemal speaking to the press

the press conference taking place

The next day we found articles about the CSC and our projects in many newspaper, below I included 2 of the English aticles. Most of the articles published were in Hindi.



Times of India, April 13





Hindu Times, April 13



The whole Team: India 17, our
NGOs  and Mamtha

After the press conference we managed our first picture with all 12 CSC India 17 participants. This is us:





Paul and his 13 elephants



While we were at the press conference, the housekeeping was supposed to set up Paul’s room. One evening we have talked about the Towel Animals which we regularly find in our beds. Paul fell in love with his Towel Elephant. A few days later Jessica had this brilliant idea to ask housekeeping to put 30 Towel Elephants on Paul’s room while we are at the Press Conference. All was arranged for; we arrived back at the hotel and followed Paul to his room to not miss his face when 30 Elephants would be facing him while opening the door to his room. Unfortunately… not a single Elephant at sigh. Something went wrong. But the second attempt worked. Paul was working with his team in the afternoon in the business center while housekeeping covered his bed in towel elephants. When he returned to his room Tyler and I heard a big laugh… hehe… unfortunately Jessica wasn’t around, as she was not feeling well. Jessica, thanks for this brilliant idea… lightened up this afternoon.

btw – we were told by the hotel manager (Nishi) that it is not an elephant but a Ganesh.

April 09 & 10 - CSC going Bollywood

nervous me, before shooting

Over the weekend the Desi Cors Crew arrived. Sunday evening we had a briefing on what the next two days will look like. Desi Corps is a communication platform focusing on the Corporate Services Corps activities in India… Desi means ‘local’. As you will see on their website Desi Corps features stories from IBM India employees on CSC projects around the world as well other IBMers from around the world who are on CSC Assignments in India… just like our Team.

during our team interview

On Monday the Desi Corps Crew came along with 2 of the 4 CSC projects groups to work. In the evening we attended a get together at which we were able to meet three of the first local IBMers in Indore. The same evening our team had their one-one shootings with the Desi Corps Team, we have been asked about what it was like to have been accepted to the CSC as well as what our first experiences were in India. Even though these were fairly simple questions I was still very nervous before and during the take, luckily it only took one take. The crew did a great job guiding us though the shooting and tried to make us feel as comfortable as possible.
 

at Rahul's home

Tuesday morning we met with the Desi Corps Team for another shooting focusing on Concept Society and the project we are working on. Virginia led this scene by interviewing us on these aspects… again one take and the crew seemed to be happy with what they have seen. In the afternoon we had a shooting in Indore at a boy’s home. Tyler met this boy during our first week in Indore. The boy’s name is Rahul and his parent’s story is very similar to what we are trying to achieve with our project for Concept Society. The family has been interviewed at their home and Rahul translated his parent’s answer from Hindi to English. We took a few more shots outside until it was dark. Later that evening a very last shot followed in the hotel and then we were done. Well done Team!

at Rahul's shooting in German

us with Hemal, Rahul, and his parents

Two very intense days… but it was again interesting and exciting to see how film crews work, so different to my day to day job. 


Thanks Desi Corps, we enjoyed working with you! Check out the Desi Corps website!

April 06 - 08 – Easter weekend with a bit of Rajasthan and a trip to Ujjain

On Friday we worked, worked, worked and worked and finished the day with a team dinner with half of the CSC India 17 Team, as the other half of the team visted the Ellora Caves. I decided to stay in Indore and explore Indore and it’s surrounding a bit, what we have done…

Saturday morning started with a manicure & pedicure. When we (Jessica, Maria and I) entered the salon we were facing approx. 8 young men. Only one single woman worked there. One of the guys started with the pedicure and then a second one started with the manicure a few minutes later. So now both of them were pulling on my feet and hands – this is maybe part of the process optimization... oh well, can’t ask for more for 650 Rupees (9 Euros). In the afternoon we had a look at an exhibition which was held in our hotel… crafts and traditional clothing was sold from different regions in India. I found some cute little gifts to bring home.

In the afternoon we left for Nakhrali Dhani a Rajasthani heritage resort about 45 min away from Indore. I would describe it as a little amusement park, offering camel ride, a puppet show, traditional dances, a magician, acrobatic shows and a few other things. The evening was concluded with a typical Rajasthan dinner, before we went back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we left in a group of 6 to Ujjain, one of the 7 holiest cities in India for Hindis, also known as city of temples. I first stop led us to River Shipra, whereas other multiple stops took us to a cave as well as a number of different temples. We have seen very beautiful places during the day, but our tour guide in Ujjain was not very fluent in English he only was able to tell us little about the places we have visited. Which was a pity, as I would have liked to understand more about the rituals that we have seen as well as their significance to the people.

April 05 - Shopping and a disco rickshaw

Today we had some goals to accomplish… getting some of the souvenir shopping out of the way. We asked Riya to accompany us, so that we would be going to the right places but also would get good deals… and we did. The first rickshaw took us to a craft shop in which you could buy different statues in small and big sizes, as well as some fabric with print on them, which you could frame at home. I found a nice bedcover which is made with the help of wax. They draft the pattern with wax onto the fabric and then they would color it, everywhere where you would have no wax the fabric would take on the color. All of the sudden we had a visitor in the shop, a man with a snake… see the picture, taken by Tyler.

Other items on our shopping list were a number of spices; we ticked those off the list quickly… and finished shopping in a store which sold fabric… I got a bit carried away in this one. ;o)

I haven’t yet shared a video of a usual rickshaw ride, so let me share the below with you, which I took during today.

Tonight we thought it would be a good idea to see a movie, for a change… so we went to the movies, bought our tickets for ‘Blood Money’, got popcorn and some drinks. Sitting in the movie theater the movie started… in Hindi. Oh well, we managed 1hr and speculated that it will probably have a happy end. Next time we will check twice which language it will be on. Obviously they must be used to foreigners who speak Hindi. ;o) – nobody warned us.

But the rickshaw right back to the hotel made up for this… disco rickshaw in Indore.

April 04 - Hoooooonk

Today we worked from the hotel again and made a good progress on our deliverables. As we are planning to have a CSC social event; basically all 12 of us having a fun night in the hotel with some party games and a few drinks; a few of us went to the ‘biggest’ liquor store in Indore, which also sells international brands… I wasn’t very lucky to get Jägermeister nor any of the other drinks I was thinking of. But the actual ‘highlight’ of that night was the HOW we got there.
As always we would catch a rickshaw in front of the hotel, one of the guys negotiated a price and we would move… but the rickshaw driver we had tonight was ridicules… ok, we are used to honking and the Indian way of driving but this guy did not stop honking. He did not use his horn to tell other people on the road that he would be coming from behind and they should better watch out, no he was aggressive, had a constant hoooooooonk and basically told others to get out of his way. Even other Indians looked at us… this was so embarrassing. Worst part, a crowd of people got out of a bus and the rickshaw driver just basically drove on the sidewalk into this mass of people, who started to become angry and banged on the roof of the rickshaw...

We finished the night at KFC in one of the malls close by and I got a HUGE box with 3 little veg strips in there… as I was not very hungry it was ok, but the way they served it was hilarious.

April 03 - Home sweet home

Today is Tuesday and we met with our client today to take her through some of the deliverables we have been working on to watertest them with her. Again we had a very productive day and could improve our solution.

As I did not take any pictures today, I use the opportunity to show you what the hotel looks like that I am staying in. Here it is… My home sweet home for 4 weeks: #ibmcsc india

April 02 – 4D experience

We spent the day today working in the hotel. I must say we had a really productive day. To treat ourselves, we had planned to go to a jewellery store in the evening to check out the prices… but when we arrived with the rickshaw we learned that the stores are closed today due to a strike. Oh well, we quickly decided to go to one of the malls close by and ended up going to a 4D cinema. This means 3D visiual experience and a 4th dimension which meant some other effects that felt like mice running around your feet (effect created by air) and water was sprayed on us… and of course the chairs moved around so it felt like we were falling, flying or driving in a car really fast. As you can see on the picture, we enjoyed this little 15 min mini adventure… :o)

March 31 & April 1 - Weekend trip to Bhopal

This weekend we had a trip for the whole group planned for. Thanks to Amalia and Tyler, who have done the detailed planning on this. Our bus picked us up at 7:30 in the morning with a 3 ½ hrs ride to Bhopal. Me sitting in the back of the bus was probably not the smartest idea, as the roads to Bhopal where not quiet of a standard as you would find on an ‘autobahn’ – bumpy and minding the style of driving around here ;o). But we got there and the time passed quickly by looking at the landscape, the villages we have passed and some of the smaller cities.Our first stop took us to Sanchi, which is known for its Stupas from the 3rd century B.C. We had a close look at Stupa 1 and the guide told us all about it and how to read the pictures on the stupa… very impressive.
After lunch we visited the Udaygiri Caves which is group of rock-cut cave sanctuaries carved into a sandstone hill. Now it was time to head to our hotel, which was the Noor Us Sabah meaning The Light of Dawn, which used to be a castle at some point in time. We had wonderful dinner at the hotel and the below view. What can you say.

The second day of our weekend trip I decided to join the group which went to the Painted Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka. The others went to explore Bhopal. The trip to the shelters was about 1 ¼ hrs ride again, but it was worth it. Bhimbetka has been recognized as a World Heritage Site. They have only been discovered in 1957/58 and they count over 400 painted rock shelters.

After we had lunch in Bhopal and met the rest of the group again we went to Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, which is an anthropology museum which presents the story of evolution of man and culture in India. We got the see a lot of art, but also how tribes live and we have discovered some of the jewelry, that we have been shown by a tribe which we visited in Manpur last week, on display in the museum.

Our last stop of the weekend trip took us to Taj-ul-Masajid, which is said to be the largest mosque in the country. Then it was time to go back to Indore, because everyone would have a busy week ahead of us. Getting out of Indore for the weekend was great but when arriving back to the hotel it felt like coming back home… and this, only after I have been here for a week… an intense, but very good week!