Kapoors Family Requests

Dear reader, kindly please comment on our entries. There is nothing like good an motivating feedback, isn’t it?

A Freezing German in India!?

After coming back from Mumbai where we spent our Christmas/NewYears holidays, the first thing we noticed was the COLD! Mumbai wasn’t the best NewYears ever since I was lying in the hospital with a broken arm, but at least it was comfortably warm. The sun was shining and we did our sightseeing tour just wearing t-shirts.

With continuing bad luck, we had to wait for an hour at the domestic airport since our cab was waiting at the international airport. To fight the cold, we ended up shivering, with blankets tied around our heads and shoulders, looking exactly like the average rickshaw driver. The question could be: Why were we freezing at all? Isn’t it normal for us to have these or even lower temperatures in Europe? I can’t speak for Simon (although I think that there is not much difference between the winter in the UK and in Germany), but yes, we are used to these degrees! Nevertheless, I am feeling really cold in India right now. Actually I am freezing inside our house as well. Eating breakfast wrapped in a blanket, going to bed with two or more layers or sitting shivering in front of a electric heater is not an uncommon sight at the Kapoors Mansion. But why is it like this?

Make friends with your plumber.

Today I made my first chai. With spices, milk, sweet and intense. As for the first attempt – it was surprisingly tasty, although flavour was slightly different than the average chai you get from the tea walla on the street. But lets just say, it was my signature chai. Strictly secret recipe.

I did not make it for myself, not even for my Kapoors family (although Alex got to try some). I made it for the electrician, who spent this morning at the Kapoors mansion fixing several long due repairs. I also treated him with some indian sweets and enjoyed nice small talk, with my few hindi words and his few english. We made friends.

It’s been a long lesson for me. After over a year of constant making mistakes, I have finally realized – or to be more accurate – I have been pushed by my coworkers into realizing, why I was failing so often to get things done.

The Real World Technopak-Experiences of a Kapoor Intern

Namaste!

It’s a warm, sunny November Thursday, Thanksgiving Thursday to be exact. Yes, in Gurgaon, India you are able to walk around in November with just a t-shirt and jeans on.  Weird…I never thought I would be celebrating Thanksgiving in India. Besides this day being a symbol of thanks shared by family and friends, it also marks another symbol that brought me back to reality:  just one month until I board the flight home to the U.S.  As I find myself speeding through my fifth month in India, I begin to dig through all of the biryani, pollution, colors, and Bollywood tunes that seem to never leave my head (thanks to Shaista and all of the Hindi music she passed onto me ;))

Actually, if we go all the way back to May, you will find that I was almost about to book my trip to Thailand for a whole year to do a marketing internship in Bangkok. Why did I choose India?

German Impressions

Life in India in general and especially in Gurgaon is quite different to life in Hamburg, Germany! Here, my days are starting totally contrastive to what I was used to. In Hamburg, I naturally take the subway to get to university. In Gurgaon, first thing in the morning is to find a rickshaw! The ride is not always comfortable or fast but it is a good way to keep ones clothes clean and experience Indian life. I guess that is something I will definitely miss when I am back in Germany.

The differences are continuing at the office:

Being Daddy Kapoor aka management in multicultural environment.

I think I owe some explanation to readers of this blog. I have created this blog, been pushing Alex, Safiye and Simon to write their posts, and have even been featured in few of them, but never wrote my own.

I come from Poland, but have been in India for over a year already.  I Joined Technopak as a trainee in July 2008 and went through all of what they are experiencing and even more. I’ve spent time in offices in Gurgaon and Bangalore, shifted places 7 times for different reasons (but have never been kicked out!), and sharing them with a dozen of multinationals from all over the globe.

The Diwali High Lingers

It seems as if I and most everyone around me has been on this elevated high for the past week or so-maybe it’s the increased amount of sugar in our systems from the endless Diwali sweets, or our elevated blood pressure because we are not sure when some random kid is going to sneak behind us as we are walking through U-Block and then light a firecracker beneath us, or maybe it’s just positive energy in the air resulting from mutual feelings everyone possesses towards this celebration of lights. Whatever has been happening, the verdict is in: In almost all of its aspects, Diwali beats out most other holidays in my book. It’s the only holiday that I have partaken in that combines aspects of the Fourth of July, Christmas and New Years into one package. Even President Obama was feeling the spirit as he lit the Diwali Candle in the White House for the first time ever.

I am coming

On Monday, it finally begins: My journey to India! I never went away this long before hence I am incredibly nervous and excited!

India – where cows are sacred and fakirs are sitting on nails…..

But when I think of India, I have also the great buildings like the Taj Mahal and Hawa Mahal in mind. I am thinking of Mahatma Gandhis fight against the British sovereignty, of the many different ethnic groups, of the Tata Nano and of the great landscapes India has to offer. Although these are all images I have got from movies, documentaries or books, I know a lot of people who visited India and described it as one of the loveliest countries in the world and thereby encouraged my desire to go India.

So, now I am sitting here, totally nervous and anxious and wondering what India has in store for me. There are quite a few things I am anxious about. Will my English suffice? Will my stomach get used to the food? Will my body stand the noise in the city? Will I get along with the Indian culture and people?

So far about my greatest fears, but some of them are my greatest expectations as well. I am very eager to learn about the Indian culture and especially the Hindu religion. I am excited to get to know every inch of the Indian cuisine. I am motivated to work in a multiethnic and multilingual environment.

That should be all for now, can’t wait to see you next week!

This Is India

A couple of years ago when I was in Tanzania, we coined the phrase “T.I.A.” or “This Is Africa” (from the movie ‘Blood Diamond’). It is an expression for those inexpressible moments when the absurdity of the circumstance is overwhelming to the point that you are left hanging, helpless and paralyzed, by it’s incongruence to your rational frame of reasoning. Well, India is not Africa, but it is definitely absurd. There are innumerable moments when all you can do is to shrug your shoulders and admit, This Is India. Today was just another day, abound with those T.I.I. moments, that make every day a challenge and an accomplishment. Another day alive. Another day survived.

!!!!Shubh deepavali!!!! Jaipur and the Cat

Wait, ek minat, did Christmas arrive prematurely this year???  Houses lined with lights, baskets full of junk food and candles that weigh almost as much as me, a three-day work week (while some make it a full week off,) and “suggested” ethnic attire for work…As I write this blog it’s only mandatory that I listen to colorful Hindi beats so I can better paint a picture for you all. Even though the holiday itself is just one day, just like any other holiday here in India, people seem to escape a couple days before and a couple days after, which, by the way, is OK for me because it makes dodging the traffic a little easier putting back a few more months on my life. Obviously it’s not Christmas, but Diwali-Festival of Lights.