10/30/2020 2 Comments Arrival in IndiaFor me, India was an enchantment, perhaps even a romance. I had been working at First American for about five years and had learned a great deal. To my surprise, I had fit in very well and enjoyed my job and the people I worked with. By then, I oversaw our division’s operations in the United States. Six months before my first trip to India, my boss had informed me that our division was about to “go offshore”. That meant we were going to utilize the connections that First American had established over the past ten years in Manila and India to help us be more productive and profitable. I asked my boss to explain how this works, but he said the best way to understand offshore was to go there. My boss and I went to Manila first and my vision opened greatly as to what was possible utilizing well trained, intelligent people in another country. The cost was significantly less, and their work product was excellent. My boss told me, “wait till you see India.” I had dreamed of going to India since I was young. I had imagined staying at an Ashram on an extensive retreat or something like that. I would go as a pilgrim of sorts. Instead, I found myself going “business class” (that is – very luxurious), on Lufthansa Airlines with one of my colleagues (Peter) whom I liked a great deal. We were going to begin the appraisal training for our “back-office” in India. We arrived in Bangalore around 2AM. From the very first moment, something awakened in me and I was able to see the beauty in everything, including the intense chaos. While we waited to be picked up, I breathed in the smell of diesel fuel combined with Indian spices that permeated the air. There were all sorts of vehicles; cars, motor bikes and strange looking vehicles waiting for fares. It was a carnival of reality and I felt part of it. Our driver found us and within short order we were cruising through the streets of Bangalore. The streets were alive; shops were open and people were walking in a what seemed to me a dreamscape. We drove through a residential neighborhood, made a turn, and to our complete amazement entered the grounds of the Leela Palace https://www.theleela.com/en_us/. Please check the website for photos since any description does not do it justice. The hotel, which is part of a “chain” of luxury hotels, had been completed one year earlier. At the time, it was the most sought-after hotel in Bangalore, then the IT capital of India, perhaps even of the larger world also. The hotel’s design was inspired by the Mysore Palace https://www.mysorepalace.gov.in/ (which I will tell you more about in a future blog). At 3AM we arrived at the Leela and were “welcomed” in a most lovely ceremony involving blessings, rose pedals and water and then personally escorted to our individual rooms. The furniture in each of our rooms would make even an aficionado of “Antiques Roadshow” blush. Every piece, from the desk to the bureaus and armoires, were antique quality. There was also a “guard” in costume posted on each floor of the hotel for security, no doubt a throwback to the Colonial days for India. Although I could clearly see the incongruities, I had surrendered to the experience, meaning I received it far more with my heart than my head. The next day, after getting up a bit late and eating a sumptuous breakfast, we toured the 240-acre Lalbagh botanical garden, with its enormous banyan trees. Bangalore is known for its gardens and is actually called the “garden city” in India. We then walked the streets and felt the energy in a city booming with growth. Our first training session was scheduled for the evening. We had mailed our “new students” a few hundred pages of material.to study, more than we thought we would probably cover at this first week-long training. We knew we would be back for additional trainings so they could prepare ahead of time. Both Peter and I had imagined that, perhaps like many American groups, the students would read or at least skim the material. The way that real estate is handled in the U.S. is utterly different than in India so we planned to gently introduce them to how things are done in America. This would give them a good overview of how their work would fit into the larger picture. After “ice-breakers” and general introductions, we were about to dive into the material when a hand went up from the back of the room. “Excuse me, sir, my name is Ramesh. I have a question before we start if that is alright with you.” I nodded. On the material you sent, page 61 says, “…” (and he read what it said) “but the footnote on page 129 says “…” and again he read what it stated. “These two statements cannot both be right since they are contradictory.” Could you please tell us which is correct?” I said “Ramesh, you are completely correct. Did anyone else notice this or only Ramesh?” Slowly at first, one hand, then another, and finally almost all the hands went up. I took a deep breath, looked at Peter, and we both smiled. We were definitely in “another world” – a world of intense learning and disciplined study. Peter and I were both experts in appraisal and loved to teach. We both instantly realized the high quality of the group and how much we would be able to accomplish, not only in our week of training, but going forward. This insight turned out to be true in so many ways, which I will detail in following blogs.
2 Comments
Diane Swanson
10/30/2020 02:06:41 pm
That was a great trip indeed
Reply
David Feldman
10/30/2020 04:27:28 pm
Hi Diane, What memories remain with you from that trip?
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
David FeldmanDog walker, Dog Mediator, Father, Husband, Categories |