First week went by so fast

Each team was working hard as the first week slowly came to an end. We had started deeper discussions with our clients, understood what their expectations were, did our best to be realistic about what could be provided in only 4 weeks and finally started to get some work done. The results of any adjustments we had done went into the finalized SoWs. Each team returned to the hotel with a sense of accomplishment.

The Swabhimaan team discussing with their client.

2 members of the PAU team returning to the hotel and taking a picture with the driver.

The Ludhiana Steel Rolling Mills team meeting one of the families.

The Bharti Foundation team visiting a school:

We had planned a full weekend and also an exciting evening activity - dinner with our local guide Jaspreet, who had invited us to his home to meet his parents and have a traditional dinner. It was a great evening. We enjoyed delicious food and met a wonderful family.

Here is a picture of Cathy with our hosts.

Anneliese made a short food-dictionary for us to remember.

It was a relaxing evening that we will remember for a long time. Thank you Jaspreet for the invitation!

#ibmcsc india 22

First day at client locations

This morning everyone got ready to head out to client locations except for the Bharti Foundation team which was staying at the hotel to create a strategy and an initial presentation.   The mood at breakfast was one of excitement and curiosity of what the day will bring.

Shruti was all ready to accompany each team to their clients and spend some time with each team.  At lunch she was back at the hotel and went to lunch with the Bharti Foundation team.

Throughout the day various updates were being shared but the real excitement started when everyone returned and met for a debriefing in the team room.

Ludhiana steel went to the factory and met their clients there.   They had an opportunity to see steel being made which was exciting.

PAU team got to finally meet with the Dean and his staff and got a tour of the University.

Swabhiman team seemed to have the most exciting experience as they went to see actual schools and interact with the children.

After the debrief we had a surprise party in the hotel for Shruti who is departing on Wednesday and will not be back until the end of the assignment.   The party turned out to be a hit and we all had a great chance to discuss more of the experiences of the day.   Everyone went to bed probably a bit too late but in great spirits and excited for what the next day will bring.

#IBMCSC India 22

First meetings with our clients

We had our "kick-off" meeting with our clients and partners in the Hotel's
- Ludhiana Fortune Klassik  - Ball Room on 10th February, where we could finally meet them face to face.

The kick off meeting was started by Shruti Chakravarty Program Manager and by Ms Mamtha Sharma, the Corporate citizenship manager of IBM India, followed by brief (but very interesting) introduction of IBMs presence in Punjab by  Dinkar Adhlaka - IBM Branch / Sales Unit Leader,General Business 

Ms Mamtha Sharma, IBM

Shruti Chakravarty, Pyxera

Rafal, Bernardo, Alessandra and their Clients (Bharti Foundations)

Alessandra, Rafal, Bernardo

Lukas, Anneliese, Peter

Pierre, Dmytro, Cristian

Kazu, Cathy & Eduardo

We had a lunch and afterwards during the break out session we, the program participants and our designated client met together and discussed the scopes of work and next steps.

In the evening we went out for a nice dinner to the suggested restaurant by our local consultant Japsreet, called "The yellow chilli" , just to say "farewell" to Mamtha as she wont stay with us in the coming weeks at Ludhiana.

Mango chatney, pickled onions, indian pickle & Murgh Ke Mukul

#ibmcsc india 22

If you survive Indian driving, you will get to live another day (or the trip to Chandigarh)

We met at 9:30 am European time (or 8 am India Stretchable Time). Today, we were heading to Chandigarh, the only planned city in India and Punjab's capital. After India's independence, it was planned and built by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier. After 2 hours and 97.6 km, we arrived at our destination.

First sight on our agenda was the Rock Garden. Nek Chand designed it secretly for 18 years, making use of waste produced during the creation of Chandigarh. After that time, it was a 48,000m² complex of interlinked courtyards, each filled with hundreds of pottery covered concrete sculptures of dancers, musicians and animals. It made a great place for group pictures!

Sukhna Lake was next on our list.  We stopped into a small restaurant called Mermaid, which had no seafood, but we enjoyed Indian Chinese noodles and 'veg chicken' among other items.  A short boat trip was calling, but the team didn't feel like working out OR waiting in the 100+ person line.  We finished off the meal with coconut water and then hopped back on the bus to check out the Rose Garden, which is apparently the largest in Asia!  This garden was designed by Mr. Hussain (not Saddam!) and contains many varieties of beautiful roses, eg. Barbara Bush, Tender Love and Simplicity.

We were fully exhausted after the rose garden so we hit the road back to Ludhiana, but had to stop because life was endlessly flashing before our eyes and enjoy our potentially last glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.  Please check out the following two videos which will say more than we ever could even with an additional posts!

Chalta hai (pronounced as chalta - hey)!

Where does a typical journey in India start? At the train station, of course! However, given the amount of luggage we had, it was inevitable to get help in carrying our suitcases. In India, one typically gets a coolie for this task. Coolie is not a cool dude, coolie is actually a courier carrying your suitcase on top of his / her (yes, her) head. The whole process is, as everything on India's streets, accompanied by blasting honking of cars.

Within minutes, we were following our bags on the coolies' heads into the train's business A/C car. For the next four hours, we had a breakfast, which actually was a brunch and extended for the whole trip. Some of the things offered on the menu were omelet, something else that sounded better (which Cathy and Dimitri ordered), two cups of chai, hot milk with cereal, lassi, yoghurt and sweets.

How many IBMers does it take to work out the strategy to exit a train with a luggage and many other Indians within three minutes? The answer is zero, it takes only a well organised lady from Pyxera, Shruti. The simple logistical plan: The team lines up and leaves without the bags, the coolies get in and unload the bags. Then, the negotiation begins. Our local consultant, Jaspreet, as well as his coolie sparring partner, engage in a heated argument in order to agree on the price. Finally, the sparring coolie gives up and the team starts to load the bags on their heads (again).

The driving style and the noise in Ludhiana match the Delhi standard, but the drivers safely bring us to the hotel. Of course, there is no way we could start our CSC engagement without getting a firm Punjabi blessing, which consisted of a dot between our eyes, a flower garland as well as a drink.

The next item on the list was to get the well deserved lunch at Baba's, which consisted of delicious spicy Punjabi barbecue. All team members started to dig in into the local cuisine. Some were happily working on the dishes, some were trying to cut the spice using lemon and lassi, others had the reaction as if they were in a sauna. After the extensive lunch, it was not possible to have a dinner that evening.  We went back to our hotel and after spending a few hours together discussing logistics and hearing some of the key details of CSC in India from Mamtha, we decided to take a walk to the local market.

We soon learned that walking to the market will be a definite challenge every day that we decide to do so.  The cars do not slow down, there is no street light or cross walk and your life flashes before your eyes. However, since we managed to write this post, we survived.

The next day, we took on the next adventure: We headed to Chandigarh, the only planned city in India and the capital of Punjab.

Chalta hai!