This is my Executive MBA class which I was fortunate to be selected. We arrived in Mumbai on Jan 7, 2014, and my joint business school interview occurred on Jan 10, 2014. In between those 4 days, we enrolled our children at an international school, spent 2 days searching for a place to live, and getting the courage to cross the street (I thought I could handle any type of traffic after living in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, and Washington DC…I was wrong). My class is dynamic and very interactive, expressing their experiences and ideas in a wide range of industries such as IT services, agriculture, manufacturing, and aerospace to name a few. For me, this is the best part of the program – learning first-hand of their business and cultural experiences which they warmly welcomed me with.
To share some Indian insights, I have borrowed from David Letterman’s Top 10 List and compiled some unique experiences that can be found “Only in India…”
Number 10 – Traffic is very congested in India and the use of the car horn is applied liberally. Actually, I believe honking is a form of echo location. Whether you are 5 ft or 50 ft away, honking is mandatory.
Number 9 – Does “yes” mean “no”? No one ever says “no”. How can I tell if “yes” means “yes”?
Number 8 – Seeing the locals’ reaction when saying “Mujhe ullu mat banao” when the situation calls for it. Translated, it means “Don’t take me for a fool”. It’s a Mumbaikar term meant for local use. So when a foreigner says it, it adds a new dimension to the meaning.
Number 7 – Scratching my head when my neighbor complained that the shoe rack outside of my flat caused the hallway to be dirty…I’m pretty sure my shoes are not the root cause…
Number 6 – A small city means less than 1,000,000 people.
Number 5 – A wedding attended by 400 people is considered “very small”.
Number 4 – I thought my family’s “island time” in Hawaii was relaxed…India is even more relaxed -always add at least 2 hours (or 2 days) to a start/delivery time…
Number 3 – There are bad monkeys here. Lock your possessions (especially food), or they will disappear.
Number 2 – You think you are “ballin” (living a good life) until you realize you didn’t have an elephant at your wedding.
Number 1 – Everybody is a cricket coach! The US cannot compare to the passion of the fans here. In fact, when India played Pakistan in the World Cup last year, the entire country shut down.