Tag: Mumbai

Settle Your Mind

We all live busy lives with many challenges throughout our professional and personal endeavors.  Our minds are constantly racing as we embrace the highlights and navigate through the stress.  Sometimes, it seems that the only light at the end of the tunnel is the light of the train that’s coming at you.

In a few months, my family and I will be transitioning back to Denver, Colorado after 2 ½ years in Mumbai, India.  When we first moved to India, we embraced the unknown, the new life, and the most rewarding journey we’ve had thus far.  However, as we move back, there’s a bit more stress trying to re-integrate ourselves back into our old lives. The place will be the same, but we are different after living such a global lifestyle.  Additionally, I am also re-starting my career to leverage my newly minted MBA from Washington University in St Louis and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and global experience into opportunities that I didn’t have before. While this is all very positive, your mind still has a way of taking control creating unnecessary emotions like anxiety.

 

I sat down with a friend who gave me sound advice for both a career and personal perspective.  He summed it up in three words: “Settle your mind”.  That was it, and it struck a chord with me the moment he said it.

  • You cannot control others, just your own actions. Focus on what is in your sphere of influence.
  • Use your energy wisely – Focus on what will improve yourself directly and eliminate little things that do not matter. Do you really think spending more time thinking or regretting about the past will fix the future? See my previous blog – Giving Thanks with Touch of Karma’s Point #4:  What is over is over, don’t hold on to the past.
  • Settle your mind. Don’t let your “mind monkeys” paralyze or cause unnecessary negative feelings or actions.

It was refreshing to hear and sometimes, we need to remind ourselves what really is important. The rest can wait…

A Little Randomness Goes A Long Way

Last week, I heard my phone buzz notifying me that I had a text. It was early in the morning, and I will not respond until I completed my “beauty rest”.  However, instead of sleeping in (my family was back in Colorado as I had to come back to India early to attend grad school classes), I was wide awake at 5:30 AM.  The texts were from a group chat of my friend sharing his trip to Boston as he was wrapping up his day.  Another friend then asked what I was doing up so early and when my family was coming back. Once I told him I’m a pseudo bachelor for another week, he just said, “I’m coming over…I’ll show you mornings in Mumbai…”

Powai chi stand

If I was back home, I probably would have argued that I’m not going out that early, and I would see him another time. But, I realized he was on to something. We both needed to get out and do something different to give us a mental break – from his daily work “grind” to my established morning routine. 15 minutes later, he picked me up and went directly to a local chi (tea) stand. It’s like the local barbershop where you can find out everything that is going on in your neighborhood.  It was surprisingly busy as typically, Indians are not morning people.

 

Afterwards, off to the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to explore more of the campus. Since he was raised on campus (his mother is a professor), he showed me new areas including the Padmavati Devi temple and its chakra as well as views from atop a hill – it was also a good thing we were there after 6 AM since panthers have their own work schedule…

Padmavati Devi Temple Gate PNG Padmavati Devi Temple png Chakra png

It was definitely rejuvenating to see something new and more importantly, enjoy the company of others.  We all get in a rut. Sometimes you feel trapped.  But I urge you to break free from life’s routines and do something random.  It can be small things like meeting a friend you haven’t seen in a while for lunch to life changing by moving ½ way around the world to India. Whatever it is, do something new. You’ll either love it or know you’ll never do that again.  But the point is to “do” and take control of what you can control…your mindset and actions.

Panther sign png
So thank you, Ravi Vishnu, for teaching me a life lesson at 5:30 AM.

Hiking through Simplicity

Last month, my family had the opportunity to hike in Sikkim, India located in northeast Himalayas mountain range bordering Nepal and Bhutan.  We spent 4 nights exploring the countryside, residing in Home Stays, and hiking (from Pelling to Yuksam).  Electrical load sharing is common in this region – available a couple of hours a day at random times.  Though you can receive a 3G signal for internet through your cell phone, wifi is uncommon.  But, once your phone dies, you have to wait until electricity is available which can be a while.  You lose connection with the world but start to appreciate the “simple life”.

Home Stay Family

Food tastes better. Maybe it’s because hiking makes you hungrier, or it’s because you appreciate how much harder it is to cook without electricity.  Your body clock aligns with sunrise and sunset – after all, you can’t do much without light, and a candle can only provide so much of it.  You wake up refreshed from a good night sleep – no interruptions from the cell phone, just pure rest. Looking out of the window, you realize how amazing the mountains look instead of rushing to start your morning.  You re-appreciate what you take for granted.  Coming from Colorado, I saw the Rocky Mountains every day, but I didn’t really pay attention to it.  After living abroad and living in a different subcontinent, I appreciate the moment.

IMG_0964        River

Fast forward two weeks later, and I’m back in Mumbai setting up a panel discussion in an event hosted by Washington University in St. Louis and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.  We invited speakers from both universities, with collaboration from the American School of Bombay, to moderate and bring industry expertise from their global community to expound upon leadership and educational needs under the context of India’s initiative “Make In India” as the country evolves from a developing nation.  I reflected and marveled how in just a short time ago, I was hiking in the Himalayas with limited communication to being in the center of global dialog – examining India’s educational culture of risk aversion to developing leaders who can address unknown unknowns.

IIT-WashU-ASB Panelists

The panel discussion was a huge success stimulating intellectual curiosity on how the country’s educational foundation should transition to meet leadership challenges as India advances to an industrial economy.

With so many complexities, I definitely appreciate simplicity. I just know to never take it for granted.

Hillside

India’s Evolution

Make In India 2       Make In India 1

Two weeks ago (Feb 14 – 18), Prime Minister Narenda Modi kicked off the first ever Make in India event showcasing India’s manufacturing talents. We all know the reputation of India’s IT services, but it was impressive to see this line up such as Asia’s largest dump truck made by BEML weighing 335 tons. I’m 6’1” and you see how my friend (and classmate) Dr. A.S. Prasad and I are dwarfed by this monster truck.
BEML Truck                  Prasad and Brian - Standing by BEML Truck

You can search and read more about this event, but I just wanted to share my Indian experiences how India is “turning the corner”. Before coming to India, I basically knew 3 Indian facts: Taj Mahal, 1.2 billion people, and Tandoori chicken. After a year living here, India has changed my perspectives. Indian businesses are thriving and entering a new phase, evolving from a services based economy to their industrial hub goals. You read about it in the newspapers, but there is an aura/energy of transformation that you have to “feel” that is similar to the US dot com upswing. Don’t get me wrong, there are still bureaucratic challenges to overcome, but that feeling of optimism is overwhelming.

Having Prime Minister Modi start these festivities was quite apropos. He grew up from humble beginnings helping his father sell chai (tea) to train passengers, rising to become the Chief Minister in the State of Gujarat (equivalent to a US state governor) from 2001-20014, and then Prime Minister in 2014. Likewise, since the liberation of economic policies in the 1990s, India has experienced tremendous growth to become the seventh largest economy by nominal GDP, third largest by purchasing power parity and ultimately becoming the fastest-growing major economy in the world – a very bright future indeed.

Surviving India’s Traffic

Our friends and family all believe we moved on up like the Jefferson’s to the East Side (I just dated myself, but I remember watching reruns as a kid) as we have drivers to transport us around the city. We get the following:

  • It can’t be that bad…
  • You’re so lucky…
  • Be courageous and live like the locals…

Well, we’ve traveled quite a bit, 26 countries, so we thought we can start driving ourselves once we get the hang of it. Well, take a look for yourselves. We opted not to drive.

Mumbai Traffic

This is a 4 way intersection – no traffic signal, no stop sign, no crosswalk.  I’m moving from right to left.

Here’s a quick video of what traffic is like. We are used to the cars, buses, trucks, autorickshaws, mopeds, motorcycles, bicycles, people, and animals (dogs, horses, camels – up north, sheep – up north) sharing/surviving the road together.

Only in India

image description
Inaugural Executive MBA class between Washington University in St. Louis and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 

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.