Monday, June 15, 2009

Memoir of R2I

How long is the blog due?!

ISB is beautiful. Hyderabad is enchanting. The growth I see around the city is remarkable. I am truly happy to back! Back to the city where the old and new live in harmony.

The many new malls that have been added to the landscape showcases the young money flooding around here. Stand in IMAX and you could be in Hong Kong, there is absolutely no difference. Wealth is splurged with no reverence. Right from Ratna Deep to City Central, goods and brands from the consumer country USA rule. Even the guarded secret of Durgam Cheruvu is highly commercialized. It is one rich city is a really poor country. Anyways, I have to applaud the corporation for having maintained clean parks, roads and safe pathways. Of course, my experience is highly limited to the “shuttle route” that ISB bus takes ok, that means that we don’t own a personal vehicle of any kind. Right now, not adding to the carbon footprint!

Life at ISB has been a delight to say the least. Except for the constant scare of snakes, and all kinds of wild reptiles, insects and may be even boars it is the place to be. The luxury of hiring a house maid! Wow! Without sounding condescending, I should say that this is the best part of being in India. While India is largely poor, I also have to admit it is largely lazy. Hence good workers in this part of India continue to impress me, right from the auto rickshaws, house maids to chai wala, they seem to have good work ethics and I really respect them for that. Touch wood.

My job here entails me to interact with a few people from the academic circle and it is quite an experience. The hours are awesome. The work profile is quite unstructured and the hence the scope of learning is way better than what an industry job offers. Besides, there are a zillion things on campus to do. Fitness workouts, Spanish classes, public speaking sessions, yoga, magazine publishing and photography – there is just not enough time to do all of these. Plus, I have made some dear friends that make the place even more endearing and enjoyable.

In all, exactly three months after I set foot outside the United States, I am not disappointed. While the emotional attachment to the first life I had as a home maker raises its head from time to time, I think I truly enjoy the transition back to my home country! There is definitely no regret! R2I is here to stay!

On a different note, I am glad India lost in the world cup! Hope this gets A off the couch!