Mumbai, India, February 11 – 17, 2008
Nancy and I met at the Newark airport and boarded our flight, only to find that they had changed the flight plan and could not get clearance, so we sat at the gate for 1 ½ hours. The good news was that we were each in a row (seats across the aisle) with three seats and no one else, so for the 16 hour flight, we could each put up the arms and lie down, allowing us to both get 3 or 4 hours sleep. Like all international flights (and unlike any US flights), they fed us three times, and we each watched two Indian movies to prepare for our adventure. My sister had already recommended getting the book, “Shantaram,” which I began reading, a novel all about life in Mumbai.
We arrived about 10:00 pm (they are 10 ½ hours ahead of EST), waited for our bags and went through customs without a hitch. A car from the hotel was waiting for us and took over pushing our trolley and escorted us to the car. What a shock to leave the beautiful airport and then drive through blocks and blocks of slums! Finally we arrived at the Taj Lands End, one of the nicest hotels in Mumbai, and were warmly greeted by an Indian dressed in a turban and Indian garb. Two staff people even led us to our room, #1434. After we unpacked, we headed down to get a glass of winc, only to find that they had stopped serving after midnight. Thus, we went to bed about 2:00 am and slept until 11:00. We were baffled by all the gadgets in the room to control the lights, curtains, etc. Then we had trouble with the safe as well as the transformer, so I think we must have called “Guest Services” at least 15 times before we left. I imagine they were glad to see us go!
After getting up and dressing, we went down to the conference for lunch and again were warmly greeted by Raju, who was the founder and sponsor of the conference. He took us into the private speakers lounge where we were treated to many different Indian dishes. The service was impeccable, and we were given anything we requested. We were interested at how EVERYONE had cards and the exchanging became a real ritual. We stayed until about 3:00 pm networking and then left in a taxi for our first shopping adventure! The driver took us to a well-known department store, Sego, and we both found some treasures. I bought saris for both my daughters as well as some lovely jewelry. It was interesting that for just a few dollars, the cab would wait for us.
Then we dressed for dinner and attended the Awards Ceremony in the ballroom. It was quite an affair! Of course, since Mumbai is known as “Bollywood” for all the movies that are made here, it was an extremely theatrical production, even including fireworks! I received an award for International HR Contribution, a lovely (but VERY HEAVY) trophy and a large plaque. MANY pictures were taken! We were quite amazed at the number of international people receiving awards. There were people from 66 countries represented at the conference, and the level of attendees was extremely high. We were impressed with the warm, friendly, loving people and all the human level interaction during the evening. They finally served a buffet dinner about 10:00 pm, so by then we were starved.
We have enjoyed all the Indian food but noticed that everything has a sauce. Most dishes are vegetarian but not nearly as spicy as we had expected. One interesting thing is how expensive wine is. We had a drink in the lounge the next night, and our bill was $20 EACH for two mediocre glasses of wine. They use lots of yogurt and cottage cheese and many interesting combinations of those foods such as yogurt, cucumbers, celery, and onions and a dessert with cottage cheese, condensed milk, almonds,and pistachios. Neither of us got sick, and we both enjoyed the many interesting dishes, contrary to what we had expected.
The next day we slept in again, trying to acclimate to the new time. I spoke from 11:45 to 1:00 and had several hundred people in my session in the ballroom. It was an AMAZING experience. They were a rapt audience, and when I finished, even after keeping them 15 minutes into their lunch hour, they simply sat and no one left. Nina Woodard, the facilitator for the session, said she had never seen anything like it. They were so profoundly affected that no one wanted to leave! She said that what I shared was so deeply congruent with their love for people and focus on the mission and purpose of work that they were touched at a level they never had experienced before and particularly that they had never ever heard this message from a Westerner. Many people told me, including the CEO of a bank, that they had never been touched so deeply and that it was the best session they had ever attended. What a BLESSING it was to be able to share my message and to see that it made a difference to them, even in another culture. (And they gave me another lovely, but very heavy trophy!)
Afterwards, we had lunch and then went to the gym and pool and signed up for a sea salt scrub and massage on Saturday as our treat to ourselves (only $80 US for 90 minutes). Later, we dressed and again went to dinner and another LONG and quite elaborate awards ceremony which was held outside. Dinner was served late again.
One of the things which has intrigued us is the beautifully dressed women, even in the slums. Their saris are lovely, bright colors, all so beautifully coordinated with different patterns and contrasting colors. Nina says that “Color is God’s gift to India and India’s gift to the world!”
On Friday we had our lovely breakfast buffet in the hotel and then took a taxi to Elephanta, an island of caves carved into the rock. They took 1300 years to finish, and unfortunately, the Portuguese, who were Christians, used the beautiful Hindu sculptures for target practice, so many of them are badly damaged. We took a rickety little boat from the Gateway to India (which we did not even realize as a historical spot until the day Nina took us on a tour!) which was across from the original Taj Palace Hotel. Interestingly, the hotel was built backwards by mistake with the main entrance facing the city rather than the sea, and when the architect found out, he was so disappointed that he committed suicide!
We were sort of railroaded into hiring a guide there who turned out to be more interested in having us buy him a beer than sharing things of interest – a typical tourist area with someone always trying to sell you something! We took a little train there and then had to climb 120 VERY steep stairs. There were chairs available to be carried up, and we probably should have done that, just for the experience. On the way down, which was much easier, we had lots of fun bargaining for things to take home! Already our suitcases were filling up..
After an hour in the cab, our first exposure to the contrast of rich and poor side by side and everything seeming to be under construction, the boat trip took another hour, and then we spent about two hours on the island, another one hour boat trip back, and another hour ride home. We did meet a very interesting character on the boat! We found that cabs were cheap and that the driver would stay and wait for you for very little extra money. We ended up getting home at 7:00 which was the time we were to meet Nagam and Usha, wonderful friends of George Morissey, a speaker friend, for dinner, so we rushed to freshen up and meet them. Nagam had been a consultant who helped build businesses, and Usha has her own law firm. They took us to a neighborhood restaurant and ordered interesting and delicious traditional Indian food. Each group of people we met gave us a different perspective on the country. Usha helped us understand more about the interrelationships of the people and how the reason the slums existed near the expensive apartments was that the poor were the ones who worked as maids and workmen for the rich people. It was interesting that in the time we were there we had the perspective from Usha, a professional Indian woman, and later from Nina, a professional American woman.
Nancy says I am a bad influence because we have been sleeping much later than she usually does! On Saturday we had a wonderful late breakfast and then took a cab to the Handloom Expo which featured all kinds of textiles, including material for saris, items of clothing, pashimas, pillow covers, and bedding. We had great fun buying things for the grandchildren, especially costumes native to India. It was amazing to see all the different booths representing every state in India and a bit overwhelming after a while. When we finished, we went back to the room and then went to the hotel spa for a wonderful 90 minute salt scrub and massage. I was so relaxed I slept through about half of it! After a shower in our room, we headed down for a Chinese New Year’s dinner in the hotel.
Sunday was our very best day in Mumbai. Nina Woodard, the Executive Director of SHRM in Mumbai who loves the city and has lived there for 8 years, picked us up at 11:00 with her driver for a tour of the city. Our first stop was Café Coffee Day where all the rich and famous come to sit and chat and many movie stars are discovered there. Nina says it is the “Starbucks of India!” Although the Café Nirvana that we had was wonderful, the place was certainly not up to Starbuck’s standards!
She shared many things about the history and culture of Mumbai. It originally consisted of 7 different islands and over the years landfill connected them, creating a rather strange shape for the city. Most of the city is Hindu, and they all pray every morning before work and bless everything in the house that they care about, asking God to keep these things safe. They put a red dot of paste on everything they pray for, including their wives. This takes about 30 minutes. Nina shared that because the culture sees “Work as Worship,” there are religious symbols in all their work stations, unlike in the US. When we asked about the dots on the foreheads of the women, we learned that they represent the “Third Eye,” a symbol that one is never alone, that God’s eye is always on you.
She explained that even though we are appalled by the many slums and the awful living conditions, they really do work and are important to the economy. Every day at all times there is industry happening. They have their own “strip malls,” their living is free, they have access to all kinds of fresh fruits and veggies, and there is a kind of unstructured employment. As you drove by, you could see these industries going on, like the barber on the corner or the ladies along the road making baskets using both their hands and feet. They get no government help except for a water truck once a day. It is interesting that you can buy one cigarette or one tiny packet of laundry detergent, so the economy accommodates the lifestyle of these poor in a very positive way because that is all they can afford at the moment. Nina feels that India will be the most powerful country in the world not only because of the population but because one has to be INNOVATIVE to survive there every day!
One of the things that is so interesting is how well their systems work. For example, all the laundry is done by hand in one section of the city, Dhoti Ghat, and somehow everything gets back to the right place. (You can read a story about it in the Harvard Business Review, “The Panwalla Story.”) Also, the system of picking up and delivering lunches is something that no one can quite figure out. Each lunch is picked up at the person’s home and delivered directly to the person’s workplace, carried on pallets by workers who are illiterate. There are different containers for hot and cold lunches, and the containers are returned to the right home each evening and this occurs with thousands and thousands of customers. Somehow everything works, even without traditional planned systems and processes. With workers in India, Nina says the best way is to explain the results you want and then just let them do it!
Nina explained that the poor in India are very different from the poor in America. They are people of dignity who are poor. The poor in India work hard, and most are like independent contractors. The whole family works together in one industry often for decades. Throughout the culture there is a high tolerance for dissonance, and the mantra in India is “chelta hay” or “go with the flow.” It is “LIFE ALL AT ONCE” – everything is happening in a parallel way, the slums and the modern are side by side, joy and sadness both occur simultaneously. Because the people see work as worship and everyone is working, there is little crime, again unlike in the US slums.
It was interesting on our drive that when we stopped at traffic lights, little girls would come up to the car windows and sing “Jingle Bells” to get our attention. Nina said that to give them money would often cause more problems because not only would you be swarmed by other children, but often the child who received the money would get beaten up by other children and the money taken away. We passed a McDonalds which looked just like the stores in the US, but they served no beef! There Big Macs were chicken sandwiches. This is to respect the Hindus who worship cows and eat no beef. Amazingly, we did not see many other US chains in Mumbai.
Our next stop was the Prince of Wales Museum, an amazing collection of Hindu art and sculpture. There are three main Hindu gods: Brahma, the Creator; Vishna, the Protector; and Shiva, the Destroyer of Evil. There is a wonderful story about Ganesha, the god of new beginnings, prosperity. joy, and humor as well as the remover of obstacles. Nina told us that at every conference or event, they begin with a prayer to Ganesha, the god who is half elephant and half man. The story goes that Parvati wanted a son, so she created Ganesha, her perfect boy. Then she asked him to guard her while she took a bath. When Shiva, her husband returned, Ganesha did not know him, so he would not let him in. As a result. Shiva killed Ganesha by cutting off his head. Parvati was terribly upset because he had killed her beautiful son, and because Shiva could not undo what he had done, he told the people to go out and kill the first animal they saw. That happened to be an elephant, so he took the elephant’s head and put it on Ganesha and that is how he became a god.
Then Nina took us to a special store where she buys Indian crafts. We probably spent two hours and too much money there! It was interesting that he did not want to give us prices of things, but kept saying, “Don’t worry. I will give you a good price.” It was uncomfortable for us as we are used to knowing what things cost and then making our decisions. We each, however, found some treasures. 😉
Finally, we experienced the highlight of the day, Mani Bravhan, Gandhi’s home in Mumbai. It was a very moving experience to see where he lived and worked and to learn more about the details of his life. One of the most powerful parts of the museum was a series of dioramas of significant chronological incidents in his life, and another was a room with framed copies of letters he wrote and received from people like President Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Hitler, and Tolstoy. On each exhibit was the icon of the spinning wheel, symbolizing that everyone should have a plot of land and a craft to be independent. He took on the garb and the simplicity of life to identify with the poor and to encourage them that each person was of value and could make a difference, and as a result, the people gave him the name of “Mahatma” which means “Great Soul.” It was interesting that the turning point in his life was when he, as a businessman, was turned out of a train in South Africa because of his color even though he had bought a first class ticket. He began his crusade against violence and discrimination at that time when he was in his 40’s. He was assassinated on December 30, 1948, at the age of 83, and he died smiling. We also learned that he had a wife whom he loved dearly and who was a participant in every way in his crusade. They were married for 60 years when she died.
At the end of the day Nina took us to one of her favorite neighborhood restaurants where we enjoyed Dosa, a pyramid-like pancake in several varieties as well as fresh watermelon juice. Our flight left at 11:20 pm, and after a stop in Bangkok, we arrived at the Chiangmai airport at 8:30 am after flying most of the night. Now began our adventure in Thailand.
