$5 In My Pocket
Shalabh Gandhi / Team Lead @ Hewlett Packard
There’s a saying to never judge a book by its cover, and this was never more true than the moment I met Shalabh Gandhi. I was working for Baynet Technologies and Shalabh was a project manager we brought in from India to manage our outsourced work. Shalabh taught me a few things in those early weeks, for one there was a cultural barrier. It was in the middle of summer and Shalabh naively carried a heavy body odor. None of us in the office was exactly sure how to address this, none of us were sure if this confrontation would be more embarrassing for us or for Shalabh. One afternoon I couldn’t just sit there anymore and it took some courage(alright, a lot of courage, but maybe more frustration), but I confronted Shalabh — he had no idea he even ‘smelled,’ and was as surprised as I was. The next half an hour or so was enlightening for the both of us. There was a Longs Drugs(now a CVS) across the street to where we discussed western bathing habits. What was shampoo, conditioner, soap, as well as cologne and how to use each individual product. To my personal amazement, Shalabh was more than gracious and continued to be apologetic for a problem he had no idea even existed. He took it upon himself to use the products, and has never smelled of body odor from that day forward. We were both much younger then, I was in my early 20's this was one of the most difficult confrontations I had encountered at this point of my life. Shalabh taught me that sometimes the most difficult confrontations result in mutual benefaction.
After we addressed the “body odor problem,” we shared many experiences together. Often I would teach him about Western or Asian culture. There used to be a sushi buffet in Sunnyvale called California Buffet, I figured this was a safe area to introduce Shalabh to sushi and Japanese cuisine. As we moved through the stations I explained to him the concept of sushi and what items were cooked and what items weren’t. We made it to the end of the line and there was a giant tub of wasabi paste. I told Shalabh to go easy on that stuff and as I turned around a sizable scoop appeared in his soy sauce dish. We were at the table and I warned him again to just use a little of the stuff. I turned around again and when I turned back around Shalabh was busy coating a California Roll in the paste. “It’s just avocado right?” he asked and before I could answer or stop him he shoved the piece right into his mouth. Right up to that day, and not a single day after have I witnessed an Indian guy turn multiple shades of red or even purple. It was the single most funny thing I have witnessed during a work lunch. If anything that afternoon, Shalabh certainly learned what wasabi was, and that a little goes a long way.
I don’t tell these stories for humor at Shalabh’s expense, but to demonstrate the incredible challenges any expat faces when moving to an entirely new country with a completely different culture for work, and more importantly starting a new life for themselves and the betterment of their family. Those few years certainly weren’t easy for Shalabh. New colleagues (had me to deal with), new cuisine, new language/slang, and roads. Although Shalabh drove around in India, he was afraid to drive in the Bay Area. I thought it was because we drove so fast, but Shalabh mentioned it’s way too organized as well as fast. In India, it’s chaos, but you move so slow that there are no accidents, and when there is an accident it’s rarely life threatening. Here in America, the flow is so organized and so fast that if one were to be in an accident, it would be most certainly more violent than anything that would happen in India.
I caught up with Shalabh a couple weeks ago over lunch outside his new office in San Francisco. Today, Shalabh not only drives on these very same Bay Area roads (in a new Ford Mustang no less), but has moved on and grown his career to a team lead at one of Silicon Valley’s most fabled companies. He has surpassed all cultural barriers, and approached all challenges with an open mind. He has built a comfortable lifestyle for not just himself, but his wife and two sons. They even purchased a property in this tough market a couple years ago. If that’s not the realization of the American Dream, I’m not sure what is.
As we parted, Shalabh mentioned, “Buddy (how he refers to me), I arrived with only $5 in my pocket.” then smiled and crossed Market Street.
Not bad for a guy arrived with only $5 in his pocket right?
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Written by Wallace Chane, Co-Founder / VP of METIS Real Estate
METIS is a start-up operating in the residential real estate space. We redefining what a real estate brokerage can be. Premium Quality. Concierge Level Service. Lower Fees. Higher Standards.
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