Takeaways of my Indian social project

Once month after my arrival in Ahmedabad, I’m already back home!

It’s time for me to look back and think about this unforgettable Indian month before going back to my usual crazy life tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately, due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement, I can’t provide a lot of details about what I did exactly. Nevertheless, the first important memory I’ll keep in mind is that, despite our important differences, my 2 SAP teammates and I were able to build a strong and complementary team.

Conor was our software development guru and helped CIIE, the incubator we worked with, to build the foundations of their new technical platform. Sue was our business process expert and with her exceptional presentation skills, we were able to provide fantastic presentations and documentations that our organization will use and reuse during years. I brought strategic communication skills to discuss with different stakeholders of the entrepreneurship ecosystem and build a vision for the product.

This Canadian-Chinese/Ireland/French mix was a perfect match in this Indian context.

On the Harvard steps in IIMA (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad) campus which hosts our organization

I also met diverse and wonderful people. Even if we were divided in 4 teams working with 4 organizations in different places in Ahmedabad and despite our very different cultures (coming from Europe, South and North America and Africa), ages and extremely diverse professional backgrounds, we were able to have a strong team spirit within the 12 SAP colleagues, helping each other when needed (and there were some complicated moments and situations).

SAP colleagues from Brazil, Colombia, US, Canada, Tunisia, Germany, Norway, Ireland

The people of our organization, in addition of being great colleagues during 1 month, opened their personal circles and we were able to discover the life of Indian people and had very good time with them, their colleagues and their families. We can say that we became friend and we will stay in touch.

Thanks a lot to Ashwin and Hemal, their families and friends

I also had a good taste of Indian life and culture with the crazy roads and incredible food.

Next time, I’ll have to drive myself (but seems to be a huge challenge for a non-Indian)

Unfortunately, due to this wonderful vegetarian food and a lot of sweet, I also bring home a lot of kilos in my belly. Even if I’m starting a strict diet today, I will probably get these kilos for a least several months.

Gujarati food isn’t as spicy as I thought

One other thing I won’t forget is the colors in the street and in the markets.

Then, the last thing I’ll keep (but only for a few weeks) is this typical and wonderful mehndi tattoo.

Done in 5 minutes with a natural product

To summarize, this month is a fantastic recognition of my hard work and something which is going way beyond a work experience. I discovered a great country, had moments that I’ll remember all my life and met exceptional people.

Thanks all for this great experience!!!