TRAVEL TO INDIA: AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE
by Louise P. Kleinbaum, Assistant Dean and Director of Communications, Seidenberg School
After a very long flight with stopovers in Vienna and Mumbai, we arrived in Bangalore, the silicon valley of India, tired and weary but eager to go. We were greeted by Dr. Narayan Murthy, one of the faculty members associated with IS 660T/IT 690C Travel Course To India – Topic: Managing Technology Outsourcing and the man in charge of organizing the travel segment of the trip including the scheduling of corporate visits.
No sooner had we landed than he asked if any of us would like to attend his nephew’s wedding. The ceremony was to begin in an hour or two and we could freshen up at a hotel near the wedding site that he had thoughtfully booked for the day. Most of us, though tired, jumped at the opportunity to view a traditional Hindu wedding and eagerly accepted. Although strangers, we were graciously welcomed as friends of Dr. Murthy’s, fed a wedding breakfast, and given numerous “photo ops” at the colorful and lengthy ceremony, one that appeared quite exotic to Western eyes. Interestingly enough, the bride who is from Delhi in northern India is studying for a doctorate in economics at NYU while the groom from Bangalore in southern India is a candidate for a PhD in computer science at the University of Connecticut. Had the two not come to the U.S. to study, their paths might never have crossed! Yet in the Indian tradition, they went home to seek their parents’ permission and marry in an Indian ceremony amid family and friends.
The next morning we started out bright and early to visit the offices of the AOL call center in Bangalore. The outsourcing of call centers by many multinational corporations has become an important component of the Indian economic boom. Because India has a large number of English-speaking, technically-trained workers that are paid significantly less than their counterparts elsewhere and because they are working while the U.S. and Europe are sleeping, companies can provide quality service around the clock. We were once again graciously greeted, this time by the call center management team that included Shankar Gopal, the senior technical manager who happens to be a graduate of the Seidenberg School (MS/CS ‘91). The team informed us about their operation and entertained questions from the Pace visitors. After giving us a tour of the facility, they permitted each of us to listen in on a call. Some listened in on calls relating to technical difficulties, others to billing problems.
Following our visit to AOL, we continued on by bus to Mindtree Consulting, a young Indian company, also located in Bangalore. Although located in the same city, the trip was long, slow and arduous. IT companies have sprung up quickly and in large numbers in a city that many outside of India had not heard of until recently. There is only one major road in this sprawling city and everyone seems to be on it at the same time! The streets are teaming with buses, motorbikes, motorcycles, regular bikes and the omnipresent auto-rickshaw. In addition, people cross wherever they choose and getting to the other side of the street can be quite the challenge. The scene is chaotic with horns honking everywhere. And added to the mix is the occasional cow or bull that wanders about freely in the streets as cows are truly sacred to Hindus and may not be harmed. The lack of adequate roads in addition to poor sanitary conditions, spotty electricity, and unchecked pollution are problems that India must address if it is to become a modern nation.
Mindtree Consulting, located in the Global Village Technical Center, is also a company on the move. According to our hosts, the company was started in 1999 with 10 people and now employs 3,200. Its major client is GE. The company serves as liaison between a client and the technical team hired to provide IT or Research and Development services. Through its expertise in business processes and knowledge of a client’s needs and culture, Mindtree employees help the project succeed. Consequently, they require their people to have strong communication skills and business acumen as well as technical knowledge.
From Mindtree we went on to visit Intel, a familiar multinational company. Our host was quite open about the problems and challenges of developing software across time zones with half the team in the U.S. and the other half in India. In order to be fair to all, team members alternate weeks with one group working nights and the other days so that they can communicate. He also indicated that retaining seasoned employees was a key issue for Intel as well as other IT companies because they frequently leave one place for considerably more money at another. This situation is not unlike what the U.S. experienced during the .com era. Indians also leave because they resent the long commute they have to endure to reach far flung corporate offices, time that they prefer to spend with their families. As a result, companies such as Intel find that they have to provide substantial benefits such as daycare, concierge services, shuttle services and flextime to retain their employees.
Leaving Bangalore behind, we rode several hours through the countryside towards Mysore, Dr. Murthy’s hometown. Mysore, a more manageable city with a delightful climate, is home to Infosys, one of India’s largest, most successful IT outsourcing companies. While Infosys provides services to a wide range of businesses, they only contract with companies in the Fortune 1000. Founded, much to our amusement, by a man named Narayan Murthy, Infosys employs 40,000 people and has recently generated over $2 billion in revenue. Infosys anticipates doubling both numbers within the next five years. In addition to an interesting presentation and lively Q & A, we were driven around the beautifully landscaped grounds in a tram reminiscent of DisneyWorld!
Later that day we switched gears and visited a well thought of engineering school, the SRI Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering. The man analogous to the provost in an American university named Dr. Sangameswar was most gracious and eager to tell us about his college. He was particularly proud of the fact that 85 percent of this year’s graduating class already had jobs in India. This is a far cry from the days when, to paraphrase the words of Thomas Friedman in his book The World is Flat, Indian engineers rotted on the docks of Mumbai, another indication that the Indian economy is strong. As we toured the campus, he was also proud to show us the JSS Polytechnic for the Physically Handicapped whose mission it is to provide training to all physically handicapped individuals who seek it so that they can become independent and productive citizens. And, at the end of the visit, we were surprised to find a photographer and reporter from the local paper the Star of Mysore waiting to cover our visit. A photo and article appeared in print the very next day. We were also surprised to learn that the Star of Mysore is published by the family of another Seidenberg graduate, Vikram Muthanna (MS/IS ‘02).
Next we headed to the capital city of Delhi in the northern part of the country. There we made only one corporate visit but an important one to the IBM Research Lab. We were greeted by Dr. Gopalakrishanan, the current director of the lab, who was sent over from The Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights for a 3 year period to launch the lab in Delhi. He told of the history of IBM in India and the nature of current research activities. Three researchers then made presentations on their individual projects, an experience not unlike one of our own Faculty Research Days. Areas of research included data mining, voice recognition in Hindi, and the development of fire management software systems for the U.S. Parks and Agriculture Department!
We then spent a full day taking in the sights of Delhi. We drove through bustling Old Delhi with its narrow streets and cycle rick-shaws on our way to the Jami Masjid, the largest mosque in India (India has the largest Muslim population in the world outside of Indonesia). We also visited the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial and the Quth Complex with its impressive architecture, beautiful mingling of Islamic and Hindu carvings, and towering minaret.
We once again traveled through the countryside alongside bullock carts and
camel caravans on our way to Agra, the home of stunning examples of Mughal architecture including the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal, the most famous example of all. The Taj, built built by Shah Jaban in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, is indeed a breathtaking symbol of eternal love. From afar it is like a shimmering mirage with its elegant symmetry and beautiful white marble. Close up, the marble inlay, filigree screens and delicate carvings are equally as exquisite.
And finally, after twelve days of non-stop travel, we returned home with an enhanced appreciation of India, her people, her culture and her impressive determination to position herself as a major economic power of the 21st century.