November 2, 2007
Hi All,
Happy to report that I’m healthy, rested (as of last night), and finishing up the week in India in good shape. Tomorrow AM I’ll fly to Sydney, via Singapore – arriving in Australia on Sunday AM.
Monday through Thursday of this week was fairly non-stop motion with our seminar on Monday morning in Delhi, my trip to Gurgaon (one of Delhi’s biggest industrial suburbs) that afternoon, followed by dinner with my speakers on Monday night. Then Tuesday I had a couple of AM meetings at the hotel, traveled to Hyderabad in the afternoon, and a were the honored guests at a dinner/reception with AMCHAM and IACC upon arrival Tuesday evening. Wednesday’s seminar & luncheon in Hyderabad went very well (much better than Delhi’s), and after one office visit dashed to the airport for the flight to Mumbai (at this point our speakers all went their separate ways).
Yesterday I was able to a little bit of catch up work done, and I spent about 3 hours with one of our major prospects which was quite productive. Upon return to the hotel in the afternoon I did a bit of shopping near the hotel – no silk rugs or large purchases… I promise! (Although I did stop by the shop where I’d purchased a few of my rugs the first time, and I enjoyed a few minutes trying on a whole host of diamonds – at amazing prices…. One day I’ll have to get organized about sharing what you can find here in case anyone would want me to buy for them.)
Oh – as an interesting aside, I saw the Chancellor of Germany yesterday, Angela Merkel – she was here, staying at the Taj Palace, with a huge German trade delegation. http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/october/166356.htm As I was waiting for a table for breakfast yesterday AM I noticed a number of guys in suits with wires behind their ears, and realized that at the table sort of directly in front of me (in the middle of the sealounge breakfast area – not quite a public restaurant, but not a private dining room either – it’s the Taj Palace “tea room”) was the woman whose picture I’d seen in the paper. As I stood there, she and her group (about 6 people) got up to leave and she walked right by me just like any other business person would…. My brush with global power, only in India!
Today I’m camped out in my favorite spot – near the gorgeous Taj pool, on the marble patio, with ceiling fans and tropical steam with horns & sounds from the nearby traffic creating the most unique office environment! I pretty much plan to tackle follow to this week’s events all day so that I can start “fresh” with Australia – beginning with work on my presentation on the way to Singapore tomorrow. Tonight I am being kindly taken to dinner by Mahijeet and Soina Singh – lovely members of the “Indian family” that has so kindly adopted me – they took Steve and I to dinner when we were here last time and I really look forward to the evening with them.
I have confirmed that Halloween simply doesn’t register here in India – I heard from a few of the guests at our seminars that their children learned about the holiday in school and a few had mini Halloween parties with costumes, but for the most part there was not a trace of the holiday to be found – at this point, all eyes in India are on Diwali – which happens on November 9th – I’m sure it’s an amazing thing to behold. Here’s a link to learn a bit about this most famous of Indian holidays: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali
I’ll check in from OZ – hoping to spend some of Sunday afternoon at they “zoo with a view” before the schedule of meetings, seminars, and dinners kicks in on Sunday evening.
Thinking of all of you – thanks for your kind notes & wishes!
Kim
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