In Spring of 2011, I went to China as part of another business class trip. All of the preparation and information beforehand was helpful, but nothing could quite teach me the culture of China except for the country itself. I have a feeling the same will happen with India. Learning about their way of life through class discussions, readings, news, and movies can give you a mild sense of the country--but you can't fully grasp it until you go there and see the land, the people, and the culture with your own eyes. I remember a few Indian acquaintances that I had in middle and high school would travel there to visit family members and bring back items like scarves, jewelry, and banana chips to share with the class. While I was always fascinated by their opportunity to travel across the globe, I never really thought about traveling there myself. I think that seeing China firsthand really pushed me towards the desire to travel more and more whenever possible because it is the best way to soak up a new culture, especially with countries that are becoming increasingly important in business.
Throughout high school, and even up until now, the picture that comes to mind when I think about India is that they have many populous urban areas, but for the most part they have poor rural slums. I hate to say it, but most of my current views of India stem from movies I have seen that take place over there. Slumdog Millionaire did a great job of capturing what it would be like to grow up in impoverished areas with little money, gangs, etc. Eat, Pray, Love emphasized the importance of religion throughout India's culture since the main character learned the "power of prayer" through Hinduism. It also sparked my interest in India through the bright and rich colors, fabrics, jewelry, henna, and architecture.
I am also interested in seeing the businesses there firsthand. In class we have talked about the differences between the way they do business compared to Americans. It's hard to imagine that most companies don't start their day until 10 am and go later into the evening to help with the time difference. News reports keep saying that India is "the next China" since their economy is growing so rapidly--much thanks to their industrialization with the IT industry. I recently watched the movie Outsourced which is about a manager's entire U.S. department being outsourced to India. He unwillingly is sent to India to train the new call center and goes through a lot of culture shock--dealing with (literally) jumping into a full bus, overcoming the language barrier, trying new foods, motivating workers to cut down their call times, and dealing with children begging for money. Some things seemed a bit exaggerated, but it will be interesting to travel there to see the people and businesses to decide for myself.
I am eagerly awaiting for New Years Day which will kick off 2012 with an adventurous start. It's less than a month away, and I know it will fly by.
