China and India have been friends and competitors for thousand years. As a Chinese, I always can feel how the India culture influence Chinese daily lives, I thought I know enough about this country. But when I was actually in India, I was still shocked by its fascinating culture. There is an old saying that the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. I think it especially applicable to India. Though I thought I have prepared for our trip very well, I find myself leaving have so many new thoughts and unanswered questions.
On the business side of things, all the companies are very great in their own industry and we were greeted with such a friendly and warm welcome.
My personal favorite company is Mandhana which is the one of the best clothes manufacturers in India. Clothes manufacture is also a very industry in China, depending on what CEO of Mandhana said, the labor was becoming more and more expensive. The same thing happened in China, many interesting opinions were brought up in that meeting, and it totally changed my mind of traditional manufacture industry.
Mandhana is not just a manufacturer in third world country which only has cheap labor; it is also a company which can offer its clients some advanced service such as design and consultation. I believe this will be the normal solution for traditional industries in the future.
Of course not everything in India is great. One problem I found is the omnipresent issue of corruption. This problem is very common in third world country, China has this issue too.
As a Chinese, I know how important the government official connections are, same thing in India.
Businessmen openly said how they need to bribe government officials to get permits they need or speed up various processes. Also there was guy told us that no matter what happens, you want to stay away from the police because all the will do is try to extract money from you in whatever way possible. Sadly it is true.
Overall I gained a better perspective of what the world is made of today. Jay, Neetu, Adam, and did a great job. It was an amazing experience both educationally and personally. I learned from personal experience that India is a land of great variety and encompasses all types of terrain and natural beauty, Indian has great intelligence but sometime they need to focus on how to get things done. I like this country just as I like every old and new culture.
