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Week 4 With RUDI (SEWA) – Happiness “Rains” in India

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It is hard to believe we are coming to the closing stages of our fourth week interning with RUDI and the work we’ve completed on our project is simultaneously moving closer to the finish line.

To date we’ve made three long and tiring visits to Pij (a small town an hour and a half away from where we are staying) in order to carry out our market research into how RUDI products compare against competitors. We met with the Rudiben who are involved in producing RUDI products at the Pij processing centre and Rudiben who sell RUDI products to customers in the surrounding villages. We have also interviewed RUDI customers, Pij residents and local shopkeepers. The language barrier has been difficult to overcome. Our interviews have all been carried out through a translator and at times have required a double translation from Gujrati to Hindi and then into English. Being unable to speak the language makes the interviews challenging, time consuming and at times frustrating for us but we have (soMeeting the RUDIben women far) successfully managed to gain an interesting insight into how the Rudiben operate and how RUDI is perceived. And if these interviews are tiring for us, we can only imagine how draining it must be for Siddharth (our Indian colleague who studies at IIM Ahmedabad), who is the main cog in translating from Hindi to a language we can understand.

We have planned a further visit next week to the Anand office, which is the main office in the district we are conducting research. We will interview the district coordinator, several more Rudiben and a few Leaderben. Successfully completing these interviews is vital for our ongoing analysis and will help us provide suggestions and recommendations to incorporate into our report which
focuses on areas of RUDI that could be improved.

Though this seems as if it would take up all of our time, we have still managed to meet many people on campus at IIM Ahmedabad, where we are staying during the Internship. From regular students, to exchange students, to kids taking English classes at IIM-A, there is no shortage of people to meet. We watched the Euro 2016 final with many French students who suffered the agonising heartbreak of losing to Portugal in extra time. We say hello to people we must have met at the beginning of our stay here, but quite honestly, who we don’t really remember. One of the highlights was playing football with kids from underprivileged backgrounds who are learning English. They showed us how football is played here with complete happiness as they slid through the muddy pitch which has been ruined in the past week from the heavy rainfall from monsoon season. The happiness of these kids has been shared with us from many of the people we have encountered and seems to be endless here in India.

Coming up nextFootball, we have planned a trip this weekend to Jodhpur, the second largest city in the Indian state Rajasthan. Jodhpur is famous for its forts and temples and has been nicknamed “the blue city” for its many buildings painted in blue. We will be travelling by the infamous Indian trains which we have heard a lot about and are definitely looking forward to.

Namaste.

Josh and Sofia, GEO SEWA Interns

RBI Week 4: Monsoons, Mumbai, and Masala: Making Memories

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“A nation’s culturfddse resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people” – Mahatma Gandhi.

At the end of last week we had been planning our weekend trip to the beautiful province of Goa, a few hours southwest of us. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty in booking Indian busses without an Indian credit card, we have had to reschedule to this weekend. However, this did mean that we had the opportunity to explore more of Pune and the surrounding area this weekend, and the chance to look forward to Goa for another week.

Several members of our group took a trip to a spa in Pune called Touche and found that 90 minutes and 1 deep tissue massage later found themselves de-stressed and content. As they found one way of relaxation, the other group of us headed to Lonavala, a lush green hillside divided by rivers and waterfalls. We headed to Pawna Dam to take in the wonderful scenery and converse as best we could with the locals. Of course, as it has been monsoon season for several weeks now, it rained for nearly the entirety of trip, and we founrbiintersd that we didn’t need to go anywhere near the lake to get our feet wet.

We spent most of the first part of the week working diligently on our projects as we realize that now time is of the essence. On Wednesday we were taken to the main Symbiosis University campus just outside Pune, which resides on the top of a larg
e hill, providing excellent picturesque views. We got an insight into the student’s projects there and were pleased to find similarities to our own projects. We found that many of the students also had an interest hearing our views on the recent decision for the UK to leave the EU.

The next day we traveled back to Mumbai to visit the RBI central office. We took our first real tour of the city and got a feel for how large the city was in comparison to Pune. We were able to visit the RBI museum, the Mumbai regional office, and the famed RBI central office, all in one busy afternoon.

As our fourth week here comes to a close, we realize that the end is nearer to us than the beginning, and can’t help but feel that the time here has slipped away from us. We plan to use our remaining time here to the fullest extent, and can’t wait to find out what India has in store for us next.

Nicholas and Daniel, GEO RBI Interns

Singapore: Over and Out

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This week, we returned to Singapore after a brief but enjoyable trip to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, we did not have the time to do much sightseeing but we did do a couple of things. One night, Millie decided to go to a local market on Temple Street. This was definitely an experience as all the people tried to sell her everything from fake handbags to phone cases. She had fun bartering with the vendors. Meanwhile, Laura met up with a friend from Boston University. They went to the Peak and explored the night view of this concrete jungle.

We returned on Singapore on Friday night after a week of work. Our plan for Saturday was to return to Sentosa to relax and soak up the sun. Laura and Doris did a bike ride around the isl
and while Millie and Livi lounged around on the beach. This was a great day, but Livi’s nose suffered after six hours of sun!

Saturday evening, Livi and Millie headed to Little India, an area they hadn’t explored yet. They had some delicious Indian food and observed the bustling streets a little different from work. Doris and Laura had a good rest after the long bike ride.

On Sunday, Millie went on a trip to try to learn more about the history of Singapore. She visited Fort Canning, which is where the WWII headquarters for the British army was based in 1940. They suffered heavy defeat until the Japanese surrendered.  In the afternoon, we experienced our first tropical storm. We were trapped inside listening to the loud rumbles of thunder and the bright flashes of lightning.

For our final week, we were back in the regional office and got to spend some time with the regional CFO, Alejandro.  Every day, we spent an hour or so having discussions with him. He shared with us his experience and insights into the world of finance. This was particularly useful as we approach the end of college and decide what to do after graduation.

This weLunch with Alejandroek was particularly interesting as we approached the end of this internship. We learned a lot in a short amount of time as Alejandro freely allowed us to ask questions. Hence we could get a lot out of the sessions.

Also, this week we had another intern joining us from Boston University. Therefore, we decided to do some sightseeing together after work. On Monday night, went to explore the Gardens by the Bay. Just like Sentosa this is a man-made area, all on reclaimed land. It was beautiful. The gardens have several “trees” with flowers and plants surrounding them. We went to see a light show there in celebration of Singapore’s 51st Birthday. The light show began just after the sun set and the trees lit up according to the music that was played. It felt very romantic! We also decided to explore some of the places where ex-pats, or as they say “Angmohs” go after work, we had a lovely dinner in an area where some of the old style buildings still exist.

Overall we have had a fantastic internship experience. We have certainly learnt a lot not only about accounting and finance at work but also about many different cultures. We feel very lucky to have had the opportunity not only to travel to Singapore but also to go to China and HK. We definitely agree that some of the lessons we have learnt here will be crucial to us throughout later life and we are glad we have been exposed to so much, even in this
short space of time.

We are looking forward to the opportunities we will have in the future and will always have fond memories of Singapore.

Over and out.

Laura and Millie, GEO Kwang Sia Interns