Working with IBM

The purpose of my stay in India is to work as Offshore Delivery Manager together with Arla Foods' main IT vendors.
Here I'm at IBM's Gurgaon office.





















Nice and healthy food in the IBM canteen - together with Ravin.
You can choose between Veg and Non-veg food. Rice included in both menues :-)
Lunch time is between 12:30 and 14:30 and takes typically 10-20 min.

My place is behind this door. 

Photos are not allowed inside IBM client area.

They also drink milk in India

Although it's hard to find Arla products in India, we have found 'Organic cow milk' (the white/green plastic bottle). Not as tasty as Lærkevang, but okay as alternative....

And another thing,
Indians don't drink milk - they eat it.

For the Arla marketing guys, they may find some inspiration from Indian milk advertizing (see below) - I didn't know that milk contributed with that much power..... :-)

All ads taken from 'Times of India' - our daily newspaper....

Going to the hospital

On day 3 we had a small accident.

Anders cut himself with a hobby knife, doing some cable work in his room.

Cable work is nothing Indians are well known for, so therefore Anders thought he should do some final finishing of the cables in his room.

Accidently he cut himself deep in two fingers, and then off to the nearest hospital we went in a hurry. Our very good driver Bharat, recomended the hospital.

The doctor at Paras Hospital would not continue his diagnosis without an X-ray - so here we go..... 

The X-ray machine ->  notice the tape

that holds the machine together :-)

 

Minor Operation room - I had to wait outside for 45 min, not knowing what they did to my son  :-(

Final result:

14+11 stings

... and 5 days on medicine.

Althoug it was not a specific nice experience getting a surgery in India, we can only speak positive about the stay at the Paras Hospital. Fine service and skilled doctors, but still far from the standards we know in Denmark.

I forwarded the picture of Anders' fingers to a friend of mine who is a doctor, and his comments were: 

'Fine stiching work - he will play guitar again....'

Lesson learned that day:  A hobby knife is a VERY sharp tool

And thanks to Bharat - our very good driver - for quick assistance

First impressions

Arriving in India in July also means arriving in the middle of the Monsoon season....

One day we got 124 mm (12,4cm) rain in half an hour (!). This was the 3rd most heavy rainfall in Delhi area the last 10 years.

Water everywhere....

We chose to go out for dinner tthat day, and why not try the local German restaurant: 7 Degree Brauhaus.

Almost Octoberfest in India....

Anne & Merete

                                                                          Anders & Adam

The beer was okay, but slightly thinner as in Germany...

The Arrival

The flight went well, and we arrived 01:30 in Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi.
Moving the whole family to India also includes our dog Zico. Formerly at Danish/Swedish Farmdog (like 'Kvik' in Matador), now to become a Danish/Swedish/Indian Farmdog :-)
... by the way: Thanks to all my Arla IT colleagues for the much apreciated goodbye gift - a complete DVD set of Matador  :-)

We only lost one piece of luggage, and luckyli it wasn't Zico.
Bringing a dog to India is not as hard as they say, and Indians actually likes dogs very much. The only thing to be aware of, is of course the risc of diseases, which means that Zico cannot get in touch with the stray dogs of India (which you see on every street in India).

After customs and all the necessary bureaucracy, we finally left the airport about 03:30 in the morning. First two nights on hotel and then finally off to the apartment - our new home in India.


We live in a so called 'Compound' together with people from all over the world, including Indians as well


Our apartment is in Tower A, 14th floor

View from apartment 23:30. The areas with no lights,
are poor people living under metal roofs just a few hundred meters outside
our compound area.
India is really a country of contrasts....



Going to India

By 1st of July 2013 I started in a new position as Offshore Delivery Manager

at Arla Foods amba. Me and my family was send to India by Arla Foods - a global Dairy company, and a co-operative owned by dairy farmers.

Prior to this new job, I've been working for Arla Foods the last two years, also in the Arla IT department. My new role will be as a liaison and bridge builder between our Indian based IT vendors and Arla IT.

Saying goodbye to what you know, your family and friends, is always tough. Although it is not 'goodbye' - but more 'see you again in two years'. But my wife Merete and my son and daughter (Anders, 16 years and Anne, 14 years ) had made a lifetime decision together with me, about trying the life as expats in India for two years - based out of Gurgaon, New Delhi.
Both my kids will go to an international school in New Delhi, and Merete will act as 'housewife' which - what we have heard - should be more than a fulltime job in India.

 Our empty house in Denmark is now for sale....

Stokbrovej 38, Elev, 8520 Lystrup

:-( has been our family house for the last 13 years, giving us lots of good times, close to school and with a wonderfull garden and neighbourhood.


Location   

Goodbye cookie for my fine colleagues at Arla Foods IT.

.... and then the final boxes with our most wanted personal stuff on the way to India

And off we go.............
~9.000 km away from home, but only 3½ hours time difference (summertime).

We departured from Billund via Amsterdam to New Delhi.