By Randy Zwitch - March 22nd, 2010  Category: CCMBA 2010D  One of the interesting side benefits to working for a global financial services giant is having a corporate intranet that highlights world news and philanthropic events. In the past few days, my attention has been solely focused on March Madness, rinsing all the winter grime off my truck, and following the Health Care Reform legislation that passed the House of Representatives yesterday evening. So it’s great to be able to come to work and learn about events that are bigger than my narrow daily view usually provides!
Today, I found out that March 22 is “World Water Day”, a yearly event promoted by UN-Water to highlight issues around water quality and availability worldwide.
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By Randy Zwitch - February 1st, 2010 Category: CCMBA 2010D| Residency 3: Delhi Day three has actually turned out much like day two, a continuation of my illness. While I’ve been able to maintain my ‘attend every class and guest speaker’ resolution, I did need to bend the rules a bit for GMI, day 2. Nothing like coming into a 3-hour class about 1.5 hours late (9:30 a.m.), and having the only seats available being front and center. It was a nice touch when I raised my hand to participate, and have Prof. Francis ask “Have you been sitting there the whole time? How did I not see you?” in a nice, sarcastic tone!
Uh, I was preoccupied? The dog ate my stomach? Something like that.
The highlight of today was probably the guest speaker, Mr. Mukul Khanna, from Idea Cellular. India is 2nd to only China in terms of the number of handsets per month activated (up to 10mm per Mr. Khanna’s estimate, 90% of those pre-paid phones), so it was great to hear about the unique challenges and opportunities that such growth affords. I think the best part of the speech was the point where Mr. Khanna showed a homemade-looking device that allowed Indian’s to use two SIM cards in one phone. While it sounded like this was frowned upon by the telecom companies, having two SIM cards allows the user to check the real-time price of service, then choose the cheapest service.
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By Randy Zwitch - January 30th, 2010 Category: CCMBA 2010D| Residency 3: Delhi Ugh. Day 1 had so much promise! After finally reaching Le Meridien late Friday evening, I figured that I’d get some rest, have a light day of classes, then have some fun. Well, instead of riding in a rickshaw in Old Delhi, my body decided it would be better if I rode the porcelain chariot for the next 36 hours. Or more, I’m not necessarily “cured” today, although my stomach seems pretty well empty and nausea subsided mid-evening yesterday.
The funny thing is, there are so many places where I could’ve gone wrong, that it’s impossible to tell how I picked up my ailment. Even when washroom facilities were available, they were generally not too appealing. Heck, I was up to using hand-sanitizer AFTER washing my hands, just to try and avoid the problems. I avoided ice, tried to drink processed drinks (soda, bottled water), but I did drink coffee and juice. Maybe that was my mistake. Coffee generally isn’t boiled, and wouldn’t be surprised if the juice was from concentrate. I drank coffee and juice in both Jaipur and at the hotel in Delhi, so even then I can’t be sure what the problem was. Regardless, I’m so glad this didn’t happen on the bus, I’m not sure what I would’ve done out in the villages and in a sealed area with my classmates!
I guess that’s the fun of the residencies. You’re supposed to be learning about the countries you visit, good and bad. I learned about the “bad” alright, and showed how lack of clean water/lack of immunity can really throw business into a stand-still. Or a rabbit-run to the bathroom, if you will.
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