Katie Fasola

Professor Asawari Deshmukh

Doing Business in India
22 December 2017

India: Organized Chaos

I take Cincinnati traffic for granted. Needless to say, the traffic in India is astounding. I have
never witnessed so many individuals in one place. Cars come and go as they please, and people
walk in the middle of the road nonchalantly, as if nothing is around them. I knew culture shock
was inevitable, but I do not think I was one hundred percent ready for the cultural differences
between India and the United States. The weeks leading up to our departure, I was filled with
anxiety. I had no idea what to expect. None of my friends or family have traveled to India, and
the news does not paint the prettiest picture of this foreign country.

After a few long traveling days, I was ready to get started. Leaving the Mumbai airport, there
was one thing I picked up immediately. India is extremely polluted. Even though it was dark
out, the street lights illuminated fog. I could see the haziness in the air (Exhibit A). And this
pollution was not just evident in Mumbai. It was
everywhere - Bangalore and Delhi included. In Delhi,
I had a coughing fit just walking from the terminal to
our tour bus. Delhi smelled like a smoky barbecue at
all points of the day. I couldn’t help but think, does
this pollution inhibit the life span of the average
Indian individual? What steps can be taken to prevent
this?
Exhibit A
Another cultural difference I noticed right away was the conservative culture. It
was a rare sighting to see a woman wearing an outfit revealing her shoulders. The women
usually wore beautiful saris, and the men wore pants no matter how hot it was outside. Given
that Hinduism is the predominant religion, many women and men had dots marked on their
foreheads. I soon learned that the dot on a woman’s forehead meant she was married. If a man
had his head marked, it was a religious sign of good fortune.

Feminism is promoted in American culture. It does not alarm me when women are
straightforward about their opinions. However, at one point on our trip, I had the realization that
women are second-class citizens in India. Men’s beliefs are typically given higher priority than
women’s beliefs. This stark realization came to me at non-other than the airport, as women were
asked to go in a separate line than men for security. Us women were asked to stand behind a
curtain to get checked for security, whereas men could be checked out in the open. I am aware
this is due to the conservative culture, but for some reason, it really angered me. How much
longer will it take for India to catch up with the western culture? I picked up more on this gender
inequality throughout the trip. Most women are expected to stay at home and take care of the
children. In the North, infanticides are a huge problem. This is because families do not want
females. If they find out they are having a female, many families will abort the child or kill the
girl once she is born. This sickened me. The thought of killing a child based on gender is
disturbing. In many rural families, they want boys so they can grow up and carry on the family
business. Girls are viewed as a waste of time and money.

Speaking of cultural differences that fascinated me, I was interested to hear the majority of
marriages in India are arranged. There are pages of ads in the newspapers for women looking for
husbands. Weddings are taken to an entirely new level in India. Companies in the wedding
industry are often some of the most profitable businesses. During our stay, we saw a few people
on their way to weddings. Women were wearing some of the most beautiful outfits I have ever
seen. The bride has intricate henna all over her arms and feet. It is crazy to me that the families
have such big celebrations for arranged marriages. I loved learning about this, as it was a
completely foreign idea to me.

Another interesting concept to me was the

wealth disparity in India. The distribution of
wealth in the country is evident in all
aspects. There are impoverished individuals
living in the slums just miles away from
some of the wealthiest individuals living in
luxurious apartments. Tarps are used to
cover homes, and cows walk the streets the
same as humans. In Agra, young children
would come and beg for food or money.
This broke my heart. Refer to Exhibit B.
Given a population of 1.3 billion, India
cannot possibly solve this problem any time
soon. During one of our lunches, we met with Exhibit B
Bollywood actress and director Kolkana. She
described how she grew up in a wealthy family, so she was not
necessarily representative of the average Indian. In India,
Bollywood is one of the most profitable industries, along with the
sport of cricket. I remember hearing, no matter the differences
between two individuals, Bollywood and Cricket will bring them
together.

India is a country united by diversity. In almost every presentation, the speakers would reference
the extreme diversity in India. There are about twenty official languages, with over a thousand
dialects. There are a variety of religions and beliefs. There is an obvious wealth disparity and
India is constantly working to become a force to be reckoned with. During our trip, I was able to
observe and analyze India as a country and what it is like to do business in India. We visited
numerous companies – from huge corporate IT giants to small innovation hubs. Given this
course was an Economics course, we first visited the Reserve Bank of India and the National
Stock Exchange. We discussed the effects of demonetization and the growing digitization of the
country. Electronic trading in India is ranked number one globally, and digital networks like Jio
are gaining popularity.
We also visited Prana Studios and Publicis, which are two
media companies. It was interesting to see how much work
goes into the final product of advertisements and animations.
Two advertisements that particularly struck me were from Tata
Tea (https://youtu.be/7V_OLj47JUE) and Lifebuoy
(https://youtu.be/UF7oU_YSbBQ). Both advertisements took a
stand against social issues, which is not very common in India.
Other companies we visited included Hindustan Unilever,
Infosys Limited, and Biozeen. Each were fascinating in their
own way.

Overall, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to travel

abroad to India. The culture shock was quite a lot, but
definitely worth it. It is so hard to put into words the
differences between the two cultures. However, if I had to
choose one phrase to describe this country, it would be
“organized chaos”. The country is busy all the time, but
everything just seems to work. I learned so much in such a
short time. The people in the group were amazing and both Professor Asawari and Exhibit C
Dr. Pal were excellent leaders. I would highly recommend this trip to my peers as it
was an unforgettable learning experience. I saw some of the most amazing structures in my life,
such as the Taj Mahal (Exhibit C), but also some of the poorest, such as Dharavi. It was a
humbling experience that I will never forget.