Thursday, May 17, 2007: The ISB Experience

Nathaniel and I woke up this morning and made our way over to the gym. I promised the trainer I'd work out with him. We agreed to do a back and tricep workout and god was it intense. Nathaniel was laughing the entire time as the trainer spotted me (basically helped lift me up and down) as I did tons of pullups in rapid succession. The whole time we were working out the trainer had the funniest smile on his face, stood extremely close to me and kept asking what kind of protein supplements I take. He is totally a character and was really a joy to workout with. He ended the workout by stretching me and then without warning proceeded to bear hug me, lift me off the ground from behind and try to pop my back. It didn't feel so hot.During our workout, I met an Indian student here who is from New Jersey. He has a completely Jersey accent and we are actually going to dinner with him tonight.We visited two companies: Shantha Biotechnic Firm and Infosys. Getting to Shantha took over an hour by bus. Our driver took us around the city (through the moral rural outskirts) rather than cutting through town to deal with traffic. The outskirts of the city are really undeveloped. The roads are rough and the buildings have very little organization. There are thousands of people and shops lining the road. Shop may be an exaggeration - they are really just wooden shacks and tents distributing food, drinks and miscellaneous items. Its ot uncommon to see cows, goats, and other farm animals wandering along the road. We finally made it to Shantha - a very high security facility set just outside the city in a seemingly random location.Shantha was the first biotech firm in India and is currently one of the leading Biotech firms in the world. They house their entire process here in Hyderabad from Discovery / R&D to production to packing / distribution. When we entered the facility, we all had to wear little covers over our shoes and white lab coats. We met with a senior scientist who had spent time in the United States and also working for Kirin (yes, they deal in both beer and drugs) producing the EPO drugs for anemic people. Like one would expect in India, Shantha was an extremely gracious host. They had servers bring us tea, coffee and snacks and then treated us to an enormous lunch. We actually ate with the Chairman of the company, a Frenchman (60% of the company was recently acquired by a French biotech firm).After going to Shantha we went directly to the headquarters of Infosys which is located right across the street from the Indian School of Business where we are staying. The area is known as Hi-Tech city and is also home to Microsoft, WIPRO and several other major technology driven companies. Infosys is one of the largest and most prominent companies in India. They employ over 50,000 people - the numbers are astounding. There facility is remarkable. You can find pictures on the web album. Similar to ISB, when you enter the ground for Infosys, you really feel like you are stepping into another world. The grounds are manicured and labourers are scattered throughout picking up dead leaves, watering trees, serving tee and generally keeping busy. At the guard gate, there were problem 10 security guards rather than the necessary two or three. Inside the premises, there is a pool, fitness facilities, hotel, several state of the art offices, cafes, social event spaces, banks, and everything you could ever need to survive. I'd call it a corporte resort rather than campus. Infosys currently generates $3 Billion of revenue per year and aims to triple that to $10 billion by 2010. I'll tell you this much, I plan to invest as soon as I get home.That evening we made it into town for dinner. The bus dropped us at a shopping mall in the middle of the city. A few of us had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which was decent but rather disappointing. Nathaniel and I are eager to try out this Chindese food (a cross between Indian and Chinese that is supposed to be spectacular). The mall itself was pretty boring. It was basically the equivalent of a shitty, American mall but worse. It was clean and nice just lacking any stores of interest. Getting home was another story, I took a cab with a couple other guys on our trip. The cab driver only spoke Telugu (the regional language) and he drove like a complete maniac. In one hand, he was speaking on the cellphone while shifting, steering and honking with his other. Honking is certainly not a rare occurence here. The traffic situation is a nightmare and driving on the roads is complete chaos. At any given moment, a bicycle, motorcycle, rickshaw, minivan, mercedes, enormous truck, oxcart and people walking are all trying to merge into the same lane without any regard to one another. With his skill, our cabdriver could win Nascar if I brought him back to the states.By the way, it is deathly hot here. Despite this, Nathaniel and I are still wearing linen suits and dressing up (ties, pocket squares, and all). We brought the clothes so we figured why not. No one in India wears shorts. Its very interesting to see how people dress here. Some women, even those at ISB, dress very traditionally in beautiful, vibrant colored Sarees (scarves and draping pieces of cloth). Men, even at the companies, dress very casually. They wear basic pants, cotton shirts and often sandals or just tennis shoes. There is a very casual feel everywhere we go. Most of the female labourers who tend to the gardens outside wear green Sarees (there are a few photos in my album).In regards to the students and program at ISB here, the curriculum (which was developed by Wharton) is one year and is divided into 8 six-week semesters. They are only half way through their first semester so the students are almost as new to this place as we are. There are 425 student (120 of which are female). For the first four semesters, they all take the same courses. Funny thing is they are exactly the same as the ones we take at Wharton (same material, books, and subject matter) except they are condensed down. They even have the same professors that we have. Currently, they are all taking Stat 102 (and they have the same professor I had first semester of last year). All of the students had their first two exams today on Friday and were studying like crazy and stressing out just as a Wharton student would. They finish their last exam this evening and are throwing a couple parties this weekend. Nathaniel and I can't wait to join in on the festivities. Keep in mind though that these students ages range from 23 - 40, some of them have families and all have completed undergrad and have a minimum of two years work experience. In the little convenience store, I met three female Indian students who were singing, dancing and buying chocolate to celebrate finishing their first exam. They were really friendly and invited me to a party tomorrow night.We visited Microsoft (i'll write more about this later) and have two lectures today. The first about doing business in India and the second on Microfinance. Nathaniel and I plan to venture into the city this evening for dinner. We got a couple recommendations from some students here. Can't wait!