They are all talking about India

Today I finished this week's lectures for 6 courses and though none of my classes had more than 5-10% Indians (the student exchange programme here has 240 foreign students from places like UK, US, Germany, Russian, Czech Republic, Norway, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Finland, Poland, etc etc), ALL faculty members have spoken about India. All of them have mentioned that Indians are smart and that India is all set to be a major power tomorrow. Nothing new about this but it seems the developed world has taken notice of India. Mentions of China are different, abit skeptical for lack of transparency.

A common feature in most of the courses is that of inviting guest speakers (some people may come all way from US; speakers include lawyers, businesspersons and academicians). Many many examples were shared in Brand Management and Marketing Communications sessions. There is a huge culture gap as many ads shown in class here could never have been shown in India (Videos and Pics).

Think I am obsessed with making so many comparisons with India. Very soon others will do this :D

People in Europe are not really fond of the US...India with its rich culture can surely fill this void ;) If only we take pride in us and realise how much we have to offer to the world.

Interestingly on the first day itself an American girl was complaining about how Indians are snatching their jobs...this reminds me that Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat analyses this beautifully and proves how outsourcing is infact generating more jobs for Americans!

Came to know yesterday that Paris is the most dugged city in the world...has to be...with so many metros all over, u dont have to walk more than a few meters to the nearest station. Also heard about a tunnel below Paris which is partly open to public...need to find out more about it.

Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Zakir Hussein and Sonu Nigam are to perform here soon...will never attend their concert outside India (they are too expensive!)...till of course someone gives free tickets (Dubai was the best in this aspect!).

French Women and Managers

In France alot of importance is given to contracts. Till you don't sign a contract, you have not won the trust. Unlike some other countries (like China) where you have to build the trust by wining, dining and getting to know each other well before you sign a deal. If you are invited to a french household, it is a matter of honour because it clearly indicates that you have won the trust but beware, as Indians we tend to be nice to our host and offer to help them with food and kitchen but in France, its a strict NO. It is seen as an infringement of their personal space. Very different from US or India. Dinner invitations are more formal here.

Now lets talk about French Women. Western world since the last many centuries is known for emphasising on "individuality" and giving respect to an individual's own space, needs and habits. It is the same in France...women are independent BUT what stands out is the fact that they are still very feminine or womanly (primarily in business context)...they want to be treated like women (with all the chivalry in place) unlike some places where women are taking feminist movements to crazy heights like asking for same shoes as men in the military! (with no respect for biology) Work place harrassment has not become extremely fragile here. They are extremely secure of their gender. As our professor puts it, they may also play with it.

The system in France is very hierarchical and people in power want to be seen as people in power (sounds like India?). Pecking order is important. In colleges, the management may have rooms at the top floor!

"State knows best" is felt popularly across France and hence private charities are not really liked in France (Warren Buffet beware!). People may try to find hidden agendas in private charities. Roots for this can be found in the fact that the French believe in a "Zero-sum game". So someone has to lose for somebody else to gain. Hence if you talk about the success story of Dhirubhai Ambani here marked with the built-from-scratch attribute, it will lead to a certain analysis resulting in finding who became poorer when he became richer (of course, this is not true always).

And last but not the least, the best expression of your knowledge is Language. How well you articulate, impress people with your speech and proper use of language is what will determine your success in France. There is an academy dedicated to the language and dont be surprised if the French correct your language and suggest better words (this is not to be taken as an offense but as a sign of help).

With this I end this post, and apologise for not being able to post everyday after an ambitious start. Probably you can visit once a week to avoid disappointment.

Find of the day rather week...moving around in the crowded streets of Saint Michel, I found a sweet shop with a lot of Parisian sweets and wait...it had ZLABIA...and wat is tat...JALEBI!!...i asked the owner who cud talk in broken english and he confirmed tat it is inspired from indian jalebi!...u can see its pic.

Went on a cruise today in Sienne (equivalent in a way of Yamuna in Delhi :D)...it was organised for student exchange participants...many popular monuments and bridges in Paris are around Sienne. Eiffel tower is also on its banks. Louvre, the famous museum where Mona Lisa "lives"...it seems Napoleon was in love with the painting and kept it in his bedroom...his wife got jealous and sent it away. Saw the place where Louis XVI was beheaded by people. There are many such interesting tales like one of Joan of Arc, a 19 year girl who was burned alive. She was a farmer's daughter who led the French against Britain (looong back) and used to dress like a man. She was tried and whatever she said during the trials was recorded and became popular. Many movies, books, poems have been dedicated to her. According to our Prof who introduced her to us, she was "overvalued". Then there are places related to the French revolution and so many revolutions. Paris has an interesting history of revolts, revolutions or nowadays riots. People firmly believe that "State knows best" but take to streets of they need a change. Many decisions and decision-makers have been changed by people here. And almost all French revolutions have started from Paris.

One interesting thing about French language is that there is an academy dedicated to the language that takes care of it and in a way adds words to the vocabulary and sets rules of usage. French spoken anywhere in the world should be centred around Paris unlike English which is now truly Glocal (adapted all over the world and not necessarily the Queen's language).

More about French culture in the next post.

Welcome friend, to my blog...experience paris with me...day by day. Clean and green...tats how paris differentiates itself from say a city like Bombay. Otherwise view from the train and buildings resemble south bombay with its european architecture. My acco (pics to be uploaded soon) is in Maison De L'Inde (or The India House) in a place called Cite Universitaire (where alot of country specific houses exist). Uptil now life in paris has been mainly on the metros...extremely convenient, well-connected, fast, never late (Farah from London told me how their metros often run late...and the Indian story is well known), beggars are also found in there, well-mannered people (no one's in a hurry). On day 1, we tried to ask people about our station and left a few french enthusiasts confused as they tried to read their charts ;)...finally an Indian on the train came to our rescue...honestly indians need not learn a foreign language...trust a mallu to be there to help u anywhere in the world (next day morning, a mallu gentleman dropped us right uptil our platform in one of the stations!).

Wait for the next post on first day in college and then subsequent posts on the "inside" information about people and culture of france both from social and political perspectives.