I decided to take the opportunity to work at PharmaSecure in Gurgaon, India
for a number of reasons. The first
reason is that I am very interested in the work that PharmaSecure is
doing. The company allows for drug
consumers in India to verify whether medicines that they purchase are authentic
via text message – more on this later.
The second reason is that I’ve never travelled to the eastern hemisphere
– enough said! And the third reason is
to challenge myself –that’s right. Not
since when I moved from Puerto Rico to the U.S. some 20 years ago have I lived in
a place where I’m unfamiliar with the language, am still learning about the
culture, and stick out like a sore thumb.
People that know me best would say that I’m a regimented person. I personally think that developing a routine
is a great way to get acclimated to new environments. So here’s what I’ve been doing for the past
two weeks to get used to India.
I start every morning with a workout.
One of my goals this summer is to shed all the weight I put on during the
school year so this workout is a must. In
addition, Shaun-T and his crew of fitness freaks shame me into continuing this
routine since I can never keep up with them.
They’re great motivators–try it everybody.
After the workout, I leave the guesthouse (pictured above) and walk
down the street to the metro. I lucked
out that I live ~ 5 mins walking distance from the metro station.
On my way to the metro I tend to pass one or two of these fruit
vendors. I typically buy something to
snack on throughout the day. In addition,
one of these fruit vendors likes to sing in the morning which puts me in a great mood.
On to the metro…
The Delhi Metro system is comprised of six lines with 142 stations and a total length of ~117 miles. This metro is one of five metro systems in the entire world that operates at a profit without subsidies. As someone who depends on the metro to get around, I have to say the Delhi metro is both convenient and impressive. You can pretty much get anywhere in Delhi by way of metro + rickshaw–malls, work, tourist spots, etc. Also, the trains come every 2-5 minutes. The best part is that it only costs me ~40 rupees or around 70 cents round trip.
I typically try to get to the metro before 8 am. If I do that, the ride to work is pleasant. However, if I show up anytime on or after ~8:30 am, my ability to squeeze myself into the train is tested over and over again until I finally make it on to a train.
Here’s a look at Gurgaon. The
city is the second largest city in the state of Haryana. Many multinational companies such as Google, Microsoft,
Siemens, Yahoo and Oracle among others have offices in Gurgaon. PharmaSecure’s office is located at the City
Court building –that beautiful building next to the clock tower (center-left in
the above picture).
At PharmaSecure, I’m currently working with the sales and marketing group. One of my current goals is to develop a
system for the company to assess potential customers. I’ll definitely elaborate more on this in one
of my future posts.
After work, I stop by my neighborhood market to pick up some food for
the next day. I enjoy the convenience of
having this type of market nearby. They
also don’t have as much variety as the markets that I’m used to going to so I've turned into somewhat of a minimalist.
After making a quick stop at home, I usually link up
with a rickshaw in order to head “downtown” to Hauz Khas Village. One note about negotiating with rickshaw
drivers, always aim for a lower price and be willing to walk away; they’ll
still win the negotiation ;-).
At Hauz Khas Village, I typically meet up with
whoever is hungry for dinner. Here’s a
pic of a group of us WDI Fellows at Yeti.
On the weekends, I either spend time checking out the
sites in or outside of Delhi or hang out somewhere that has AC. Here’s me with some of the new Ross admits at Ambiance Mall in Gurgaon.
There’s my routine everybody. Some days I do more, some days I do less.
