2013 Scouts in the Field

In case you were wondering what work I actually do here, pay close attention! Over the past couple of months, I’ve been on a team here at CIIE working to set up the foundation and events for Global Entrepreneurship Week in India, serving as the event partnership coordinator. It’s involved calling and emailing any and everyone in India who runs events focused on entrepreneurship and getting them to join with us by holding their events under the banner of GEW. 

I’m excited to say that after the late nights and stressful times, GEW is just one day away! India is still relatively new to the game when talking about entrepreneurship and is miles behind the startup culture we have in Silicon Valley, but I’ve been encouraged with some of the response we’ve received so far. This country just has a LOT of people and there are bound to be countless entrepreneurs amongst them. Sometimes we leave out the small fruit vendor or the restaurant owner when we talk about entrepreneurship, but entrepreneurship is alive and well wherever you look. What lags behind in India is the culture and structure around these enterprising individuals that can help people express their ideas and push them to the next level.

GEW isn’t exactly what I came to India to do, but it’s opened my eyes to the role of ecosystem development and the sheer power of people sharing common goals. I had a chance during my last trip to Delhi to sit in on a meeting where grassroot leaders of the entrepreneurship community sat down together on the rooftop of a coworking space and discussed ways they could hold a series of events to train a new generation of leaders for their entrepreneur communities. While there may be some commercial benefit as well, ultimately these guys were giving up their free time because they believed in a goal and wanted to see what they could do as active members in their communities to make it come to life. Just a couple weeks later, their efforts attracted the attention of a large government-affiliated organization, who has offered full support of their events and is helping to grow it to new levels.

While GEW may not be a solution to the gap in the system, I’m excited to see what ends up coming out of it. Funding, useful connections, empowerment, corporate buy-in…these are all things that I can say that at the end of the day I was able to support and help actualize. If you want to find out more about GEW, I would encourage you to check out the GEW Global page or the GEW India page to see what we’ve been up to. Next time I’ll post about some of the awesome events that happened throughout the week!

Diwali in Delhi

Random shenanigans 

The second half of my trip through South India a couple weeks ago took me to Dandeli, a small but increasingly tourism-based town in the mountains, and Goa, one of India’s best beach regions.

DANDELI

It was quite the adventure to get to Dandeli, and for as fun as jumping from one local bus to another between random towns was, it was not a journey I would recommend doing unless you have your own car. I did find some enjoyment in being in part of the world where my ability was limited but still being able to get around by relying on the kindness and directions of locals. 

Dandeli was a perfect respite from the hustle and bustle of Indian cities. In fact, we even got to stay in this pretty awesome treehouse right over the river.

From boating to bamboo pole fishing to going on a guided late night nature walk, it was a very nice escape into the wild. Another one of the activities we did was go to what they called a “natural jacuzzi.” This involved taking a boat over to a nearby island where there were some rapids that flow into a quiet pool. We would sit up against the rocks so the rushing water would massage (read “destroy”) our backs and then chill in the pool afterwards. I could see myself totally doing it again, but then before we knew it, it was off to Goa!

One last view from the boat on the river

GOA

Finally made it to our destination — Goa! The beaches of Goa are a popular destination for foreigners, and I am not lying when I say that the majority of people on the beaches were white. We purposely picked a nice, quiet beach and relaxed for a couple glorious days. 

As I looked out onto the ocean, I thought about how European sailors used to navigate around the coast and tip of India and probably looked at the same beaches I was lounging on. It still sometimes gets me that I’m on the other side of the world right now from everything I knew in life.

The local culture in Goa is interesting, as it was a part that was settled by the Portuguese. A good number of locals are Christian here — one of the taxi drivers I had was actually named Jesus Christian, no joke. They also have this local cashew liquor which might be the most subtle and smooth liquor I have ever tasted. But no trip to Goa would be complete without trying the seafood.

Tandoori Kingfish — Amazing stuff.

So that was essentially my trip in a nutshell. Got to see a lot, hang out with FMS friends, and enjoy local culture. It was relaxing but was definitely a momentary escape in the greater picture of what I’m doing here in India. I totally believe my friends here when they say that even they haven’t seen all of India — there’s just so much going on and so much history! Definitely would like to explore some more, but for now I’m pretty happy with the sampling I’ve been blessed to experience while I’ve been here