Experience India! Day 8

This was the day I was looking forward to when I first arrived in Bangalore but towards the end of the trip, I just wished that this day would not come. Well in reality, for every beginning, there will be an ending. It’s a fact that we have to accept whether we like it or not.

On Day 8, the last day of Bangalore Exploratory Trip, we had one more site visit to another well- known company, Honeywell. It started off just like any other day but the atmosphere was a little different as it was the ‘finale’ of our Bangalore learning journey. So as usual, I shall commence my post with some background information of the company.

Honeywell is an American MNC that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments. Industries served by Honeywell are Aerospace, Automation and Control solutions, Specialty materials and Transportation systems.

The Honeywell staffs gave us a clear insight of the main businesses of the company. Thereafter, they brought us to the research labs to show their new products which are still under development. These new gadgets are capable of outperforming the current devices in the market. Overall, the site visit to Honeywell was a fruitful one.

Later we went back to ECC to gear ourselves for the Final presentation. We took this opportunity to show the knowledge we’ve gained through this trip. I learnt a lot from my friends’ presentations as each group was covering different topics.

Then, some of us did the packing at the eleventh hour before leaving to Taj hotel for our end of workshop dinner. Over there, we met the May batch group and had some interactions and photo sessions with them. All those who were involved in the workshop were present there to celebrate and take part in the dinner. The presentation of the May batch group was hilarious and it more or less summarized the feelings and experiences of every Singaporean intern in Bangalore. It was a great evening and it was time for us to part from some of our fellow friends who remained in India to explore more. Later, we arrived at Bangalore International Airport to fly back to Singapore. Despite the initial delay in Bangalore which was due to some technical faults in the plane, we still touched down in Singapore.

Experience India! , a week- long workshop, has given me an invaluable opportunity to explore the IT companies and many more in Bangalore. As a SOC student, it was truly an insight into 21th – century Information Technology in India.

I will strongly urge SOC students to go for this workshop as it is really an eye- opener. In addition, SOC students do get 2 MCs for this. The module is evaluated as “Completed Satisfactory/Completed Unsatisfactory (CS/CU)” based on the continual assessment and final report. Finally, I’d like to thank Dr Bimlesh Wadhwa and Juliana Ung Bee Chin for giving me an opportunity to share my learning experience in this blog.

Experience India! Day 7

Day 5 and 6 were full of joy. And now we are back to some serious business, on Day 7 and 8 (the last day), we had ONLY site visits. It’s still not so bad as we got to relax on the way to the companies and then we transformed into nerds again taking down notes in the companies. And one more thing which I’d like to share, the company visits are usually fun as we get to learn new things.

On day 7, we had site visits lined up for us. In the first part of the day, we traveled to Mindtree Consulting, Bangalore but it was pretty far. We also traveled on the new national highway which stretches from Bangalore to Mumbai, unlike other Indian roads, this highway was very smooth and even, so we didn’t have a bumpy ride. Mindtree Consulting is one of the fastest growing IT and R&D Services company.
MindTree is a unique organization and, their mission is:

- Successful Customers
- Happy People
- Innovative Solutions

The moment I entered Mindtree’s premise, I felt the presence of a strong and unique culture there. Then I learnt that every MindTree Mind is driven by CLASS, the acronym for our core values of Caring, Learning, Achieving, Sharing, and Social Responsibility. Even Mindtree’s logo was designed by a student of a school run by the Spastics Society of Karnataka. Mindtree trains fresh graduates within the same premise where the conditions are conducive to learning. I like the environment, wherever we went, we saw many colourful and cheerful paintings on the walls by the students of schools run by Spastic Society of Karnataka. Mindtree has adopted an entirely new concept and approach which encourages Innovation. In addition, Mindtree also sends out magazines to the parents of the employees (most of them are young and active) to give them an insight of the happenings in the company. The company ensures that every individual is well taken care of and promotes team work. These are the key factors for the company to excel and stand out in this competitive market.



In the second part of the day, instead of visiting a company, we visited a Manipal Hospital. Prior to the Manipal Hospital visit, we were told that they’ll be covering more on the entrepreneurial aspect of the hospital. But what we learnt were their services and facilities. Most of Manipal’s doctors are well- qualified ones who have served in overseas hospitals (US, UK, Canada and etc). Manipal hospital provides free and concessional services to the needy also. The Department of Social Service is responsible for granting this concessional care after evaluating the patients who require or ask for such free and concessional care. In spite of the frequent blackouts, there are attractive features that the hospital provides to their patients and patients’ family members. For instance, in their Ultra Deluxe Rooms, there is wireless internet connection, a telephone, a television and a controllable air- conditioner. Manipal Hospital’s physiotherapy treatments are so much affordable, unlike the cost of physiotherapy in other developed countries. The hospital’s physiotherapy department owns state of the art physiotherapy equipment to treat their patients also. And believe me or not, there’s an equipment to treat patients’ with severe back problems and the doctors guarantee a 100% cure depending on the individuals. I was really convinced by that statement. What makes the hospital to stand out is the abundance of hospitality. Unlike Singaporean hospitals, this hospital has an idol of Lord Ganesh, the god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles, which shows that religion, plays a big role in every Indian’s life. Manipal Hospital is contributing significantly to the growth of Indian Medical Tourism.

You may visit Manipal’s website also to find out more about them: http://www.manipalhospital.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=66

And don’t forget to check out the Symptom Checker in Manipal’s website, it’s cool.

Experience India! Day 6

A picture speaks a thousand words, thus I’m going to decorate this particular post with beautiful pictures from Mysore and Srirangapatna. Firstly, I’d like to give a brief history of Mysore.

Mysore was ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty, except for a brief period in the late 18th century when Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan took power. Today it’s a peaceful and beautiful tourist centre attracting thousands of tourists from all corners of the world. Both the Wodeyars and Tipu Sultan were powerful kings. The Wodeyars were patrons of art and culture and have significantly contributed to the cultural growth of the city.

The Mysore trip started quite early in the morning because Mysore is about 3 hrs away from Bangalore and we wanted to make full use of the day. Most of us didn’t have breakfast, so our first stop was at a café where we grabbed some quick breakfast and continued our journey.

Then we arrived at Srirangapatna where we visited Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace. The gateway to the palace is one of the things which I really admired. From outside the palace didn’t appear to be very impressive and it was pretty much covered as well. Then we discovered intricate paintings and architecture inside the palace. Despite the bad lighting inside, we still managed to enjoy the paintings and everything.

Next stop was at the Tomb of Tipu Sultan. I was mesmerized by the architecture of the building and the surrounding greenery. Some of the Indian Muslims paid their respect by circling the tomb while singing some verses from the Holy Quran. I’m very proud that I’ve visited the Tomb of a very powerful and brave King.

Then, we headed to Jamia masjid and Hindu temple which was just a few minutes from the Tomb of Tipu Sultan. I understand that under Tipu Sultan’s rule, other religions were embraced by him and there was a freedom of worship.

Next, we visited St. Philomena’s Church which is nearby Mysore Palace. This church is really a majestic one and I even took a picture of Mother Mary. Here the locals have given her a different outlook by tying a silk saree around her. Very Interesting.

Our last stop was at Mysore Palace and this was the official residence of the Wodeyars and now it’s one of the top tourist attractions in South India. The palace was surrounded by beautiful landscape. Within the palace complex, there are two grand Hindu temples to serve the former royal family of Mysore. Again, the architecture was so unique and it instigated me to do further research on it. I found out that the architecture style is described as Indo- Saracenic which is the product of mixing Hindu, Muslim, Rajput and Gothic styles of architecture.

In the night, the illuminated Mysore palace was so magnificent and I was really attached to it. The music played by the Indian Band was, undeniably, a feast to the ears. We concluded our trip with this beautiful worth- to- see scenery.