Cultural Environment. A subject in the 1st semester of the International Marketing Management course taught by Dr. Manuel Vermeer from the East Asia Institute. Due to his special, also family relationship to the Asian region (lecturer at the OAI and son of an Indian woman), countries like India increasingly became the focus of our lecture. Since our master course consisted of 18 students who did not yet know each other very well, we discussed "getting to know each other" events away from the lecture. When a fellow student exclaimed, more in jest, "A field trip! To India!", grins spread across the faces. At first, everyone had clichés about the country such as Bollywood movies, poverty, dirt, and lack of security in mind, which some seemed to know from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire". The idea, which at first seemed like fun, turned out to be a unique opportunity to travel to a completely new country with Dr. Vermeer in the company of someone who knew the country. He immediately showed himself to be extremely willing to introduce us to his second homeland. Our course director Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck was also enthusiastic from the beginning and agreed to accompany the trip, as it is the goal of the Master's program to promote internationality and also the cohesion of the course through joint activities outside the lectures. Not everyone could imagine such an exotic excursion and so it was then time for the 12 final trip participants on 26.01.2019: "Let's go to India!" (S. Birkhofer)
January 26/27, 2019. The suitcases were packed and the neck pillow strapped to the backpack for the eight-hour flight. From Frankfurt, we flew directly to Mumbai. At 00:30 local time, we arrived at Mumbai airport. Despite concerns about the functionality of the e-visa, we had no problems entering the country. From the terminal we went directly to the hotel by bus with our guide Viren. Honking and the driving style "courage to the gap" accompanied our journey. For our time in Mumbai, we stayed at the Gordon House Hotel, which is not far from the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Tower Hotel. The rooms were clean and the staff very attentive - according to our lecturer, sometimes it can be a bit different. Nevertheless, we had to get used to the background noise during the first night. 22.8 million inhabitants in Mumbai are hardly a comparison to the cities in Germany. The next morning started with an Indian breakfast: scrambled eggs masala with chili and coriander and a mango lassi to balance the spiciness of the scrambled eggs. From 2:00 pm we started our tour to the Dharavi slums. Along the way, we learned not only how to walk the streets of Mumbai (literally), but also a lot about the culture and life in India. According to our guide, street lights and crosswalks in India are only considered disco lights. The motto: Breathe in, breathe out, put your hand out and walk, if necessary, also look to the right and left. Sounds a bit tired of life for German standards - but in Mumbai it is the only way to cross the street. The Dharavi slums turned our ideas of a poor district completely upside down. The slum is one of the most productive slums in Mumbai and according to estimates it has the highest population density in the world. According to the motto "time is money", small manufactories and stores for food, clothing, leather goods and even snack stands were opened on every street corner. Admittedly, the first impression is clouded by pity when one compares this with the living standards in Germany. But if you take a look beyond your own nose, you realize that we can still learn a lot from India. (M.-L. Uibel)
January 28, 2019. Today's agenda item included a train ride from Churchgate Station to Mahalaxmi Station to visit the open air laundry Dhobi Ghat. In and of itself, a train ride is nothing spectacular, but buying a train ticket in Hindi and standing on trains that have no doors so that you can get off when entering the next stop while the train is still rolling is a feature we have never experienced before. Arriving at the Dhobi Ghat laundry, we explored how under the open sky the laundry of hotels, hospitals or the latest fashion of fashion brands was cleaned by hand. From washing to ironing and sterilizing, everything is possible here. At noon, things were more relaxed and we explored the harbor with a boat tour from the Gateway of India (the landing point of the ships in Mumbai) in bright sunshine. (B. Baumann)
January 29, 2019 .Early in the morning, we were off. We were picked up at 7am sharp by a small coach in front of our hotel. It went to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, almost 40km away, a green spot of almost 70km2 in the middle of Mumbai, a city of almost ten times that size. Just before entering the jungle, we had a round of masala chai for everyone at a small street food snack bar in front of the park entrance. Accompanied by two guides, we rode on simple mountain bikes in the first and also only gear through the national park. Everyone was surprised by the sudden silence that overtook us the deeper we got into the jungle. The destination of our "Tour de Mumbai" was a gigantic structure in the middle of the park: the Kanheri Caves. These were built by Buddhist monks in the 4th century BC as a sacred pilgrimage destination. Our nearly 7 km long, varied drive from the west entrance to the caves, was enriched by a colorful variety of animals, as well as a small secluded village community, and concluded with a mountain climb worthy of the stage. The incomparable view from the top of the temple mountain put us all in awe. After a short break from the sun, we set out to discover the caves inside the mountain. Besides some frescoes and statues carved into the wall, there were also two 16m high stone Buddhas. These have significant historical value, as the only equivalent statues from that era in Pakistan fell victim to a terrorist attack. After several hours of exploring, we drove back down the mountain in a relaxed manner. In the end, this was a very impressive excursion that, despite the physical exertion, helped us to gain new strength for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, many people from and around Mumbai are not aware of the importance of this special place. However, the commissioned authorities are trying to create more awareness about the history of the park and to consolidate its role as a green retreat in the middle of the city. (N. Thoma)
January 30, 2019. On Day 4, we first visited a training site for women. The site is owned by Dr. Vermeer's family and offers the opportunity to further their education in various ways and thus become more independent through an additional income opportunity. The training center enables the women to do something for themselves and to take care of themselves, instead of being there exclusively for the family and to orientate their lives completely accordingly. In addition to the training as a beautician and dressmaker, sports courses for children and women are offered on weekends. We visited a cosmetics course and talked to the participants. They were all very warm and happy about this opportunity. Every single one of them had a clear vision of their future and the ambition to reach their goal. It was very impressive to hear individual stories and also the reasons why they chose this path. We spent the afternoon visiting a temple where we fed a cow and participated in a Hindu ceremony. Here everyone received a traditional red dot on their forehead and during a short prayer was remembered for our safety and that of our families. At the end, we all received a band around our wrist, which was put on while reciting a rite in Hindi. Once the bracelet falls off on its own, one's wish comes true. Another highlight happened on this day: A fellow student had his hair spontaneously cut by an Indian hairdresser. We were all excited about the result and were not disappointed! The hairstyle was perfect! (L. Wölke)
January 31, 2019. After four days full of program came on day five for the first time the opportunity to rest most of the day, we had anyway a one-way three-hour drive to Pune ahead of us. There, thanks to the contacts of Dr. Vermeer, we were able to visit a production site of the German Leoni AG, which mainly produces cables for information technology and infrastructure projects. We were warmly welcomed, the company was briefly introduced by an employee by means of a presentation, then we toured the production and had time to ask numerous questions. We were also given the opportunity to exchange ideas with a member of the senior management. Especially getting intercultural questions answered from an opposite point of view with a lot of practical experience was a great opportunity to reflect and to be more sensitized in the future. We ended the day with a joint dinner. Surprising for all of us was that we were able to keep to the schedule almost perfectly, which is by no means a matter of course in India. (V. Scheer)
February 01, 2019. On the penultimate day of our trip, we went to the Goethe Institute in the morning, which is also known in Mumbai as Max Mueller Bhavan, named after the German-English Indologist Friedrich Max Mueller. During a pleasant conversation with the German director and three Indian teachers, we learned that the institute had set itself the task of promoting knowledge of the German language and culture. The teachers explained that young adults often come to the institute to prepare for a master's degree in Germany. But families with one parent taking up a job in Germany are also familiarized with German culture. According to the Indian teachers, this is increasingly about reflecting on one's own culture and building up a sensitivity for German culture. Nevertheless, course participants of an intercultural seminar are of course prepared for German punctuality, for example. In the afternoon, we explored the area around the famous Crawford Market on our own. Here you could buy everything your heart desires. Since most of us wanted to take home some great spices, we let traders show us various things and tried to use our bargaining skills until we finally left the market hall with full bags. We ended the day by going to the beach together to watch the sun go down behind the skyscrapers of Mumbai, which was a successful end of the penultimate day for all of us. (S. Kurtz)
February 02, 2019 .On the last day of our Mumbai excursion, we visited the Bombay Store together after check-out and then in individual groups visited the street stalls and small stores near our hotels. In the afternoon, we all gathered at the Taj Hotel for one last drink together and reviewed the trip. While Sabrina met up with our guide Viren to attend a traditional Catholic service, the rest of the group revisited the Bombay Vintage restaurant, joining her afterwards. At 9 p.m. we were picked up by Viren and the tour bus, taken to the airport and given a warm farewell. (H. Bucher)
After 7 days in Mumbai we landed back in Frankfurt overwhelmed by numerous impressions. During the final feedback round on the last evening, it quickly became clear that many of the clichés we had before the start of the trip had been put into perspective in the course of the week or had even disappeared altogether. We were all positively surprised by the warmth with which the locals met us. Especially the gratitude with which the families in the slums live their lives and the joy with which the kids there invited us to a short game of cricket made it impressively clear to us that prosperity is not automatically the key to happiness! Also, at no point did anyone in our group feel unsafe. Of course, as "Westerners" we represented exotics for the Indians, who were quite happy to take pictures with us. But we were always asked politely. Also the precautionary supply of charcoal tablets was allowed to go back to Germany; thanks to our lecturer we were allowed to enjoy the really very tasty Indian cuisine in cozy restaurants every evening. So at this point a very special thank you goes to Dr. Manuel Vermeer, who put together such a varied program for us. Many thanks also to our course director Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck, who accompanied us on all tours and always had an open ear for us! Mumbai was an unforgettable experience for all of us, which brought us even closer together as fellow students in a special way. (S. Birkhofer)
