Hello!
First of all, I apologize for the delay in writing on this blog. I have been struggling to decide how to best describe our experience here so far (there is way too much to tell!), but since this is the first blog post I am writing, I will take the time to introduce myself and name some of the experiences that have been the most significant over the course of these first five weeks.
My name is Mariana Prado. I am a 3rd year Food and Nutrition student and am currently in Bangalore, India working as a Marketing Intern at KNOLSKAPE, a gamification and experiential learning start-up company.
Due to some last minute changes, and a lot of luck, I was chosen as the last OGE Intern on April 24, 2015. That day, I was studying for my last final exam and received the email from Paul offering the position as a summer intern at KNOLSKAPE in Bangalore, India.
Needless to say, I gave up on studying that evening and spent the next couple of hours planning out and thinking of all the different things that would need to happen before I was able to fly out to India. I had less than two weeks to prepare, but amidst the adrenaline and surge of excitement, the working visa, flight ticket, internship permits and pre-trip preparations all fell into place and I was able to fly out with four other OGE interns from Toronto to Bangalore on May 6th, 2015.
I think the fact that I wasn’t able to prepare much for this journey was a blessing in disguise. I don’t think there is anything specific that I could have done to prepare for the journey that was lying ahead.
Our time in Bangalore has been a process of adjusting to the drastic time change, the delicious but some times vengeful food, the new job, new friends and coworkers, new language(s) and the constant sensory overload.
It is amazing just how much is constantly happening on the streets in India. Starting by an incredible amount of cars, auto-rickshaws and motorcycles everywhere (all of which are constantly honking, a habit I don’t fully understand yet but have learned to accept), people walking on the roads, cows crossing the streets, stores and food stands on the sidewalks, and a strong heat that can reach 35 degrees celsius on a daily basis, there seems to be a never-ending sense of organized chaos in this city.
It’s been five weeks of full immersion in a completely different culture and country, but I have grown extremely fond of all of the things that at first seemed so foreign and difficult to comprehend. India has been magical, chaotic, vibrant, terrifying, peaceful, overwhelming and beautiful. All at the same time.
Now here are some of the things in India that have made our stay so incredible thus far.
1. The people we have met
It is the people, not the place, that make traveling such an incredible experience. Helen and I have been lucky to be constantly surrounded by a group of welcoming, friendly and passionate people. The KNOLSKAPE team members (also known as ‘Knollies’ - get to know them here) have become more than just our co-workers. They have helped us by showing us the way through the city, where to go eat, the places to visit, where to practice yoga, learn Bollywood dancing, and have even joined us on various weekend trips. Our new friends have given us the best advice when it comes to adjusting to life in Bangalore.
I notice how on some of my previous travels, I failed to connect with locals at a deeper level. As a tourist, you can sightsee and cover all recommended places on a Lonely Planet guide, but it is only when you really spend some time and share experiences with locals that you can understand the essence of a country, as well as how similar we all are in the end.
2. Our work at KNOLSKAPE
Working at KNOLSKAPE over the past month has been a great learning experience. Coming from a Nutrition and Global Development background, I had no previous knowledge about Marketing or Gamification. I was definitely worried at first and wasn’t sure about how I would be able to contribute to a field of which I knew so little. However, I have found myself really enjoying my work here and can already see how everything I have been doing here is applicable in any field and any industry. I have been learning about B to B marketing, online presence for organizations, search engine optimization and content writing. Helen and I have written several articles each week covering experiential learning, gamification and learning and development in the workplace. It has been refreshing to find that although we tend to categorize ourselves based on what we are studying at university, we all have the flexibility to mold our own skills to fit any type of environment. If you want to take a look at some of the articles and blog posts we have been writing, click here.
3. Living with an Indian Family.
We are currently living in Gopal’s house (Gopal is our boss, he is the head of the Marketing Department at KNOLSKAPE). He kindly agreed to host us for the first month in Bangalore, until we were a little more acclimatized and able to find our own accommodation. Living with him and his family has been a great experience. I have found myself fascinated with the daily routines and traditions that Gopal’s family upholds. Gopal lives with his wife Smitha, his mother and his father (who we call Auntie and Uncle).
Auntie and Uncle wake up around 4 AM, when Auntie does her puja (a series of prayers, meditations and rituals) in a shrine inside the house for around two hours. At around 6 AM, they both leave to go to the Temple. Helen and I went to the temple with Auntie a couple of days ago, and were able to observe all her morning rituals. She takes a fresh-made roti (a type of tortilla made with wheat that is eaten with most meals along with some sort of curry or stew) to feed to a cow on the street. Afterwards, she heads to the temple where she performs a series of rituals that include praying to several deities, ringing three bells, watering plants and then circling the temple three times in a clockwise direction. After the temple, we come back home and have breakfast, usually consisting of roti, dal and mango juice. Helen and I have been helping in the kitchen, and have now learned how to make roti from scratch! Much easier than you would think and very yummy. Before we eat breakfast or any meal, Auntie blesses our food in her shrine and rings a bell. I absolutely love the deep connection that India has with its food, as well as all the rituals around it.
As a quick side note- people in India eat with their hands most of the time, and some friends have told me that this is so they can fully experience the food they are eating. They say that eating with a metal fork or spoon takes away one of the most enjoyable part of eating- touching the food. I found this fascinating and have been trying to incorporate this into my eating habits. I haven't been too successful yet, but it is all a work in progress :)
Gopal’s family has shown us true hospitality and we have felt at home in his place. I will always remember the moment when Auntie told me a couple of weeks ago after I Skyped my parents, in broken English with the most adorable accent: “you tell your mother not to worry, now you have another Indian mother”.
4. Our Travels:
Traveling in India is next level traveling. I admit I had a very narrow idea of what India was like (mostly guided by movies like Life of Pi or Slumdog Millionaire), and did not expect the incredible diversity in the places we have visited thus far. Our weekend travels usually start on Friday nights, when we take overnight sleeper buses or early (5 AM) starts on Saturday by car. I remember I used to think the drive from Toronto to London was a long one, ha! The road trips we have made so far average at 10 hours, not necessarily because of the distance traveled, but because of the road conditions. We have traveled through mountains, forests, villages, and the roughest of terrains. In the first couple of trips, Gravol became our best friend, acting as a motion sickness relief but also a fast acting sleeping pill.
We have made four weekend trips thus far, to Hampi, Wayanad, Madurai and Coorg. I will write a whole blog post on our travels, they have all been amazing in their own way. These trips have really added to an experience and awakened the travel bug in all of us. We have seen century-old temples and other-worldly Flinstone-like landscapes in Hampi, trekked the lush hills and valleys of Coorg, seen the exquisite arquitecture and palaces in Mysore, and experienced a traditional South Indian wedding in Madurai. The range of landscapes and experiences that India has to offer is amazing. There is something for everyone here.
I am currently in the process of planning my end-of internship travels, and have never felt more motivated to travel and discover a new country. I already know these three months will not be enough to even scratch the surface of all there is to learn and see in India.
I realize this post just got way too long, I will update again soon and write some more bite-sized pieces. Thank you for reading if you have tagged along to the very end!!
Mariana
First day hiking in Wayanad
The stone chariot in Hampi
Some of our coworkers at Sethu's wedding in Madurai
The team after our 8 km trek up a mountain in Coorg- you can't see the background because we were surrounded by clouds!
Helen and I after our first visit to a temple in Bangalore (Bull Temple) notice how we both placed the red powder (known as Kumkuma) on the wrong spot- we were nervous and didnt know how to do it so we just slapped it on our foreheads! This red powder is offered in all temples and is meant to be placed between the eyebrows. This particular location is very sensitive point in the human body and represents the sixth chakra, or the third eye.
Mariana linda:
Estoy verdaderamente conmovida con tu blog. Escribes maravillosamente, eres una narradora magnífica y tu sensibilidad e inteligencia para percibir la India en este viaje hablan de tu madurez y de tu grandeza. Te felicito de todo corazón.
Qué hermoso que hayas tenido esta oportunidad única de acercarte a un país tan rico, contrastado y fascinante, con una historia tan compleja y extraordinaria, con los ojos no del turista común que vive todos los lugares de igual manera, como quien ve una tarjeta postal, sino con los ojos del mejor viajero: aquel que sabe leer el mundo que lo rodea y apreciar la cultura desde una perspectiva humana y abierta, dispuesta siempre a la sorpresa y al aprendizaje. Es así como te enriqueces y permites que los viajes te ilustren y enseñen cosas nuevas. Es así como te conviertes en mejor persona. ¡Te admiro tanto!
Donde sea que esté, tu tío Carlos estará orgullosísimo de ti. Espero que pueda leerte porque sin duda disfrutará con las reflexiones de tu experiencia y habría gozado conversar contigo sobre tu estancia.
Yo quedo perpleja, mi amor, realmente emocionada.
Posted by: Malena Mijares | 06/17/2015 at 09:04 PM
Mi adorada Marianita, me acaba de leer tu texto Salvador y no te puedo decir como me siento., soy la abuela mas orgullosa del mundo, tengo a la nieta mas maravillosa de la tierra, escribes precioso y explicas las cosas de un modo que parece que lo estoy viendo.Sigue gozando y disfrutando todo y que Dios te bendiga. Te adora tu abuela Carola.
Posted by: Carola Fernandez | 06/19/2015 at 12:34 AM