"This was not how the students imagined India, not dangerous, not full of misery and a poverty omnipresent place, not constantly threatened by illness - but open, warm, lively, colourful, with brimming optimism and enthusiasm for the future, a scene that we rarely experience in Germany."
“When I came here to India, I was sure that India could still learn a lot from Germany. Now I see what Germany can learn from India!” – A student
After two weeks of doing business with India, lectures, company visits and sightseeing in February 2024; was how I conceptualised my initial offer. To this, 19 students from my university in Germany - Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Ludwigshafen (University of Applied Sciences Ludwigshafen) along with my colleague Frank Rövekamp from the East Asia Institute, which I had co-founded in 1988, came around! I have been teaching at Somaiya Vidyavihar University in Mumbai for several years now. The university is a private university in the heart of Mumbai. At the request of the university, I also supported them in setting up a master's degree program in China Studies. Therefore, my association with the university was not something new. The idea of a joint winter school therefore immediately clicked. Earlier, I had already been to the city for shorter visits twice with comparatively smaller groups of students. My mother hails from Mumbai, we still have a house near the Hanging Gardens and I have been travelling to Bombay for many decades, on personal visits as well as a business consultant. Therefore, my bond with the city had already grown.
We stayed in the university students’ hostel for two weeks and usually took our meals there with the Indian students, it was simple but tasty and healthy food. Here I must mention that it was exclusively vegetarian, and the entire campus is strictly vegetarian as well, following Gandhian principles.
For the first week, I had planned lectures on regional studies, finance, law, marketing and more. Furthermore, a Hindi language course was also offered. We were also part of a course on an introduction to the Indian national sport of cricket as well as morning yoga (1-hour daily starting from 7 a.m.!). which was a very dense and challenging program. In the evenings we mostly explored the city in smaller groups. The incredibly lively, diverse and pleasantly multicultural city - Mumbai never sleeps! Every day brought us new insights and thus also bid farewell to negative prejudices against India which might have clouded some of our minds before!
We rode the infamous local trains (which have separate “ladies only” carriages!) and tried street food and freshly squeezed sugarcane juice. We even didn't step back from feeding the sacred cows (auspicious!) on the streets and visiting Hindu temples. Over the weekend we explored one of the largest slums in the world - Dharavi. Almost 1 million people live here in just 3 square kilometres of space. I should rather name it a business hub than a slum as it was full of shops, factories, recycling stores, and restaurants - and we were always greeted at every corner with great warmth and openness accompanying a cheerful smile! This was not how the students imagined India, not dangerous, not full of misery and a poverty omnipresent place, not constantly threatened by illness - but open, warm, lively, colourful, with brimming optimism and enthusiasm for the future, a scene that we rarely experience in Germany. It's high time to say goodbye to these prejudices!
In the second week, our agenda was full of company visits. After visiting a purely Indian-owned pharmaceutical company and a predominantly Japanese-owned office supplies production facility, one of our fellow travellers gave us the exciting opportunity to visit the Indian production facility of a medium-sized German company, Eirich. This was located in the nearby city of Pune. What was particularly interesting for the students was the comparison of these three companies in terms of production processes, quality standards and supply chain.
Another highlight was the opportunity to experience the shooting of an Indian film live on set! It was not a typical Bollywood film with one of the big stars, but a historical drama that is supposed to be aired next year. We could be there close to the real shooting area as individual scenes were filmed and learned a lot of tiny details about the Bollywood dream factory.
A highlight of the Winter School was the extraordinary reception and honour we received at the Indian Merchant Chamber, under the leadership of President, Samir Somaiya. His family runs the Somaiya Vidyavihar University as a foundation to educate and build new talents under the motto of “Only education liberates!” The entire board of the chamber was present to greet us and we had a lively and open discussion. The discussion ensued about India's future, the key areas of development as well as the challenges and deficits in terms of infrastructure, energy and sustainability that needs to be faced with. It was a great honour for a student delegation from Germany to be received with such friendly vibes in such a dignified place!
We not only took part in lectures and company visits, but my colleague Frank Rövekamp and I were also able to offer something to the Indian students. Frank delivered a lecture on “Asia’s Economic Future and India’s Role,” which was met with great interest, and I spoke at the China Studies department about culture-specific problems with translations and shared my personal experiences and learnings as a Chinese interpreter for the German federal government. I also presented an AI-based translation software for Chinese, which has already been used at our university. Both of us, as well as some of the students, were asked for interviews several times and we were accompanied by cameras during our activities.
When finally, it was time for the summer school to come to an end, we were invited to a big farewell dinner by the dean of the K J Somaiya Institute of Management, Raman Ramachandran, who also personally knows Ludwigshafen well from his time as Head of BASF Group Companies in South Asia! It was a perfect end to two great weeks of new experiences, surprising insights, only mild stomach problems and above all, the elimination of many prejudices!
I have been travelling to India for many years and the transformation of the country is indeed impressive. India has become the most populous country in the world in 2023, the country’s economic growth is over 6% and is forecasted to be at least at this level in the coming years. The start-up ecosystem of the country is incredibly diverse, and the entire country is filled with a very positive mindset. In our local or international media, on the other hand, reporting is often critical or even negative, if at all. The only thing that we read about are slums, corruption and chaos. All of that exists, but there is also the other face to India, the dynamic and (much more than Germany!) digitized India which is on the verge of becoming the next world power. If these two weeks opened our students' eyes to this, then they were well invested. India's geopolitical relevance is becoming increasingly evident, especially in the area of tension between China, the USA and Russia!
We experienced great hospitality from Somaiya Vidyavihar University, great commitment from both lecturers and students and a big “dhanyavaad” at this point on behalf of all participants in the Winter School! The East Asia Institute will expand its India expertise, initially with more lectures and information on the topic. Further winter schools are being considered and a more in-depth cooperation with Somaiya Vidyavihar University is also quite conceivable. But that is still a thing of the future, first we need to process and digest everything that we were able to experience in the 2 weeks in Mumbai. Everyone’s enjoyment in India can best be revealed by the fact that almost all participants extended their stay! Some only travelled for a few days to the world-famous Taj Mahal, others went to Goa or Rishikesh in the Himalayas; some even took train trips to Rajasthan, Kolkata or a motorcycle tour into the interior of the country, all spontaneously planned!
India fascinates. I'm looking forward to the next trip with students and teachers from Germany!
One statement from one of my students particularly impressed me and it should give pause to everyone who still looks down on India in Germany. He said, “When I came here to India, I was sure that India could still learn a lot from Germany. Now I see what Germany can learn from India!”
Author:
Von Prof. Dr. Manuel Vermeer
asia(at)vermeer-consult.com