Shanghai Sagas – Of Couchsurfing and Co-Working

‘There’s something special about this place. We all come from different parts of the world, but we are all bound by a common thread. That we are all outliers, we are alone. And in being alone, we find our community.’

As Tatia said these words, we agreed that there was indeed something very special about this city. In all of Asia, this was one city with the most number of expats. Yet, with so many Chinese living in the same place, the foreigners were a very small fraction.

While most people will find a problem with this model, Shanghai finds opportunity. Everyday, dozens of events are organized where fellow expats come together with an open mind, following one common culture – the culture of the world. Be it the Serbian girl with the green hair, or the American-Iranian who wears shorts to an MBA class, or the young Croatian who fell in love with a Chinese guy and married him; you can find them all in such events who’d respond when you say a “hi”. Who would tell you what drew them to Shanghai and what they are looking for in life.

Not many are looking to stay. But everyone who comes with an open mind learns. Whether what you want is opinions for a Global start-up, or learning a new language, or friends to play monopoly with, or simply a good brunch. Look around and you’ll find people organizing such events (a lot many times free of cost) just to meet new people. You’d find the US-born-Chinese who has problems adapting into the Chinese culture now, you’d find the Austrian girl who just wants to talk about a particular TED talk she found interesting, you’d find the British girl who seems shy at first, but can pin you down if you’re being sexist.

I cannot help but mention C3 Café here, one of such establishments which routinely organizes events for expats like me who don’t prefer going to a bar every other night. Every night of the week, there’s a start-up pitch, a comedy night, a TED event, a brunch day, a board-game night, and a lot many innovative events where you can just walk in and most likely will find a person who’s willing to strike a conversation with a stranger. Of course everyone doesn’t like everyone and of course there will be some racist bastard who’s just there for the free air conditioning and wi-fi. But for the most part, the place is as open as any can be. It’s good to know that there’re always people who think they are traveling through the journey of life and every new experience is just another part of the great journey. When I leave Shanghai, C3 Café would be one of the places which will bring a smile to my lips.

And this is not the only such place here. Given that China, and particularly Shanhgai is the world’s biggest urban market, hordes of people come in with new ideas everyday looking for investors. Every day, there are hordes of start-up meets where you can walk in and present your idea. Mostly, you won’t find someone willing to invest. But you will always find valuable feedback. And you’ll realize that the world isn’t as bright as you’d expect it to be.

Once in Shanghai, expect to find all kinds of cultures coming together. Expect that most of them don’t care about your personal beliefs. Expect that you all are looking for the same thing in life. Expect that no matter how strange you might be, you’ll find people who share the same interests. And expect to touch the world, like you’ve never touched before. 

Welcome to Shanghai!

The Seeker

                    THE
                    DEDICATION
                         OF THIS POEM
                    IS SPLIT
               SEVEN WAYS:
          TO VAIBHAV,
               TO CFMW,
                    TO J K ROWLING,
                         TO KRITI KUMAR,
                              TO AAKRITI,
                         TO SIDDHARTH MALL,
                    AND TO GLOBAL MBA,
               FOR THEY HAVE
                    GUIDED
                         ME
                              TO BE
                         THE
                    SEEKER

The Seeker

He watches the game from afar, high above

Watching; never interfering

He’s amused, by the constant chaos which goes around him

Bludgers, trying to hit him

Players, struggling to throw that one Quaffle into the opposing post

He watches, without participating

for his goals are not in the mayhem

Amused he may be, but he cannot watch for too long

he needs an overview, and so he keeps an eye out

on everything which goes around him

Silently; he is a good listener

Yet, not caring about any of it

He seeks something

something, which is a part of the game

something, bigger than it

He seeks the one small piece of gold

which can change the game around

No one helps him; no one keeps an eye out

being busy in their own endeavors

 

So all alone he watches. Waiting

For that one tiny spark of gold

which when he sees he lunges towards

desperate to reach it, before it fades from his eyes

Eager, before someone else scares it away

Trying to get to it as fast as he can

He watches, waits, seeks

He is the seeker

High above, in the clouds

Waiting for the magic to happen

He catches the snitch

And the game ends

Or, does it begin?

Shanghai Sagas – Of Studious Days and Global Ways

A lot of my friends back at home have pinged me up to ask, ‘Okay we understand that you’re doing an MBA and it is by XLRI. But what the hell are you doing in China!’ I think it’s time I’m in a position to answer those questions.

I’m in a Global MBA exchange program conducted jointly by XLRI Jamshedpur, India, Tongji University, China and Case Western Reserve University, USA. Each school has exactly an equal amount of contribution towards the course. That is, each school, including XLRI, chooses 20 students by its own format of selections and examinations.

XLRI did it via XAT or GMAT followed by essay submissions followed by a round of GDPIs to select the batch from India. Similarly, Case and Tongji picked their students in their own ways. So this prospective batch of 60 students, 20 from each country, goes around the world together spending a semester in each University, learning from their faculty in their own campuses. The 4^th and hence final semester is when the batch breaks up according to their home schools and the students spend the final semester at their home University. For me, this would be XLRI. This would be the time for placements, convocations, thesis presentations and winding up the course.

This is the first time XLRI is conducting this course. Infact, this is the first time a course like this is ever conducted in the world. There are study abroad programs, but creating a classroom from 3 different schools situated in 3 different countries and keeping them together for 3 semesters in 3 different environments makes this course one of its kind. And from what I hear as an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, this is the future of education. This is where education is headed. Putting that with some of the best schools in the country, and I think we have a winner.

But everything isn’t as clear for me as my words are here. Being the first batch of the course I faced and am still facing some expected and unexpected surprises. Like who would’ve thought that in my class there would be not only married students who are daring to leave their families behind for 2 semesters to pursue this program in a foreign location; but also a girl who’s daring to leave her beautiful newborn daughter in pursuit of this opportunity. Or that I’d have the opportunity to explore Shanghai with a 40-year old classmate who, I can say with certainty, is a hell lot cooler than I am. Or that Tongji and Case, being schools of international repute themselves will attract students not only from China and the US respectively, but from countries all over the world. Or that XLRI would be the only University who’d be able to fill its 20 seats. Or that I’d continue meeting new surprises and challenges throughout my stay in Shanghhai, and perhaps throughout this program.

So here I am. In a class of 49 students from 5 nationalities, being taught by Chinese professors everyday, living in a campus with over two thousand international students, in a city with 150,000 expats, I find new opportunities everyday. Every night (or morning depending on the number of assignments) when I wake up, I know I’ve learnt something. Be it absorbing a culture shock of Iranian cheek-kisses or understanding the Golden Circle model of Strategy, I know I’m getting an experience which few would be lucky to have.

Of course there the pros and cons of the decision we took of coming here and it’s not all rainbows and unicorns, but life is what you make of it. We’ve undoubtedly been given a great platform to showcase ourselves to the world. In the end, it will depend on us where we wish to take this story.