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GOING NATIVE
Mission lessons
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Kjell Forss is amazed at the physical growth of the city but at the same time appalled by the noise
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Photo: K. Ramesh Babu
Swiss diplomacy Kjell Forss in his office
What’s for today? Perspectives, target. How to get it? Move on... A few words scribbled on the vinyl board in Kjell Forss’ room.
Sitting in the fourth floor office, Kjell (pronounced as chell) begins his day with a series of meetings.
On a mission from Sweden, Kjell has a big task before him.
His company, TietoEnator, recently acquired Fortuna and he is here to do the integration process.
An avid traveller, Kjell finds India an amazing place to live in.
“So much has changed in the country. I was here 15 years ago and now I see a sea of change. India is now an industrial hub. There is so much growth and potential.”
Residing at Banjara Hills, he just has one problem every day - handling the auto drivers who ‘try to fleece’ him. But now he has mastered the art of bargaining thanks to his colleagues and he now knows how much he should pay them. This is Kjell’s first assignment in Hyderabad and he loves it. Before he landed in Hyderabad, he had a few misconceptions about the country. To get to know about the country he attended a ‘Cultural course on India’ back home, where he was told that leather shoes were a ‘no-no’ in India. To his dismay, he found many of his colleagues wearing leather shoes and using leather bags.
“Sadly, what we learn about India is totally different. People should come here and see it for themselves.” Hyderabad, he feels is a mixture of good and bad. First the good – people and their behaviour. “They are very nice, helpful and know their jobs. No language problem.” The stunning growth and development of Hyderabad, especially the Hi-Tec City, has amazed him. Now the bad — very chaotic, noisy, traffic and roadside trash.
“The traffic is too much. I love walking. But the traffic is very unfriendly for walkers. That is one reason why I am hesitating to bring my daughters and grandchildren here for a vacation.”
Not only Kjell, but also his wife likes the city and its people. She accompanied him when he landed here last year and was here for about two months during which time she went around shopping all alone without any problems.
A Protestant, Kjell says they (most Swedes) just follow the religion passed on to them by their forefathers. “We don’t even go for regular church service. But here people are regular about their Sunday service. That’s really good. Tolerance level is more.”
And food? “Very spicy and rich - especially chicken. There is so much butter in it. Indians show their love to others through food and that is evident from the paunch that I have developed,” he laughs.
N. HEMAMALINI
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Pondicherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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