The Hua-Dan Project

One of goals I'd set for myself before coming to INSEAD was gain more awareness about the Social Impact sector. And as expected, the opportunities INSEAD provided were plenty!  I attended social impact panels and met two Social Entrepreneurs in Residence (SEiR).

What was even better - one of those entrepreneurs actually provided me with an opportunity to support her with her new project!

Caroline Watson, founderof Hua Dan (a social enterprise that has changed millions of lives of immigrant women and children in China), was on campus for a presentation and for the Social Entrepreneur in Residence program.

I really wanted to understand the why, how and what of her story. That was my main motivation.So I strap my son in the stroller and off we went. I enter the amphi and see a few people (surprsingly mostly partners) already seated. I asked her if it was ok to attend the session with my son (who was asleep in his stroller) and she was more than happy with the idea :).

Her story was fascinating. Raised in the UK, lived in HK and moved to China to bring about change - wow!  She was particularly struck by a drama style used by a famous artist in Brazil and wanted to use that very technique to vocalize and mobile people around social issues faced by millions of migrant women workers in China. I was struck by the potential in the methodology used and of course the impact.

When she mentioned at the end of her presentation that she is looking for volunteers, I jumped at the opportunity!

I followed up with her after the presentation by email with my CV and soon we had a call to discuss what I could take on given my constraints and availability. After two discussions, we finalized on a project - "How to position and sell to corporate clients". The deliverables were a sales pitch deck and a sales proposal document.

What I enjoyed most is the process of actually crafting the final deliverables. It was stimulating and challenging.  I had great discussions with Caroline about the potential of her business. She gave me an insight into the new business model - I learnt about the business model canvas method of brainstorming new business ideas. We also met  a couple of times over few months at INSEAD to brainstorm ideas and make sure the project was on track.

I also reached out to my mentor at Cisco who helped me think about Sales processes, pitches and proposals. He is and has always been amazing. I learn so much from even a 15 minute discussion with him! So this project was a great opportunity to put my skills, knowledge, interest and experience to an area what was so new to me.

All in all, a wonderful stimulating experience; a great opportunity to keep my professional side alive and experiment in a safe environment during this major life transition of mine.

I would highly recommend anyone who has the time when at INSEAD to utilize such opportunities. You will surely learn something new and a whole lot about yourself,

TEDx INSEAD

INSEAD hosted the very first TEDx INSEAD with a theme "Re-Think" on 24th of May 2015.

And this post is not so much about the main event (which by the way was fantastic) but about my TEDxINSEAD story.

It all began when I saw a message on FB calling for students and partners to participate in a TEDx talk competition but what I can recollect is how excited I got seeing that :). It was an opportunity to become a TEDx speaker - an opportunity to inspire, educate, share your passion and become a part of the TED world!!

Oh by the way, I am not a public speaker. I have never presented or given a talk to a large audience. My presentation and public speaking skills have been limited to team meetings. But it's one of those things I've always dreamed of doing - talking to an audience to inspire, to challenge, to ignite minds..

But there was one problem..I didn't know what exactly to talk about!

It was a week before the deadline to enter the competition. There was a whirlwind of ideas. But after advice from family and friends, I decided to steer away from controversial topics that needed a lot of research. So that surely helped me narrow down the list.

Two days to go before the deadline to submit my idea and still my ideas were vague and broad. I was in two minds and I wanted to back out. But my friends and family pushed me to go for it. After a long chat with my dear husband, I finally had a topic but still didn't pack the punch.

I had to submit a paragraph about the topic and if selected would be called to pitch the talk within 5 minutes! Yes! 5 minutes.

Finally after probably several hundred iterations, here is the topic I submitted:"What can you do to support women through life transitions".

But after I sent the my submission, I realized that life transitions don't just impact women but anyone who goes through them.

So I refined the idea further and finally had a concrete topic - "Re-thinking Life Transitions".

A day or two later, I was invited to pitch my idea to the INSEAD community and a panel of judges. There were 15+ other students (including one other partner) I was up against and there was going to be just one winner from the Fonty campus who would get a place in the final event.

It would have been amazing to win, but I was so happy just to be a part of it. I mean, I felt great to be sharing the stage with INSEAD students. I loved the fact that the organizing team was so inclusive and had extended the competition to partners as well and remain eternally grateful to them.

The experience is something I will forever cherish as one of the best during my INSEAD journey as a partner. I am glad I did this. I am so glad my husband pushed me to do this. I received lovely messages from students and friends about how much they loved it and it felt good to see that those 4 minutes actually made a difference!

You can view the video here below or use this link - |the video of my talk|. Use password : INSEAD to view the video. Please leave your comments below. Would love to hear from you.

TedExStudentComp from Aishwarya Bajpai on Vimeo.

The Backlog - November & December

I can’t believe that I haven’t blogged since end October. But before I dive into the last few months, here’s wishing everyone a very very happy and prosperous 2015! Hope you had an amazing year filled with cherished memories. Wishing you a year that is even better than the last J

As you know from my last post, P2 (Period 2) at INSEAD began the last week of October and let me tell you – it hits you like storm and goes by in a flash.

For the students, it’s six subjects crammed into one and half months of classes plus two national weeks, national week bidding day and of course crazy INSEAD parties (more reasons than usual because it marks the end to their very first section and very first group… everything changes here on.. well not as dramatic as that really but the students party like it is the end of an era.. lol)

For Partners, it was a crazy one and half months as well because we went from just being acquaintances to friends which meant more get togethers and in addition, we organised various activities – one almost every week! So yes – a packed P2 for Partners as well.

I wish I could blog in detail about every event but because of the backlog, I am just going to give a summary ( (which by itself seems long enough) of the events during the two months. In case you want to know more about anything in specific, feel free to write to me or leave a comment below.

It's going to be a long post...So here I go:

Oct 31 - Halloween Party at INSEAD
This was organised at Tavers and man! They did some serious Halloween décor. It was fantastic. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE (about 200 people) dressed up and it was a CRAZY party.

November 3 - Kids Halloween Parade & Desi Week Amphi Storming
INSEAD organises a Halloween party for kids - a day when all the baby INSEADers dress in adorable costumes and parade the galleries for trick or treats followed by a small get together at the restaurant.

The same evening was the Desi Week “amphi storming”. It was the first day of Desi Week and as a tradition, some students storm the amphi, do their thing  (for desis it was of course dance to an awesome Bollywood number), showcase what’s to come for the week and finish off with a bang. The Desi amphi storming was FANTASTIC. My husband was a part of it and he went absolutely crazy. Yes! I mean every word of it. He got up on the desk and danced… Never seen that side to him.. I guess INSEAD brings out the BESTEST in people. Lol.

November 4 – Visit to the Farmer’s Market

As a part of the French Immersion activity, we decided to visit the local market to check out the local produce, food, cheeses etc. One of the French partners decided to share with us some local insights. We also learnt some useful phrases :) Nice day but it was starting to get so so cold in Fonty.

November 5 - Desi Dinner

Mid-week of any national week is a dinner with a traditional fare. The desi dinner was very well organised. The décor was so pretty, people dressed in their best Indian wear, there was a Desi IQ quiz, Fashion Show, Dance performances and finally a dance party. Everything was so lively and everyone seemed to have the time of their lives. This set a huge expectation for the end of the week Bollywood party (Which sadly wasn’t as good as people thought it would be… Nevertheless, they still had a good time)

November 6 - Colombian Breakfast
One of my friends, a Colombian, invited few friends for a traditional Colombian breakfast. There were Arepas, some other traditional breakfast items – like a dough ball filled with savoury cheese and eggs. The highlight of course was the banana walnut cake she had baked. It was SO good!

November 7 - Birthday and Ukrainian Cooking Class
Yes! Happy birthday to me!! J Was a very special and memorable day indeed. My husband organised a surprise get together and had put together a video montage of 15J Partners’ birthday wishes (which they had sent in their native language). It was so so sweet. A lovely cosy birthday celebration!

The same afternoon, a group of Partners met for a Ukrainian cooking class. On the agenda were all vegetarian dishes - a salad, a pumpkin porridge and cheese filled ravioli/dumplings. I couldn't make it to the session, so waiting for round 2 which, hopefully will be soon. :)

November 10 - Day Out at Vaux Le Vicomte

A few partners decided to spend an afternoon (turned out as a whole day trip) at the Chateau – Vaux Le Vicomte. It’s a beautiful place, lovely gardens. Once a year there is chocolate exhibition at the Chateau and lucky us, the day we chose to visit happened to be “that day of the year”. A nice day out from Fonty and would definitely recommend it.

November 12 – Birthdays of the month

We had decided to start a tradition of celebrating birthdays of the month and had a small get together at the family room. It was a fun evening – there was cake, games and best of all – a lot of fun! Unfortunately, we haven't been able to keep up the momentum. We hope not to miss Feb birthdays. Have to put it on my calendar.

November 14 - National Week Bidding 

This is something you definitely do not want to miss at INSEAD. It’s the day teams bid for the National Week and it’s absolutely crazy. It’s the day when the teams showcase their local culture and it’s so much fun. The day ends with a presentation which is “must-see” when at INSEAD. The teams bring out the best of best and it’s packed with so much energy and surprises! Highly recommend that you attend it.

November 17 - Baby Shower

A few of us threw a surprise baby shower for one the 15J Partners who was soon leaving for Singy. Was a lovely evening. Most of all, was so nice to see how much she enjoyed it.

November 19 – Social Impact Week Panel

I have always been really interested in anything and everything around Social Impact and so I decided to attend the panel organised by INDEVOR (INSEAD’s social impact club) during the Social Impact Week. The panel was on “Impact Economy” and the panellists consisted of some amazing people from Impact Investing, Venture Philanthropy to Incubators. I couldn't stay for the whole panel but I would highly recommend anyone interested in this area to attend events like these. You get to meet and hear from some brilliant minds.

November 20 - Thanksgiving lunch/cooking class
As a part of the cooking class series(We'd had a Indian, French and Ukrainian classes so far), one of the Partners decided to cook us a traditional thanksgiving meal and even gave the group a demonstration of the famous pumpkin pie. She'd put in so much efforts and everything was so perfect. A big thank for such a lovely afternoon and a bigger thank you to my friend who has been so regular in organising these cooking classes. They have been super popular :)

Last week of November – A few friends got together for a fun filled evening on Thanksgiving and the same weekend, we visited Strasbourg for this Christmas Market. Oh yes – also Fonty light up this week. It was so so pretty!!! So Christmassy. I so love this season!! :)

And before I knew it, December was here. It was exam time again and it was also the last two weeks in Fonty for those leaving for Singy for P3 and beyond. So there were a lot of farewell dinners and parties amidst the exam craziness and not to forget a national week - Africa week. Some highlights for me were:

• I'd organised a Crepes and Galette afternoon for the Partners as a part of  the "French Immersion" events. Jeromine from INSEAD Student Relations helped make it all happen as her friend happens to be a chef at a lovely creperie  - La Poterme at Moret sur Loing. I fell sick and couldn't go but the Partners enjoyed a live demonstration and set-menu which includes an aperitif, galette (choice of 5), cidre, crêpe dessert and coffee!!! For 25 Euros per person.
• Dinner with Friends – We hosted a dinner for a few friends who were off to Singy. Such a fun night!
• Son's first birthday – This certainly was the greatest highlight! We celebrated it in the family room and had all our friends attend the party. A party I will never forget. Was so special.. will remain a cherished memory indeed./
• Friend’s baby shower and farewell dinner – Yes! We had another surprise baby shower this month. The ladies turned Salamander (house) into a pretty pretty place. So beautifully decorated and organised. Was so glad to be a part of it. The following day, one of my friends hosted a lovely dinner for us before we all of us left for the holiday season.

So there you go! A super long post.. but I guess this is what happens when I am not regular with my posts.

Hope you enjoyed going through it. 

Signing off :)

It's for real! It's happening! The grand opening! The Big Day for INSEAD 15Js

26^th of August 2014. One of those days that we’ll never forget. Exactly a year back, my husband and I had watched the official opening ceremony of INSEAD batch of 2008 (I think), and we were blown away! The event we were going to attend in minutes was the very event that sparked the INSEAD fire in my husband!

Hand in hand, with our faces beaming with smiles that probably lasted well after the event, we enter THE AMPHI. We wanted to pinch ourselves to see if it was real. The excitement in the room was palpable. What energy. And then it starts… silence… and then we hear… “we welcome you, INSEAD Class of 15J”! Applause. Cheering. Smiles. What a moment!

It was a simple opening ceremony yet so grand - for each one that had worked so hard to make it this far. The dean’s speech was amazing and the guest speaker was good too!

However I couldn’t stay for the whole event because 40 minutes into the event, my phone rings…. 

It’s from the family room!

Two days before the event, my husband and I were talking about how we wish we could be together for the opening ceremony as it meant so much to us (because children weren’t allowed). The very same day I see a post on FB.

“14D (previous batch) partners offer to babysit for those who want to attend any events during the orientation week.” 

I was thrilled but wasn’t quite sure how I’d handle leaving my little sonny boy with people I hardly knew. So I decided to meet them a day before the event. 

Such nice people, I must say. One of them even told me that she had never left her son just like I never had till the same event of their batch. Her reassurance and encouragement made me take a leap of faith and leave my son with them. The consolation that he was just a call away and in a room just 2-3 mins away made easier.

I am so grateful to those three wonderful women who offered to help us that day. If not for them, I couldn’t not have been a part of one of the greatest moments in my husband’s life.. one of the greatest moments of both our lives!

Selflessness is an amazing thing! I will surely pay it forward by offering the same support to the next batch.  Thank you Tatiana, Lena and Olga for inspiring me!

Our first 48 hours, My first impressions

After a 15 hour long journey from Bangalore via Doha, we landed in CDG on a bright and crisp Friday afternoon on the 15^th of August 2014. Though we were completely exhausted from the journey the excitement of what lay ahead kept us going… well more than just going. After all, our new home was waiting for us!

The immigration at the airport was super smooth and so was the baggage claim. As we came out, we saw our taxi driver with an INSEAD board. How can one miss that beautiful green and white logo.. and yes, we did have a moment then (‘This is for real… it’s happening) :)

The taxi driver couldn’t speak a word of English but I am lucky to be married to someone who speaks amazing French, so all I did was listen to the conversation between my husband and the taxi driver with wonder, trying to guess and make sense. It was also really simple for us to get a SIM card at the airport. We bought LEBARA SIMs – cost us €10 for the SIM alone and a few more euros for top-up. This SIM needs to be activated by either calling the helpline or online. We did the latter – as soon as we got home.

It took about an hour to get to Fonty from CDG. Needless to say, like everyone else, we couldn’t stop smiling from the moment we saw the signboard with “Fontainbleau”. Soon, the taxi driver was on Rue Guerin – our neighbourhood for the next 10 months.

First impressions – I loved it. The apartment block was very secure. We met the landlady who walked us to our apartment. It was just like in the photos we'd seen. We were more than happy – well, actually delighted!

The reason – not so much the apartment, which was by the way was perfect for the three of us, but more so by the warmth and hospitality of the landlady.

What an amazing woman! About 78 years old but looked no more than 60. Had the energy of a 40 year old – so inspiring, to say the least. She had taken the effort to buy bread, butter and water for us. Seeing that we had a small baby, she rang her sister and arranged for a baby cot with all the bedding within an hour! Also, realizing that the baby may feel cold as the building’s central heating was scheduled to operate only from October, she arranged a heater for the night and drove next morning to a near by town to buy a radiator.

If you thought that was amazing, what would you say when I tell you that the next day she drove us around town, gave us a tour, dropped us off and picked us up from the supermarket when we couldn’t find taxis. Just one phone call and she was there in less than 5 minutes!!!

The word “nice” does no justice… I am so touched by everything she did – she didn’t have to go that extra mile – but she chose to. I wanted to tell her how grateful I am but she doesn’t understand English. At least to tell her how I feel, I want to learn French!

So my first impressions – well, bowled over by such kindness!

What a positive start to our stay here J Feeling very hopeful about starting a brand new chapter of our lives!