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.

I got a good feeling about this!

What a productive evening!

Picture this. A cosy apartment. A centre table with cakes, teas and a whole lot of post-its. Yes! Post-its.

The purpose of the evening was to come up with goals, ideas and activities for the partners’ community.

All of us, partners, have solid professional backgrounds, skills, competencies and most importantly zest to learn, share and make the most of the next 10 months. What we as a group thought was needed is a formal and structured way to harness that energy and translate into concrete actions. So that we, like our partners, feel a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the year. And we like our partners can say that this has been one of the most amazing 10 months of our lives! 

The structure of the meeting was simple. We wanted to understand the WHY, WHAT and the HOW. It was fascinating to see that within the first 15 minutes there were common themes emerging; networking, professional development and culture awareness/immersion were on top of everyone's list. We then drilled down a level further and gathered ideas for each of these themes. Got some fantastic feedback and ideas.

We are now in the process of prioritizing those ideas by getting the partners’ community to poll and trying to capture ideas from those who weren't present today. The outcome will help narrow the list and build a solid actionable plan for those that were most popular.

I feel so energised and excited by the very thought of how this might turn out. It was inspiring to learn that other partners share similar expectations and want to truly make the most of such a fantastic opportunity of being among the best, in an environment which is one of the best in the world of B-Schools.

At the end of it all, I couldn’t help but wonder how this might end given we have had such an amazing start. I couldn’t help but wonder how these ideas would come alive and bring us closer. I couldn’t help but wonder how much each one of us may grown through these experiences. I couldn’t help but wonder – Can the partners of the 15J batch leave a legacy behind?

Either way, it promises to be very very interesting :)

And the activities begin....

In my earlier post I mentioned that I had signed up for the chateau tour, which was a part of the partners activity for the orientation week. But unfortunately, I couldn’t do the tour. However I decided to join a group of ladies who'd stayed back after the tour for a small picnic by the canal in the chateau gardens.

A beautiful day to be out. Sunny with some clouds. Lovely smell of the fresh green grass. A group of fun, beautiful and interesting women. Lots of snacks. Perfect. I finally got to know some of them better. We chatted about our past professional lives, exchanged stories about how maternity and new motherhood is perceived in India and outside of India, about INSEAD and what this meant for all of us.  Two hours flew by just like that. We decided to meet the next day for a walk through the forest, just behind the INSEAD campus as we said good bye for the day.

The next day, I was all set, got my darling baby in the sling and was off for my walk. I met the others at the café and we were off. As we made our way, we couldn’t get over the fact that there are three trails leading into the Fonty forest from right behind the campus. How amazing. As we walked soaking up sunshine, we chatted about so many things. Spent close to two hours walking and honestly it didn’t seem that long at all. Great company, great outdoors, felt amazing. So alive!

A few days later, I attended the baby music class in the family room. Got there about half hour late ‘cos of my morning chores with my little boy. The room was packed with kids of all ages, ranging from 2 month old babies to 3 year old ones. My little boy loved it. The class was held by a wonderful woman, originally from England. She had brought along with her so many little rattles, tiny instruments, and lots of things for the kids and the kids absolutely loved it. She sang both French and English songs and we sang along to the tunes we knew. Was a lot of fun!

After class, we got a table outside to enjoy the lovely weather and have some yummy lunch. I got to meet few other partners. Some from the previous batch and some from the current.

It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve been here and a week since I’ve met the partners. I think it’s going to take more time for people to open up to each other. But I am very hopeful and am looking forward to more activities in the days to come J

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!