Let's Talk Food!

A picture is worth a thousand words they say. A picture of food is worth a million words I think. J

You know where I am getting at with this. I am going to let the food photos do most of the talking this time around.

INDIAN MEAL SERVICE:  God Sent!

It’s not just the students of INSEAD but the partners too – smart, entrepreneurial and excellent in what they do.

How does an authentic home cooked Indian meal sound to you? For some it’s a first time experience, for some a unique one. For some it’s the convenience factor and for some it’s the craving. For some it’s a combination of all.

To me it’s so much more than a meal service. These women are doing a phenomenal job of providing all of the above and more. I am sure that they will be remembered fondly by many students of 15J.

Sneha and Krati – You have surely made a huge  ( and of course,continue to) difference to this student community. Cannot praise you ladies enough! Great job and I look forward to more yumminess here at Fonty. :)

Dal Makhani

 

Pav Bhaji

 

Palak Paneer - with homemade paneer!

 

Veg Kofta

 

INEAT Club : Foodies of INSEAD gather for the first time at Le Bistro du Broc.

My husband, for obvious reasons, wouldn’t miss this for anything. A fancy French meal at a cosy restaurant just outside of Fonty. I so wish I could’ve joined him as well but well, I had a better reason to stay back – fun with my son J

Here are some photos from that evening.

 

 

 

 

 

NATURALIA: My favourite store

A store that stocks a huge range of organic foods, teas, chocolates and lots more. I absolutely love it. I discovered this amazing chocolate – lovechock . I so love it! My new found favourite.  So good!!

 

 

Stay tuned for a lot more on food.

 

Have a wonderful week!!

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

INSEAD welcomes Partners of 15J

Monday, the 25^th of Aug, after finishing all my morning chores and feeding my little bunny boy his breakfast, I strap him on and make my way to the campus. The weather was dreary – reminded me of those grey rainy days in the UK. But thankfully, the walk wasn’t too long.

I ask for the partners’ registration desk and go straight there. The first task was to collect my badge for which I apparently had to submit a photo and my details online. Given my crazy schedule for the last few weeks, I had completely forgotten about it.  So my badge wasn’t ready at that desk. But it was no deal breaker – I was asked to visit the career services office to get my photo taken and get my badge done on the spot – which I thought was very cool. I was also handed a bunch of pamphlets – about the Fontainebleau chateau, the forest, the town and of course, the partners’ schedule for the orientation week.

We’d received the schedule by email and on FB as well. Most events had the comment I hated to see – “Children not advised”. But anyway, I signed up for the rest which included the chateau tour, baby music class and wine tasting (though I don’t drink  – signed up just to meet other partners and enjoy the cheese).

I also attended the official welcome session for the partners which was organised by the previous batch – 14D and the school staff. The session was ok - mainly about getting around in Fonty, the family room and a list of events and clubs partners can participate in during those 10months. I personally would have liked to hear two or three of them share their personal experiences but I figured, I’ll probably just ask them one on one.  So yes, the session had some good information but I wish it had an element of fun as well.

After the information session, we got to enjoy some tea and macaroons in the restaurant. We were there for about 45 mins before we left for home as our little boy was really tired and sleepy.

All in all a good day. Informational.