Feb '15 to June'15 - What kept the INSEAD spouses and partners busy

Spring in Fonty is absolutely gorgeous! Lush green, mostly sunny days, cool spring breeze, smell of freshly cut grass and oh! those colourful flowers. It's that time of the year when you want to start getting out of your home and the lush surroundings within and around the town won't disappoint.

So as you can imagine, it's a perfect time for picnics! There are two-three picnic spots in Fonty. One at the entrance to the forest right behind the INSEAD campus and the other in Le Parc behind the chateau. For those with kids, there is a playground in the park which is a perfect spot to spend a few hours with the little ones.

Walks in the forest behind the campus and le parc behind the chateau were something we did quite often and some partners also visited near by towns. I was away for two weeks in March and Apr-May, so couldn't participate in a lot of those activities but as you can see in the photos below, my friends had great time! There is also a great spot for horse riding, tree climbing and zip lining. So yes! Plenty to do outdoors when the weather is nice and bright :)

Besides the picnics and sightseeing, there were:

Knowledge Exchange Sessions - as mentioned in my earlier posts, the objective of these sessions is to share your experience, knowledge, interests and learn from each other. Over the last three months, we've had four talks - basics of psychology, language and the brain - how it works, dementia - why, how and what can we do to help and finally a session on raising international kids introducing the concept of third culture kids (TCK). As you can imagine, it was super interesting and so refreshing to learn something new in an environment which is so diverse and safe.

English Classes - One of the partners took this fantastic initiative - to run weekly language classes for non-native speakers where she facilitates discussions around various topics (very interesting ones) to help learn and practice better. 

Bracelet Making Class - One of the partners hosted a bracelet making session. I missed it because of my little boy but what a great idea!

Sports - Some partners also met on a regular basis to play squash, badminton and volleyball

Student Club Activities: I got an opportunity to meet Sandrine Henton from the Educate Global Fund (Impact Investment in Education). It was a part of the Social Entrepreneurship in Residence program and a group of us had a meeting with her to understand more about the fund and how it works. It was something completely new to me.. so interesting indeed. We also had a Women in Business club event to discus Women's role in leadership, community and society. I got to meet several students and they were so welcoming to the partners. Felt like a part of the INSEAD community :)

National Weeks - there's been the Dragon Week, Lebanese Week, Brazilian Week and Low-lands weeks (which is the last one for the Js :( ). I attended the Brazilian week dinner and it was amazing. The music, dance and atmosphere was so vibrant!! 

So I guess this is my last post about Fonty Partners' Activities. Just one more month to go in Fonty! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. The next few weeks is going to be all about packing, winding up and good byes :( . I am going to miss this place.. but I can't wait for the next adventure! 

Let's see where life takes us next.... 

4 weeks in 1 post

I have been so behind in updating my blog and now I am sitting here racking my brains about first of all, what I've been up to for the last few weeks and then about where to start and how. Anyway, here I go.

29 September to 5th October : Week of Ideas and Imagination

The two main events of this week were - one, the Start-up Bootcamp Weekend that my husband attended and the other, a presentation I attended by Caroline Watson, a Social Entrepreneur, 2011 Young Global Leader (WEF) and owner of Hua-Dan. Both these re-fuelled my brain and got me thinking about my own goals - in life including career. There was a sudden burst of energy within and out came tonnes of ideas. I began imagining and visualizing a myriad of possibilities of how I could really make an impact, stay true and motivated to my purpose in life.

Here is a bit more about the two events. First, the Start-up Bootcamp Weekend. It's a 48 hour intensive Bootcamp organised by the INSEAD Centre for Entrepreneurship. People who are venturing into the world of Entrepreneurship with an idea or would like to get a feel of what it's like are the ones who mainly attend and I guess also benefit the most out of it. It starts out on a Friday evening when the participants who have an idea give a one-min elevator pitch following which teams are formed for ideas that generate most interest. Friday's session lasted till 11 PM. It was the same evening as the Iberian Week Party, so some brave souls, including my husband were off to the party after the session that night. Like any other party, it was absolutely crazy. Hats off to my better half who survived the crazy night and was off early next morning for the intense day that was ahead of him. Saturday and Sunday was all about building a business plan for the idea. The teams were guided by expert investors and Sunday evening was the grand finale during which the teams picthed their business in under 2 minutes to another panel of expert investors and a winner was chosen. Having seen my husband go through one of the most intense yet fulfilling experiences ever, I can say that this has been one of his highlights of P1 (First term at INSEAD).

Second event that I really liked was the Presentation on Hua-Dan - A social enterprise that aims to bring about Social Change through Theatre. Given I am not into theatre at all, I went to attend the presentation to understand the scale of impact something like this can have and of course, the business model.  To say the least - I am glad I went and I was so inspired. The company uses such a creative way to make an impact and at some level it struck a chord. I reached out to Caroline, the founder, after the event to look at potential volunteering opportunities and things got more exciting. More on that some other day. But I highly encourage Partners to attend these presentations (those that are open to Partners) - it's a great way to find something for you to do, get inspired, meet inspiring people or simply learn.

6th October to 12th October: Week of consolidation and calm.

Given that my brain went into hyper active mode and all over the place with some crazy ideas of what I want to do in life, I had to really pause and take a breath. That is exactly what I did that week. Took a deep breath, thought more calmly about the ideas that were really feasible and finally narrowed down to two things I'd want to do - one in the near term and one in the long term. Because things are still in the nascent stage, will share more once I've completed certain milestones I've set myself.

Meanwhile, the same week,  we had another Partner's meeting to schedule activities for the month. Oh and yes, we finally got our residence permit card that week! Very smooth and straightforward process. Took us less than 2 hours if I recollect right.

The highlight of the week though was our trip down to Biarritz. Given I had hardly seen my husband the last weekend and the week, we decided to go on a short break to Biarritz. It's less than one and half hour flight from Paris and is absolutely gorgeous. Highly recommended for a short break.

13th October to 20st October : Week of Action and Activities.

 After the relaxing weekend came an action packed week. The Partners' activities finally kicked off and we had three events that week.

The first, a presentation on "Basics of Brand Marketing - How to market a brand". One of the Partners was a brand manager at P&G, one of the best marketing machines and she took us through the process P&G follows for a brand marketing campaign. This included a case study on Olay's Christmas campaign and was very interesting to learn what happens behind the scenes.

The second, a lunch gathering at La Grand Café followed by a walk in the Chateau Gardens. The plan was to visit Paris initially but because of the weather, we settled for this option. I couldn't join the ladies for lunch but met them for a walk after. I still can't get over the fact that such beautiful gardens are just a mere fifteen minutes walk from home. This is something I will surely miss once I leave Fonty.

And finally, the week concluded with an Indian Cooking Class hosted by two partners. I couldn't attend as my little boy decided to nap then, but the turn out was amazing. They had a fabulous time learning and tasting. They also had a "roti" (Indian bread) making competition in the end and the whole event was a super hit.

21st October to Today : Exams, Holiday and Back to the INSEAD Bubble

Following the exams, majority of the 15J batch were off on a holiday. Italy seemed a popular choice but so was Turkey, Georgia, Morrocco and Greece. It was a much need break after the busy exam week for the students and we chose to unwind in Capri. What can I say about the place. So beautiful, serene and perfect for relaxing with family. It felt good to take a break from the INSEAD bubble. But time flew and we were back early this week.

This week has been a quite one but next week promises to compensate for it. It's Desi National Week and is totally action packed. I will blog about the event in detail the week after. Other than that, Partners' cooking classes continue to be a hit with the next one being "Learn to make Tart Tatin" - yummy french apple tart, hosted by a French Partner and a Ukrainian one scheduled for next Friday. Will blog about these as well in more detail in the following weeks.

That's it for now.

Enjoy the rest of the week and weekend!

It's Friday Already?

Hope you've had a great week!

In my last post, I think I mentioned about working on a survey to capture the expectations, goals and ideas for activities from fellow partners. So my week started with creating that survey. Almost after a year and half, I was working on building a survey again. Took me back to one of my favourite projects at Cisco. I really enjoyed putting the survey together and I thought a lot about Denise, one of the most amazing women I met during my days at Cisco, and what I'd learnt from her.

Anyway, end of Monday, off the survey goes to partners' community. By end of Thursday, we had received an overwhelming response and a lot of positive feedback about the survey itself.  It felt great and very reassuring to know that we are on the right track with this. I can't wait to analyse the results, share it with all the respondents and work on plan for the year. It feels like being back at work again, a bit more relaxed however and I am loving it. What makes it even more exciting is that I am getting to do all of this with some really amazing, very driven women. Strong personalities. Diverse in every sense. Similar goals. Very motivating!

But it was not all work. On Tuesday, a group of us met to plan a baby shower for one of our new friends who is due anytime now. We decided on a picnic on Thursday at the Chateau gardens, get a delicious cake, buy some cute gifts and play some fun games.

She is from Brazil and so her Brazilian friends suggested a game that is kind of a tradition in Brazil. The mom-to-be has to guess the gift items that her friends bring to the party and every time she gets it wrong, her friends draw something funny on her bump! :) We modified the game a bit - instead of gifts, we put a bunch of baby stuff in a bag, blind folded her and asked her to guess. And as you can imagine, at the end of the game, she had a cute little face with lots of hearts and stars drawn on her bump! Yes - she couldn't guess a lot of things - well, rather, we made sure she didn't get them right! :) We played two other games, both for everyone to take part - one, guess how big is her belly and a quiz on baby trivia. Was so much fun. Lot of laughs and jokes. 

Oh by the way, I was the worst at the guessing game. My estimate was just way off - what was I even thinking!! ;)

This was my first ever baby shower experience and surely not the last - we have two other showers coming up before the end of this year! Yay!! Can't wait.

The same day, I attended, partly, the information session on the INSEAD Entrepreneurship Club (IEC) by a professor of entrepreneurship. It was mainly targeted at students, so decided to leave mid-way - also because my little son was getting restless in the sling. So a friend of mine  and I spent about half hour in the family room with our little ones before we went back to meet the professor to share some ideas to help support the IEC. Just as we approached the professor and were next in line to talk to him, my friend's six month old daughter gets super excited and screams. This scared my little son and he starts crying. Can you imagine. Two women with babies in slings. One baby screaming. The other crying. And a bunch of MBA students waiting in line to talk to the professor. Two students very seriously chatting with the professor. 

A scene I'll never forget :)

I walk around trying to calm my baby boy as we await our turn. As he settles down, it's our turn. I introduce myself and so does my friend. We start talking about the idea and right then, it happens again. Action - a scream. Reaction - a cry. 

And here is another scene I'll remember for years to come. Both my friend and I, swaying, trying to calm our babies whilst talking to the professor about the idea. I'd never seen such a sight and of course, never imagined that I'd actually do something like that. :)

Anyway, as you can imagine, the discussion lasted less than a few minutes. 

But I must say - I feel so grateful to that professor who listened to us so patiently irrespective of all that was happening. Not just that, he seemed really positive about the ideas and even responded to our follow-up email next morning. How nice! We were chuffed and can't wait to discuss more about our proposal next week. Will keep you posted on how we get on!

Friday was mostly at home, spending some quality time with my dear son. However, in the evening, we went to campus for about half hour to see the Global Insead Day celebrations. There was a live band, students and professors jamming along, lots of balloons and of course lots of people. A bit too noisy for my little one. So didn't stay for too long. Chatted with a few friends and made our way back home.

So, yes, that was my week. A good mix of work and fun. And a bunch of first time experiences - 

First time to be a part of a Brazilian baby shower tradition (sort of). 

First time to attend a information session with my baby strapped on to me. 

The most hilarious - First time to approach a professor to share my ideas whilst trying to soothe my baby.

Wish all of you a great weekend and a lovely week.

My next post will be in a week's time. Stay tuned! :)

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 15J Partners meet at Le Grand Café

A message on FB. “ A few of us are planning to meet this evening. Want to join?” I was thrilled! I finally get to meet others who are probably in the same boat as I am – travelled miles, left their jobs, moved to an unfamiliar place just to accompany their loved ones….. I was excited to be meeting these lovely people, some of whom may potentially go on to be my close friends for the next 10 months and years to come.

Given that I have an eight month old little darling of a boy, I have been unable to work to a schedule and hence was about an hour late to the meeting. I walk into the café and I see a large group of women chatting away. One of them smiles and I guess immediately recognised that I am one of them too. :)

We were about 10 of us. So diverse as expected. Indians, French, Brazilian, American, Chilean, Singaporean. Two of them had two month old babies, one of them 8 months pregnant, one 13 weeks pregnant, one newly married. What an interesting mix of people! I couldn't stay for long but managed to chat with some of them.

As I walked back, I couldn’t help but recall my days at Rotterdam. I miss my dear friends and can’t believe that I haven’t been in touch with them. I vowed to get back in touch with them and catch-up on the good old times. 

As I walked back, I felt really good – it feels great to have so many people around with whom you can relate to on so many levels.

As I walked back,I felt hopeful – this is going to be an amazing year – a year of friendships. :)