Development, Editing

On my drive from Noida to Gurgoan, I looked out the window and saw a beautiful concrete amphitheater with a statue placed in the center, still under its plastic tarp.  It seems like the entire city is under construction, from the Delhi Metro to the Commonwealth Games stadia.

Noida, where I work every day, has been compared to Canary Wharf circa several years ago.  Big, beautiful buildings are surrounded by muddy fields and construction sites.  The college next door from my office still has steel girders protruding from the roof, and I once looked out the window to see cows lolling in the adjacent empty lot.

Just think of what Canary Wharf looks like now.  That's the idea behind all of this development.  Shiny malls have sprung up on both sides of all major arteries, and more are on their way.  The landscape is daunting, but it's exciting too.  There are so many people here; there is so much potential.  Everywhere you look is evidence of work being done.

I felt the same way finishing my presentation and heading onto the highway for my first Indian sales call.  Through this trip I've gotten the opportunity to try all sorts of things I wouldn't have been able to back home.  I've been hooked onto a division just finding its legs--how rare that in a big company like ours that one would have the opportunity to plant the seed for something new.  A difficult author will seem like nothing compared to the challenges we face here.

It's a chance for personal development as well.  When I arrived, I was nervous to even explore my neighborhood.  Now I'm hailing "took-tooks" without a second thought, directing them all the way home.  I'm interested to see what I'm going to look like at the end of this journey--just like I'm interested to see what's beneath the tarpulin and what's being made of the ground.