COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

India-bound business execs find relocation services helpful

Shobha Warrier in Madras

With the emergence of Tamil Nadu as the leading investment destination for transnational companies, hordes of foreign business executives continue to descend -- complete with bag and baggage, family and fears -- on Madras, their new home. Yes, fears!

When US automotive major Ford posted Will to Madras, his wife Dorrey was aghast, bewildered: she feared the filth of Indian cities, especially the "impure, disease-carrying water", would harm her 16-month-old baby. So terrified were the Canadians that Dorrey did not bathe her baby in the ordinary tap water which she suspected was polluted. So: she would buy mineral water in big cans and bathe her daughter with it!

That's just one example of the travails of foreign executives who find adjusting to life in India a Herculean task. But Ranjini Manian saw a great business opportunity in the entire drama. More of that later.

According to the Tamil Nadu government, the southern Indian state had attracted the maximum number of investments last year, ahead of even Maharashtra.

The number of multinationals that are setting up shop in Tamil Nadu is rising. Auto majors like Ford, Hyundai, Mitsubishi lead the race. Also present are Mobil, DuPont, Bayer and Alcatel.

There is an influx of executives from Japan, Korea, Germany, the USA. They reach India with apprehension and trepidation on their minds. Many of them consider it a punishment to work in an "undeveloped" country like India.

The image Will and Dorrey had of India was that of a country full of dust, filth, disease and chaos. On his first visit itself, Will decided against moving to India as he suffered from "a bad culture shock". He could not tolerate the pushing, jostling and chaos at the airport, he could not bear the sight of people everywhere and he was appalled to see cows sauntering past crawling cars on busy streets.

The sight of beggars who "poked and pinched" them, perturbed the couple. India is an uncivilised land, they thought.

They wondered: "What will the stint do to our little baby?"

Time provided them the answer: "Nothing harmful".

"Now my daughter bathes every day in the tap water and she is fine!" Dorrey says, laughing at her own fears. The Canadian couple has settled down: the sight of beggars no longer disturbs them.

The adjustment was not an automatic process. It was conceived, orchestrated and controlled by Global Adjustments, the firm floated by Ranjini Manian. GA offers life-facilitating services to foreigners posted to India.

Ranjini says till India opened its doors to foreign investors, foreigners working in India were mostly diplomats from various countries. They were looked after by their in-house helps. But with liberalisation, hundreds of foreigners like Dorrey were India-bound. Given the usual fears and suspicions, they needed help and guidance to settle down in India. If it were professional help, so much the better.

According to Ranjini, the major fear foreigners have is that they would catch malaria and die. They think India's air is contaminated which would make them sick. They worry whether or not the local community would accept them. They think their kids would not be able to go to schools, that the meat available in the bazaars is unfit for human consumption. The list of fears is endless.

Ranjini remembers the days when she found thousands of mineral water cans in her neighbour's garage. A little probing solved the mystery: the Japanese woman was told that, to get water in the taps, she will have to switch on the motor so that water in the sump gets pumped up to the overhead tank. But not used to such intricacies, the Japanese presumed there was a water shortage in Madras. So, the woman began buying mineral water for all her needs. Ranjini found that the Japanese lady had even filled the bathtub with mineral water!

Ranjini narrated this story to her American friend Joan, and the latter described the plight of a German family. The Germans consumed only eggs as they feared living in India induces "protein-shortage" in their bodies. The Germans believed that if they ate Indian meat and salads, they would die immediately due to food poisoning.

Joan also told Ranjini about the relocation centres that many other countries have for expatriates. "Why don't you start something of that sort?"

Ranjini, who is fluent in Japanese, Spanish, German and French, liked the idea. She teamed up with Joan. Global Adjustments, the relocation service, was born. By then, Ford and Hyundai had set up factories and offices in Madras.

Photographs: Sreeram Selvaraj

Five 'efficient women' help build a business

Business news