Christian Davis: A trip to India

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In UoE these schemes are administered by the international office. I’m told that certain destinations such as the USA are more popular than others. India is one of the less popular locations so my application to the University of Delhi was successful. I was partnered with the school of Business Studies.

International placements

The intention of an international placement is that you either work-shadow someone in a similar role to you, or you attend a formal training event. My trip ended up being slightly different. Once the host university had seen my CV, they asked me to give informal lectures to the students, I was to share my experience of working in the Finance teams of large companies. However, my own objective, aligned to my current role, was to learn about how funding is allocated to large capital projects in the University of Delhi. In advance of my trip it was agreed that I would do both, I’d meet people who could teach me about capital allocation, and also deliver the lectures.

Whilst there I was put in the capable hands of the student “International Business Society” who made me very welcome, they allowed me to share their office, and constantly asked me questions. They had been given a budget to get me lunches every day, so each day I had a variety of delicious Indian food. They also helped me with tasks such as obtaining an Indian sim card for my phone, and taught me how to order reasonably priced taxis.

Exchanging knowledge

I learned that capital investment decisions at Delhi University were controlled or dictated by national government. Unfortunately that is a very different situation to Edinburgh, so there was little transferable learning from that which I will use here. However, the opposite is the case with the lectures I gave. I did five lectures in five days, so I was able to make improvements each day and do it better each day. There were some challenges with non-functioning AV systems, and this was my first time presenting to “the i-phone generation” so I had to devise new ways of being heard and to retain the audience’s attention. There are also some obvious cultural differences between Delhi and Edinburgh, so I had to customise my presentations to the local conditions. This was all valuable experience for me. Public speaking is something I am often required to do, yet it is a skill which you can only improve at by doing it. I enjoyed giving each lecture more than the previous one.

Developing skills

Another useful skill I improved at was having to adapt to the environment I was in. The technology available was different to what I am used to, and so were the expectations and culture of the people. As transnational partnerships are becoming more and more prevalent for the University of Edinburgh, being flexible and innovative in order to achieve our shared goals will become increasingly important.

Leisure time

I had arranged to take annual leave at the end of my week-long placement at University of Delhi. I chose to have a holiday in the Goa region of India. With its beautiful beaches and nice scenery, Goa is a holiday destination for Indian domestic tourism as well as being part of the Western gap year backpacker circuit. However, towards the end of my time in Delhi I became sick with “Delhi-belly”. When the contents of my first aid kit didn’t cure me I called the University’s travel insurance helpline, and very soon I was in a private hospital in India. After 2 days of intravenous antibiotics I was discharged, so my holiday started at that point.

In my spare time I am a keen motorcyclist so I hired a motorbike and did lots of exploring Goa by motorbike, finding as many beautiful beaches and eating as much exotic food as I could manage. Getting the Indian sim card had been a good decision, because I didn’t have to plan my route, I could just ride wherever I liked and use google maps to get home.

I found India to be a fascinating place, full of new sights and sounds, but also with a constant need to “keep my wits about me”. Other than my time at Delhi University my strongest memory of Delhi is the insanely busy traffic. If there were three lanes painted on the road, the traffic formed 4 lanes of cars, with barely any space between them. The taxis had dents on almost every body panel, as did most other vehicles on the road. I also saw incredible levels of poverty. Where pavements were wide enough several families had erected makeshift tents from tarpaulin and logs. Parents and several children ate, slept, worked and played in a space smaller than a single bed room. Another abiding memory of India is the cows. Cows wander everywhere, I saw several cows in the road, which is quite alarming. The traffic somehow miraculously swerved around the sacred cows, leaving them unharmed. On one cab journey in Delhi the cab driver kept a stack of naan breads in the car, when the car came alongside a cow at traffic lights, the driver rolled up a naan and stuffed it into the cow’s mouth.

Holi Festival of Colour

I was in Goa during Holi, the festival of colour, when Indians celebrate the start of Spring by throwing brightly coloured powder at each other, at the cows, and at passing tourists such as me. In general India was full of bright colours; the women’s saris were bright, many houses in Goa were painted bright colours, the temples, the flowers, everything was colourful. On the negative side, I learned to avoid riding past the police station in Goa during the day, because the police pulled over every Western tourist on a scooter or motorbike and “fined” them 100 Rupees (about £1) for not wearing a motorbike helmet, regardless of whether they wore one or not.

Apply for Erasmus scheme

I wholeheartedly recommend to all colleagues that you apply for the ICM or the Erasmus plus scheme. This is an opportunity which is unique to employees of a University, and who knows whether Brexit will restrict our future opportunities to travel, so don’t delay. If you do such a trip, you too will have to be adaptable and flexible because that is the nature of being in a different country, however, most placements seem to have a much more formal structure than mine had. The benefit you get from a trip like this is improved resilience, the ability to think flexibly, and solve problems using your own initiative. It builds your own confidence, and will benefit you in your role here. On a personal level, you get to see, eat, and experience things which you don’t get in Edinburgh.

 The Erasmus plus scheme covers almost all universities in the EU. In the ICM scheme there are around 20 universities in 11 countries, so there are choices other than India. The scheme is grant funded, which (in most cases) covers the cost of your flights and subsistence. However, be under no illusions, whilst your placement is “free”, it takes a lot of hard work to make it happen.

When travelling as a UoE employee you are well supported, and many of the risks have been mitigated. The University has an Occupational Health team which gives you the necessary pre-travel immunisations, and as I can testify first hand, the travel insurance gets you the best possible health care in the host country. So what’s stopping you?

Applications to the next round of placements open in June, you can register interest using the following contact details:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/global/staff-mobility

staffmobility@ed.ac.uk

If you have any further questions about my experience, or would like to discuss this further, feel free to contact me.