Second day
Tuesday was a very exciting day for me. Anuroop took me on a whole-day home finding trip with a client couple from Canada (wife) and Italy (husband). Since I work for the immigration team at my normal job, I had never been on a home finding trip before so I was just as excited as the clients and I was amazed to be in a car with four people from three other countries. At any point of our trip I had the feeling that the clients felt the same amount of hospitality I have been greeted with and that Anuroop was listening very closely to their wishes, fears and demands. Back in Munich I would definitely like to go on a home finding trip with one of our consultants so I’ll be able to compare my experiences and put them into perspective.
Third day
On Wednesday, I joined my new colleague Rohan to visit some potential clients that all had a connection to Germany in some way. We visited the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, the German School that is run by the German Embassy as well as Max Mueller Bhavan, a Germany language school in Delhi. Unfortunately, we did not have fixed appointments with any of the above so we were asked to just contact them again to schedule meetings with the responsible person. I was asked to try to set up a meeting with the German Head of Administration to introduce IKAN’s services, but sadly one day later she called to let me know that the school was not interested in working with external relocation companies like IKAN. My frustration was eased by my colleagues as well as Rohit, who all told me it was not the end of the world.
Fourth day
Thursday was the day on which I learned about the Indian side of the immigration process that I usually manage for my clients who come to live and work in Germany. Vinod, the Immigration Service Director gave me a very insightful presentation and FAQ-sheet that taught me all important steps of the immigration process to India (during the pre-arrival, post-arrival, on-going as well as departure stage). I was surprised to see that the immigration process did not seem to differ too much from the German one, except for the very important fact that it is now possible to file most applications online in India instead of having to visit the town hall or immigration office in person, unlike in Germany. One can say that India really is at least one step ahead in terms of online services that make a lot of administration tasks so much easier for everyone involved.
Having said that, the other side of the Indian administration system was presented to me on Thursday when I joined Rohan and an Indian client to have his university degree legalized for his upcoming job in Dubai. Not only was I shocked to see the state the administration office’s building was in (a former school as far as I could tell) and the high population of pigeons that were living in that building, I also got a firsthand experience of the clerk asking to be handed about 15,000 INR to finish the legalization process on the same day instead of 15 days. Definitely one thing that I would never encounter at a German authority office where incorruptibility and neutrality of the officers are a golden rule respected by all participants.
Fifth day
Friday marked the beginning of my very promising career as India’s new movie superstar. A film crew visited the IKAN office to shoot some new scenes for their corporate movie to be published on their website. It was so exciting to see how movie shootings are done and I was relieved to be the first one to do their part. But when the director told me I had to say all of my lines by memory, my heart dropped to the ground and I already said Goodbye to my career in Bollywood. After about 15 minutes I was done and the director told me I had done a great job. Part of my video will be on the corporate movie and part of it will be shown at the annual EuRA conference in Munich in May – maybe another chance to start my international movie career? However, I was really happy and proud to be part in IKAN’s movie and also share my experiences with all the people who will watch it online and at the EuRA conference.

Letting my hair down
In the evening, Rohit and Sumana invited me and about ten more colleagues, friends and clients to an amazing bar in Gurgaon called Whisky Samba. The food and drinks were fantastic and I got to see a whole other side of India – a young party crowd who is looking to have some fun on Friday night, just like me and my friends would back home. When I leaned back in my chair to take a sip of my wine and look at my company I realized that it must have been one of the most interesting dinner parties I have ever been invited to and I will never forget that special evening.
Second weekend
I had some time to relax on Saturday, so I decided to go to the nearest supermarket to shop some snacks and tea to bring back home to Germany. It looked like the supermarket was still located within my neighborhood, Kalindi Colony, but when the Google Maps directions took me out of the colony I started to feel a little uncomfortable. Until that moment I had always been accompanied by some Indian colleagues, so being a non-Indian unaccompanied woman in an unknown area outside of my colony sure got me some strange looks by the locals who did not know what to make of my appearance. Of course I made it home safely, but I certainly think it would take some time for me to walk around Delhi all by myself without any worries. Even though many friends back home had warned me that people would give me strange looks in the streets, I had definitely not expected to be the only non-Indian person in Delhi most of the time. However, I can understand that many locals are bewildered and intrigued by that strange European woman roaming their streets and tasting their delicious local food. The other side of this is the phenomenon of Indian strangers asking me to take a selfie with them, which has happened about five times so far. That certainly made me feel like a celebrity here in India!