Wednesday, July 08, 2009

My trips to the Maghreb! Tres Bien!!


Well, I am finally back after a loong time. I just haven't been motivated enough to write anything on this blog till now.

Over the past couple of months, Life experiences have certainly been interesting and times of change. Finally, my family in Dubai is complete with the arrival of my wife for good. We moved into a new house, which has a full fledged club house with an awesome pool, steam n sauna...the works....

Now finally I feel a little settled in this country. Apart form this, work has been interesting to say the least. I have been travelling to Algeria ( not Nigeria !!) quite often recently, helping a client with their market entry strategy. It has most certainly been an eye opening experience. This whole region is Franco-Arabic and the language barrier is immense. Very few people speak English and I absolutely don't understand French or Arabic. Well I did overcome this handicap with the use of a a lot of sign language and contextual understanding. I think learning deal in such difficult environments enhances your ability in understanding situations, and also does help in removing the fear of the unknown!

From a marketing perspective, We Indians don't fully realize the potential Brand India has across the world. I was literally a superstar, just for being an Indian in Algeria!! Indian products and services are in great demand thee and we command huge respect form the locals...they seem consider us very smart, cultural etc.l and look up to India for some strange reason.

Anyways, I have one last trip left to the Maghreb and the Mediterranean beaches and then a trip is pending back to Spain for the final presentation.

Net-net, things are OK now, hope I can keep up the momentum.

ta ta till I visit the next exotic location :-)