Brigitte Daniel - 2011 USA Eisenhower Fellow

Meetings with Delhi Eisenhower Fellows

The Eisenhower Fellowships have a wonderful group of Alumni Fellows located in Delhi.  Many of them traveled years ago but still recount their time abroad as a very important component within their individual career paths and acknowledge the Fellowship program as part of their success stories. I had the distinct pleasure to meet with some of them while I was in Delhi.

PD Rai

PD Rai is a 2000 EF and a member of Parliament.  As a member of Parliament he represents the Sikkum State in Northern India and has done so since 2006.  He is a very intelligent man and very ingrained in the EF network in Delhi.  We were able to have dinner together and again, it was a great way to hear, from his perspective, thoughts on telecommunications in India and India’s place within the global economy. One thing that I found very interesting about PD Rai is that he truly looks at India from a governmental perspective.  For example, we spoke about the article that recently was in the world media and newspapers last week about how India provided the “7^th Billion Person” in the world. Apparently, the 7^th Billion person in the world was a baby girl , born in rural India.   We discussed this article for some because from PD’s perspective it was clearly slanted. How does the world know that in fact the 7^th Billionth person came from INDIA? Why is it a little girl? Why is she from a rural area of India ?  Essentially, PD was basically just trying to illustrate how the world is positioning India as a potential population problem and/or highlighting the extreme growth of the Country that is soon becoming the most populated Country in the world. On the other hand, this growth is also leading India to become an emerging global super power in the areas of technology, labor force, and mobile technologies. Please see this link for the article. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/seven-billionth-baby-born-uttar-pradesh-india/1/158010.html

Dinner with PD was a great conversation and one that definitely allowed me to be more consciously aware of the interesting place and time that I am in India and very knowledgeable about the fact that India is definitely a place to know and understand as the world continues to transition in economy and scale.

Nalin Kholi

Nalin Kholi is a 2004 Eisenhower Fellow and is a journalist in Delhi, India.  Nalin truly was one of the most interesting conversations I have had In India, thus far.  He is extremely eloquent, very insightful, and loves to talk about India as a framework for global economics, environmental shifts, and political realities.  I loved my conversation with Nalin.  One of the most interesting discussions in our Friday afternoon lunch revolved around the fact that Indians are a very circular people.  Meaning that you may never know if you are getting a “yes” or a “no”, when it comes to dealing with and /or doing business in India.  He went on further to say that "Indians do not think or reason in a linear way and that relationships are very fundamental in establishing ties with the Country". "It may take some time, but once you have established a good relationship in India, it will be harder to break that bond".

Thank you Nalin! 

Mr. K. Raju

Mr. Raju is also a 2000 Eisenhower Fellow and works as the Joint Secretary of the National Advisory Council within the Government of India. One of the main aspects of the NAC is that they advise the Indian Government on economic development matters for the entire Indian Nation.  Thus, Mr. Raju was able to explain how and why the Indian government disperses funding for various initiatives that deal with telecommunications and technology in India.  Again, another very fruitful conversation to help my understanding of this amazing Country.  Mr. Raju was additionally able to recommend some key players that I should meet in Bangalore that work within the technology space.  Looking forward to those conversations and I hope to gain more insight as it pertains to this my discovery quest to uncover India’s burgeoning position as a world power in technology and innovation. 

Thank you for a wonderful time in Delhi my fellow Eisenhower Colleagues! I felt right at home. 

Warm Regards, 

Brigitte