tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81672073454553358862011-08-02T17:11:45.220-07:00Wiggling and wobbling ... this is what Indians and Belgians do when they are confronted in a business situation. This blog describes the experiences of a Belgian expat in India.Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.comBlogger601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-86097286910351607982010-09-27T00:09:00.000-07:002010-09-27T00:12:37.123-07:00

Amidst of all the negative media reports on the Delhi Commonwealth Games, one would almost forget what still is accomplished in a country where it's difficult to accomplish something, due to climate, culture or whatever.Judge for yourself through this link.http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=2072464&id=1111507645&fbid=1563378840343

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-40012103623485891892010-09-26T21:41:00.000-07:002010-09-27T00:08:06.358-07:00

or 'Belgium for dummies'In this video, the organisation of the country Belgium is explained for whoever is willing to understand.The main difference between the organisation of India and the organisation of Belgium is that India is complex in itself, but its organisation is a clear "laissez-faire, laissez-passer".In Belgium the reality is simple, but the organisation makes it complex.

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-33317785416462733092010-09-22T01:44:00.000-07:002010-09-24T23:33:27.138-07:00

Indians are so clever that you won't believe it. Typical in their thinking is the holistic approach to reality. The number of factors that an average Indian can include in his thinking, before actually deciding something, is not expressible with digits only. Several thousands of years the Subcontinent has been refining its approach to reality, adding each day factors and realities to the concepts

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-27667636398840255222010-08-26T20:52:00.000-07:002010-08-27T01:30:01.365-07:00

A while ago one of our clients, before assigning a job, explicitly told me that they wouldn't allow child labour in India for their jobs.Of course this high noted and important condition is a give-away for us. Not many children are able to do the computer work we do. As a consequence direct child labour in our offices is unthinkable. In this respect I can just declare everything on a formal paper

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-82998858428689437052010-08-16T00:33:00.000-07:002010-08-16T00:35:27.506-07:00

In this video a completely unique technology for distributing information is presented to you. As is clear from the list of features presented here, this technology could well be challenging all electronic formats in a big way.

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-64795870919106763632010-08-15T00:36:00.000-07:002010-08-15T02:38:49.994-07:00

As I often proclaim in my blogs, reality always wins over all virtualisations of it.Much is said about the colonisation and the influences of it on the local cultures.Objective observations lead to the general conclusion, that once the colonisators left the colonies, the independence of the latter has not led to prosperity for their populations. Often these countries fared not well, as can be

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-12237384136883736062010-08-13T02:18:00.000-07:002010-08-13T03:09:16.709-07:00

From the stories I heard last half year, the Indian embassy in Belgium is making more and more problems in granting some types of visa to candidates from abroad. Though my wife and I never found any problem with this, recently we faced the same hindrance in developing our Indian business further.A while ago I received an email from a young Belgian who travelled for several years throughout Asia,

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-65610735141653000322010-08-08T02:55:00.000-07:002010-08-08T03:44:33.652-07:00

Despite telling Airtel already long ago that she does not want to receive marketing sms messages, this is the list of sms-messages my wife received on Saturday 7th August 2010. I myself don't carry a mobile in India anymore, as it disturbs me constantly from what I'm doing.08:47from: Airtelmessage:Your approx. unbilled usage as on 07/08/2010 00hrs is 0.9(excludes monthly charges/roaming usage/

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-76863113472417659322010-08-06T22:25:00.000-07:002010-08-08T04:01:40.627-07:00

Corruption is in India not something which is hidden. Corruption is the way the whole country is organised !In India, it is supported by the State itself and by the higher social classes!And as a result ... Anamika suffers.The Indian money on Swiss bank accounts can pay back India's total statedebt thirteenfold. Read the article of which I placed the link at the bottom.While Anamika suffers.When

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-56329999931579425252010-08-06T12:52:00.000-07:002010-08-06T13:38:34.380-07:00

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-92113118549319493872010-08-06T12:49:00.000-07:002010-08-06T12:52:14.460-07:00

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-5541986960670749422010-08-05T04:16:00.001-07:002010-08-05T05:06:37.506-07:00

A homeless father with his daughter, selling selfmade ... birdhomes.He must have heard that Real Estate is a booming business in Gurgaon !

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-18055108715993378642010-08-04T11:11:00.000-07:002010-08-04T11:41:50.062-07:00

Gurgaon is the city we based our small company in.Five years back they told us: "It's a posh place". I never understood what they meant. As a small company we didn't have the means to lease an office in the few new MNC-buildings. We had to go with the regular places, where also normal people are living.During the years I have seen:- lots of big projects coming up, including thousands of

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-3580481152474693162010-06-12T22:24:00.000-07:002010-06-12T23:32:15.792-07:00

I read today, Sunday 13th of June 2010, in the paper this intriguing crime-question: "CAN THE TWEET KILL THE BOOK?".My mind wanders away and several other questions arise.Can Facebook kill the book? (2008)Can the internet kill the book? (nineties)Can the television kill the book? (eighties)Can the movie theater kill the book? (twenties-thirties)More questions come up ...Can the digital camera

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-83018170824510548102010-06-11T23:40:00.000-07:002010-06-12T23:37:51.467-07:00

I can't help it, but I keep having continuous problems with using the on-line banking website of ICICI.I think I'm entitled to call myself an experienced computer user, but despite all my endless efforts and my nights of studying the on-line banking system of ICICI bank, all these efforts have been in vain till now. I had to apply 6 times (this is not an exaggeration from my side!) for new login

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-39137664423289038222010-06-06T00:27:00.000-07:002010-06-06T00:28:33.428-07:00

http://blogs.tijd.be/bbb/2010/06/wanneer-india-en-china-het-vk-en-de-vs-ingehaald-zullen-hebben-.html

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-16511301978332054102010-05-31T09:50:00.000-07:002010-05-31T10:16:35.466-07:00

I remembered suddenly that more or less ten years ago I explicitly forbid my daughter to wear a small nose piercing. What I cannot remember however, is the exact reason why.This photograph was shot at a wedding ceremony near to Nainital.The number of small jewels at the bottom of the ornament is representing the number of sons the woman has, they told me. After counting them, I doubt however that

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-53226431916239120612010-05-11T09:36:00.000-07:002010-05-11T21:08:58.204-07:00

or ... the Revenge of Mother IndiaAfter years of complaining about the danger of eating Indian food and warning visitors against eating out in India, I managed to give my wife, myself and - that is worse - a business partner a hefty "Delhi belly" (= infection of the intestines with diarrhea).Indeed, finally we moved to a more homelike office with a good kitchen in it. So we bought everything we

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-32375092838853090422010-05-09T02:24:00.000-07:002010-05-09T11:32:18.844-07:00

One of the things that came in my mind lately was that I observe Indian individuals often have problems with serial thinking. When confronted with a rather complex task, a lot of Indian individuals are unable to analyse the task into logical/serial steps to take. Of course this depends a lot on the length and quality of their education.Because splitting up complex tasks in parts (process/

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-48753909101502388862010-05-09T00:29:00.000-07:002010-05-09T02:10:01.313-07:00

If an Italian visiting Malta already faces such problems, then you can imagine what communication problems an expat in a completely different culture can have.Very funny audio.The Italian man who went to Malta ...

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-11844695632811377042010-05-01T12:15:00.000-07:002010-05-02T06:05:30.716-07:00

Indians like to describe the basic attitude in their society as "To live and let live". I think however "To die and let die" is a more honest description.Indian people have learned to live without power supply. "Na problam Sir !" "We just buy inverters, batteries and if possible gensets to overcome the problem. Who needs power anyway? Around 50% of our population still lives without power at all!

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-69777411410361554962010-04-30T23:42:00.000-07:002010-05-01T20:24:56.408-07:00

Last weeks sex scandals were uncovered in both India and Belgium. And it was striking that in both cases high positioned religious functions were involved.What can be the reason behind the obvious link between religion and sex?It is clear that almost all religions promote a specific system of values regarding sex. If the focus of politics is on the public life of humans and the organisation of

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-51992588613226684022010-03-21T23:23:00.000-07:002010-08-20T23:37:29.723-07:00

Gurgaon, Sunday 21 March, 2010 Concerning: Request to correct erroneous spelling Dear mam Sonjaji, I am A humble but Proud citizen of India. My name: A. P. Dalit. I have a humble request. Every day I collect 125kgs of old Hindustan Times papers, perhaps you know that one. And each day with the money I earn from that activity, I buy me a fresh Hindustan Times. And because I am illiterate,

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-5766694643860224122010-03-19T23:06:00.000-07:002010-03-20T02:35:19.026-07:00

See this video at http://scienceroll.com/2010/03/17/the-end-of-publishing-on-a-creative-video/.For a good blog about self-publishing (which is mentioned here), read http://reviews.cnet.com/self-publishing/Nowadays there's a lot to do about the future of publishing. In the past 10 years in Europe commercial printers have been struggling to keep their businesses alive. It seems now it's the

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-2317249422079770112010-02-28T07:48:00.000-08:002010-02-28T08:25:17.643-08:00

I took this photograph in MGF mall on MG Road in Gurgaon. Fyi the 'MG' in the names stand for Mahatma Gandhi.I learned that Hitlers Mein Kampf has extremely good sales in India. At first sight however, the pile of Gandhi books lets you think that Gandhi's book sold at least 1 copy more... Until you really start counting.Interestingly on the cover, Hitler firmly is looking to the right, while

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-74529540658817961352010-02-27T23:54:00.000-08:002010-03-22T00:24:50.247-07:00

1. The "cosmic" identity of the HinduWhile the world is ruled by countries and geographical areas dominated by the so-called 'book-religions' like Christianity and Islam, any of their individuals become shocked when confronted with the Hindu religion.All of a sudden you realise that here is a religion that has nothing to do with power and economics (well ... this can be discussed), with trying to

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-6197722418884173902010-02-06T22:59:00.000-08:002010-02-06T23:29:13.149-08:00

I came across this small article in the Times of India on Sunday 7 January 2010.The problem of shortage of cells and prisons is already existing for 20 years in Belgium. The problem could never been solved, partly due to the very complicated communautarian political organisation.Of course, one cannot deny that "nearshore outsourcing" is a very creative solution for this problem.As a Belgian I'm

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-947876488972712502009-09-23T04:57:00.000-07:002009-09-23T05:32:22.561-07:00

UrduTeluguTamilPunjabiOriyaMarathiMalayalamKannadaHindiGujaratiBengaliAssamese

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-39668574549145796502009-09-19T00:47:00.000-07:002009-09-20T02:14:30.985-07:00

or: BELGIUM AND INDIA: 1 FRONT IN CREATING VIRTUAL WORLDS !We Belgians are very proud on our beer culture. While there only exist around 10 million Belgians, the total number of various kinds of beers produced in Belgium must be somewhere over thousand. Personally I know 2 or 3 guys brewing beer in their Belgian living rooms.And in Belgium you can easily find pubs where you can have a couple of

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-72793370087269343752009-08-27T11:07:00.000-07:002009-08-27T11:32:56.383-07:00

Sometimes very simple things can become suddenly very complex.I have a Belgian client here who wanted to have an Indian SIM-card with STD-functionality, so that he's able to phone internationally.So we went to the Airtel shop in Gurgaon to make him "internationally phoneworthy". A clear choice was given to him by the Airtel salesman: "Or you take a prepaid scheme, or you go for a postpaid scheme.

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-80569273640199719062009-08-22T07:36:00.000-07:002009-08-22T08:15:16.975-07:00

A man in a balloon did loose his way. He lowers his balloon a bit and sees on the groundlevel a woman walking. He shouts at her, she looks up. "Well", he says, "I have promised some friends to join them in about an hour, but now I lost my way. I have not the slightest idea where I am."The woman shouts back: "You are in a balloon, situated more or less 10 meter above the groundlevel. U are

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-24371116287494806912009-08-17T01:41:00.000-07:002009-08-17T01:53:26.981-07:00

Here's a story about two Indian men.One Dalit-born guy M. Das, has been able to release himself from the chains of his caste. It is noteworthy that he could do that because his father was insisting on a proper education for him.A second man, Saravanan, was born in the Reddiar caste, a caste of landowners. His father lacked to see the importance of a good education. The result? Saravanan is now a

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-72734729011922338842009-08-09T02:38:00.000-07:002009-08-09T02:53:34.496-07:00

We recently discovered TAMATAR KA SHORBA, a thin (their words!) tomato based Indian soup. Like all of the Indian dishes brought to taste with a delightful variety of spices.If you are a souplover like me, you should try this soup sometime if you can get it. It's absolutely the best soup I've ever tasted ! I especially like the one served in the Gurgaon restaurant "Place Solitaire", Old-Delhi

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-31561059140890799872009-08-08T05:26:00.001-07:002009-08-08T05:35:14.848-07:00

Going to the barber is one of the pleasures in India. I only made use of such a service in Belgium 30 years back, but now it would cost you at least 40 euro to have a hair cut and a clean shave there. Even with the amount of hair I carry around.At my Indian barber the same costs me only 40-50rs (0.8 euro) or so.There's one thing however which I don't like. In India people prefer to have a light

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-18710959303598646512009-08-06T10:35:00.000-07:002009-08-06T10:37:40.541-07:00

For my Indian friends, longing for more rain in Northern India: Rain Performance.

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-36632842418055365392009-08-02T00:29:00.000-07:002009-08-02T01:20:30.283-07:00

Still I'm wrestling a lot with how my Indian employees execute jobs. I still can find that they are having problems with independency, decision-taking and the purposefull design of a "plan-to-act".Lately I had to think about the old induction-deduction pair of concepts which is used to describe types of (logical) thinking. As always I try to understand the differences between Western and Indian

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-84176982774389591202009-07-29T07:27:00.000-07:002009-07-29T07:42:08.612-07:00

Some time ago somebody told me that Indians don't like to walk.Well, few days ago my wife and I went for a dinner and we decided to take a riksha to go to the place because it was quite far of.Like usual we had compassion with the riksha having to bicycle in that high temperature of 39°C. He was sweating like anything.My wife proposed to let him stop and do the rest of the road walking.I looked

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-24035652129097018532009-07-25T00:11:00.000-07:002009-08-27T11:05:03.610-07:00

TRIAL and ERROR !I'm always surprised when I hear business people talking about 'their' business.In most of the cases they never talk about what is in reality the most exercised and valuable technique in starting a business: Trial and Error.Mostly they pretend that their whole business was organised and executed following a preliminary well-thought business-plan. While reality often is quite the

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-25923643587046077832009-07-18T22:29:00.000-07:002009-07-18T23:21:23.059-07:00

Much to do lately about the advise of Union Minister of Health, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, who advised rural people to marry late and watch more television. That would lead to an important decrease of births in the country.In the Times of India of 19th of July, the picture above was published:Indian man + Indian woman – Television = Indian childFollowing simple counting rules, one can derive however

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-59629536855713000392009-07-18T21:54:00.000-07:002009-07-18T22:12:14.304-07:00

In India everything of some value must be guarded. Be it an office, a residential area, an expensive individual house, your daughters and dogs. Fences are not enough, a guard must also be present.For long I refused to accept the need for a guard for my office. I couldn't understand how the usual guards could ever defend the posessions of the company. Most of the guards seem simply to be taken out

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-57338346540031599172009-07-18T06:58:00.000-07:002009-07-18T21:53:52.233-07:00

See the video. This could be a shot taken from our office.The rules are quite simple on itself, only the diversity of different entities taking part in traffic is making it confusing.Rule 1:Blow your horn to let them know you exist. Keep it blowing as long as you feel unsure about getting noticed.Rule 2:Never ever really stop your vehicle. Feet, wheels and roads are made to move on, not to stand

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-76442132012681497992009-07-12T01:26:00.001-07:002009-07-12T01:44:18.032-07:00

Combinations like this can lead to a very optimistic approach of starting a business. Indians are legendary optimists:But sometimes this leads to contradictory images like this (the board reads: "Real Estate Consultants"):

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-17740167299027002082009-07-05T08:22:00.000-07:002009-07-05T08:36:57.330-07:00

This article from The Times of India, Friday 3th July, speaks for itself.What a relief gay and lesbian people must feel in this country now.What a relief also for their parents !The first step to remove this stupid colonial heritage is set now.It's a strange thing to see that ex-colonies need more time to remove inhumane colonial law from their society than the ex-colonist countries

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-4738637850402861012009-06-19T01:18:00.000-07:002009-07-05T08:45:24.076-07:00

During my university years at the Catholic University of Louvain, I studied philosophy. Though I did not maintain or upgraded any of the knowledge since the 30 years that passed since then, some of the concepts and ideas learned in those days have firmly influenced my spontaneous thinking about things.My confrontation with Indian culture makes me become very aware now of the relativity but at the

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-84914061949594372662009-06-08T03:10:00.000-07:002009-07-22T19:55:02.913-07:00

One of the main problems which pop up when Westerners think about outsourcing services to India is the overestimation of costcutting through decreasing the salary costs.Because of the high level of labour cost in the West-European countries, most Western businessmen almost only take into account the salarycosts when making an offer.Suppose one has to make an offer for doing an IT-job which will

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-36894591138123922672009-05-11T09:45:00.000-07:002009-07-05T08:46:23.021-07:00

At times one can become really lyrical in India ...I could shoot these photographs in Periyar, Kerala.For me it symbolized the main strengths of India on the personal level: strong familyties, not-discussed religious tradition and rituals, pride. All combined with a wonderful optimism and curiosity towards the future. These strong pillars, in combination with the very lively democracy on the

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-64643706329404996882009-04-09T11:38:00.000-07:002009-04-09T23:58:33.873-07:00

or ... Why Hinduism is a superior religion.I am complaining already long time about the number of free days my directors installed in our company.India is a Hindu-country, so of course the big Hindu-festivals are free days. No problem with that.But essential to Hinduism is the great openess to other religions. One can find strange mixtures of Hinduism and Christianity or other religions. Hinduism

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-49714871983053683022009-04-03T00:19:00.000-07:002009-04-03T00:47:12.441-07:00

The following can be observed very often when one resides in India and talks with employees here:- Indian employees having to take care of their family members;- Indian employees having to move 2000km to get a job which is payed 200$;- Indian employees having a family back home and only be able to visit them every 3 months;- Indian employees being pressurized by all means and from all sides;-

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-81638356579521369592009-04-01T11:35:00.000-07:002009-04-01T12:06:44.443-07:00

Indian salesmen keep surprising me.Apart from the (unnecessary and annoying) phones I receive every day, some typical phonecalls are always coming after a first contact by mail has been made with Indian companies with whom there never was any other contact before.Mainly the prompt and immediate expression of their desire to build "a long-term relationship" is felt as hilarious.I think Indians

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-59370562723012711862009-03-30T20:29:00.000-07:002009-03-30T20:40:00.013-07:00

I've seen those big machines come rolling through the quiet pinesBlue suits and bankers with their Volvos and their valentinesGive us this day our daily discount outlet merchandiseRaise up a multiplex and we will make a sacrificeNow we're gonna get the big businessNow we're gonna get the real thingEverybody's all excited about itWho remembers when it all beganOut here in no man's landBefore they

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-30589723525583703282009-03-28T22:08:00.000-07:002009-03-30T20:42:45.258-07:00

I observe many Indians becoming slaves (again) !After you threw out the British in 47, in a way so unique that the whole world admires you for it, you let your minds become enslaved by a criticless admiration of your non-real fantasies about Western society, culture and economy.You threw the British out through your backdoor.THESE DAYS HOWEVER, YOU ARE EVEN INVITING THEM IN AGAIN THROUGH THE

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-15420718103355587082009-03-12T08:35:00.000-07:002009-03-12T09:10:07.811-07:00

Last Wednesday we were planning to shoot nice photographs from the Holi Festival. Holi is the Festival of Colours. On this day, people put coloured powder on eachothers face. I refer to http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi-Phagwa for more background information about this second most important Festival for Hindu people (the most important one is Diwali in October every year).So we took our camera

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-37870404805079544792009-03-10T01:20:00.000-07:002009-03-10T01:25:44.834-07:00

No, not at all, an Indian prepress- and typesetting company !

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-11820142718501029222009-03-08T23:31:00.000-07:002009-03-09T00:07:26.845-07:00

... or: What Indians and Belgians share1. The story of Willy ClaesWilly Claes making his statement to the international press.(NATO Photo 785Kb Ref. no.: 15167/34)This is a story of a Belgian politician who had made it to Secretary-General of the NATO. Within the first year investigations took place in Belgium about the bribes given by Agusta (an Italian helicopter manufacturer)to the SP (

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-7874487998259332212009-03-08T16:36:00.000-07:002009-03-08T16:58:52.668-07:00

One thing Indians can learn from Europe: Waste Management.I know how they do it in Europe and am ready to consult you.Here are some of my advises, for free:- Organise your economy in such a way that consumption is the only value which counts. Then, tell other countries very clearly that this is definitely not the way to go !- Make yourself as quickly as rich as possible at the cost of other

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-7799374222716203792009-03-08T15:18:00.000-07:002009-03-08T15:50:27.764-07:00

In 1933 the Belgian filmmaker Henri Storck created a documentary about the "Borinage", the area in Belgium where coal mining was going on. In those times this part of Belgium was well-doing and attracted lots of workers from the Dutch speaking part of the country.In 1999 again a documentary was made about Charleroi, a city in Belgium in the center of the same "Borinage".Indians very often are

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-56749430445513953602009-03-07T22:05:00.000-08:002009-03-07T22:54:32.320-08:00

I present you a few clips taken from the Sunday Times of March 8th, 2009.They are related to Indian marriages, which are completely different from the habits we have in Europe regarding relationships. I think these clips speak for themselves.You can read the ads by clicking on the images.Don't be mistaken. Despite the tenths of pages in the daily papers these ads occupy, there's a clear evolution

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-4197893817984799552009-03-06T09:55:00.000-08:002009-03-06T10:48:00.368-08:00

Well, I feel after the previous post, I should now give some ammunition to my fellow-Indian residents.My wife and I have got a new salary account with ICICI bank.So previous week we went to the ATM hoping to withdraw some money, but in one or another way we did not succeed in using our bankcard.Now, believe me or not, but we are doing this already 20 years in Belgium, so our spontaneous reaction

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-28863485765495410252009-03-05T16:19:00.000-08:002009-03-06T10:49:10.741-08:00

http://pragmaticoutsourcing.com/2009/03/05/japanese-car-invasion-vs-offshore-outsourcing/I myself don't know anything about cars, but I can agree fully to this article where it talks about outsourcing to India.Though in general the US and European attitude of practical managers towards Indian outsourcing is not very positive, one can hardly find literature which explicitly states the

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167207345455335886.post-348452172214888362009-03-05T09:36:00.000-08:002009-03-06T10:50:18.267-08:00

Indians wiggle their head.Belgians wobble the Indian ways.That describes more or less the experiences of a Belgian expat in India.Cut from the daily communication in one's mothertongue, an expat - at least if he doesn't mingle only with other expats - gets a lot of strange experiences. Especially in a confusing country like India.This blog is dedicated to my Indian colleagues.With some of them

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00463167571386196119noreply@blogger.com1