My daughter’s small hand was moist and sticky. I held it tightly and exited the KLM Jet. We lumbered down the portable stairs and stood on the runway. It was a June night in New Delhi. The tarmac sent up throbbing heat under our feet, jet fumes swirled in the air. A dusty haze walked with us to the bus we boarded to go to the terminal. The lights in the distance were dim yellow balls. The bus started with a lurch, the driver coughed to clear phlegm in his throat, a guttural familiarity spread inside me. India.
Our final destination was Chandigarh. A city in northwest India that covers a total area of 70 miles. A city at the foothills of the Shivalik, the sub-Himalayan range that runs across northern India. India’s first planned city designed by the prodigal Swiss-French master Le Corbusier. Also a capital for two adjoining states, Punjab and Haryana.
I had never lived there. Had no mastery over the local language. But I was in India with an indefinite departure date.
This was the summer of 2004. The plan was to try out India and start a division for the Austin Company which was a cash-strapped start up. Bhupi, my husband was the co-founder. The company built software tools to help institutes of higher learning with all sorts of things – assessment, learning, reporting, planning, accreditation. A few colleges were using our product. The Austin division was fledgling, to say the least.
Chandigarh became the default choice. We had family there. Also the IT industry was just emerging there in the early 2000s. Land was comparatively cheap and infrastructure was not abysmally overloaded.
Looking back I think it was an absurd foolishness on my part. India was always a romance. But, to leave home, take a small child and plunge into the unknown was either misplaced bravery or simply stupid. And as always, my script was usurped by life. Rules changed midway, goals metamorphosed and I got my India in a way that was far from what started it all.
My daughter Meghna was nine. She was my beautiful partner in this mad adventure. I like to think this enriched her life. But, that is my self-absorbed view without giving enough credit to her enormous resilience and sparkling intellect. Her challenges were enormous.
Years later, when she was voted the Head Girl of her school for exemplary leadership and outreaching compassion, I knew she won the long race despite all odds.
These are my stories of ‘mad outsourcing’ as I call it.
