Hello dear readers – Goodness gracious, can you believe it’s mid-February already?? Everything feels like a blur lately, which is largely because work has been so intense. Happily though, something has changed in the last 6 months that has shifted the intensity from overwhelming to exhilarating. Yes, there are still hard days, but I am finding my voice, acting with confidence and making decisions when need be. It’s quite a stark contrast from where I started a year ago when I was afraid of giving my employee (or a customer, for that matter) a tough message. So I definitely have that to celebrate because confrontations are not nearly so terrifying now. Yay me!
I still have 3 teams under my supervision – the motorpool team that manages and drives the Consulate’s fleet of vehicles, the travel team that does all of our ticket bookings and hotel reservations for official travel, and the warehouse team that manages our inventory (residential & office furniture, office supplies, etc). In total, I manage 30 people – 28 of which are men! I had worries about how that dynamic would play out given that India is still predominantly a patriarchal society. Turns out I had nothing to worry about – they’ve been nothing but kind and respectful. In fact, they go so far as to call me m’am and stand when I come in the room like I’m an Ambassador or something! It’s very endearing. They are all such kind-hearted people. It’s been a delight to get to know them all and see the pride they take in their work.
Each of my areas have been satisfying in different ways. For example, members of my motor pool & travel teams are currently working on Trump’s upcoming visit to India! They’ve done large-scale visits like this many times before and it’s fun to see them shine in leadership roles. In case you’re wondering, I will be holding down the fort here in Mumbai while Nick supports the visit in Ahmedabad. Hopefully Nick will have some cool photos to show for it!
My unexpected love though has been the warehouse. There are few things I enjoy more in life than de-cluttering and organizing! Such a fun project to be given a “giant house” and be told to clean and organize it. And let me tell you, I have Marie-Kondo’d the crap out of that place! I dare say it’s quite beautiful now.
When I took over the Property team, I inherited a warehouse that was bursting at the seams with stuff. I started peeking in every corner, asking what was in each box, asking who ‘it’ belonged to. My team has been around awhile and has good institutional memory, so they knew exactly how long each item had been there and which section had turned it over. So then I’d go to the last known owner and ask if they still wanted it and 9 times out of 10 they’d tell me it was someone else’s and then I’d go to that person and ask and they’d point me to someone else. Total goose chase which confirmed what I initially thought – that no one actually wanted/needed this stuff anymore and it was just taking up much-needed space! Then it was sayonara old stuff!
I haven’t been the only one doing cool stuff at work. Nick recently launched an exciting new concept – a Youtube show/podcast in which he interviews a variety of Indians about issues that are relevant to US/India relations. Click the first picture for podcasting options, the second picture for a short teaser video and the third picture for the first full-length interview with comedian Vir Das.
I’m going to wrap it up for today. I’ll leave you with a nice sunset pic I took recently. That’s the Bandra-Worli Sealink bridge. Take care everyone & thanks for reading.
