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A fortnight of fun
Posted by the lazy knight
on
2:19 PM
After much delay and procrastination, I finally dragged myself to write this piece on our Core Analyst School (CAS) training in Kuala Lumpur. Perhaps there is a silver lining in this, for initially I had thought of capturing the moments of our course in episodic articles spread over its duration. Mercifully for all readers, I landed up in KL with an upset stomach that simply refused to digest anything it was fed for almost three days. And the accompanying cold and dripping nose made me drop the idea. As the course progressed, I barely found any energy at the end of the long and grueling days (more due to extended lounge bar and shopping sprees than any classroom sessions) to sit down and pen my thoughts.
In a sense, CAS essentially captures that one core value of Accenture – Integration. I doubt whether any multi national organization would have a training program which would bring people from two continents, put them together for about two weeks and make them interact, brainstorm and have discussions with each other. In my team, I had two analysts from Tokyo, one from Shanghai, one from Canberra and one from Melbourne. The story was repeated across all the entire fifteen teams formed for the course. A cross cultural diversity that certainly challenged me to communicate more effectively and be more coherent with a couple of team mates who at times were not so proficient in the use of the English language. And as the course progressed, I realized that even though some of us might have had misgivings as to the relevance of the contents of the course, just the chance to work in a diverse team and the opportunity to initiate participation and carry your team mates from different countries along was an experience in itself. Its relevance perhaps can hardly be questioned, for many of us might well find ourselves in projects tomorrow where we are working with people not from our country. The experience and learnings of CAS would certainly be called upon then.
Its always lightens a training when your faculty is out to have fun as well, and we were certainly lucky to have a set like that. The mood was always light, the ice breakers (charades, chicken dance, ‘All my neighbors’ and a host of crazy videos from You Tube) made a dull session turn into fun and the faculty members never shied away from shaking a leg, sharing a drink or simply letting their hair down in the networking events.
So what was there at KL outside the classroom? The nights were spent for many in the lounge bars and pubs of the city (many landed up late the mornings after, or simply landed clutching their heads and rubbing their eyes). There was of course the mandatory pilgrimage to the holy grail of Malaysia – The Petronas Twin Towers and the sight of them at night was absolutely amazing. Even more scintillating was the view from floor 65 where Accenture has its office. The highlight perhaps was bargain shopping at China Town, a street market where every brand you could only drool over and wish you pocket could afford one day, was available for one – thousandth of a price (alright, one hundredth, allow me some scope for exaggeration as well). From Gucci, Louis Vitton (suitcases and briefcases by that brand, can you imagine?), Prada and Guess; from T-shirts (all the football clubs you could recall) to shoes from all brands to DVDs and souvenirs and mementos – everything was available at a throwaway price if you could summon your bargaining skills. And we certainly did, to the point that one shopkeeper even shooed us out of his shop screaming ‘You Indians! You bargain too much!’
And when we were not shopping we were enjoying the other sights – KL has some of the best public transport systems you can imagine. The cute monorail, a metro running through the city, air conditioned buses and a high speed transit rail connecting the main city with the suburbs. And even though there were some rumblings of protests by a civil group in the main city, the discipline and neatness on the roads was admirable. Admirable also was the suburb of Putrajaya where we were put up, which now houses all the Malaysian government complexes. The tour of its imposing mosques, multiple bridges and wide pathways at night will remain my highlight of the trip. Also enthralling was the trip to the entertainment park at Genting, where a dozen of us braved our hearts, stepped on to the free fall ride and fell at a gravity defying pace from a height of about a hundred feet. One high which none of the drinks at the lounge bar of the hotel could match!
Alas, the time to say good-bye was equally difficult. It was amusing how many friendships were made in that small period of a fortnight and the rapid exchange of mail ids, msn addresses and telephone numbers clearly evidenced the same. Also an evidence of the closeness we shared a group was the video that we finally managed after much hiccups and the bunch of nostalgic mails that appeared after everyone joined work, with promises to stay in touch in the future. It’s a promise that will have its own test with the rigor of work and time, but I would have to honestly admit that the Core Analyst School from 19th to 30th of Nov at KL surely… blasted while it lasted.
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In a sense, CAS essentially captures that one core value of Accenture – Integration. I doubt whether any multi national organization would have a training program which would bring people from two continents, put them together for about two weeks and make them interact, brainstorm and have discussions with each other. In my team, I had two analysts from Tokyo, one from Shanghai, one from Canberra and one from Melbourne. The story was repeated across all the entire fifteen teams formed for the course. A cross cultural diversity that certainly challenged me to communicate more effectively and be more coherent with a couple of team mates who at times were not so proficient in the use of the English language. And as the course progressed, I realized that even though some of us might have had misgivings as to the relevance of the contents of the course, just the chance to work in a diverse team and the opportunity to initiate participation and carry your team mates from different countries along was an experience in itself. Its relevance perhaps can hardly be questioned, for many of us might well find ourselves in projects tomorrow where we are working with people not from our country. The experience and learnings of CAS would certainly be called upon then.
Its always lightens a training when your faculty is out to have fun as well, and we were certainly lucky to have a set like that. The mood was always light, the ice breakers (charades, chicken dance, ‘All my neighbors’ and a host of crazy videos from You Tube) made a dull session turn into fun and the faculty members never shied away from shaking a leg, sharing a drink or simply letting their hair down in the networking events.
So what was there at KL outside the classroom? The nights were spent for many in the lounge bars and pubs of the city (many landed up late the mornings after, or simply landed clutching their heads and rubbing their eyes). There was of course the mandatory pilgrimage to the holy grail of Malaysia – The Petronas Twin Towers and the sight of them at night was absolutely amazing. Even more scintillating was the view from floor 65 where Accenture has its office. The highlight perhaps was bargain shopping at China Town, a street market where every brand you could only drool over and wish you pocket could afford one day, was available for one – thousandth of a price (alright, one hundredth, allow me some scope for exaggeration as well). From Gucci, Louis Vitton (suitcases and briefcases by that brand, can you imagine?), Prada and Guess; from T-shirts (all the football clubs you could recall) to shoes from all brands to DVDs and souvenirs and mementos – everything was available at a throwaway price if you could summon your bargaining skills. And we certainly did, to the point that one shopkeeper even shooed us out of his shop screaming ‘You Indians! You bargain too much!’
And when we were not shopping we were enjoying the other sights – KL has some of the best public transport systems you can imagine. The cute monorail, a metro running through the city, air conditioned buses and a high speed transit rail connecting the main city with the suburbs. And even though there were some rumblings of protests by a civil group in the main city, the discipline and neatness on the roads was admirable. Admirable also was the suburb of Putrajaya where we were put up, which now houses all the Malaysian government complexes. The tour of its imposing mosques, multiple bridges and wide pathways at night will remain my highlight of the trip. Also enthralling was the trip to the entertainment park at Genting, where a dozen of us braved our hearts, stepped on to the free fall ride and fell at a gravity defying pace from a height of about a hundred feet. One high which none of the drinks at the lounge bar of the hotel could match!
Alas, the time to say good-bye was equally difficult. It was amusing how many friendships were made in that small period of a fortnight and the rapid exchange of mail ids, msn addresses and telephone numbers clearly evidenced the same. Also an evidence of the closeness we shared a group was the video that we finally managed after much hiccups and the bunch of nostalgic mails that appeared after everyone joined work, with promises to stay in touch in the future. It’s a promise that will have its own test with the rigor of work and time, but I would have to honestly admit that the Core Analyst School from 19th to 30th of Nov at KL surely… blasted while it lasted.
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