Our first week in Delhi has been one that I will always remember. Despite all the hurdles the Oz interns in Delhi have experienced, we have consistently remained optimistic and tried to make the best of every situation. Arlene, Jen, Jasdeep and myself would have never imagined that we would all become so close within such a short period of time. I will share with all of you a short account of the events we experienced.
Our first ordeal was with our broker. Being born in India myself, I should have known better and done some more research. However, I arrived in Delhi on Saturday evening and started work on Monday, since this allowed me to visit family in Mumbai. On top of that, it took us a few days to adjust to temperatures above 50 degrees celsius on a daily basis. I would have never thought the heat could delay thought processes! Our broker was a young guy and initially seemed really helpful. However, he was charging us double the rent normally charged, an excessive brokerage fee and a one month security deposit, which he expected all up front. We had given him a portion upfront and once we became aware of his scam, he refused to return our money. This is where Colin Gonsalves, founder of HRLN and two amazing women by the names of Laya and Seba stepped in. Within a couple of hours, we had our money back and found ourselves living in Colin’s apartment. We have finally settled in a better place but it was an ordeal that involved a lot of screaming, negotiating and sleepless nights.
Our next interesting situation was at our hotel which we stayed at for a few days while apartment shopping. Our first morning there, Jen, Arlene and myself were having breakfast in one of the rooms. Jen smelt something strange and as a precaution, I turned the air conditioning off. WIthin two minutes, a ton of black smoke was coming from the air conditioner. We were frantically grabbing their things and vacating the room. The girls ran into my room with most of their luggage and I went back to their room to get more stuff. By that time it was too late and there was a fire. The GM of the hotel ran in and used a fire extinguisher, covering the girls stuff in baking soda and soot. Despite this ordeal, the hotel refused to give us our room for free and even tried to scam us further. It was here I finally realized, people sense we are tourists, despite me being Indian and will always try to make a quick buck. Once again, I had to scream, be assertive and somewhat angry to get some things we deserved. This whole situation happened while I had a fever for three days, with my temperature hovering around 107 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a scary situation for me since I have never maintained a fever for such a long period of time. I will be eternally grateful to Arlene and Jen for taking care of me and helping me through some tough hours.
India is a beautiful place, there is no doubt about that but if you are not strong willed, assertive and conscientious of your surroundings, you can find yourself in a world of trouble. My supervisor, Colin Gonsalves, has been really good to us and sometimes acts as a fatherly figure. He is so knowledgeable and passionate about his work, you cannot help but aspire to mimic how he operates. In terms of project work, thanks to numerous conferences HRLN organized for us to attend I have been able to draft a research proposal which is currently under consideration. I feel that I have the opportunity to complete a substantial piece of work here. I am really looking forward to working with all the amazing people here at HRLN. I hope there will be more opportunities for me to explore India. Will keep you all updated.
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