We arrived in Mumbai early in the morning after more than 24 hours of travelling. With only time for a quick shower and no sleep, we had our first encounter with the traffic in Mumbai and the concept of “Indian Time” as we rushed off to our company visit at the Mumbai Grundfos office. The office is located in Thane in the north eastern suburbs of Mumbai and is primarily engaged in sales. There are only 12 employees in the office but we immediately felt their hospitality when we were greeted with flowers and a warm welcome at the door. Viniit Gupta, Head SBU-Chemical, Pharma & Food, gave us an enlightening presentation on Grundfos and their business in India and it was very interesting to hear how the core values and ideas of the Danish companies are applied in an Indian setting. The presentation was completed with an insight into the various performance measurements used in the office, many of which we could recognize from our classroom lessons. After the presentation, we were invited to an extraordinary lunch with all that the heart could desire of Indian specialities that we managed to mix together in all the wrong ways, causing much amusement for our generous hosts.
After our successful visit to Grundfos, we decided to take a train to the city centre to do some sightseeing. Some took a rickshaw to the train station while others choose to walk – eventually realizing that a few centimetres on the Mumbai map is not a short as it seems. All’s well that ends well and we all managed to meet up at the Gateway of India to experience Mumbai by night.