India IMLPs Roundtable with Charlene Begley

This is first time that GE held its quarterly Corporate Executive Council (CEC) outside of the US and inside India. Being the growth engine that India is, this was an obvious choice, and it gave us this wonderful opportunity to interact with senior GE leaders.

Two and half days and a flight later we found ourselves all suited up for a round table with one of the fastest growing leaders in GE. And, if the engaging town hall with Jeff Immelt earlier in the morning was anything to go by, we were in for a great day of interaction with senior GE leaders! With Vic Bhagat (CIO - GG&O) and Amarjeet Singh (CIO India) also joining Charlene for the round table, we hoped that the meeting would be fruitful, and it sure lived up to its expectations.

The meeting started with a high energy level that Charlene brought into the room as soon as she walked in. "I'm excited to meet you all, let’s do a quick round of introductions," she said, as she walked from the door to her seat. After the introductions, the conversation varied from IT Strategy, the GPB (growth playbook), careers in GE, and Charlene's advice for IMLPs.

Below is the transcript of the IMLP interactions with Charlene, Vic, and Amarjeet:

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“Run Maadi Run”- IMLPs Take On Bangalore Marathon

Bangalore IMLPs join a group of runners to race for the finish line!“Run Maadi Run”

was the punchline of the recently concluded Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore marathon.

23,000 runners made their way to the start line on May 31st, 2009 to showcase the spirit of Bangalore and run for a cause. We had 50 runners from GE Bangalore, including a bunch of IMLPs, who took part in this event.

The GE runners participated in two categories. Most of us took part in the 5.7 km Majja Run. We ran the whole distance dressed in school uniforms to promote the theme “Education for All”. We were carrying banners which displayed captions like “Education is not preparation for life; Education is life itself” or “A great teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart” and others.

This effort was well appreciated by many and a few of us were also captured by the TV cameras and shown on national television. A few also participated in 10 km Open Run and some clocked impressive timing of finishing the race in less than an hour.

The GE runners took up this opportunity and collected funds to support an institution called “Association for the Mentally challenged (AMC)”. AMC has been set up to provide support services to mentally challenged from all sections of society. Today it shelters and supports about 200 children, adolescents and adults.

Participating in this race was a great experience.

Equipped with mp3 players, running attire, water bottles, timing chips, we started off the race in an open road at 8:00 am on a Sunday Morning. The participants ranged from professional athletes, celebrities, students, senior citizens, physically challenged, corporates or just the common man with a great spirit to run.

There were huge crowd of supporters on the sideline throughout the track cheering us up. The organizing team did a great job and you could find them at frequent intervals serving water, glucose and cheering the runners. The Majja run saw participants in creative costumes to support various causes and it had an atmosphere of a big carnival. The great feeling of completing the race and crossing the finish line cant be put into words.

Guest Blogger: N. Ramesh

Bangalore IMLPs: Weekend Trips

Gaurav, Rahul, Priya, Neeraj, Sourabh, Ramesh and Shireen beside the Coorg coffee plantationsOne of the advantages of being in the IMLP program is that you always have a big circle of friends to hang out with. If I want to plan a weekend trip, I always have a big gang of IMLPs to accompany me.

We, the IMLPs from Bangalore, made the best use of the long weekends in 2009 when we decided to go on outstation trips.

In the month of March, 5 IMLPs and 2 FMPs headed off to Coorg (also known as Kodagu) in the Western Ghats of southwest Karnataka, India.

Coorg is a nature lover’s paradise famous for its Coffee and Cardomom plantations, variety of flora and fauna, beautiful waterfalls, and scenic surroundings. On our way to Coorg, we also passed through the town of Srirangapatna (known for its historic importance) and through the beautiful Nagarhole forests.

We stayed in Bamboo cottages located on a hill slope close to the Brahmagiri forests,  trekked through the forests and  visited the Iruppu waterfalls. We spent the night beside a bonfire on the hill reliving out junior bootcamp memories!

On our way back, we also visited Bylakuppe, which is one of the biggest Tibetian settlements in India known for its handicrafts and monasteries. We were amazed by the beauty of the Namdroling Monastery, which is the largest Nyingmapa teaching center in the world. The huge golden idols, the ornate altar, the spiral columns adorned with dragons and divine figures mesmerized all of us.

In the month of April, my next weekend trip happened with 3 other IMLPs to Goa in the west coast of India.  Goa is known for its beautiful beaches, water sports, vibrant nightlife, rave parties, flea markets, old forts and churches.

We spent most of our time at the beaches doing water sports (like parasailing and water skiing), enjoying the beach parties and savoring the seafood and the Goan cuisine.

A special mention must go to the locally brewed Goan drink called Feni that is made from coconut flower stalk or the fruit of the cashew tree. We visited the Baga beach, the Calangute beach, the Chapora fort and the church of St. Francis. We also visited the Saturday night market at Arpora, which has buyers and sellers from all over the world, artists performing on stage, food stalls from tandoori to Italian and a lively atmosphere.

All in all – Great fun!

Post Submitted by IMLP Blog Guest Author: N. Ramesh

Trip to Kolkata, India

As part of my first rotation, I am involved heavily in testing a SOA application.  As part of the testing, I am currently in Kolkata, West Bengal, India visiting my project's development team.  It has been a great experience to finally meet the team in person after having many calls with them over the past several weeks. 

So far this week, I have been able to make a great amount of progress on the project, in addition to being able to spend time enjoying the Indian culture.  When I return to the U.S., I will post more about my trip, including a few pictures from my visit.

Application Testing and Travel: My Life as an IMLP

Recently, I have had the opportunity to begin putting my technical background to work.  For my project this rotation, I am building a test environment that will eventually consist of five servers.  I have been responsible for planning the environment, ordering the components from HP and IBM, setting up the installations within the environment, and coordinating the configuration.  It has been interesting to see the progression of the testing environment from its conception to its current state, almost complete and ready for code deployment.  Once the environment is completely setup, I will run multiple rounds of testing for our web service application.  My first round of testing will culminate in a trip to Kolkata, India to analyze the testing results and perform a code review.