31st July 2016: Tour around Bangkok's Sacred Places

Our next outing on Sunday morning took us around the top tourist attractions of Bangkok - from the hallowed temple at Golden Mountain to the reclining Buddha at Watpho and the Emerald Buddha at the famous Royal Palace.

 

 

 

 

 

IBM CSC Team Visit to the Bangkok University

It was a fine Saturday morning (30 July 2016) when our 12 IBM CSC team in Thailand trooped out to visit the University for a CSR activity. We were joined by ABV's cheery David and the ever affable Nisagon from IBM Thailand for a sumptuous lunch along with a clutch of University Professors and students. Exchange of pleasantries over some great food and drinks helped us acquaint ourselves to the University members.

Our teams then delivered a career advancement workshop - "Design your future with IBM" - to close to 100 university students from Engineering, Actuarial Sciences, MIS, etc. , including a few PhD. students. 
We delivered 3 break-out sessions spanning a range of professional skills, including consulting, technical and business operations, and had great interactions with many students who were all very enthusiastic and curious about IBM and its career roadmaps.

The University director presented us a token of appreciation in the form of a body lotion/Deo Limited edition pack made for the University by the "HARNN" brand. The uniqueness of this brand was the fact that this wasn't available for sale in the market and was only made for the University using the fragrance of the flower growing on some trees in the University campus. What a wonderful gift for us IBMers!!!

 

Travelling, finally!

What a relief – we were finally granted our Thai Visa 28th July’16 after all the delays in the Visa processing. For the record, we were supposed to check into Bangkok on 22nd July'16, but ran into visa-related delays, since the Embassy asked us for additional documentation.

Thanks to IBM Thailand and ABV, we got an endorsement letter from our client - Department of International Trade (DITP), Thailand - which got our visa expedited.

Looking forward to meeting our CSC team on ground, as Nivedita and I take our Jet Airways flight from the T3 International Terminal, Delhi, out to Thailand tonight.

A Word about IBM's NGO Partner on the CSC Assignment

Wish to also express my gratitude to our NGO partner on the IBM CSC Assignment - ABV - for facilitating the travel arrangements and our work assignment with our client in Thailand.

Our Global NGO Partner for our Thailand assignment is Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) [http://www.abv.org.au], an Australian based non-government, not-for-profit international development agency that has been contributing towards the alleviation of poverty in developing communities by delivering capacity building solutions designed to foster and promote sustainable growth for the last 35 years.

What a pleasant surprise!

Big Hello to all Readers!

It was a fine spring morning, 4-5 months back, when I was informed about my selection as a participant for the 2016/2017 IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program. The feeling was that of relief, exhilaration, and sheer joy, as I had been eyeing this announcement with bated anticipation for quite a while.

The relief wasn’t surprising really, given that this program is extremely competitive, picking only a handful of the topmost  IBM performers. Every year, only a select few make it to this prestigious program post a rigmarole of reviews and screenings, sifting through hundreds of applications.


Ever since I joined IBM, back in 2003, it was my long-cherished dream to make it to this hallowed community of CSC participants. Not merely because it was a unique self-development opportunity, but because I had heard from past participants that this was a life-changing event. Needless to say, when I noticed the announcement post in my mailbox, I was thrilled to bits.. It was really happening – I have made it.. a welter of thoughts and emotions overwhelmed me.
For the uninformed, the IBM CSC program is a prestigious global assignment that empowers IBM employees as global citizens, by sending groups of employees from different countries, with wide-ranging skills, to an emerging market for a four week community-based assignments. While on assignment, participants perform community-driven sustainable development projects, working at the sweet spot of business, technology, and society.
This program seeks to enhance IBM’s understanding and appreciation of emerging markets while creating global leaders who are culturally aware and possess advanced teaching skills, offering a triple benefit: leadership development for IBMers, leadership training and development for communities, and greater knowledge and enhanced reputation in growth markets for IBM.