Three weeks back in Sweden, India already seems like a long gone dream, especially last week when the first snow for the season fell in Stockholm. Once again I’m amazed by the ease with which I have adjusted back to life as I’m used to it; no more hotel, no more driver, no more Indian colleagues, no nice weather, just plain old Sweden.

Leaving India

Four weeks ago I did my last working day at Uninor in Bangalore. My last day was in many ways “business as usual”, presenting my last project to 30 people, but in many ways very special. First thing in the morning outside where I lived, I was surprised by a truck (a movable ad) announcing that I was leaving with a big picture of me on the side. Later the same day a radio station called me and had me wish for a good bye song. All of this is the credit of the remarkable Uninor Marketing Communication team in Bangalore; you are the greatest colleagues and friends. Together with the rest of everyone in the Bangalore office you made my half year in Bangalore incredible. The last six months, I have done things I never would have imagined, I have learnt things I never thought I needed to know and I have a change mindset leaving India. India is truly an incredible nation with great potential for a long time to come. I would love to come back and work in India again.

Back home

Leaving Bangalore meant coming back home to Sweden. As every time I have lived abroad before, I’m always surprised by how easy it is to readjust to “the old”, in my case living and working in Stockholm again. And even though I miss India, it’s great to be back home. Since two weeks I’m back working in the Telenor Sweden office in Stockholm, now working in a group called Channel Management in the Consumer Marketing Department. This time my task is to optimize our portfolio of handsets. A task that will continue throughout the whole last module of my third and last trainee assignment, in March I will no longer be a trainee. Even though the Indian and the Swedish cellular markets are very different, my experience from working in marketing and sales in India will come in handy. I’m once again in for new and exciting challenge!

More about that next time!