Chapter 478: 478
Gun-Ho, by experience, knew how handy a book could be during a long flight . For the trip to India, he carried a few weekly magazines and a novel . He also didn't forget to wear long sleeves knowing that it could be cold inside the flight .
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"Sir, you seem to be very well prepared for the trip . I see you carrying a magazine as well . "
The director person in a small company, who looked like an anchovy, commented . He was the person who sat next to him during the preliminary meeting for this trip . For some reason, he sat next to Gun-Ho again in the flight .
The airplane flew overnight as it passed over the South China Sea and Hong Kong . After finishing reading the weekly magazines that he brought, Gun-Ho grabbed his novel to continue his reading . A flight attendant brought him a blanket .
They finally arrived at Delhi Airport .
"This airport doesn't look very nice . It seems to be very outdated . "
"I know, right? It looks like an airport in a province in China . "
After they all passed the immigration and customs, they got in a tour bus that was waiting for them at the arrival exit . A man, who looked like he was about the same age as Gun-Ho, came onto the bus . He was wearing glasses . He spoke to the party,
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"Welcome to India . You are here for the business tour . I am the assistant manager of KOTRA's branch office in India . "
One of India's official languages was English, and it seemed that every worker for KOTRA in India spoke English very well . Well, KOTRA required high qualification for their new hires, and it wasn't surprising that they required English speaking capability for those who would work in KOTRA's branch office in India . Most of the workers with an assistant manager position would probably be about the same age as Gun-Ho .
'I wonder how much they are getting paid for their job at KOTRA . '
Gun-Ho was receiving approximately 40 million won in total as a monthly salary excluding dividends or other income being generated from his personal assets . His salary with GH Mobile was 15 million won, and he was receiving another 15 million from Dyeon Korea; he also was getting 3 million won from GH Media and 7 million won from GH Development . Even with the highest qualification, it would be hard to find someone who would get this much in Korea except those with a wealthy family business . Moreover, Gun-Ho's interest income was at least 4 billion won annually .
"Wow, look at the street trees . Those are beautiful . "
Gun-Ho thought that India probably had the most amazing roadside trees in the world . They were tall and fully grown trees just like Ginko trees in Yongmun Mountain in Korea . The streets in India were not very clean, but their streets were incredibly gorgeous . Indian people had dark complexions, and the streets were messy . Gun-Ho couldn't have a good first impression of the country .
There were tons of signage stands standing on the street . Gun-Ho saw many Japanese signages among them, such as Toyota, Honda, and Toshiba . Korean signages were found as well—Hyundai and Samsung . When Gun-Ho saw Korean standing signboards, he felt good .
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On the first day of the trip, the group visited Hyundai's automobile manufacturing factory . A Ph . D . student from the University of Delhi came to interpret for them . That student interpreter spoke Hindi instead of English when he talked with the tour bus drivers . The Hyundai factory was clean . They said that working at Hyundai was considered one of the most enviable jobs among young Indian men . Visitors had to pass the security before entering the factory . There were barricades in place, and the young Indian security guards were controlling the access .
"Having a job with the Hyundai factory comes with lots of privileges and benefits . You can easily use the restaurants around the factory on credit . Also, if you are a single man, you would have a wide range of choice to select your bride . "
The tour guide described the high status of Hyundai in India as such .
Gun-Ho observed that the people in the management had fair skins while the workers in the production field had darker complexions . When Gun-Ho's tour group walked out of the production field, the factory manager came to see them . The tour guide introduced Gun-Ho to him as the team leader of the group . Gun-Ho gave the factory manager the gift that KOTRA prepared .
After completing the business tour in Hyundai auto manufacturing factory, the tour group headed to Haryana in order to visit its vendor company's factories . On the way there on the bus, one of the tour group members asked a question to the guide/interpreter, "Does India still have the caste system?"
"It's banned by law . However, it is clearly still prevalent all over India . They still have four categories—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and the Shudras . There is even an outcast category—the untouchables . "
"Really?"
"Even between the employees in the management of Hyundai factory, the ones who belong to Vaishyas don't even try to challenge the people from Kshatriyas . "
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The small company's director person who was sitting next to Gun-Ho commented in response to the tour guide's explanation, "This country is uncivilized and obviously outdated . "
The interpreter who was a Ph . D . student at the University of Delhi smiled icily, and said, "That's not true . This country provides a better opportunity for people who are willing to climb up the economic ladder . "
"You just said that the caste system still exists . "
"They have a quota system which is applicable to the places in good colleges and good companies for each caste category . Therefore, you can find a prime minister and a CEO of a conglomerate, who belong to the low class—Shudras . On the other hand, it is extremely hard to become a prime minister or a CEO of a conglomerate in Korea if you were born into a poor family . In that respect, India's system is more reasonable, and its door to the opportunity to be successful is widely open .
The small company's director couldn't argue further, and he didn't ask a question anymore . Gun-Ho nodded his head .
The tour group visited two vendor companies of the Hyundai auto manufacturer in Haryana . While looking around them, Gun-ho asked questions like the lease price of their premises and their average sales revenue . Every place they visited was furnished with pamphlets, and many of them collected the pamphlets while Gun-Ho gave up on picking them up since they were heavy to carry around .
"Sir, you are not taking the pamphlets?"
"It's okay . I'm good without them . "
The vendor companies in India were at various levels from the second vendor to the fourth vendor . Gun-Ho thought that the workers in a small company seemed to be working without enough support there .
On the second day, Gun-Ho woke up very early; it was strange . He walked out of the hotel to go jogging .
"I'm so jealous of their street trees . They are indeed huge . The circumference of one tree here looks ten times thicker than trees in Korea . "
Gun-Ho passed the trees and went into a village where lots of houses were standing . The path to the village and inside the village was paved with asphalt, but a very different scene was unfolded in front of Gun-Ho . There was a giant-sized dog that was as big as a calf that was lying on the street . A little girl, who wore neither a skirt nor pants, was urinating in the middle of the street . Gun-Ho didn't go further into the village . He decided to just go back to the hotel . There were a lot of feces scattered on the street . Gun-Ho was not sure if there were humans' or dogs' or cows' .
"I could well step on those feces if I go further . "
The world inside the hotel and outside the hotel was two very different worlds .