Getting to Know Our Indian Partners, One Indian at a Time

Jyoti Gaikwad

Jyoti is the most passionate, compassionate and unselfish woman I met while in India.  The first time we spent any time together was in Delhi.  She was interviewing candidates for positions in the Delhi office.  We had been there for 2 days and we were stuck in a car for more than 2 hours on our way back to the airport.  Jyoti was on the phone the whole time  following up with people she had interviewed.  I know she was exhausted.  I asked her why she didn't wait til she got back to the office.  She said she enjoyed pairing good people with a great company and didn't want to lose any one that she thought was a good fit.  She really enjoys helping people and being in recruiting is such a great job for her.  She has been with Phillips for a little over 2 years and the part she loves most about her job is the contact she has with people.  She enjoys meeting and getting to know new people.  If she could change any thing it would be more involvement in the final interviews.  

Jyoti has been heading up the charity project in India for Phillips.   After a lot of research, they decided on "Concern India Foundation". This is a charity that is all over India.  They support under privileged children, women in crises, and the elderly.  Last years goal was 50,000 rupees and they exceeded their goal by 25,000 rupees.  

The web site is: 
www.concernindiafoundation.com

Jyoti has lived in Pune most of her life.  Her Father was in the Indian Army as part of the Peace Keeping Force.  He died in the war with Sri Lanka in 1987 when Jyoti was only 5 years old.  She was raised by her Mother and has a younger sister and brother.  

Jyoti went to the University in Pune and specialized in Human Resources.  That is where her love for helping people find jobs began.  While at the University in Pune  Jyoti did some traveling around India and found that she also loved traveling!  One day she would really like to travel to the US and also Canada.  I think this Boston t-shirt will encourage her to start there!!

Jyoti was married in June of 2006. The marriage was not a love marriage but not really an arranged marriage either.  Jyoti was living with her Mother upstairs from her cousins sister, Jaya.  Jaya got very sick and passed away, leaving behind her husband, Mahendra and a little boy, Swaraj.  Swaraj was very attached to Jyoti from his childhood. Jaya's mother proposed that Jyoti marry Mahendra as she thought that Jyoti would be the right person to take care of her grandson. Mahendra agreed but told Jyoti it had to be her decision and he would understand if she chose not to marry.   Wow, what a decision Jyoti had to make!  Not only did she need to think of what was best for the little boy but in India if Mahendra did not marry within the year of his wife's passing, he would have to wait 5 years before he could marry!  Jyoti loved Swaraj and did what she thought was best for Swaraj and married Mahendra.  She has never regretted her decision to this day!  A year after she was married Jyoti had another little boy, Chaitanya.  Her married life may have started off very unconventional, even for India, but she now has a Love marriage.  She loves Mahendra very much.  He is a wonderful husband and would do anything for his family. When I think of this story, I wonder how many of us would actually make the decision that Jyoti did.  Such an amazing and unselfish act of kindness that has turned into quite a love story!  Amazing family!  I admire Jyoti so much!

Jyoti lives with her husband, 2 boys, (Chaitanya and Swaraj) and her in-laws.  

Something most people do not know about Jyoti is that she has a beautiful voice!  She has won many national awards, was the lead singer in college and sang on the radio.  Jyoti sang for Dave and I in the van one day and we were amazed.  The song she sang, "ajeeb dastan hain ye" meaning, "It's A Unique Story" sounded like it was coming from the radio.  Jyoti also loves romantic movies, Bollywood style and adventure movies, Hollywood style.  (Turn your volume up and click the play button below)

 

Jyoti is fortunate to travel to work either on her scooter or in her car.  It takes about 20 minutes, which is pretty good compared to the time it takes lots of others to get to work.   Jyoti also enjoys riding on her scooter with her boys!

Jyoti  is not a vegetarian but her favorite veggie food is Puranpoli, a traditional dish of Maharashtra.  It is a stuffed Indian bread.  The sweetener in this stuffed bread is jagger.  It tastes like a very sweet sugar to me but the dish is yummy!   Her favorite non veg food is the breast of a chicken or fish.

Jyoti's religion is Hindu.  She explained to me that families have a God that they worship first but then they also worship other Gods.  In their prayer room or area there are statues of many Gods, but Ganesh is the main God that Jyoti's  family performs pooja's for.  Ganesh is the main God in the state of Maharashtra, which is where Pune and Mumbai are located.  The story behind why Ganesh is the main God is very interesting!  Ganesh's parents told Ganesh and his brother, Karthika Swami that the first one to travel around the world  would be the main God.  Karthika Swami thought he had this won because he rode a peacock and Ganesh was a little over weight and only had a mouse to help him.  Well, what a surprise when Ganesh walked around his parents and said " his parents were his world ", therefore he traveled around the world.   His parents then made him the number one God.  Karthika Swami was so upset that he left and went south to the Kerala area.  He is the main God in that area.  

Jyoti loves all the Hindu holidays and traditions.  She is always involved when celebrating at work.  She helped Dave and I get dressed for Indian dress day at work.  She knew all the places to go for material to make my sari, buy bangles and hem Dave's kurta.  

I would be remiss if I did not mention that Jyoti lost her Mother last year.  Jyoti's Mom was her best friend.  It is a tradition in India to perform an act of service in remembrance of your loved one.  For the one year anniversary of Jyoti's Mom passing, they went to an orphanage and fed the children.  They will do this every year in remembrance of her Mom. What a wonderful tradition.

From the moment I arrived in India I was in awe of all the beautiful colors of sari's and kurta's.  Take a look at some of Jyoti's!  Now this is India!!!!!

Jyoti, thank you for being such a great friend and for always being there  to explain Indian traditions for me!  You truly made my learning of Indian culture special.