A night in Bollywood

Today was one of those days that just disappeared too fast. Class all day and a three hour start-up meeting afterwards. Two things were different, though.

First of all my old friend, Stefan, was visiting from Denmark. Stefan is half Swiss, half Danish and found time to stop by Lausanne while visiting his family close to Zürich. I think he got a good first hand impression of the frantic speed at which things pass by at IMD.

Secondly, tonight was the night of the Bollywood party that our Indian friends have been working on for the past couple of weeks. And what a party it was! There were shows prepared by those who really knows how to dance the Indian way and there was dance tuition by Suchir Swarup for those of us who have absolutely no clue how to do it.

The evening ended on the peak with Kanika Lakhwani showing a video of a somewhat younger version her husband Ajay in a real Indian TV soap opera! All this time we have had a real Bollywood star walking among us without knowing. Ajay is in my startup group. The group will never be the same again now that this fantastic secret has been revealed. It can only make you wonder what other talents or secrets that are kept hidden in the class.

Thanks to all our Indian friends for a fascinating and fun evening!


Left-to-right: Gerrit Sinderman [German], Marco Simons [Dutch] and Ruslana Zbagerska [Ukrainian/Canadian] looking great at the Bollywood party. Not surprisingly Gerrit went on to win the price as the best dressed.


Ajay Lakhwani and his wife Kanika showing how real Indian dancing is done. It was fascinating to watch. Shortly after this picture was taken Kanika revealed Ajay's Bollywood stardom to the class!