Emma Illg and Malia Tessum Travel to India

Two Fillmore County women got to experience the business world in India first hand last month. Emma Illg of Harmony and Malia Michelfelder Tessum of Lanesboro were chosen to be part of a group of six students from the College of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University’s global business program to study abroad in India. 

Professor Kingshuk Mukherjee had presented the study abroad opportunity to global business majors; Emma and Malia then completed an application and the department selected which students would go. 

The six students and Kingshuk Mukherjee were in India January 3-18. When they arrived around 3 a.m, Malia was amazed at the sheer number of people and traffic on Mumbai’s streets even at that time! Malia admitted that the sheer mass of people and very little space was a bit of a cultural shock. She shared that it was much more crowded than New York. 

The first day, the students went to the Stock Exchange in Mumbai. They were the first student group to ever be allowed to tour the exchange, which is the oldest stock exchange in Asia. All the money, the people, staff and cybersecurity were almost overwhelming to Emma. 

In Mumbai the group also got to talk to some of the singers, song writers and fashion designers who worked in Bollywood. Malia told of speaking with a TikTok influencer who worked in Bollywood and had grown up in the U.S. What interested Malia most was how important their culture was to their art. The artists always focused on their tradition as they worked. Emma was impressed again by the sheer magnitude of that industry. 

The Elephanta Cave temple tours in Mumbai were a true cultural immersion for Emma and Malia. A tour guide explained the history behind the sculptures in the cave temple as well as the history of Hinduism and how the people valued it. 

Another stop in Mumbai was Thakur Global Business School. Emma was impressed by the beautiful campus and the wide variety of types of business classes presented there.

The group traveled to Pune next and visited a Bridgestone tire manufacturing operation. There they met with the chief operating manager who spoke about the company’s vision and how the company sticks with it. The company strives to find out what the community needs and to create it and focuses on understanding its audience. 

Emma was impressed by the man’s passionate attitude; the company is working to develop new tires that will be more efficient and not need to be replaced as often.

In Pune the CSB-SJU students met up with students at the Symbiosis Skills and Professional University (SSPU). Prior to the trip to India, the two student groups had collaborated virtually via Zoom and wrote a 40-page project. They now had face-to-face time to put the final touches on their presentation. In this way, they all built international business skills. The Indian students were very fluent in English.

The students presented their project at the International Conclave which was held at SSPU. There they also had a chance to listen to other presentations. Malia declared that the networking was incredible; they were able to connect with many businesses which are also in the U.S. She made a point to stay the entire time and connected with many people via LinkedIn. It was a great opportunity for the students to be heard and seen by world business leaders. 

Goa was the last stop on their trip. Emma explained that Goa was much more relaxed. While Mumbai was definitely urban, Goa was more rural with rustic homes. According to Emma, Goa is the “Miami of India” with beaches and palm trees. 

Malia shared that Goa had a lot of Portuguese architecture with a somewhat colonial touch and very colorful. At Goa, the CBS-SJU students relaxed and unwound at the end of their eventful trip. 

Both Emma and Malia enjoyed the food of India. Spicy curry, Naan and vegetarian meals with no beef were some of the foods they mentioned. Emma declared that all the food was so much more flavorful. A meal of chicken Alfredo was flavorful to the max – nothing bland about it!

Malia, an adventurous eater, took a cooking class. She learned to cook a stuffed, whole fish as well as flavorful, buttered chicken.

Malia enjoyed the markets in India. The markets are much like our farmers markets with one difference. For many people, this is their main business. The markets also sell clothing, shoes and other merchandise; there are no grocery stores in India.

In India, there is a juxtaposition of the ancient traditions and modern innovation. Emma shared that women wear traditional saris on the street on a daily basis and meals are homemade just like their parents taught them. Malia noted that while you see modern aspects in fashion; it remains very traditional as well. 

Malia and Emma both want to learn more about business in India. Malia just started new research on U.S. and India. With a Global Health minor, Malia wants to learn more about India’s very new health care system which is just getting established. India has a lot of health disparities due to the big wage gap. They have created a lot of social programs to even out the disparities. Malia feels aspects could be found to use in the U.S.

Emma wants to learn more about India’s economic growth. India’s GDP and population are both growing quickly. She wants to know where they expect to go. 

Malia felt the trip made her more comfortable with being uncomfortable. “I’m a lot more confident now; I know how to build relationships and work with other people,” she commented. She felt that tying together the culture and business led to better business if you understood the culture. 

Emma felt the trip gave her great networking opportunities as well as taught her better networking skills. “It changed my perspective. I’m grateful for the opportunities we have and want to take advantage of them. Some people in India have so few opportunities!” Emma declared.

When asked if they planned to go on any more such trips, Emma replied that she’d love to go to Germany to learn more about its rapidly growing economic system. Malia said she’d already traveled quite a bit in college: she went to the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria with the CSB volleyball team as well as a trip to Ireland last summer studying theology, colonialism and Christianity. 

In the future, Emma plans on joining the business world. She has a minor in accounting and data analytics and has an interest in AI and cybersecurity.

Malia will be a second lieutenant in officer training ROTC at graduation. She hopes to remain in the Reserve or National Guard. Malia is interested in Healthcare Administration or Public Health. A women’s health care advocacy on a campus interests her. 

The CSB-SJU students are planning on presenting their project in Chicago in April. They have submitted an abstract of the presentation and have applied for a research grant for it. They are looking forward to sharing what they’ve learned.