President's blog

Late March was dominated by the run up to my trip to India. The usual attempt to try and tie up as many loose ends on claims as possible proved no less easy than on previous occasions, but that is loss adjusting for you. Luckily, Paula and I flew on Sunday night and we had the weekend for shopping and packing only to find we were, as usual, overweight – I blame Paula’s many shoes!

We neither of us knew what to expect in India and had a fairly busy business schedule, plus just over a week of holiday (paid by us I should explain). Our trip took us to Mumbai (Bombay), Jaipur, Agra, Delhi and Hyderabad. Whilst there I met with representatives of The Insurance Institute of India, The Indian Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Loss Adjusters, The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and a total of 12 practising loss adjusters. I have learned a great deal from this visit and I believe we now have good links with India which over the years will prove valuable to the Institute. I will be reporting in appropriate detail to Council in due course and have many emails and thank you letters to write.

Our first experience of India was the transfer from Mumbai airport to our hotel. The traffic congestion would cause The Mayor of London, Ken Livingston, complete apoplexy. Cars, lorries and taxis fill every available space and roads only suitable for 3 lanes commonly have eight with drivers constantly changing lanes and hooting furiously in an effort to gain an extra yard or two. The taxi driver said that to drive in India you need “a good hooter, good brakes and good luck”. He wasn’t kidding. Added to that all the rickshaws, tuc tucs and pedestrians, made for total road chaos. Luckily our hotel proved a haven of tranquillity with attentive staff everywhere you turned. Even a man to turn on the taps in the washrooms and hand you a towel – very strange for us boys!

It quickly became clear to us that India is a country diverse in culture, religion, language and prosperity. The extremes are there to see wherever you turn and some came as a shock to us. The people however are kind and gentle if at times a little persistent. They also value their links with the UK and many have relatives here or in the USA.

What perhaps amazed me most was the commitment everyone has to education and the benefits it brings to those who succeed. The Insurance Institute of India marks a staggering 1.8 million examination scripts each year. A young man we met was taking his exams to secure a university place in engineering and 900,000 students sat for 3,000 places. Education and qualification becomes all consuming for parents and their children alike. There should be a lesson for us there.

Apart from the people, we found the historic sites of great interest and we have many photos to prove it. The craftsmanship in silk is another subject altogether and we were constantly astounded by the beautiful handicrafts on sale and at a fraction of UK prices.

All in all, our visit to India has given us a taste for the exotic east and we will definitely be returning. However, we will pick October or November to find less hot weather. In Delhi and Hyderabad we experienced temperatures in excess of 40ºC and, to answer the question most frequently asked, no we had no bad food experiences and “Delhi belly” did not hit us, thankfully. I will now return to my CILA duties with renewed energy.