Bangalore Series Post #1

As I get ready to leave for India on a 3 week Governance, Risk, and Control audit I’d like to share some words given to me by one of the most intelligent Men I know, my Father:

“I am just sitting here thinking about your trip to India. I wish you the best experience possible.India is an ancient culture which is based in spirituality more than materialism. The essence of its deep spiritual knowledge is the Bhagavad Gita. Many westerners, including your old man, have been captivated by the Gita. These westerners include some of the top genius intellectuals that we westerners can produce. The Gita is serious business.

I will leave you with a few quotes from the Gita:

“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”

“The mind is restless and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by practice.”

“Delusion arises from anger. The mind is bewildered by delusion. Reasoning is destroyed when the mind is bewildered. One falls down when reasoning is destroyed.”

“There has never been a time when you and I have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes.”

Karl, if you want to understand India, I suggest that you read the Gita. It is a short poem, and very profound. If a white western guy like you shows some basic understanding of the Gita, you will be seen in a much more inviting way in India. More importantly, you will open your soul to god."

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit भगवद्गीता, Bhagavad Gītā, "Song of God"), also more simply known as Gita, is a sacred Hindu scripture, considered among the most important texts in the history of literature and philosophy. The Bhagavad Gita comprises roughly 700 verses, and is a part of the Mahabharata. The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna, who is revered by Hindus as a manifestation of God (Parabrahman) himself,[3] and is referred to within as Bhagavan, the Divine One.

I’m going into this trip with an open mind and heart and have been told that by doing so, the people of India are gracious hosts.

Scope of the Audit
The audit is an integrated audit focused on Fusion Invoice-to-Pay processes covering Financial, Operational and IT areas. Bangalore India has emerged as a world Technology Hub for IT services and outsourcing models. Many of the Major Technology leaders have outsourced high touch financial processes to India to maximize cost effectiveness and leverage the technology infrastructure that has been growing in India over the last 10 years. I wanted to share my experiences with you over the next several weeks to give you an understanding of how a large scale Technology company conducts travel, QA, and Internal Audit activities.

Please follow my mini blog series over the next 3 weeks if you’d like to get a first hand perspective of an end to end Bangalore visit. I’ll make sure to include photos, videos, and more to keep you all in the loop as accurately as possible.

Thanks for following,

Karl Laughton