JOIN USWhen you land in Delhi from France, its very early in the morning and it is hard to realise where you are until its next day and you see the people around you,” says Renaud Palliere, on being asked about his first experience on landing here.
Serving as CEO of International Business for PVR Ltd since years, Renaud has been often visiting India but finally shifted his base here in April this year. Metrolife met the expat while he was steering the PVR Nest programme, a campaign to promote CineArt on Road Safety.
His trips before have been quite short and filled with business meetings, “Before I settled here, I used to come here for very short trips so didn’t have the luxury of time to experience India. Now since I am in the country, I aim to see it all.”
However, the man visited the Taj in Agra and has been floored by its beauty, “When I visited Taj, four years ago, I still remember a rather common entry through an old building that leads to the a majestic view of gardens and the monument in white. Wow! It takes good 30 seconds to believe it to be true. Its visual is phenomenal and the grandeur is more than the monuments of Paris!”
A student of Contemporary History, Renaud loves to travel. He spent 15 years of his life in China. “Once you start travelling, you get hooked on to it. The sensation of discovery and its experience is fascinating. So I moved from Paris to China,” says Renaud. He loves to be in new places, which are uncommon from his native land.
And when he goes back, “People have no idea what you have gone through because they can hardly relate to it. It is completely beyond their imagination!”
Having spend a sizeable time in China, Renaud says, “India is like a new chapter to me” and adds, “I have a lot on my mind. I have been to Mumbai and Bangalore and like the latter a lot but still visiting Pondicherry and the Himalayas is on my list.”
The man feels, “India is very Latin in many ways. There is commonality in terms of social fabric and family structures.” He finds it easy to communicate here than his previous base, “There is an ease to communicate here unlike it was initially in China.
The linguistic did bother me even though I had learnt Chinese in my academics. But here, I find a reference point in the culture of France and India, which makes me very close to this country. It is easy to understand the local culture rather than it was to understand the Chinese culture during my initial days in China.”
He is trying at learning the local language too. “I have bought books to learn Hindi but don’t open them daily for everyone speaks English here which has made me lazy to learn the language,” he signs off with a smile.