I am a master in India

Chapter 449 Strong Woman

This hotel wasn't located in the commercial district; location was a key consideration.

Only by getting as close as possible to the center of power can it play its due additional role.

When advertising the Sunshine Hotel, it boasted that it cost over $2 million to build, making it arguably the most expensive star-rated hotel in New Delhi.

There are 20 professional chefs, two bartenders from Australia, six restaurants, and a wine cellar that can store 3600 bottles of wine.

The bricks used in the hotel's construction were imported from Dongda University, the marble tiles were imported from Italy, and even the music played in the hotel was sent via the internet by a company headquartered in the UK.

The Sunshine Hotel has a total of 408 female service staff. All of them start work on time at noon, and most of them work until 2 a.m. before handing over their shifts. Only the receptionists leave work a little earlier.

The hotel has seven departments, each responsible for a category of food, namely the seven major cuisines.

Each department includes a manager, manager's assistant, waitresses, and the lowest-ranking female service staff, also known as "front desk assistants," totaling 70 employees.

Kitchen staff also have a similar hierarchical structure, where the number of points earned is determined by the position.

The more points you accumulate, the more tips you'll receive. If an average waitress receives 75000 rupees in tips over two weeks, she might receive about 500 rupees.

The higher the rank, the more points you can get.

This income is quite substantial; otherwise, Sunshine Hotel wouldn't only hire female college graduates with bachelor's degrees and fluent English.

They have very high overall qualities. They walk with a light sway and speak softly. They bring a plate or take a cup with them before leaving, and they always have a smile on their face, which makes people feel like they are bathed in a spring breeze.

Ron was talking to someone behind the bar, a woman in her twenties who was in middle management in her department.

Her name is Leila, and she comes from one of the small states in the Northeast. She is the only woman among the nine bar managers.

How much do you earn in a month?

"Not including tip, it's seven thousand rupees."

“That’s not bad.” Ron nodded.

"When I worked at a travel agency as a receptionist, I only made four thousand. This place is great, it's really beautiful."

"A travel agency? Then your English must be very good."

"Uh, I actually majored in biochemistry," Leila said, a little embarrassed.

"Wow!" Ron looked at her in surprise. "So you're cut out to be an engineer. Where did you go to school?"

"At Manipur University, I initially studied biochemistry, and later pursued a master's degree in botany."

Leila said she had planned to pursue a doctorate, but she ended up attending a tourism course in Rudigarh, Punjab.

He later fell in love with the job and moved to Delhi to work for a travel agency.

At the time, she lived near Delhi University in a place called the South Campus, while the company office was in North Delhi, which meant that she had to take several buses across the city every day to get to work.

The men on the bus were very rude and disrespectful, and she often got lost.

Just then, the Sunshine Hotel opened. It was still not close to her place, but it was half the distance of the previous travel agency.

The salary in the job posting has almost doubled; there's no better option.

With her fluent English and experience dealing with foreigners in travel agencies, Leila became the manager of the luxury bar at the Sunshine Hotel.

She did a good job; her job involved explaining the menu, taking orders, and serving food to customers, which allowed her to maintain close contact with them.

Most guests gave her positive reviews, and the bar's food and drinks were complimentary for VIPs.

Each bar has a fixed operating cost budget, and Leila always manages to keep costs within that budget.

She was one of the Sunshine Hotel’s outstanding employees this month and received a personal meeting with Ron at the bar where she was in charge.

"Are there any difficulties at work?" As the group's president, Ron was quite approachable.

"I'm the only woman in charge of the bar; the rest are men, so I have to be ready to fight them at any time!" Leila said quite bluntly.

"Fight back?" Ron asked with interest.

“Those guys are really arrogant,” Leila said with a laugh. “They’re not willing to do tedious work.”

This is a euphemistic way of putting it; the truth is that she did all those chores.

She couldn't refuse; she came from a poor family and had a cousin in Imphal. He was a complete alcoholic, getting drunk every day.

Every time Leila came home, he would ask her for money. What could she do? She had no choice but to give him the money, completely unaware of how hard Leila worked to earn it.

In Delhi, most of Leila's close friends are women who work, while the men are "homemakers" at home.

They stay at home all day, doing nothing, constantly searching for a so-called good job, a suitable job.

This is a very strange phenomenon. Men are clearly proud and arrogant, yet they feel perfectly justified in spending women's money.

"I will have the HR department create a performance system where the more work you do, the more bonuses you can get."

"Really?" Leila asked in surprise.

"Of course, more work, more pay is a very fair practice."

Ron cannot accuse Indian men of male chauvinism, nor can he change their discrimination against women.

However, he doesn't mind giving some rewards to women who actually get things done, as a way of comforting them. Most importantly, as a manager, it's crucial to be clear about rewards and punishments.

Leila herself was very satisfied. She knew that Indian men were like that, always looking down on women.

She had long accepted these values, and her complaints to Mr. Sue were merely venting.

She wouldn't mind doing extra work if she could get more bonuses.

“Any other questions? Let’s discuss them together,” Ron encouraged.

“Mr. Sur, the hotel here is very good; the rest are problems specific to India.”

"Huh? What do you say?"

“There is serious discrimination within this country. Take myself for example. Just because I am from Manipur and my eyes are smaller than most Indians, they treat me like a foreigner.”

People can easily tell that I'm from Northeast China. Sometimes the way they look at me and talk to me makes me feel like I'm not Indian.

I hope people can accept me as I am, and not look at me with prejudice. But this is difficult because discrimination is deeply rooted in India; caste, class, and region are all its accomplices.

Wow, no wonder she's an educated female master's degree holder; ordinary Indian women don't have this kind of insight.

In fact, Leila encountered more problems at work than these; she just didn't talk about many of them.

Sometimes there are guests from the Australian and French embassies at the hotel. If they run out of Evian mineral water, she will give them some other brands of soda water, and the Frenchmen will get angry.

Some people were quite baffled. Once, an American guest pointed his finger at Leila and cursed at her. She could only mutter curses at him in Hindi, but she kept smiling and bowing and nodding.

Leila knew very well that such things were inevitable for those working in the service industry. They were there to serve others and had no right to complain about their own grievances.

She was aware of this, and therefore never complained.

And the customers she dealt with were all wealthy people. They would come in carrying bags and shopping bags, such as those from brands like Louis Vuitton and Cartier.

Sometimes customers would drop their receipts on the ground, and when she picked them up for them, she would see that the bills were worth nearly several hundred thousand rupees.

A single handbag she owns is worth several years' worth of Leila's salary.

And then there's Mr. Suer in front of her. Not to mention the well-known Suer Electric Appliances, there are four or five five-star hotels under construction right under her feet.

As Reuters described it, “colonial development and real estate business are just a tiny ‘small business’ for Sue.”

Compared to such immense wealth, Leila's income was pitifully small. She was like a lowly maid in a magnificent imperial palace, unknown and insignificant.

But Leila didn't complain, nor did she resent the rich; she had her own plans.

"I am learning about the catering industry on my own, mainly process management, catering regulations, and food safety. I hope I can do better."

“If you can get the professional certification, I’ll let you be the restaurant manager,” Ron said immediately.

"Mr. Suer, is this...you really intend to do this?" Leila was very excited.

"Of course, I have never been a rigid person. My principle in hiring is to prioritize ability, regardless of caste or gender."

"I will email you when I receive the certificate."

“Okay,” Ron smiled, “I’ll remember your name, Leila.”

She is a capable and bold girl, very confident, and willing to make breakthroughs.

She is very different from ordinary Indians; she is independent and strong.

Well, Ron thought she was a strong woman, and more specifically, a strong woman from the East University area.

In all his years of traveling around the world, Ron had almost never seen an Indian woman like her.

Ron couldn't examine each of the hotel's departments in detail, but based on his on-site assessment, they seemed quite good.

Many acquaintances in Delhi also come to the Sunshine Hotel, and their feedback has been very positive.

This is evident from the fact that many foreign companies set up offices directly in hotels, and guests are satisfied.

This makes Ron very much looking forward to the upcoming smart city business district, which is the real money-making business, rather than a storefront amenity like the Sunshine Hotel.

By August, negotiations with the New Delhi government regarding the Golden Quadrilateral Highway project were finally coming to an end.

Unsurprisingly, only Tata, Reliance, Sullair, and DLF received the largest share of the pie.

They contracted over 4,000 kilometers of the 5800-kilometer route, while the remaining 1,000 kilometers were divided among more than ten small contractors.

Ron's bribe finally worked, and the highway minister was very pleased with the young shepherdess who had been sent.

At his behest, Sur Real Estate won the tender for a 1200-kilometer highway in Mumbai and northern Delhi.

According to his plan, he needs to conduct an on-site inspection in Mabang Township, where the highway may pass through, which involves demolition and land acquisition issues.

It may require a large sum of money, and without his approval, the people below cannot make the decision.

Coincidentally, the initially planned highway route passed right through Anand's hometown.

Well, this guy volunteered to take Ron to his hometown.

(End of this chapter)