Photo blog: Life as part of Team India

by Guest Blogger, 27 August 2015

Melissa Balzano shares a visual insight into life as part of 'Team India' for Cambridge International Examinations.

India office view

To start with, a panoramic of the view from Team India's office.

India family selfie stick image

Team India on a day out with their families (via selfie stick - very useful item!)

India Trinity school image

Ayesha Banu and I went on a school visit to Trinity School. This is a middle class school serving the middle class kids.

India Cambridge Primary stand in Mumbai

We also jointly hosted a conference where we talked about teacher training for heads of schools thinking about joining Cambridge. Ayesha chose an outfit identical to the Primary curriculum colours - such dedication.

India posh school image

NSS International School – this is one of the top schools in Mumbai. It serves wealthy higher class kids (and children of Bollywood stars apparently)

India Melvyn Leonard from Cambridge English imageMelvin Leonard (pictured left) from Cambridge English was my travel companion on a couple of days. We share the Mumbai office with colleagues from Cambridge English and Melvyn is their Business Development Manager for Schools in West India.

India cylinder lunch boxesFor lunch, Team India have their lunch from a ‘dabbawallah’ - the stacking cylinder of tins shown in the photo. In Mumbai, dabbawallahs are a very common way of delivering food to workers, costing about 70p a day.

These are home-cooked meals prepared by ‘work-from-home’ women. Everyday, about 5,000 dabbawallahs are delivered around Mumbai (a highly intricate delivery system) and provide a good income to the people who make them and a very tasty lunch to those who receive them. 


Melissa Balzano 
Training Events Coordinator, Cambridge International Examinations 

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