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He is a nature freak and has always been inspired
by the mountains. Thomas Simonis, managing director of Infineon
Technologies, India tells Abhinav Singh about his globe-trotting
experiences
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| Thomas Simonis, Managing Director, Infineon
Technologies, India |
As a child Thomas Simonis would always pack his
bags and headed towards mountains and forests to relish his summer
vacations. “I just love the Alps. Whenever I am in Germany
I head towards them and unwind myself in its soothing surroundings,”
says Simonis. He grew up in Cologne, Germany has been involved in
outdoor activities since he was a child.
Interestingly, his first choice of career was
deeply connected with his love for nature. “I always wanted
to be a geologist as I have been collecting rocks and looking into
the granular details of fossil matters ever since I was in school,”
he says, pointing out that lack of career opportunities in Geology
made him shift gears and pursue a career in engineering.
An outdoor person, Simonis has travelled extensively
across the Scandina-vian countries, including Norway and Sweden,
Europe, North America and Asia. White water kayaking is his hobby,
which Simonis pursued when he was in college. He was part of the
college kayaking team and did quite well. Among numerous kayaking
adventures trips, a particular expedition to Colorado river in the
US and another at Yuken territory in Canada, have been the most
memorable for Simonis. He traversed through the heavy white waters
of the Colorado with his friend and had pedalled across the Yuken
territory for seven weeks at a stretch. “It was very lonely
as there were just the two of us and we had lots of close encounters
with brown bears. It was all very adventurous, as you can never
win with the water current but only deal with it.”
The adventure sports lover has also spent a substantial
time in traversing different deserts across the world. He recalls:
“We had fun when we were in the hot Mojave Desert in the US
and noticed a huge tarantula spider jutting towards us. We ran for
cover and saved ourselves.”
He continued his interest of collecting minerals
and fossils wherever he travelled. He has kept nearly 200 interesting
pieces of rocks at his apartment in Munich, Germany.
Simonis is fascinated by ethnic handicrafts of
different cultures and makes it a point to collect them whenever
he is globe-trotting. One of his prized collections is the ethnic
handicrafts created by Red Indians, which he had picked up in Arizona,
US. He also believes in mixing business with travel for pleasure.
He likes to explore landmarks like parks and museums of important
cities across the world.
Simonis is all praises for the Indian culture
and finds the people here “very traditional.” He has explored
Ooty, Coorg, Hampi and the beaches of Kerala during his stay in
India. Next in line is a trip to Rajasthan.
Simonis believes that India is a good starting
point before exploring Asia further. Next on his itinerary are Cambodia
and Vietnam. He has travelled to Japan, Thailand and China on business
trips and keeps shuttling between Bangalore and Singapore, which
is the Asia-Pacific headquarter of Infineon.
Ask him how he unwinds himself after a day of
hectic meetings, and instant comes the answer, “I listen to
hardcore rock music, particularly Deep Purple and the Rolling Stones.”
Photography is also Simonis’ passion and his digital camera
is his constant companion. He loves to capture landscapes and mountains.
A fitness freak, he goes to the gymnasium at
the end of his hectic schedule and works out at least four days
a week. “Working-out is a great stress reliever and helps me
keep in shape. I make it a point to climb the stairs to my office
on the 13th floor instead of taking the lift,” he says with
pride. Simonis is fluent in German, English and French, and has
a habit of picking up few local words whenever he visits different
countries. Australia, New Zealand and Africa are his next travel
destinations. “I just want to explore these places to the fullest,”
says the man. Currently he is involved in driving the expansion
plans for Infineon’s operations in India and is busy in recruiting
people even on weekends.
abhinav@expresscomputeronline.com
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