Love all, Serve all: India

Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Sunday, January 24, 2010

As I walked down the street in Jaipur on a study abroad orientation assignment to find Reliance Fresh, I realized this Indian experience would be significantly different from those that I have had over the past two summers. First of all, my Hindi-that-sounds-like-Gujarati is going to give away that I am not from Jaipur, meaning rikshaw drivers are going to try to rip me off right off the bat. Second of all, if that does not give me away, the fact that I am walking down the street with a gaggle of non-Indians will definitely draw stares, often accompanied by shouts of "hello!" "thank you please!" and even a witty rikshaw driver saying "I will give you a ride at no expense!"

As soon as I start speaking in English with an American accent with fellow student travellers, I am no longer just another Indian in India. It will be interesting to see how my new conspicuousness affects the relationships I form and the many interesting interactions I am sure to have in the next few weeks. More significantly, maybe I'll be able to do some self-reflection: What does it mean for me to be an Indian in America? What about an American in India, or more precisely, an Indian American in India?

I love India. I love America. I've been asked many times by people from both countries--which do you like better? Where do you want to live? And I honestly have no answer. I love both--in fact, I AM both, and there really is no splitting them up.

As for where I want to live when I grow up, I suppose I'll need an answer to that some day. But for now, I am completely enjoying my life in both worlds. I think I'll continue it for a bit longer.

**Note: for anyone wanting another perspective of this trip from a fellow student traveler, check out Claire's blog: claireinindia.tumblr.com

Joey's blog: joeygoestoindia.blogspot.com
Scott's blog: againstvanity.blogspot.com

Friday, July 10, 2009

Horn OK Please

Foreigners come to India and completely freak out at the driving and Indians have a pretty bad rep in terms of their driving skills. But I'm writing this post to refute that reputation.

I think that Indians have the most fantastic driving skills of citizens of any other country. Reflexes like theirs are hard to cultivate anywhere else. I really believe that if you can successfully drive on an Indian road, you can drive almost anywhere else in the world. Sure, they don't always follow traffic laws (okay, so they never do)--no speed limits, overtaking from the right and the left, driving on the wrong side of the road--and sure, most Indians have fake licenses/licenses gotten from bribing agents...but just the fact that someone has driven on the road in India and hasn't died or run someone else over is something to really sit back and marvel at for people like me, who stress out in traffic jams in America. Just the other day, I sat on the back of the scooter my cousin was driving as she navigated through a jam in Ahmedabad--we had to get to the other side of a two-lane road to turn, and there were generally about 6-7 vehicles side by side, with one scooter-driver's foot right next to a rickshaw wheel. It made me wonder how many people have had their feet run over here.

In the past 3 days, my dad, sister, and I along with my dad's friend took a driver and went to different towns all over Saurashtra, the western region of Gujarat. We rented a large van, and driving in a large vehicle in India takes an amazing amount of skill. Here are some things I learned:

First of all, you must learn to share the road with jay-walkers, rikshaws, scooters, trucks, other cars, cows, bison, donkeys, sheep (and all their various herders), stray dogs, women carrying enormous loads on their heads, and much more.

Second of all, no matter how many lanes there are, always drive in the middle of the road. So, if there are 2 lanes (one going one way, the other going the other way), drive on the middle line. That way, you can pass a slow moving vehicle that's driving to the left of you, or a faster car can pass you from the right.

Thirdly, the horn is your friend. All trucks have some form of "Horn OK Please" written on the back of them. Just honk, they'll move to the left, and you can pass them quickly! This rule doesn't just apply to trucks--honk at anything and everything in the way. Even if nothing is in the way, when in doubt, honk--for instance, if someone is walking on the side of the road in front of your car, just honk a couple times-that way, they know that this really isn't the time to jay-walk. Of course, this is only the case on highways. On some local roads, the more you honk, the more a riskhaw or scooter will try to drive in front of you at an unbearably slow speed.

Find the "Horn OK Please" or "Blow OK Horn" slogan in the picture!

Finally, don't be scared, even if your driver is driving the wrong way on a one-way road. Really, there's no such thing as a one-way road--even if there is a truck coming straight at you at full-speed, the driver will surely move to one side somehow, even if it's only a couple seconds before the truck would have hit your car!

I'm telling you, it's all in the reflexes.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Research

Slowly, I'm getting started with my research. Things sometimes move along slowly here, so every day, I've been meeting with various Manav Sadhna employees to try to hammer out a schedule. I'll be going into the Ramapir No Tekro slum on Monday and Tuesday. I'm also going to go and see Sughad, the site of the sanitation institute which I've heard is amazing.Then, I'm going out of town (all over Gujarat) with my family from Wednesday-Friday. So, my interviews should officially begin next Monday, the 13th. I'll start interviewing slumdwellers by going into the Tekro with Sunilbhai, and also start meeting some local mentors.

I need to arrange a visit to the Ahmedabad Municipality Corporation to see if I can get any information about the hybrid government-NGO Ahmedabad Slum Networking Project.

Other than that, life in Ahmedabad right now is very, very hot! Walking to Chetna Behn's Anganwadi from Manav Sadhna takes 20 minutes, and in the midday heat, it's pretty sweaty. But, I've found that when I'm playing with the kids or talking to the volunteers and employees, the heat becomes secondary to everything I'm seeing and experiencing. Still, I have absolutely no idea how the kids manage to play tag outside at 2 in the afternoon!

Yesterday was the Saturday Special, where I was welcomed with a flower necklace and kankoo (red dot on my forehead) for the fourth time. This time, though, it was in front of over 100 kids.

I'm getting back into the habit of doing prathna, literally meaning prayer, every day. It's not a prayer that pertains to any particular religion, but rather one in which you close your eyes and repeat slokas with words and phrases about of not stealing, loving others, and having peace of mind (om shanti). I don't think there is anything more beautiful or peaceful than watching, listening to, and chiming in with a chorus of 20+ children who are generally wildly running all over the place sitting quietly and chanting "om."

I'll post more as my research progresses...

By the way, Happy Independence Day!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Emergency Lift Protocol

Getting stuck in a lift in India is not like getting stuck in an elevator in America. First of all, the emergency call button doesn't do squat. So, here is what to do if you ever get stuck in a lift in Ahmedabad, India in the summer (we will use dad as an example in the pictures):

1. First of all, no, the fan won't work. Press the button with the bell on it. Some weird-sounding siren will then proceed to sound. However, if as in my case, the people that equipped the lift with

the emergency siren decided to make it sound like a bird, chances are (surprise surprise) that people will think it is a very annoying bird. That's what happened to us. We pushed the button for a long time, but the people waiting for us at the bottom of the apartment building had a very lengthy conversation about what type of bird it could possibly be that was so persistent rather than realizing that we were stuck in the lift.

*side note--horns, AquaGuard music, and many other types of noisy things often play the weirdest tunes in India--for instance, the AquaGuad at my grandparents' home plays a "Dashing through the snow" tune every mornig as water is filtered. As you stay longer and longer in India, you realize that really, no two noise-emitting applicances ever sound the same. These horns and tunes blend with the monotonic voice of the guy walking down the street selling vegetables, the hum of scooters and rikshaws, peacock calls, various phone ringtones that are adapted versions of Bollywood movie songs, and the neighbors standing on their porches talking to each other. Though the mixture of all these sounds seems as if it would be chaotic, soon, it comes to be a comfortable soundtrack added to the storyline of my stay in India.

Now, back to lift safety protocol:

2. Though everyone that has ever lived in a dorm has learned NEVER to try to open the do

or when an elevator gets stuck, that is exactly the opposite of what you should do in the lift. Open and close the lift door several times so that the lift

music (in the case of this particular lift, it plays a very jarring, loud version of Fur Elise) plays and the slamming lift door brings attention to the fact that you are stuck. Also, yell loudly.

3. When someone finally hears you, tell them that you are stuck in the lift ("lift bandh thay gayi che!") and then ask them to call the watchman ("watchman ne bolavo!").

4. The watchman is often a very old, senile, slightly confused man that you can generally find sleeping in the shade of a tree somewhere in the apartment complex. So don't worry if it takes him a little while to come. Wait patiently.

5. When you hear him shuffling around the building, slam the lift door a few more times and repeat very loudly which floor (or between which floors) your lift is stuck on.

6. Wait as the watchman fumbles with the keys trying a bunch of different ones until finally he finds the one to the door to the floor that your lift is stuck on.

7. Climb out. And pray the lift doesn't start while you're climbing out. Climb out reaaaaalllly quickly.

8. Say "phew" as you look back. And go find a fan to sit under.

Now you know!

In other news, I've been going to Manav Sadhna for the past few days and it's been amazing seeing everyone (especially the kids) again!

Kajal (and Mit in the background)

Remember Manisha?

Annnnd Ashwin!

More later...

Sunday, June 21, 2009

IRB Approval and other craziness

In case you didn't know, the IRB is the Institutional Review Board that approves research on human subjects. I think each research university has its very own board. So basically, if you're going to be interacting with human subjects in any way, you'll have to go through the IRB process. If you're going to be interacting with pregnant women, fetuses, or children...well, good luck with that, I have a whole new appreciation for the amount of work your research requires!

My IRB experience so far? Well, first, of course, I tried to apply for exemption (quite a long application in itself, 8-9 pages and 1 appendix plus instruments)...which was not accepted. So, I got together with Charu, Ravi, and Sam on Thursday right after I turned in my 9 single-spaced pages take-home Econ 615 final (my 4th and last final thank goodness) and we cranked out 10 pages and 5 appendices and instruments/verbal script and consent forms, etc. of the Initial Review application (for expedited research) in about 2 hours (many thanks to Kenny, who I've never met but whose IRB application template was a godsend). Now, we are all waiting for approval. If it doesn't go through, we'll have to go through the entire application process again. Of course, IRBs are not the only preparation one has to go through to do research; OSU has currently switched to an entirely new student system, so trying to track down different grants is rather time-consuming, though I have come to appreciate email in an entirely new way--staying in touch with so many different entities which all have different methods of grant disbursement would otherwise be even more confusing!

Picture of the Tekro (where I'll be researching development projects):

(http://www.manavsadhna.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=30)

Here's an outline of my summer: I worked for a few days this week in Columbus at the Ohio House of Representatives, but now I'm back to Dayton for a few days until I leave for Boston on Tuesday. I'll be back next Saturday and leaving the following Monday for India, where I'll be until the beginning of September! Charu, Ravi, and I have been constantly in touch, trying to figure out a plan to do a little bit of travelling while we're all there; we'll be in all different parts of the country but are hoping to meet up and see some new sights. I'm also hoping to get in some dance and Hindi classes, and I'll definitely also be volunteering at Manav Sadhna again--I can't wait to see all of the children again--and hopefully, also at Seva Cafe (http://www.sevacafe.org/). Once I'm back in the States, I'll probably go visit Georgia for a week or so.

While I'm home (aka in the next 2-3 days), I have to figure out how to use the voice recorder and whether or not I should print out 100 different questionnaires before I go, and do some last-minute tweaking on my interview questions. Oh, and I also must talk to my parents and grandparents about direct translations of my questions to Gujarati so I can ask exactly what I want to be asking to the different parties involved in development projects, then proceed to print out 100-150 pages with my questions on them. And, I'm getting my Typhoid shot on Monday...and I really must remember to take my malaria pill tomorrow. Finally, I'm waiting on my traveler's health insurance card to come in the mail.

The student organization I'm co-founding, The International Development Collaborative, soon to be International Development Coalition (due to the fact there is already a pre-existing organization with the former name), is something else I am working on. Devyn, Justin, Pranav, Elizabeth, and I are organizing and planning everything for the 2009-2010 year, focusing right now on Autumn Quarter. We all met through our Collegium Seminar at the beginning of this academic year and have been meeting every since; in fact, currently, we're all trying to figure out a time we can gchat from all the different time zones we'll be in to stay in touch throughout the summer...if we manage to pull it off, it'll be quite an accomplishment!

Our wonderful exec. board and faculty advisor.

I should perhaps start unpacking everything that came over from my apartment and packing for Boston and India sometime soon. I'm known for my extreme procrastination in packing though, so in reality, I won't be doing that any time soon, I'll just be thinking about it excessively. Last summer, I had to leave the house for my flight to India at 7am, so I decided to get up at 5:30 am to start packing. Yes, start. Not the best idea, but it worked out...I think I stress my parents out with my packing habits more than myself.

Hmm...what else? I love planes. I love traveling alone, too. But the fact that an Air France flight with 228 passengers actually just disappeared from radars is a little disturbing, especially considering that is the airline I fly.

Finally, a random quote that I recently came across and wanted to share: "In the midst of our lives, we must find the magic that makes our souls soar."

*I may be moving to wordpress.com, I'll post the link on here if I do!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

"Love all, Serve all" 2008

The Card Project (aka Earn N' Learn)

I looked up from my sloppy handmade card to see Vijay throwing me a dimpled half-smile and diplomatically saying, “great job, Didi!” In a few minutes, I knew, he would discreetly fix my mistakes. Vijay, a ninth grader, is part of the Card Project at Manav Sadhna. Many of the project’s children find the heavy burden of being the sole income bringers for their families placed on their shoulders at the age of eight years old. Their childhood is ripped away as they are forced to drop out of school and beg for money or polish shoes to feed their families. However, as part of the Card Project, they are able go to school in the morning and come to Manav Sadhna around 1:30 in the afternoon Monday through Saturday to make handmade stationery while laughing and playing. They are paid for their work, and are also provided with a pre-approved nutritious snack. Staff members lovingly repeat lessons of hygiene, cleanliness, service, studying diligently, and respect for all religions to the children every day. Of course, not every child is as patient with my imprecise sample copying skills as Vijay—whenever I sit down to help Ashwin make his cards, he sarcastically raises his eyebrows while giving me a wide grin and charmingly convinces me to go “help” another child (so I don’t ruin his cards). Ashwin’s little sister Manisha, however, can always be counted on to give me a brilliant, beaming smile while pulling on my hand, sitting me down next to her, and giving me simple shapes to cut while she chatters away. Most of these children can crank out six or seven perfect cards in the time it takes me to make one slightly skewed card.

At Manav Sadhna, the forty or so fifth to ninth graders in the Card Project immediately swept me up into their lives and their laughter. My main project was to teach them basic English while throwing some games and dhamaal-masti into my classes. Duck duck goose, I found, was a crowd favorite for the five-second-attention-span younger children. Simon Says was a great game to play with the older children when teaching them human body vocabulary. For a few shining hours every day, I taught my classes on the back porch of Manav Sadhna. I administered tests regularly, and with the added prospect of winning prizes for getting the best grades, the children were eager to learn while making fun of my pronunciations.

In the mornings, I often accompanied staff members on other projects. One of my most memorable experiences was in going to the Civil Hospital with staff member Ajay Vaghela and a boy named Rohan to get a disability certificate. The three of us would pile into one shuttle riksha with six other people (not including the driver) to get to the hospital. Once there, we spent hours each morning running from department to department, waiting in endless lines, and collecting scraps of paper with hastily scribbled notes from doctors that would supposedly help us get the two or three signatures we needed for Rohan’s certificate. Rohan is an almost blind, deaf, and mute nine or ten year old. He is also one of the most intelligent and well-behaved children I have ever met. This orphan was found one year ago by Manav Sadhna begging on the streets, naked, with no sense of when or where to go to the bathroom, and his right arm severely infected, swollen, and pus-filled. A staff member, who lived in the slum with his family himself, took the boy into his home. Since then, Rohan was named, his arm was operated on, he was taught proper hygiene, and he had two operations on his eyes enabling him to hazily make out light and dark colors. He recognizes everyone by touching. Rohan has a hero’s style, never without a handkerchief in his pocket (which he immediately uses to wipe away any stray speck that has the misfortune of landing on his face). He makes sure to pull his pants up and take a large step over any mud or puddle in his way, and if the wind blows his carefully combed hair in the wrong direction, he grimaces and immediately sets his hair back into place. His smile lights up the world.

My experience at Manav Sadhna is unparalleled to any other occurrence in my life. I learned from the staff, side-by-side with children full of spirit, that service is only true when one does it with one’s heart, with love and the selfless desire to help another human being simply because he is another human being. Amazingly, I found the most happiness in the place where I found the most poverty. Never have I seen so many smiling faces and experienced such pure-hearted seva. I plan to go back to Manav Sadhna next summer to find more of myself by losing myself in the mass of selflessness and love that is in each and every staff member, volunteer, and child at this NGO.