Delhi, India

Random shots from my trip in Delhi, India.

Nov 2009

Why people honk in India

My first few weeks in India were full of new things. New sights. New smells. New sounds. Particularly taxing was the sounds emanating from motor vehicles (everyone from truck drivers to motorbikes to auto-rickshaw drivers).

Honking. Everyone does it.

I sought to understand why people do it so much. Now, three months into living here, I came up with the following list of hypotheses as to why the Indian (and non-Indian alike!) has to be assaulted with the daily sound of a vehicle-horn. Please note the following is based on my own observations. Any resemblance to any traffic laws that may or may not exist is purely coincidental. ;-)

• One honks to signal that they are about turn left or right
• One honks as they are approaching an intersection to warn incoming traffic of their presence on said-junction
• One honks at the behest of signs such as this one above
• One honks to alert other drivers of intent to overtake
• One honks as they perform above-mentioned act of over-taking
• One honks on a curvy mountainous road to alert on-coming traffic
• One honks to shoo livestock off the road
• One honks to shoo pedestrians off the road (mind you, pedestrians have an equal right on the roads. As the sidewalks are usually filled with dog poop, humans take it upon themselves to simply walk on the roads, hence yet another reason to honk).
• And finally, one honks in place of the classic road-rage “I’m about to flick you off” gesture.

In other words, honking has taken precedence over all traffic rules. What I fail to understand is how on earth the average driver is meant to distinguish between honks. As in – if I were driving, how am I to decipher whether the dude/dudette behind me is honking because she’s annoyed at my driving or honking at the cow on the road...or honking to let me know that s/he is about overtake me?!

Let’s just say – I’m thankful that I don’t have to get behind the wheel and drive here!! I’m more than happy simply sending up prayers asking that the rickshaw driver won’t get me killed! ;)

Things I’m thankful for

“Black Friday sale!” “75% off deals” “Save..save..save”

These were just a few of the emails that landed in my inbox this week. Reminded me of another world approximately 10-13hrs behind my current time-zone. A world where shopping and buying and accumulating ‘stuff’ takes over the minds of every sane person.

I feel like I’m in an alternative world right now. I mean, as I’m typing this – there are children dying of diarrhea (a relatively simple disease with low-cost remedies) and there are people spending enough money on gift-wrap that could feed an entire family for months.

Living in India definitely has its ups and downs – I can’t seem to get past that. At times, I feel at home here. And many days I can’t wait to get out of here. I’ve definitely grown in different ways and alternatively there are things that have remained stagnant. But this post is not about the crazy thought-world of Devina. It is about the holidays.

While I feel like I’m a world away from the holiday season (India doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving – which marks beginning of the craziness that is the Christmas holiday season with all it’s commercial glory), I am also looking deeper to realize what the holidays mean to me.

While I have actually traditionally hated Christmas since I moved to the US, (I could write a whole another blog post on why!), this holiday season – I’m reminded of so many things to be grateful for. I’ll attempt to list a few here – in no particular order.

• My mother: I could write a book on her life and all the lessons that she’s taught me.
• My sister – my little sister is one of my best friends. Though we hardly talk much – the little Googlie bear is growing up fast and teaching me a lot.
• My life in the US: I appreciate the niceties in the US – living in India has taught me to appreciate even the simplest things like hot showers, clothes dryers, green salads and clean water.
• My friends – I have people in my life that I call my own at varying levels of intimacy. I pray for a lot of them on a regular basis and am grateful for them.
• The opportunity to travel – I have been blessed to grow up in a developing country, move to a more developed country and have an opportunity to go back to work in a developing country. While the upheaval with each move was not easy, I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.
• Ability to speak four languages – I’m SO grateful for my language skills, and ability to pick up languages, especially in India! It comes in useful when haggling with the auto-rickshaw drivers. Ha!
• Spices: I love to cook! Mainly because I love food. I’m lazy about cooking for myself – but love to entertain and have people over. Living in India has been in living in food heaven! I’ve been tantalized with every possible spice combination!
• Education: There was a time that I would have laughed if you told me that I’d one-day have a masters degree. I’m grateful for the schooling that I have received. Especially when I see how much thirst for knowledge is there in the people around me.
• My Lord and Savior Jesus: who continues to be there for me in spite of who I am. Who teaches me on a regular basis how to live fully, how to laugh often and how to love sacrificially.

I hope that this year's holiday season is a meaningful one for you – wherever you may be. Either sitting in cold wintery weather, or hot sunny tropical weather. I hope you are able to take a few breaths and step back from the commercialization that the holidays have become and look around you. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘Whenever you’re faced with a doubt/difficulty, look into the face of the weakest/most vulnerable person that you may encountered. Ask yourself - is my next step going to benefit them or better their life?’. Things will be clear and you'll learn how much you really DO have..

Happy Thanksgiving!

Acclimation and identity

Two months! I just said to a friend! It’s been two months since I got off the plane and landed in Bangalore, India! I don’t know where time has flown, but I can say this one thing: It’s been fun! Full of ups and downs, but fun nonetheless.

Living in India has definitely taught me a lot – I normally do a lot of thinking and contemplating about things on a day to day basis, but being here has kicked my thinking cap into over-drive, much to the consternation of my close friends who have been great sounding boards during my time here. While I try to figure out this first-time-living-overseas-without-my-family-thing, I have appreciated SO much all of you who have called/emailed/facebooked and sent me thoughts in every so often in every small way.

While I am acclimating to life here, understanding my role at work a bit better, getting to meet new people, I still miss home a lot. It’s funny because I never considered America as home...I always thought Kenya as home. Perhaps it is because I have never stayed in one place long enough to strike down roots, or perhaps because I never identified myself as American.

Strangely enough, I do think a lot like an American. In my interactions here with Indians, I do come across as an American. And while I completely get the Indian mentality and way of doing things and even though I introduce myself as a Kenyan living in the US, perhaps a little bit of the US of A has rubbed off on me. And I’m learning that that is okay. (Talk about tri-cultural confusion!)

And while I am enjoying being here, and experiencing all the new places that I get to see (India is SUCH a beautiful country!), all the new people and cultures that I get to interact with (I get to hang out with Singaporean, Filipino, Swiss, Rwandan, Tanzanian AND Chilean people at my church!), I still look forward to going home.

Perhaps it is because my family – my closest people – are over there now. And home is always where the heart is…

As I write this, I am listening to one of my favorite artists – A.R. Rahman. In the background, I hear the dogs barking, the train hooting, and the cars honking. Life here definitely has its fair share of chaos, and India is a great testament to that! But I maintain that there’s peace in the midst of the chaos. Learning to look for that peace in the middle of the chaos can be challenging at times. Especially when nothing seems to go well. But learning to take each day as it comes and live it to the fullest is worth doing.

More random musings later…

Aaahh...Technology Gripes!

So I love being in India so far - it's crazy as heck at times, and many a time I have wondered what I'm doing here. I feel very misunderstood in most of my interactions with peeps here. And at other times I love it here - especially when I feel like might have some sort of impact on some individual somewhere.

This past month and half have been full of ups and downs - perhaps more downs than ups. But I always look for learning opportunities and try to make the most of every situation and 'not complain too much' but life here is VERY different. Simple things take forever to figure out. Take, for example, this wonderful invention called the Internet.

So, I am currently renting a room from a family. Living in another person's house - under someone else's rules - is definitely interesting. For example, I have a 10.30pm curfew. For the record, I've never had a curfew since I was a teenager. It's definitely interesting - especially when I'm (now) starting to make friends here and want to go out and such. The other thing is internet. This family have their own high-speed (wireless!) internet connection but refuse to 'share' it with me and want me to get my own connection. Given that I'm only here for less than six months, I'm finding it a tad difficult to get my own broadband internet connection!

But no worries - I'm the queen of 'research' so, after a month of being here, here's some options I found - I could get a data-card and connect remotely without a land-line. Oooo..but where do I get one? Endless hours of research online, and some help from peeps in my office resulted in a few names of companies that have data-card options. BUT, here's the catch - out of the five companies that serve the Bangalore market, only one has a data-card that fits my budget and has speeds above 256kbps (most of you who are reading this in the US have a standard T1 cable connection with speeds upto 8Mbps!) 256kbps is painstakingly SLOW! On top of that, most companies have a limited use data-cards. Meaning you have a limit as to 'how much' internet you use! Aiy yai yai!

But, no worries - I'm persistent and keep searching. Finally (by fluke), found a company with a datacard with UNLIMITED (woo hoo!) usage and a data-card that'll give you UP TO 2Mbps! (the 'UP TO' is very much bolded/underlined in their promotional material - which gives me reason to believe that I'll probably be accessing much slower speeds. :(

But no, worries - I'm all about finding out how to get my hands on this card. So, I had found out about this via a tele-marketer! And I was like 'yes! hook me up!'. He even came to my home for to check out the data-card but then we realized ONE more glitch! I have a Mac!! (I'm ready to cry at this point!!) And he doesn't know anything about the driver for the software compatible with my computer. He went away saying he'd find contact me again. That was Tuesday. A whole week has come and gone, and I haven't heard back from him. :(

But, no worries - again, online research is my forte, it seems! A few hours (again) on the internet today YIELDED results. I figured out which model of the data card, which company manufacturers said-card, and WHERE on the world-wide-web to find the driver for Mac OS X Tiger!! I have to say, I AM the bomb! I found it! BUT..(there's always a 'but'), I lost the phone number of Umesh-the-telemarketer! So I now I don't know where to buy the card and sign up for service! :(

Next step of research process is to figure out WHERE to buy/rent this dang data-card. I think I'll figure that out next weekend. I love how people here all tell you what to do, but don't seem to know WHERE/HOW to do said-thing.

Okay, I'm done complaining for the night! ha! I suppose this is really good test to my brain-cells. And you, my dear reader, the next time you complain about a dropped call, 'slow' internet, government beaureacracy, or ANYTHING in general, think about 1.1 billion people in desiland. Most of whom have WAY bigger problems than my internetlessness state. Hopefully, I'll have grow some patience-cells in this microcosm of a land, and learn to appreciate life. Life in all its gory and glory. Adios for now. ;-)

A day in the life of…

I have decided against posting a play-by-play account of my experiences here in India. For many reasons, but mostly – I don’t have time to write about my days and the things I observe on a regular basis. Secondly, most days are mundane. The occasional non-mundane is also further attenuated by the fact that yours truly chooses to think that things ‘are-not-a-big-deal’…prefers not to pay undue attention to how my life in India is different from my life in the US.

But for the sake of dear friends who have asked over and over what I do on a daily basis, and how ‘life in India’ is…here goes nothing…

So, you might know that I am interning for Population Services International – an international health NGO. I’m based out of their Bangalore offices and mostly work in an office environment.

My day usually begins at 6am where I get woken up either by the dogs barking, or the newspaper guy calling out ‘paper!!’ or the sunlight, which falls on my bed in the mornings. I don’t have to be at work till 9.30am, so my morning routine has become very lazy. I take my own sweet time getting ready and love the morning hours where I can think in bed and plan for the day. I have also tried to go running/power-walking in the mornings, and have not been as diligent in working out as I should. Somebody keep me accountable!!

My commute to work consists of a 6-minute walk down a quiet tree-lined street listening to praise/worship music on my ipod. I’m now friends with the dhud-walla (milk-man) and say hello to him daily on my way to work. Pick up an occasional pista-milk (pistachio) or badam-milk (almond) from him in the mornings.

Work consists of desk-research at the moment. I’m usually in the office at my desk reading up and writing about tuberculosis in the state of Karnataka. My main project involves doing a gap analysis on an existing TB project and making recommendations to program managers on how to make things better given current context. It’s interesting work. I’ve been working mainly in the office to date, but am looking forward to field visits and seeing the programs on the ground first-hand.

We break for lunch around 1ish – and technically have a half-hour off for lunch. However, we all eat on the rooftop terrace of our building (there’s a full kitchen upstairs and long tables). The most wonderful thing about lunch is the sharing aspect. So everyone brings something to the table, and we all essentially take a bit from each other. It’s like a daily potluck!

Oh…work would not be work without my mentioning ‘sustenance’ aka chai. This wonderful stuff is delivered promptly by office support staff at 10am, 2pm, 4pm and in between by request. You have an option of masala chai, elaichi chai, ginger chai, black tea, etc..etc. I’ve gotten SO addicted to this stuff, it’s not even funny.

My work-day normally ends at 6pm, but I end up staying later as I have nothing better to do after work than to facebook and catch up on personal emails. Between that and talking on the phone (yes, I do have a lot of blah…blah to say!), my evenings are pretty much mundane. There you have it. A day in the life of. Weekends are a different story – a box of chocolates, as Forrest Gump said. I never know what I’m going to get. J

Things I miss about America (in no particular order):

1. A working showerhead – So, it’s back to bucket baths. I wash my hair twice a week and prefer to not get my head wet in between washes. Playing dodge-the-errant-stream of water from the showerhead that barely has any water pressure somehow is not my cup of tea.
2. Kitchen – I miss cooking! Miss playing host to dinner parties and having friends over to try my food. Miss being able to control what I’m going eat on a daily basis and attempting to eat healthy. Miss having my own place. (I currently rent a room from a family and have food delivered to me daily from a tiffin-lady - you should see me when I get the food nightly – I’m like an expectant bright-eyed kid opening up a gift – I never know what I’m going to get!)
3. Efficiency in systems – I am a perfectionist. I admit it. While I take my own time getting things done at times (aka procastinator), I like to do them well. And thus living in India where EVERYTHING takes thrice as long to do is a test to my patience-cells. I could write another blog post titled “It-should-NOT-take-(insert time here) to do (insert activity here)”. In the US, I could (all by myself without external help) move to a different city, find an apartment, move in, set up utilities, cable, internet, bank account, etc...etc, all within 2-3 days of having moved. Not so much in desiland.
4. American banter/humor – people don’t get my jokes!! I miss witty banter about everyday-normal things. Well, people didn’t get my jokes in the US either. (sad face)
5. My family and friends – Enough said.
6. Pandora! You can’t get Pandora outside of the US!! I’ve exhausted my Itunes library…and am tired of listening to the same-old-same-old (anyone want to send me music? Preferably something new that’s currently playing on the hit radio station *wink…wink*)
7. Food – Okay, I love the food I’ve eaten so far – but I do crave the non-Indian food. I’ve never been one to eat the same-old-same-old on a daily basis, so I miss having a kitchen to be able to cook non-oily-low-fat food. The other day, I was craving a plain old dark green salad SO bad!
8. Being able to call people – I’ve moved enough times in the last eight years and have been able to make new friends with each move, but maintaining old friendships is important to me and I miss being able to pick up the phone and call people and yak for hours. (Don’t ask what my phone bills are!)
9. The direct-forthrightness of American people – American culture is very forward. People say what they mean, and mean what they say. Well, most people. Not so much Indians. I’m still struggling with being careful in not stepping on anyone’s toes in the way I express myself.

Ten Things

I read a friend’s blog recently in which she had a ‘Ten-things-list’…and I thus decided to write up about the ten things that I love about India and the ten things that I miss about America. I don’t have a complete list yet, but I shall add to this as I continue to live and work in India.

Things I love about India (in no particular order):

1. Food – Being in India is like being in food-heaven! There are countless things that can delight your palates and stomachs (if you can stand the spiceyness!) Everything tastes so much better here! I suspect, it is because it is produced locally and is fresher.

2. Indian hospitality – Living in the US had me forget what a treat it is to have a complete stranger be so kind to you without so-much-as batting an eyelash. My most memorable experiences have been my interactions with my friend David’s bhai (brother) and bhabhi (sister-in-law). They have been like family here in Bangalore, and I appreciate them opening up their home to me and feeding me on weekends more than I can ever convey. I could write a whole blog post on Indian hospitality!

3. Random noises – You never know what random noises you’ll hear here. I have (now) gotten used to the dogs barking, trains hooting, auto-rickshaws put-putting, cars honking. But the cows mooing (in a very urban environment) and the newspaper guy calling out “paper” at 6am still cracks me up! (Reminds me of scenes from the movie my cousin Vinny!!)

4. Indian signs/banners – I have a whole photo album of random pictures that I’ve taken of signs and banners that make NO sense at all!

5. Chaos – believe it or not, the lack of organization and chaos (especially on the roads) is actually quite soothing. Perhaps it is because I grew up in an equivalent environment in Kenya.

6. The head-bobble (side-to-side head-shake): Cracks me up EVERY time! I’ve taken to doing it, too.

7. Shopping! I’ve taken to shopping on an Indian budget and not think in dollars (only because I’m on an Indian NGO salary here…and cannot afford to live like a normal expat) but things are still fairly cheap, and one can get a decent (and might I add, BEAUTIFUL) wardrobe on a shoestring budget.

8. Traveling – I love to see new places and experience new things. India is a beautiful country. I could live here for years and still not see everything, but the little that I have seen has me simply in awe and worship of my Lord who created it all.

Deriving significance...

Someone made a comment on my blog, so I went today on the site (after a month's hiatus!) to skim over some of my old posts. It’s been a while since I posted my thoughts online. I still need to write on my experiences in the motherland, but first here’s some randomness from today. I reread this post, and something in the second-last para (labeled as 'Listen') got me thinking…

Most of us are active, social people. I speak for those of us who are extroverts who thrive in the go-go nature of life. When we're not doing something productive and not surrounded by people, we tend to get down and out.

Being in India is really getting me out of my element and comfort zone. I'm SO used to being go-go-go all the time. Used to being Miss Efficient. I've always kept busy; love being challenged, and learning new things. This, being in India, away from all things familiar is not easy. Not having 10 million things to do on a daily basis is not easy – don’t even have Internet at home to keep me occupied! (I worked at a full-time job and went to grad school, for crying out loud!) Being in a land where things take an average of 3.5 times longer is not easy. (For example, it took me 5 weeks to get a bank account set up!)

But…I am learning lots here. Learning to sit still...learning to listen...to myself...to others around me. Mostly, I am learning how to depend wholly on my Lord. And find my significance only from Him. Not from people – my family and friends. Not from the work of my hands (macbook?)

I have to admit – it’s not easy to do this. We’re SO results-orientated. At work, we set targets and measure outputs. We’re always ‘delivering’. We measure impact and improve systems and processes. We often feel good about ourselves when we’ve had ‘productive days’. I wonder, is this how we relate to one another? Do our expectations of people derive from the same ‘results’ nature of things? Do we measure friendships with how much we got back?

I suspect that the lesson of deriving significance only from Him is going to be a life-long one. It’s a journey – one with many dips and turns, but when all else fails me, the One who teaches me on a daily basis to live to the fullest, laugh often and love sacrificially, never will.

More on India later!

First Impressions

So I’m here! Finally. The land of my mother. Of my ancestors. Where I dreamed of coming since the day I understood that I was essentially Brown.

One thing I will say – it’s been hard (even for me who usually has TONS to say) to talk about my ‘experiences/impressions’ of India. Perhaps it is because I (unwittingly) expected this larger-than-life experience – having waited so long to come here. Perhaps it is because the practical side of me basically said, ‘Ok. Not a big deal. Millions have done this before and millions live here – just get over it’. So – for the first time, I’m not sure what to say. It’s been a whirlwind emotionally since I landed, but I’ll attempt to synthesize the emotions and events of the past two weeks. Hopefully, once I start the writing, words will come and I’ll be able to process. Until then, know this one thing: India is incredible. A land of contrasts – stark poverty next to ultimate opulence.

The Trip

My trip to the Motherland started in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday Aug 27^th. Having stayed up WAY past my bedtime the night before packing and repacking, I was surprised that I could even muster the energy to be cheerful. Emotions were raw around my family, as we all knew that I was going to be gone for six months. And I, while I was scared shitless about this ‘adventure’, had to put on this happy-go-lucky face even before the caffeine in my morning chai hit my system.

My itinerary was as follows: Gainesville, FL > Jacksonville, FL > Newark, NJ > Frankfurt, Germany > Mumbai, India > Bangalore, India.

Drove the 2hr drive to Jacksonville airport (we live in little ol’ Gainesville which doesn’t have a major airport), managed to check my humongous bags in time to Newark airport where I was to catch my international flights to desiland. All was well until time to check in my bags for international flights in Newark, NJ came. Apparently the Air India scales thought that my bags were over the limit. The fact that Continental Air (domestic airline in the US) thought that the bags were not overweight back in Florida didn’t matter. So, it was either: cough up an extra $100 for ‘baggage fees’ or else. Don’t ask how much coy flirting I did with Jay Patel (Air India Customer Service agent). Either way, the ‘baggage fee’ was waived or the scales righted themselves. AND I got exit-row window seats as a result of my talking skills. LOL.

Landed in Bangalore in the wee hours of the morning on Sat Aug 29^th 2009. Wasn’t as jet-lagged as I thought I would be. Perhaps the fact that I was blessed with an exit row window seat and a few good hours of sleep on the plane might have had something to do with it. The flights across the oceans were uneventful. The clouds - beautiful. Got some beautiful shots of the sun rising and setting several times. God must have it so good!

It is when I landed in Mumbai that the ‘eventfulness’ started. Ha! I was blessed to have the kindness of a lady (whose name happened to be Kinjal Vyas! A good friend of mine shares this name!) who has travelled between the US and India via Mumbai enough times to know how to ‘navigate’ the Mumbai airport. This angel, as I prefer to call her, showed me the ropes.

So, the rule of thumb in Mumbai airport is: do not expect to see any information desks or people giving out info on where to go/what to do. Just do what the person in front of you is doing (and hope that they are not ticking off the immigration/customs officials!) We landed and were ushered into a long labyrinth of passageways. Upon reaching the ‘end’, we had to individually tag our hand luggage with Air India luggage tags (those little paper things with rubber-bands where we write our names/addresses and hope for the best when our luggage gets lost). Basically, anything in our hands – purses, rolly-polly bags, bottled water, etc needed to get tagged. I wasn’t sure why this was happening, and my jet-lagged brain wasn’t about to start questioning the ways of Indian Immigration. So taggage happened. (Don’t ask how I tagged my chunky neck-pillow!)

Because this is India, there were separate lines for Ladies and Gents. One Gent in particular decided to welcome me to India by slapping my butt as he made his way to the he-line. No, seriously. My withering stare back at him didn’t do much good. I mentally told myself to buy more kurtas (Indian loose-fitting tunic-like shirts) that would hopefully lessen the butt-slaps.

We went through the metal detectors and the perfunctory pat-down by the she-cop. Was told to dump out my water. (I thought I was being smart by asking the flight attendant on my flight for water so I wouldn’t have to buy any water at the airport!) And started the process of finding the connecting flight. ‘Started’ being the operative word. Like I said, no information desk or nothing on the TV-info screens telling us what gate to proceed to only meant one thing: start at one end of the terminal and ask each/every gate-agent: Is this the flight #602 to Bangalore? It took Kinjal (my flight-friend who was connecting to Ahmedabad) and I, about 25 minutes to find our gate. Not bad.

The rest of trip was uneventful. I had four hours in the middle of the night to kill. But too tired to do any exploring. Lugging my stuff all over the airport somehow didn’t seem appealing. So I sat. And watched. The terminal was a zoo. Literally. It felt like a market-place. Never mind that it was past midnight – everyone talked at the top of their voices. Children were running around. Babies were crying. Mothers were placating. Snoring was happening – don’t ask how, amidst the din. There were at least 15 languages being spoken. There were TONS of people (where were they all going??) At some point during this time, I said to myself, “Welcome to India”. In the midst of the chaos, I felt peace. Not sure why, but I was here. The land where my mother grew up. Where her mother did the same. Where my Brownness came from. I felt no kinship to anyone around me, but I simply knew that I was here.

My flight to Bangalore was eventually announced. Took off and landed. (They actually served little sandwiches and drinks – even though it was a 2am flight! Take that – you US flight carriers!) Went through immigration and customs (after being screened for swine flu – Bangalore is now the swine flu capital of India!) and got promptly picked up by my friend David’s brother and got inducted into the ways of Indian hospitality. The trip was over. The adventure was just beginning! Watch this space for more ‘eventfulness’.

Change.

Fantastic! I am very..I mean..VERY impressed and proud of you young ppl who can express themselves freely and truly. The sad part is our African govements will never change coz of the greediness and corruption which has been playing for a very long time. Hope and pray for the day I will see " CHANGE" in Kenya and Africa as a whole coz only the young generation is willing to bring that CHANGE. But what about thoese stoned in there?I hope u understand what I am talking about. I love my country and proud to be an african but the ways of Motherland are just SAD!!
- Anonymous
(posted on Aug 18th 2009 in response to my blog post - Obama Fever)

Dear Anonymous,
(wish I could address this personally to you as we could have a lively discussion on Kenya and the change that we wish to see for our nation..but alas, Anonymous it will have to be..)

I don't believe that our government will never change. Call it youthful idealism but someone with a dose of realism once said, "Change comes from within". That is true - be it at the national level in government offices or at the personal level within the home. Our governments continue to be 'greedy and corrupt', because we ALLOW this to happen.

It is easy to say that the ways of our motherland are sad, but harder to be the change that we want to see. Easy to rant and rave. Harder to attempt providing the solutions to some of the challenges. Easy to philosophize about the problem and point to historical reasons as to why we are in the pit that we are in. Harder to think ahead to the future to prevent history from being repeated.

Each one of us, (be it old or young) need to be engaged with our local elected leaders/community leaders to hold them accountable. If you are a citizen of a country, then there is NO reason why you shouldn't do this. If an engaged and vibrant group of Kenyans demand the service that public servants (aka elected officials) should give to the constituents, then change CAN happen.

It is not up to the 'young people'. It is up to YOU! Yes, you! You, who are reading this! Look around you. What is your passion in life? Are you simply existing? Or are you living? Truly, madly, deeply LIVING.

Back to Kenya: Being part of the diaspora, I actively read and follow Kenyan politics and current affairs on the Internet. I dream of the day that we, as part of the global Kenyan citizenry, can organize ourselves enough to go beyond the provision of the occasional remittances back home. Instead of sending money, can you send your time? Are you a doctor, a nurse, an engineer, business professional? Can you 'send' your skills and train others back home? There are SO MANY talented and smart people back home! Instead of sending gifts (and there's nothing wrong with that, by the way!), can we encourage others to look beyond the 'fish' and learn 'how to fish'? Can you contact your nearest embassy and find out who else in the diaspora lives in your area code and hold 'town hall' meetings in your home to discuss these issues?

As usual, I don't have answers. I rant and rave because Kenya is my home. And I wish that those who live at home (a place close to my heart) would simply stop existing and start living. Living to make change happen. Living to hold elected officials accountable. Living to make hard decisions that may or may not bear fruit as we understand 'fruit' to be. Living to engage in the environment around them. We CAN be the change that we wish to see in this world. It takes one step at a time. Make it happen!

Musicka - Cheb Mami

I don't know what it is about Arabic music. Perhaps it is the throaty sounds that sound so elegant to me. Perhaps it is reminiscing of the Arab culture and music that I grew up listening to in Mombasa, Kenya.

Either way, I'm always on the look-out for new artists to add to my collection. Some of my favorites - Amr Diab (Egypt), Mohamed Lamine (Algeria), Wael Kfoury (Lebanon) and now Cheb Mami.

From the guy who brought us Desert Storm by Sting. Here's another number that simply makes me want to go learn belly-dancing! :)

Back to business!

Ok...so, little did I know that things would work out so fast! A friend of mine once called it 'Holy ease'. When things that are meant to happen actually happen. They simply flow. Sort of like a river that takes turns and bends on its course. Not in the way that we thought they would but in other ways that are even more wonderful.

Short story: I got my visas! And am actually going to desiland! And they worked out in ways better than I thought. Getting excited again - but this time - it's a more sedate sort of an excitement. More like, 'Hmm..I'm going away for a little bit. Not bad.' Am looking forward to learning all manner of things. From the fact that I really should stick to bottled water, since my immune system has gone floppy on me now that I leave in 'clean' America. To the fact I'll meet all kinds of people - good people, bad people. People who'll make me laugh. People who might even exasperate me enough to make me cry!

Either way - I'm grateful for the opportunity. Sometimes I pinch myself because I would have never dreamt of this life – an opportunity to make a small difference in the world. While working out the details of each paint-stroke is painstaking at times, the overall picture is beautiful and exciting.

So watch out! Stories shall abound! Pictures shall be taken. And hopefully, I shall be consistent in capturing the emotions of the moment and penning them down in this space. More later!

Bureaucracy and delays

My trip to India is on hold. Indefinitely. Little did I know that I'd be learning the joys of Indian bureaucracy on this side of the ocean. Short story: still waiting on my visas to come in. Hoping that things will work out in a few short weeks! So, while I'm excited about the opportunity to do some public health work on the ground, this little pause has given me some much-needed time with family and to do some thinking and taking stock on where I am and where I've come from. Call it a mid-year resolution of sorts.

Some random ramblings in my head:

People! No matter where I came from, and where I go - people always come first! In the hustle/bustle of life (i.e. life as a full-time worker and graduate student, living away from family etc), I became less intentional in maintaining friendships. Would love to do better in this area. Actually, would love to learn how to love people well. Especially family. Those who know me best and that I care for the most.

Pipes and Flexibility: The American culture is very much a go-getter/I-can-do-all-things culture. We're constantly bombarded by where we need go, what we need to do, and how to get 'ahead' in life. Perhaps this is ubiquitous across many cultures, but never did I feel the pressure to achieve so much in life and have dreams to shoot for the moon, until I moved to America. Amazing, since you hear stories of folks with a bit of stoic will-power, who really can do anything that they put their mind to. Goals and dreams are good things to have. They give people (me?) much-needed structure for daily living (smile). That being said, flexibility, patience and the ability to sit still is a skill that I still am learning to practice.

Listen! While loving life, laughing myself silly, and simply living life to the fullest, I forget sometimes that sitting still is a good thing. Simply listen to the humdrum of life around you. What do you see? What do you hear? I lived in Boston for the past two years, and was pretty busy for the most part. However, I had my little thinking quiet spot - I call it my Carrie Bradshaw desk. It was my desk in my room overlooking my street, where I could see the neighbors' houses around me and and the Boston skyline in the horizon to my right. My space to think and reflect. While I love skylines of cities, I also love green and blue. Being in a small town at my mother's home. The simple rhythmic motion of my comfy reclining chair overlooking trees outside and blue Florida skies, while catching up on reading, often puts me in a reflective mood. Out of one of those reflections comes this age-old adage: Listen more. Do less. Talk less. Listening gives me the ability to learn. To learn about myself. To learn about others. To realize that dreams cannot live in pipes made of steel, but of things pliable and malleable. To learn how to take those dreams and goals from yesterday and have them fit into today with everything that Today can throw at you.

So, I leave you with this last bit of randomness - yes: I love people, live to the fullest and laugh often. BUT..I cannot do any of those things, without loving God first. Hmm...that's the next set of explosions that are happening in my head. What does it mean to know love God? What does it mean to know Him who is Absolute Truth in a relative world? (smile)

India Adventure

So..the time has come to start blogging about India! I am embarking on one of the bigger adventures of my life, to date. I’m going to India for six months to work with a non-profit organization in Bangalore, India.

Excited? Yes! Nervous? Double-yes! If you haven’t guessed from the title of my blog, I’m a Kenyan-Indian currently living in America. I’ve actually never been to India – so this going back to the motherland should make for an interesting experience.

So why am I going to India? (No, I’m not going to vacation – although there’s SO much to see...i’m sure it’d fill six months easily!) Well, I have to do an internship for my MPH (masters in public health) program – pick a country, pick a problem, work on a project, write a policy brief that would inform policies surrounding said-problem in said-country. So, I chose India.

Since I want to work with women/vulnerable children, I sought out organizations that work on the ground to help improve the health of women and children in India.

After negotiating scopes of work with three NGOs, I settled on Population Services International, a Washington DC‐based NGO that works in about 60 countries. They run programs in malaria, reproductive health, child survival, HIV and tuberculosis – all areas of interest to me. In India, they have been in existence since 1988 and I’m told that their teams do some great work on the ground. I’ll be working under the Regional Director in South India as a Program Assistant. The job will be based primarily out of their Bangalore offices, but will also involve travel around the state of Karnataka to oversee projects in rural parts of the state.

So..I leave in mid-July and will be back in January. Currently in the throes of working out some visa issues, getting my travel vaccinations, reading up about India (thanks to my good friend Michelle, who saw it fit to get me a 1000+ pg book on India!) while starting to write my thesis and taking my last class as a masters student in international public health. Yikes! I suppose, I’m partly keeping busy so I don’t have to think too much and freak out even more. Ha!

So…watch this space for stories – from my very first auto-rickshaw ride to checking out the beautiful hill-stations in Southern India on my off-days. From the joys (and pains!) of working in public health in the land of my mother, to the loneliness that’ll undoubtedly set in once the novelty has worn off. Looking forward to it all – the joys, pains and everything in between. Wish me luck!

Of Partnerships.

How do I respond to the fact that many of our brothers and sisters live in poverty? Daily I read and listen to reports on some of most abject dehumanizing conditions that my fellow men live under and my heart breaks. War. Lack of basic human rights. Clean water. Basic primary health care. Good nutritious food. Lack of economic self-sufficiency.

As I reflect on this and ponder on how I may play a small role to mollify this, I am reminded of the basic premise of fundamental respect and partnership. Partnership is a simple and vitally important practice in international development, but one that has many facets and is difficult to achieve.

The word 'partnership' conjures up images of 'joining at the hip'. A relationship where no one person holds more power than the other. Where mutual respect and honesty is always at the forefront. Where no one is derided for their beliefs and background, however 'outlandish' they may be. 

I'm still a graduate student with very little experience in international health and development but the little that I do know tells me that most of us in this field enter into this field for altruistic reasons. We're driven by a nagging desire to be advocates for change. To part of the change that could somehow affect and touch another’s life.

Somewhere along that line (or perhaps even before long) we forget that in order to truly achieve change, we need to do this work with collaboration and partnership in mind. Understanding that we, as ‘international development experts’ do not have even 1% of the answers or the resources to make this change happen. We often study problems and have been trained to characterize issues and offer solutions within local contexts. However, how often do we draw up work plans for international projects and truly engage with local stakeholders before implementing our solutions? How can we honestly fly into another man’s land, and offer advice on problems on the ground?

Having worked in an organization where international health consultants fly all over the world to offer technical expertise to development and health projects, I have acquired a small taste of this world. It is quite disillusioning at times. As a graduate student, I am bright-eyed and eager to put some of my classroom learning to use. As a public health professional working alongside others who have worked in this for many more years than I have, I get the sense that some in this field have forgotten about partnership. True collaboration and respect. Where every stakeholder is considered an equal. In a world where titles get long, and egos get even longer, development is such a tricky word at times.  

Tomes have probably been written about this but I feel that international development – if not checked – can easily turn into a form of neocolonialism. It is worth examining ourselves every so often and reminding ourselves about the simple, and yet, powerful concept. Of partnership. 

Musicka - Idan Raichel

What is it about music in other languages that tantalizes me so much? A friend recently introduced me to Idan Raichel - hot Israeli guy in dreads who sings in Hebrew and Amharic and draws on sounds from Africa, Caribbean, and the Middle East. The cast in his first album The Idan Raichel Project hail from all over the world - South Africa, Ethiopia, Suriname etc. In addition, he has collaborated with other award-winning artists such as Rokia Traoré from Mali (another one of my favourite artists) and Ivri Lider from Israel. 

Can't understand a word of what he sings but a brief web-search on his projects tells me that his songs extend a message of hope, love, and tolerance. Messages that bode well and are much needed in a part of the world where conflict is the norm and so much part of the daily. 

I missed a chance to see him live last week in Boston due to class (I did contemplate skipping out on class to go watch his concert!), but he's currently touring the US..so definitely see him if you get a chance to!  I love so many songs on his albums..but this song is one of my favourites. Reminiscent of Psalm 130 - traditionally recited by Jews in times of distress - it means 'Out of the Depths. 

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy!

Comedian Louis CK on the Conan O'Brien show. 

This is so true! (And funny as well!) 

India: Malnutrition and Moolah

India has higher malnutrition rates than much of Sub-Saharan Africa. The world's largest democracy is quickly becoming a powerhouse within the global economic community. However, with sustained growth rates comes an ever-widening gap in economic inequality across the country. 

Food is one of the cornerstones of proper health. Moreover, nutritious food supplied within 0-2 years of age (scientifically justified formative years of a child) is key to bolstering child health early on. While India has increased spending in many areas (military, technology etc - think the probe to the moon, Tata's new mini-cars..), basic public health areas, malnutrition initiatives being just one of them, continue to receive pithy portions of that spending pie. Furthermore, the extent to which malnutrition rates are reduced based on existing initiatives is not clear. 

Nutrition is simply one part of the problem. Two of the world's richest men in the world hail from India. Some of the poorest people in the world also live in India. If India is to create a middle-class bourgeoisie, and move the masses to from one economic class to another to close the gap between the rich and the poor, its government needs to be intentional in ensuring that essentials such as health and nutrition are not being tossed to the wayside. 

If all goes well, I hope to be involved later this year in a nutrition project in India, and as part of my master's degree, have to write a policy document to help inform policies surrounding this problem. As someone hoping to affect change in this area, it is exciting to see well-informed news coverage and dialogue on this issue. But more importantly, we need to remember to use information such as this to hold the leaders of our nations accountable to gross inadequacies in planning for proper health and well-being of their citizens.

Musicka - Aradhna

From time to time I'll post new music that I have discovered...or am currently listening to..

I don't know what it is about music that overcomes me but I often find myself enamored by one or two songs and listen to them over and over again. Music is often for me more of a spiritual and emotional thing than anything else. (Unless it's any genre of dance music - which is more of a shaking-my-booty thing!) Years later, if I hear a song or listen to an older CD, the emotions of the time-period within which I listened to that song often washes over me afresh. It's amazing how the human mind associates memories with sensory experiences tied to sound, smell, sight etc. 

Currently listening to Aradhna's Amrit Vani. This group blends music from the east and west to create beautiful Indian bhajans (devotional songs). I grew up listening to bhajans played by my grandmother and mother in the morning as they prepared for the day ahead. This along with the fact that Aradhna so eloquently sing those bhajans to my Lord and captures exactly what I want to say, has me enamored. Captivated by so many songs on their albums. Particularly Man Mera perfectly describes the state of my mind right now.

Check out the lyrics and listen along..

Skiing..err...Falling Weekend

I went Falling this past weekend. This is how it went down: 

My friend asked, 'Hey Devina, you wanna go skiing or snowboarding this next weekend?'

Devina: Sure! I'll go skiing. It's been on my 'things-to-do-before-I-die-list' 

Friend (not yet sure about blogging etiquette - am I allowed to name names? Ah..well!): Cool. Here's the details. New Hampshire. Meet at my place at 7am on Sunday, and we'll pack into cars and drive up. Here's the details on the lift tickets...equipment..etc..blah..blah. 

Devina: Sure thing. I'll be there. 

So..of course Devina has to do some research online. Is it better as a first-timer to try and learn skiing or snowboarding? Any tips that would help..etc. Equiped with 'knowledge' of skiing and borrowed ski apparel from my roommate, I woke up at the crack of dawn on a cold Sunday morning and embarked on my get-skiing-off-my-bucket-list adventure. 

And they say, book learning ain't gonna help ya!  Falling is the only experience I got. I did learn a few things: 

• I learnt the best way to fall. (apparently, there's a technique to falling. If you fall the wrong way, it'll take a heck of a time getting back up!) 
  
• I learnt how to quickly snap off the boot from the ski. (If you experience said-not-best-way fall, you won't be able to get back up! You'll have to physically take off ski from the boot from fallen position).
  
• I learnt how to put back on the ski on the side of a mountain and making sure that i don't slide down on one ski. (So, after you snap off the boot, you get up and try to put the ski back on. However, you're on the side of a slopey mountain and in the process of putting the ski back on - you inevitably start sliding down!) 

And on..and on. 

As you guessed it, I did very little skiing and lots of falling and getting back up. But get back up I did! In fact, if it weren't so expensive, I'd go again - to learn how to ski this time, since I've got the falling part down. ha! 

Picture taken by my friend's camera phone as I left my camera at home. Yes, we know. The light was behind us so the picture came out dark. But the point was to capture the whiteness on the mountain behind me. :) 

Facebook Relationships

What is it about Facebook that has the world going crazy? I mean, I can understand it to an extent. People have no time and it's a great way to keep in touch with folks who live all over the world. I, for one, joined Facebook in college to save money on a banner ad for a fund-raising event that was being held by organization that I was involved with. I stayed on as more and more people from my former life in Kenya started appearing on the scene. People who lived all over the world, and who I could now keep in touch with and see their lives via photos etc. Awesome. Great.

So, what's the problem, you may ask? Well - Facebook has reduced friendships and relationships to a friendly poke and a two-line wall post. There were days where people visited each other. Then came phones era and people started calling. This reduced the need to interact with others face-to-face. Enter email. People started emailing each other - thereby eliminating the need to actually hear each others' voices. Then comes the world of Instant Messaging. Where conversations are held via acronymized sentences: 'it's g8', 'r u there' 'c u l8r'.

Into this already fast-paced-no-need-to-have-human-interactions world, enters Facebook. While comments and wall posts are great, I wonder - does it reduce the need to have real friendships? I have lots of friends at varying levels of intimacy. We all do. However, how many times have I tried to get to know someone beyond the 'good-laughs-good-times'? To actually make time to get to know people? To put up with a friends' cribbyness? Or is just easier to comment on a picture or a status update and simply shut the person out via clicking away from their profile after you're done?

Facebook and online social networking has opened up a whole new way of interacting others. But somehow I think it has also created a culture of not investing in the people right next to us. We tend to keep in touch with people far away, but not really find out who our next door neighbor is. And more so, it has created a culture of reducing friendships/relationships to a friendly 2-min stalk-fest. And that makes me think, this Facebook thing is overrated. :)

Who wants to be a (Slumdog) millionaire?

Are movie-makers doing more harm than good when they take real-life kids out of destitute settings to play acting roles..? What are the ethical issues involved in making movies such as Slumdog, Kite Runner involving children? The psychological ramifications of having exposed children to the 'high life' and then putting them back into same settings is quite something to think about. Not to mention the probable exploitation that takes place. From the movie producers who might pay below-standard rates. To the parents of the children, well-intentioned as they may be, who might not have education as a top priority when poor health and malnutrition continue to ravage the family. Quite something to think about. 

This article brings to light some of these issues. The producers may have been well-intentioned in setting up trust funds for the two child stars of this block-buster. But I have to wonder. Are the trust funds the best way to better the lives of these kids? What about the other children? Children who grew up around Rubina and Azharuddin? Are they not worth this education? Isn't the slum itself - home to thousands of people - the setting for this movie? If the slum and the sum total of its inhabitants make up the reason for this movie's existence, shouldn't a trust fund be set up for all inhabitants of said-slum? 

Perhaps this is too lofty a request and the movie-makers did not mean to make this movie with a 100% altruistic motive. Perhaps the awareness generated around issues of urbanization and poverty is enough. Perhaps this is meant to inspire the local government to think of urban planning and setting up infrastructure for education and health as more and more people move to urban settings such as Mumbai in search of employment opportunities. However, I have to wonder is it too much to ask that a portion of the $150 million gross revenue go towards better health, better educational opportunities and ultimately a better life for the inhabitants (children especially) of the slums.