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
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