I'm really glad to write to you finally. I really wish I could paint a full picture for you. I think it's a bit difficult to describe such a unique setting--so maybe that means you just all have to come visit :)
I just arrived in Dharwad, Karnataka, the place I'll call home for the next year. It's a pretty quiet town, and the climate has been really pleasant here. I'm working with an organization called Vidya Poshak, www.vidyaposhak.org, whose mission is 'empowering the student community'. This week, we've been getting oriented to the NGO (non-governmental organization/nonprofit sector), which has been great. We (three Indicorps fellows, www.indicorps.org) have been getting to know the students, volunteers, community members, and others who are invested in improving the education system.
Vidya Poshak runs a few different programs. The first is a scholarship program for meritorious students with financial need. We had the chance to attend the ceremony where the scholarships were distributed to the students--this was special, as some parents joined in, and the students got a chance to say what the funding of their studies meant to them. One student was kind enough to welcome us into her home afterwards.
VP takes many efforts to ensure that the scholarships are going to truly needy students, by making home visits, assessing financial need in that way. Perhaps most of this analysis is visual, but it seems that one's housing can say a lot about the ability to pay for higher education.
I will be working on the bridge camps, which are basically camps for the scholarship students of VP. Feedback from students indicated that they appreciated the financial assistance and access to libraries (another VP service), but were eager to gain skills that helped them through college and beyond. Hence, the beginning of the bridge camps. These are 9 day sessions, where students learn about self-confidence, communication, English skills. Students here are often hesitant to ask their college professors questions, perhaps out of intimidation or anxiety regarding their English skills. The camps try to emphasize the importance of making mistakes, because this indicates a sincere effort. From what I've heard from students here, these camps are unique experiences--the first day is often a struggle as it might be a student's first time away from home, but by the last day the students are sad to leave one another (sort of reminds me of Camp Crystal, where I was so homesick, but fed this sadness with Snickers bars and sprite every afternoon). I can't wait to go to my first camp in early October!
Vidya Poshak also runs a Graduate Finishing School. We've had the opportunity to interact with students at the GFS, and it's been really fun just reading articles and discussing what we learned from the article. Today, we read a piece about London in the 1850s, where open sewage led to a huge public health dilemma, with a cholera epidemic. These students are so hungry for knowledge and a chance to communicate in English, it's very inspirational to see how hard they work.
My two Indicorps mates, Geetha and Pramal, are lots of fun. Geetha worked for several years in entertainment and event management in NYC, and Pramal is a British dude with a background in the corporate sector. Both are really wonderful folks with a great passion for moving India's education system in a positive direction. We've been enjoying each other's company, as they try to learn Kannada, and I try to improve mine.
The 3 week orientation with Indicorps in Ahmedabad, Gujarat taught us so much about self-sufficiency. One of the books we read before arriving was Gandhi's autobiography 'My experiments with Truth.' It was really fascinating to learn what a scientist Gandhi was, always experimenting--with diet, making his own clothing, walking to the ocean to get salt (versus paying the British salt tax). He writes about this desire to learn about himself through a curiosity about the world around him. We watched the movie Gandhi, a really beautiful look at Gandhi as a person, more than an icon. One of the Indicorps philosophies is on 'simple living', which it seems meant many things to Gandhi--wearing khadi (homespun cotton-- I have not yet achieved this), cleaning one's space and the space of one's community (during our orientation, we took turns doing safai, or a meditative cleaning), simple diets (we're practice a vegetarian diet here, and trying to avoid fancy meals, though we haven't said no yet when others have taken us out for lunch), relatively simple travel and accomodations (sleeper class on the trains is a trip! And you meet the kindest, most generous people who share food, stories, songs with you).
From a larger perspective, it's about simple thinking as well. There's nothing that complicated about 'ahimsa', nonviolence, or 'satyagraha', truth movement. I think that's one thing that is so fascinating about Gandhi--his ideas were so simple, yet RADICAL! Simple living in the Indicorps context is just sort of stripping away the extraneous 'stuff' in one's life so as to focus on personal growth through service with others. It's pretty challenging, especially when you find yourself converting things to dollars and thinking that something is kind of inexpensive, but then remembering that your stipend is such that it exemplifies life in India, not America, and so...whoops!....you don't really have enough money to buy a chocolate bar. Anyways, I definitely appreciate the value in washing one's own clothes, etc. and I hope to do that during my stay here, but we are constantly discussing whether and how a simple life makes one a better servant for humanity--is it because you can relate or connect to people who might not have a lot? I don't know. It's challenging because you sort of can't erase the 27 years of being Kavita in America.
We had a lot of great discussions during orientation and beyond--
what is development? how are developed nations 'better' than developing ones, if they are that? what is respect--is it saying 'sir/madam' or being fearful of your superiors? what constitutes change? I keep going back to my experiences in med school, where it's so crucial to fix acute problems, but at the same time work towards long term solutions.
One session was with an architect in Ahmedabad who was adamant that India is not special and we shouldn't treat India as if it is special. He stated that every person deserves a certain level of comfort and dignity, and 'helping' perhaps is the wrong attitude to have towards development work. This resonated with me, because I think it helps me connect to people more closely not because they are Indian or speak Kannada, but just because I can share something with them just as they share something with me. This raises the question, however, of why India? I guess that's part of what this year is about.
There are certainly moments here where you feel stunned by some sensation or emotion: joy when you see a young boy who shares with you his love for song and playing a beat with his hands on the kitchen table, gratitude when you eat some anna, sambar (rice and curry) that tastes almost like your mom's, guilt when you get to eat a meal and the person you've just passed by doesn't, fear when you're crossing the street and realize that buses are way bigger than you, heartache when you see an elephant made to stand with paint and decoration in a chaotic street under the guise of religious appreciation, and inspiration when you see a young girl who is 'poor' by some standards, but superbly rich in spirit and thirst for knowledge.
It's crazy!!! I'm learning a lot, missing you all, and wish for you all the best,
Love,
Kavi
p.s. these are two articles I read, one about health and climate change, and the other an op-ed from John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, re. the health care debate. would love to hear what you think.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
http://online.wsj.com/article/
Really interesting to hear you describe Gandhi's ideas as simple - it's not something I've given a lot of thought to before. Unbelievably effective, inspiring, and inspirational, but I guess they did have a kind of elegant simplicity to them. Very cool stuff.
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