We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.
-Jawaharlal Nehru
I’m in Bangalore… My trip south has been great so far… I’ve added a couple of states to the map of states I’ve been to in India (Andhra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka)… I’d been to a couple of those before, but only in transit, which doesn’t count:
It’s pretty amazing - by the looks of this map I’ve seen a lot of India, but I feel like I haven’t seen anything - one could spend a lifetime here exploring the place and it’s people.
This trip south has been great because I’ve learned a ton visiting these MFI’s, I’ve gotten to eat some great South Indian food (I never tire of dosas), and I think (hope) I’ve made a lot of good progress on my project. Also, the primary language spoken in these parts (Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada) are totally foreign to me, so getting around has been interesting.
More details on the trip later…
Here’s an email (copy below the dashed line) you should send to any friends who might be interested in Indicorps… It’s a great way to spend a year learning about yourself, development and India. Note that the experiences I’ve had are pretty atypical - most fellows don’t travel for their projects… there is actually no such thing as a typical project. Of the projects this year, I would love to apply for the Rural Business School project in Maharashtra, the Energize the Gandhi Ashram Project, and the Urban Community Center project. The Rural Business School project is at an NGO that I know well - Mann Deshi is great and the project is really awesome - I wrote about them early on.
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INDICORPS - FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS DUE APRIL 1, 2007
Indicorps is proud to announce its newest Fellowship opportunity. Apply now for a chance to be part of the newest class of Indicorps Fellows: http://apply.indicorps.org
Indicorps seeks committed individuals with the experience, conviction and leadership potential to find constructive solutions to India’s most pressing problems. As an Indicorps Fellow, you will join a community of individuals who constantly push their limits for both individual performance and collective impact. Although you may work in some of the most challenging circumstances, the Indicorps fellowship is a rewarding and transformational personal journey. Visit the Indicorps website (http://www.indicorps.org) for detailed information on the Indicorps vision, program, and application process.
This year’s project opportunities are particularly innovative in their push to generate new solutions in creative ways. Ranging from creative health interventions for kids through Seasame Street Productions to reviving natural dying in handicrafts productions, the projects call for talent, creativity and above all, relentless passion.
Applicants must be of Indian origin (by the definition of the Government of India) and have, at minimum, a university degree or five years work experience. Individuals must make a minimum commitment of one (1) year and are required to apply specifically to projects of their interest. The application deadline is April 1, 2007.
Thought for the post is actually a short story… one of my favorites. It’s almost 50 years old but it holds up incredibly well… It is about Mongol 482’s life. Mongol 482 is an Eberhard Faber (now Faber-Castell, atleast in the US) pencil. Mongol talks about the complexity of his components and the numerous people required to make him. It’s actually a really good introduction to economics.
Read it: I, Pencil. My Family Tree as told to Leonard E. Read
Ravivari Bazaar (Chor Bazaar)
This occurred a couple of months ago (pre-typhoid and first trip to Bombay)… I went to help my friend look for a used bike at this place called Ravivari Bazaar (Sunday market) or alternately, Chor Bazaar (Thieves’ market), under Ellisbridge on the old city side of Ahmedabad… I think every city in India has a Chor Bazaar (like Flea Markets). The Bombay one has gotten really famous and is now quite a tourist destination… some vendors even accept credit cards there. No such thing in Ahmedabad, but it’s a place where you can get ANYTHING… OK, not anything but you can come out of there with a totally random grouping of crap, and you have to bargain hard, or you will be fleeced (it’s called the thieves market for a reason).
It reminded me a lot of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China, which is a place to buy anything and everything made in China (Cars, large machinery, every kind of electronic item you can imagine, etc), but only if you can purchase it by the container-load… Here’s a picture of 1/2 of the Canton Fair Buildings… they are building more - it’s absolutely ridiculous:
Here’s the interior of probably 1% of ONE of the buildings.
You might not get the sense that Chor Bazaar and the Canton Fair are similar based on these pictures, but having been at Canton last year, I totally felt like Chor Bazaar was a scaled down poor consumer version of Canton.
So at Ravivari Bazaar, you can purchase a bunch of odd things as well, like used antiques, slippers, scooter parts, old cellphones (Zack Morris style) used bikes, old magazines, new pushcarts, new bike parts, and GOATS:
There are a LOT of people, and there is a narrow entrance, and people are bringing all of their new belongings out… so it’s a little tough to get in, but well worth it
Here’s an overview shot of the place (this is near the end of the day, so a lot of the vendors had already left)
Pushcarts cost 2200 ($48) rupees each for a new one, and about half that for a used one… I wonder how long it takes the typical pushcart vendor (larri-wallah) to recoup that investment… There are all sorts of things that are sold on these - vegetables, Pirated DVD’s, half of the food that I eat, watches, pani-puri, toys, etc.
Thinking about the pushcart… The market for goods is just so large here… Just a few minutes ago I was eating a Dabeli (what I eat is in this previous post, including a Dabeli picture) made on one of the pushcarts. Incidentally, if you want to make your own Dabeli, you can learn how to at Bawarchi. The Dabeli was 6 rupees (15 cents)… When I ordered it the guy had 15 ready on the grille… By the time I finished eating it 5 minutes later, all of them were gone and he was starting a new batch… he did 90 rupees ($2) of business in 5 minutes. Some of these roadside guys do really well. I read an article in the Times of India (so reliability is questionable) that the Lucky Tea Stall (not roadside but hole-in-the-wall) in Lal Darwaja has a turnover of 40,000 rupees ($900) per day. I’ve been there… tea costs a few rupees, and they sell Tea with Muska bun (Bun and a lot of butter, GROSS) for 10 rupees if I remember correctly. They have an MF Husain painting hanging in their shop - apparently MF loves their Tea and gave it to them as a gift… I guess what I’m thinking about is that margins can be pretty low here when you have a ridiculous turnover.
Incidentally, I’ve also started cooking pretty frequently. My ingredients are pretty limited, I’m generally alone in the flat and I don’t cook that often so I can’t buy anything that I can’t either use all at once or won’t spoil if I don’t touch it again for a week. I’ve burned rajma in the pressure cooker 3 times now… It’s such a pain to clean! Anyway, I always burn the Rajma (I know, I know, more water) but I usually already have the chonk (the mix of spices and stuff) ready, so I end up making pulao, and I’ve actually become quite good at the Pulao (well I like it anyway). I also have made mung daal and poha. Bawarchi.com is a good site for recipes (but I just use the same chonk for everything so far, I don’t need recipes). I understand why we use frozen veggies in the US… Life would be so easy for me if I had some. Also life would be easy for me if I had some peanut butter and jelly.
Next week, I’m headed south, to Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bangalore (and villages in between). Let me know if you know of any Microfinance Institutions or any other people/places I should visit down there.
