It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness
~Old Chinese Proverb, I recently heard it in a pretty awesome song at our workshop in Panchgani (really wish I had the mp3)
I keep on mentally referring to the past week as a retreat rather than a workshop. It was our 3rd Indicorps workshop of the year, and dramatically different from the past 2. The first one had a Socratic dialogue theme, where we read and discussed a LOT of text to give us a fresh outlook on leadership. The 2nd workshop involved a 4-day long project that we worked on for the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad. Both were jam-packed with lots of work and located in Ahmedabad. This workshops’ theme was “From Micro to Macro.” We did a good deal of sitting down and discussing issues, and one case study, where we analyzed a couple of Government policies (one around mid-day meals for schoolchildren and the other about a sanitation program for slums) and came up with recommendations. The workshop was located in Panchgani, a small hill-station 100kms from Pune. It’s very popular as a weekend retreat from Bombay and Pune, and it’s also very famous for boarding schools (as are most hill-stations in India). Interesting sidenote: Freddie Mercury (the late lead singer of Queen) attended St. Peter’s school in Panchgani, where he learned to play Piano and formed his first band.
The workshop was hosted at a place called Asia Plateau, a conference center at a place called Initiatives of Change, formerly known as Moral Rearmament. It’s run by an intesting group of people. I’m still not exactly sure I understand what they do, but check them out on the web here.
The plateau is supposedly the 2nd tallest in Asia.
I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll do a quick wrapup of the workshop by pictures rather than words… There are a lot but they are really low-quality (click on them for bigger versions and higher quality).
Among other fun activities, we:
Hiked the plateau
Played really silly games: In this one, the 3 people were supposed to form a tree, but Anand (right) is forming the ear of an elephant instead of tree-branches, so he loses
Climbed trees
Played Ping-Pong-Tennis… a game on a smaller tennis court with big paddles, using a tennis ball. Really awesome.
Picked Strawberries from the farm of a huge jam manufacturer, Mapro. Apparently their season is over, so they didn’t mind us coming and picking/eating hundreds and hundreds of strawberries. (Radhika, Lisa, and Archana)
Me Prem and Shaila decided that we’d share all of our strawberries, so we had a rotation system so we each got to eat 1/3rd of the strawberries.
Jumped on a trampoline:
Sat around in the library and discussed development-related issues:
Enjoyed beautiful scenery
I’m in Bombay now, will be headed to Delhi in the near future.
My life is my message
~MK Gandhi
(Picture from the Gandhi Ashram, pre-cleanup)
So after the trip in the North, I came back to Ahmedabad for the Indicorps workshop. This is a time for all of the fellows get back together, to reconnect and learn from others experiences. It was really really great to see all of the other fellows. The theme for the workshop was “Challenges to Excellence.” What keeps us from being great at what we do? The workshop was held at the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram, which is where Gandhi lived from 1919 to 1930. At this workshop, we broke off into teams and worked on projects for the Ashram. My team’s(Me, Ashish(blog) and Shaila(blog)) project was to create a virtual tour for the Gandhi Ashram (or a template for one) that could later be incorporated into the website. Here’s what we came up with in a few days: http://www.sheelm.com/gandhi
I know it takes forever to load the 360’s on the website… they were optimized for display on my laptop rather than the web, so they are a little bigger than they should be.
At first, we were all pretty daunted by the tasks in front of us… I didn’t think we’d be able to accomplish much in 3 days. In the end, I think we got a decent amount done and if we had 1 more day, it would’ve been a lot better. The other groups tasks were
- to create and take a survey of visitors asking questions that would help the Ashram plan for future visitors, and to create a guestbook for visitors to write their thoughts
- to create a map (that will be displayed at the Ashram) and brochure of the Ashram to be given out to visitors and could be taken home as a keepsake
here’s what they came up with in a couple of days (the current version looks even better!)
- to fix a lot of panels that have quotes by Gandhi, pictures, etc. that were made in the late 60’s and haven’t been properly cared for, and to clean up others (hence Sheela in the “my life is my message” quote above)
- to come up with a project to do in the library. The group ended up creating new panels and signage and also translating Gandhi’s letters that were displayed in the library (of 35,000 in their collection, all on which he wrote the back sides of used paper)… I guess it was actually more transcribing… from Gandhi’s poor handwriting english into typewritten legible English… I thought this was much needed, as I can’t understand his writing at all
- our project - create a virtual tour of the place.
http://www.sheelm.com/gandhi
Every group came up with something stellar at the end of 3 days, and I think the Gandhi Ashram really appreciated it. In next years group of fellows, there is going to be one person whos job it is to re-energize the Gandhi Ashram. Here is the full description:
http://apply.indicorps.org/ProjectInformation.php?prjId=66It seems like a pretty cool project.
Here are some other shots of the ashram:
Gandhi picture - I really like the way the picture looks when lit up
3 monkeys (Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil)… these 3 monkeys were always on Gandhi’s desk.
Entrance area:
Hridaykunj: Gandhi’s actual home… It’s REALLY basic…
here’s Gandhiji’s office inside of Hridaykunj
Gandhi statue - really peaceful place, right by the river
We tried to get everyone (22 people) in the Indicorps jeep at once… we did it but then the driver balked at driving with such a ridiculously stuffed vehicle. We totally could’ve been fine… anyway, here’s a picture of the folks in the rear getting out… I like it in Sepia:
That act reminded me a bit of an old picture of a competition in the 60’s to get as many people stuffed into a VW bug as possible… I found it online - they got 31 in the veedub…
In the US we have to have competitions for these sort of things, but in India it’s sort of just a part of life, as the bus in Jodhpur shows…
I’m sure that someone has packed in atleast 40 in an Ambassador or Maruti Van
I’ve been in Ahmedabad since the workshop, and nothing terribly exciting has gone on… just the daily grind, in the office.
My friend Manasee (btw, how I met Manasee is an interesting story… My first week in A’bad, with no non-Indicorps friends, I went to Sewa bank for a meeting and I heard someone speaking American English, so I just went up to her and said something like “hello, are you American?, figuring that it couldnt hurt, seeing as how I didn’t have any friends in the city. It worked!)
anyway Manasee let me borrow a few of her DVD’s, which I’ve been watching every couple of days… My favorite of the ones I’ve seen so far is Water (IMDB link). Great Oscar-nominated Deepa Mehta movie about widows in India. The cinematography was absolutely brilliant… the acting was great, but Lisa Ray’s Hindi sucked (though I think she was otherwise perfect for the part). the film was actually shot both in English and Hindi - they shot every scene twice, once in each language (I saw the Hindi version). Interestingly, this film was being shot in India in 2000, but the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Fundamentalist organizations, affiliated with BJP political party in India) wouldn’t allow her to shoot it because they claimed that the script “smacks of a conspiracy by the votaries of western culture to tarnish the image of widowhood in India.” Anyway, the film was shot a few years later in Sri Lanka, and all of their hard work to get this film made was worth it in my mind - the film is stunningly beautiful…
It’s starting to get unbearably hot in Ahmedabad. Highs this week from 104 to 107 Farenheit!(40 to 42 Celcius, I’m still not used to this scale). I don’t really have any good way to deal with it - no A/C in my apartment or in the office. Any suggestions, besides drinking copious amounts of water (which I do)?
My next course of action is to get a really short haircut and shave my almost 3 week old beard… which you can see a little bit below.
This is my flat… not too impressive, but it serves its purpose. It would be nicer if there was a wireless signal somewhere so I could communicate with people in the US at normal hours. Actually the crappy thing is that there IS a wireless signal, just at 1 bar and I haven’t gotten anything useful out of it, but I have spent many fruitless hours walking around with my laptop trying to find the source of the signal.
Every time I wear a kurta and I’m unshaven, my cousins tell me that I finally look the part of an NGO-walla… reading In Defense of Globalization by Jagdish Bhagwati. Next on the reading list is Games Indians Play by N. Raghunathan. I haven’t read nearly as much as I had planned to read this year.
Til next time…
I’m going to see Namesake today and will go to a speech by India Finance Minister P. Chidambaram (speaking at IIM-A’s convocation tomorrow… interestingly, the last speech I went to at IIM was Director Bakul Dholakia criticizing PC for a horrible budget… I wonder what he’ll say to him in person)
Prem, you owe me one for no public humiliation about the moustache.
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.
