Hello! Welcome to Slumbering Giants, my space for thoughts, meanderings, happenings and adventures as I begin a new chapter of my life. The story begins in the beautiful and tech-obsessed city of San Francisco. I am an interaction designer working for a large design firm that has been awarded a fellowship which will take me to India for 6 months. Slumbering Giants is where I will deconstruct my thoughts, document my travels, and simply talk about my experience. Before I begin, it may help to give a little background of who I am and why this is such a satisfying opportunity for me.
For the last ten years I have been trying to get into the design for development field. I have volunteered for a variety of organizations, assisted in organizing fundraising events, made socio-economic statements through my art and even gone overseas to teach members of a budding NGO a craft that could help them develop an income. But none of it seemed exactly right. I wasn't getting the opportunities that I really wanted to do. The puzzle seemed locked. I was only finding a few of the smaller pieces while the larger, meatier opportunities remained at arms length.
All that changed a few weeks ago. I was given a fellowship by a non-profit, Design Impact, that will allow me to offer my design skills to an education non-profit in India. What that means exactly is very vague. I met the director of the Indian non-profit, Quest, in San Francisco a few weeks ago which helped my understanding of what the non-profit does, but my exact role is still a little unclear.
Quest is working to supplement the existing Indian education system, post year 8, with more relevant curriculum that can teach students life skills to help them get jobs. They are looking to technology as the conduit for inspiration as well as means of delivery for this new curriculum. There seems to be a large piece of the curriculum dedicated to life skills: teaching kids collaboration, presentation, and a rigorous approach that builds identity and confidence. So exciting! So far my role will be to assist Quest with wherever they are in this process and to help incorporate design thinking into their organization. Both of these elements seem substantial and very interesting.
Quest is located in Bangalore, one of the more modern cities in India. Oddly enough, my current company has an office there, and 2 of my coworkers will be living there for about the same amount of time I will be there. This makes the experience so much more approachable. I was applying to a variety of design fellowships before I got this one, and the ones that required a year abroad seemed so daunting. I was still applying to them, but I didn't know what I would do if I got one.
Disrupting one's life for a year seemed a lot easier when I was younger. I used to be filled with hope and idyllic dreams of how the world should be. I was naive and had a lust for adventure that gave me a courageous approach to all things new and different. Now I am a little more reserved. A little more routine and a lot choosier with where I want to spend my time. I am still hopeful, but wiser about the challenges that all dreams must confront. I haven't given up my desire to immerse myself in another culture. I want to be stimulated by new experiences and to feel the tension of two worlds learning from each other. I still believe in the power of community, but I also understand that for the most part, my community is here in the US. I am American through and through, and want to be near my friends and family. Six months is doable, but a year, 2 years... no matter what the task, it may not be for me.
What is interesting about that statement, "I am American through and through" may be the most surprising insight about where I am now and where I am about to go. America has always been a melting pot of people and ideas. It was a place where people could come to be free from indoctrination and oppression. It symbolized independence and the chance to make oneself over. Now, I don't know what it symbolizes. Everything feels watered down. America feels like the countries it used to detest. Bitter politics, intolerant communities and a system that values stodgy and inflexible corporations rather than the people that make up the communities.
India, on the other hand, is going through it's own struggles but is becoming more of the melting pot of people and ideas that America used to be known for. The government is supporting new, innovative business. The country is welcoming foreigners to the mix, to add to the growing knowledge base while trying to incentivize locals to stay and build the new India. It is embodying the characteristics that I used to use to describe my home, but adding a flair to it that is distinctively Indian. I am very excited to better understand this change and to experience the tension between the old and new India as it continues on it's current trajectory. This tension is an interesting element of the culture that can both guide and inhibit the change that India is facing.
I look forward to seeing the struggles associated with growth and the opportunities unique for this moment in time. For now, I just wait.
This seems enough for now, an epic first post to get the conversation started. As work begins to calm down, I am getting more and more excited for this new adventure. T minus 2 months. Let's do this!
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