Restless I walked to the shore...

I am settling in here. Days are becoming more routine, for better and worse. I have my weekly habits that pretty much involves yoga in the mornings, walking to work, coming home and cooking dinner or going out every now and then with friends. I am getting a grasp of Koramangala and am venturing out a lot more, but I am also finding myself enjoying the space I have alone. It's been nice being able to come home, do a little research, read up on things and let my mind wander with ideas. I may be unable to implement anything at this point, but I am building up thoughts and ideas that I can use for a long time to come.

Work has also slowed down a bit, which has given me time to reflect on where I am at in the process. We were told there would be slow moments that we would just have to push through, and this past week was one of them.

Two weeks ago we performed another testing session at a training center in Mysore. It was starkly different than the first session we had. The students had a higher skill set, were more comfortable in mixed company and were surprisingly motivated. I say surprisingly because of my limited knowledge of the problems associated with the Indian education system. The main challenge in the US is student engagement. Here, it seems to be acquiring life skills. These problems are hugely different.

In Mysore we met the English facilitator, a sister, who speaks English well and has successfully improved the English levels of her students. We also found her somewhat ambivalent, choosing not to participate in the activities we were trying to test. This could have just been an assumption that we were there to teach instead of her, but it was curious behavior that I have a feeling is representative of a larger problem that runs through a few of these centers.

The concepts tested well and we have integrated them into the curriculum timeline. We need to come up with a few more activities to add to the toolkit that focuses on internalizing and speaking English, but I would say that the first small project has been a success. I have learned about the capabilities of my team, seen a few of the centers, gleaned information about challenges this project has, and presented elements of the design process to the team. For that I am proud.

I do feel that I am not accomplishing as much as I could be. I have been trained for speed, a greyhound that sprints through corporate projects. Here, the pace is much slower, allowing more time for ideating and reflection, which is nice. At times though, it is too slow. I find myself beholden to 2 different organizations who are basically on the same page, but the misalignment that does exist makes me a little anxious. I want to satisfy both parties, and know that I will in the end, but getting there is tricky. I will not accomplish as much here as I wanted to. I don't know what I was expecting but I need to be easy on myself. it takes time to understand the complexities of an organization, an industry, and the individual users. But this is where I am at, in the realization that two months have passed with only 4 left and I have not had as much access to the end user as I have wanted. Which is disappointing for me.

On the positive side, being able to articulate this will help me to change it. The next project will be a fuller process, starting with research and continuing to design implementation but i need to sell it.  And this stirs up a feeling of restlessness which I tend to struggle with. I know what I want to do, I feel just in the reasons why, but need to align my thinking with others to make sure it is appropriate for all parties. It will come, I just can't wait to start doing.

dessert dosas

Kite festival

I went to the kite festival in Ahmedebad this past weekend. It was an amazing weekend. I got to catch up with some of the other fellows and witnessed the spectacular celebration that is the kite festival. Hordes of families and friends sit out on their terraces on Saturday and Sunday to battle against their neighbors. The kite string is rubbed with glass, so that fighting can be more strategic and decisive. Winners rejoice and taunt their neighbors. Losers yell back, sometimes giving the finger, but mostly suppressing their anger and resigning on revenge.

I toured Brian's placement at Manav Sadhna. He works next to the Ghandi ashram, so we walked across the grounds that many heroes have walked on. It was inspiring at how open to visitors Manav Sadhna was. Everyone is greeted as a friend, everyone is good here. I met some of his coworkers, and we took off to the children's center that is run by the organization. Manav Sadhna cares for about 5000 children. They feed, educate the kids, and provide programs to help them earn money. We went to the epicenter of where this happens. Swarms of children were finishing up their lessons, while volunteers were bringing in stacks of kites. Everyone was getting a kite to fly in a nearby field. We walked out after the kids and the scene was manic. Children running everywhere, kites being fought over in the skies and on the ground. So many happy faces.

The rest of the weekend was equally heartwarming. We went to three different terraces in the old and new city. We met new friends, flew tukkals (night kites that have candles in them) and generally had a great time. We visited a mosque from the 16th century and toured the Calico Textile Museum. It is hard coming back to reality after such a fun and loving weekend. 

The underground city of flowers

There are days that glide along without interruption, no outstanding circumstances to distract you or unusual events to redirect the course of your day. And then there are days that have the potential to birth great narratives. Everything seems inspired. You sense that you are a character in a much larger story and notice the other characters involved in their own meandering plots and become amazed at the infinite nature of it all.

Hannah and her parents invited me to accompany them to Bangalore’s City Market. The market covers about 4 city blocks and is a place where anything can be bought- locks, hand beaten steel pots, dosa pans, clothes, produce, embroidery goods, and raw material of all types for constructing whatever it is you need to make. It is a bustling city in its own right, located in the heart of Bangalore with stalls of goods nestled in a maze of economic potential. Locksmiths are seated next to other locksmiths. Sari shops are sandwiched between the shoes and jewelry stores to provide a full service shopping experience where anything desired can be found, with options to spare.

The flower market is an enigmatic place located in the basement of a building close to the entrance of the Avenue. We walked through the produce section watching vendors creatively stacked their goods for all to see. Bell peppers were arranged in small pyramids, guavas were cut like flowers so the red fruit glistened in the sun. Everything was presented with a touch of embellishment, hoping to catch your eye and invite you in to a sale. We walked up a set of stairs, only to go down to the basement of a large, square building with a windowed ceiling. Aisles and aisles of flower stalls wrapped around the basement, each with a few people threading freshly-cut flowers into garland. Yellows, whites, reds, peaches, purples, dark umbers- any color under the sun. And the interesting thing is it is a man’s job to string flowers, so the basement was filled with men sitting in the stalls, cross-legged on their platforms, wanting to know where we were from, offering us blossoms, and asking how beautiful the flowers are in comparison to our country. It was fabulous.

But the best part happened in the open floor in the middle of the building. Baskets of coiled garlands covered the floor, waiting to be sold. Stacks of yellows and whites and peaches. People hustled around, moving baskets in and out of the space. The baskets had a mound woven into the base, creating a perfect cap for placing on one’s head. It was magnificent to watch. We walked to the second floor of the building and overlooked the activity. So many people, so many stories. Where do these flowers come from? How do they get here? Where are they being taken once they have been sold? And this happens 7 days a week? It was an experience that opened my senses and awakened a wonder and sense of awe that was reminiscent of reading a good children’s storybook.

The rest of the day turned into a series of scavenger’s hunts. We were looking for raw silk for Wendy to weave. I bought some hand rolled incense to christen my apartment with. We met a friend who found a spectacular bead store to make jewelry from. It was an amazing day that ended with a visit to the Mavelli Tiffin Room, a food institution in Bangalore, and a walk through Lalbagh Gardens to see a horticultural history of trees that had been gifted to the prince. It was a day that will stay with me for a while. Inspiring, serendipitous and amazingly beautiful.

I went to an underground city filled with flowers. You may have to look hard to find it, but it is there, waiting for you to enter, and something is always happening.

2012, What everyone has been waiting for

Bucket baths, I can take. Washing my arse with my hand, check. Body wrenching abdominal pain that leads to flushing of one's insides? Meh, I am over it. In light of the new year I will share one of the more comedic and embarrassing moments of the past month. I know this is what people really want to hear and since this event happened on the birth of the new year, it seems timely and somewhat appropriate to share.

I moved into my apartment this past week. My roommate was gone for the first few days but her cousin crashed here one of the nights she was gone (it turns out this is his crash pad most weekends). I woke up one morning to beautiful temple music and introduced myself. Turns out he is quite the conversationalist. He is super friendly and very outgoing. I left for work shortly thereafter but our conversation carried over into the next morning when I saw him again. He chatted me up and we decided to go to a late brunch together. I had some plans that afternoon and was meeting people later to celebrate the new years, so a good brunch could fit in nicely. We ended up leaving much later than I was expecting, decidedly Indian time, and he took me to a restaurant way across town, Sunny's. It looked clean, had a seemingly great menu and I felt pretty good about it.

Anyone who has travelled to India knows that you are constantly searching for signs of contamination whenever you eat. You develop an eagle eye for leftover water on plates and cups. You try to inconspicuously check out the water tank to see if it is filtered and notice the clientele of every establishment. Kids in the restaurant is a 4 star go-ahead for eating. I am usually so good at this, but I dropped my guard. I didn't see any water drops, there were kids in the restaurant, but I didn’t check the water! I assumed it was fine. I was lulled into safety and you know where that leaves you... in the shitter. Literally.

I felt so full after brunch. In fact, a few hours later, after meeting up with Kate and Ramsey I was still really full. This didn't bode well. I hadn't eaten that much, my stomach was swollen and these guys were hanging in my room talking about grabbing some booze and dinner for the evening. My bathroom is attached to my bedroom and I knew I had to do a number in there, but Kate and Ramsey were chilling on my bed. Can I tell you how embarrassing it is to talk about stomach sickness, even if the people you are telling are understanding, it's still hard to say those words, “My belly is on fire, can you give me a minute?” So, I chose the passive route. I put on some music and high-tailed it to comfort. I came out feeling good, so all is well, right?

This story is nowhere near done.

We decide to hit the markets for some booze and I could feel the battle in my belly starting up again. We walked out of my apartment and a few steps down, I knew this alien needed out. Now! I raced up the stairs, opened the door and barely made it to the bathroom. Sunny's is not so sunny on the way up. But it was quick and I felt aces afterwards. Not so bad, maybe my body is getting good at identifying the enemy and purging it in a timely manner? Once again Kate and Ramsey were very supportive, but I felt good. There was no need to alter plans for some bad bruschetta. We picked up some booze and came back to the apartment and started drinking before dinner.

All was well. We went up to the terrace on the roof of the building and caught up. It was lovely t-shirt weather and we were surrounded by trees. Not a bad new years eve. We stayed up there for a bit and then decided it was time to grab some food. I knew once we got to the restaurant that I was going to have trouble eating anything. Even though I felt much better, the smell of food was a little nauseating. I picked at my dinner and decided I would take it easy on the drinks as well. There was no need to prove anything. Giardia is a nasty and decisive judge.

Some of Anand's friends came over and an impromptu party began. We played some fun tunes, started a bit of a dance party, and just generally had a good time. There were plenty of drinks, some American style cheese chips, and we discovered our two new friends had Dire Straits tattoos on their arms. They were brothers from another mother, but both loved the Straits. Fascinating! The clock struck midnight and Bangalore lit up with fireworks. All around us were shows. A few were so close, it sounded like it came from out apartment building. The skies got smoky and the night felt so nice. It was a lot of fun.

Kate and Ramsey decided to crash in my bedroom, rather than taking a sketchy after-hours rickshaw back to their apartment. We settled in for the night and about an hour into sleep, I knew there was trouble brewing. My stomach had swollen and I could hear the battle starting. They say that the biggest victims aren't those fighting, but the bystanders on the sideline. Oh man, I was gonna get massacred. Kate and Ramsey were sleeping between my bed and the bathroom. They would hear everything! There was no hiding this fight, though. I had to make peace.

I swallowed my pride and paid homage to the gods. Again.

Oh man, the explosives could have given the fireworks a run for their money. So nasty. So incredibly embarrassing, but what are you gonna do? I could literally see my stomach getting smaller and it felt so good. The third time is a charm, apparently. The war was over and left only a few battle scars, my pride being the biggest. But I guess this is what I signed up for- adventure, challenge, and experimentation. Little did I know what price this would take on my humility. Ah well, it's good to start fresh in the new year.

I will have to tell you guys about the train ride from Mysore at some point. It involved a sleeper train, my seatmate, some cream and a blanket... maybe this is an in-person story? It'll give you all something to ask me about when I get home. Happy New Year! I wish everyone peace and prosperity in 2012.