Here are some pics from the weekend's exploration trip. Hannah and I were trying to capture the layers and layers of signage on the roads here. Most of these are the hand-painted signs. A craft that is still alive and well. Lovely to look at. Enjoy!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Research in Patna
This past week was a marathon. I have since fallen sick and the different remedies are killing me. Satish, our office cook, told me to chew on garlic before I go to sleep and drink hot water with salt and pepper. A coworker told me to mix tamarind in water and drink it, while another person told me to coat my face in Vicks and let the menthol do the trick. Ayurvedic or not, I may just drink lots of fluids and sleep. Has always worked before.
The sickness now is worth all the commotion last week. I went to Patna with Jayashree to conduct the Career Guidance part of our facilitator research. Patna is in Bihar, the economically poorest state in India. It has attracted a lot of attention lately with the new Chief Minister (who actually is building infrastructure for the people rather than doing little more than padding his own pocket, like the previous Chief) and with the influx of funding from the Gates Foundation, there seem to be numerous initiatives in health and education trying to lessen the gap between the people.
Our trip was all research. We had a series of activities planned with 6 different public school teachers that had been trained in career guidance. It was a learning experience on multiple levels. I am pretty good at balancing between attachment and detachment when it comes to being exposed to extreme poverty. It may sound cold, but you have build empathy but also live your life without taking too much of it in. It hit me pretty hard in Patna though. One of the first schools we went to was situated in a very busy community, lots of people on the streets, traffic, shops, you name it. It seemed pretty vibrant, poor, but not uneducated. I was shocked to be met with piles of trash, human and animal feces piled up by the gate to the school. In India, you get used to the trash everywhere. Unfortunately it is a part of life, but people do make their livelihoods off these trash piles. There are trash wallas that pick through and find objects that can be sold or reused. Most of the trash gets up-cycled, believe it or not. But to see trash and feces at a school entrance was a bit much.
Another touching moment was the need to speak with the principal of each school before starting our interviews. The routine went like this- arrive at the school just in time for the scheduled interview, walk into the principal's office, sit down, tell her our purpose, be given chai and snacks while we chat about other things, get introduced to some of the teachers standing around, meet the teachers we will be interviewing, maybe get fed some mountain dew, have someone set up the room we will be interviewing in and then, maybe... leave to start the interview. Patience is something I will always struggle with. I was fine with this routine for the first 3 schools, it was the last school on the last day that I started to feel it. The restlessness of sitting in a room, saying nothing, with no reason as to why we must wait. And ultimately, I understand this ritual and find it very endearing, something i hope doesn't fall away as western lifestyles seep into the culture. But, oh man, it was too much that final day. By the time we made it to the interview room, I was ready with the papers out, camera on, and watch started.
I also experienced moments of nostalgia. While flying in, I looked out of the window and saw a vast amount of lakes, all surrounded by greenery. I couldn't help thinking of my numerous trips to Orlando in the past year or so. Similarly, on the flight i would look out and see lake after lake, but know there would be no time to explore them and no desire since they were probably filled with crocodiles and snakes. This had a similar feeling of wanting to explore and go swimming, but knowing there would be no time and no interest. I don't know how much I trust lakes in India, anyways. I have even been warned of swimming in oceans that are near big cities, so an urban body of water is a definite no-no.
The other thing that struck me was the cloudiness and light rainfall when we exited the plane. Autumn! It felt like a cozy fall day where the rain just keeps on sprinkling, not as warm as summer, and not quite cold enough for winter. I kept thinking how nice it would be to go somewhere beautiful for the monsoon and just sit and watch it. Maybe look out over a coconut grove, curl up with a nice book, a sketchbook and a glass of Old Monk. Sounds heavenly, no?
On a professional level, Patna was huge. The team ceases to amaze me. Jayashree totally gets design research, and knowing that her Hindi isn't as good as she would like to conduct the interviews herself, she brought a local co-worker up to speed on the activities and coached him through. I felt useless, which is a great feeling in this context. It means embedded design in actually happening. I was equally impressed with Deepak's, our local resource, ability to facilitate. It can be very difficult teaching people how to ask non-leading questions, how to listen and observe, allowing the participant to take the lead. He was a natural. It was fascinating reverting back to my skills of observation to elicit understandings about what was happening. I could tell who came from strict, army backgrounds, who had more self-esteem and who was struggling with various aspects of the research. It was interesting seeing what values people chose, what aspirations people talked about. We elicited some pretty powerful insights that are already starting to shape the design. The time in Patna has given me a much better grasp of different people in the education space, more empathy for the end user and experience. Full stop. Translating English into Hindi is difficult, up-skilling a team takes time and conducting research in India takes patience. Through all these challenges, it went surprisingly smooth.
The sickness now is worth all the commotion last week. I went to Patna with Jayashree to conduct the Career Guidance part of our facilitator research. Patna is in Bihar, the economically poorest state in India. It has attracted a lot of attention lately with the new Chief Minister (who actually is building infrastructure for the people rather than doing little more than padding his own pocket, like the previous Chief) and with the influx of funding from the Gates Foundation, there seem to be numerous initiatives in health and education trying to lessen the gap between the people.
Our trip was all research. We had a series of activities planned with 6 different public school teachers that had been trained in career guidance. It was a learning experience on multiple levels. I am pretty good at balancing between attachment and detachment when it comes to being exposed to extreme poverty. It may sound cold, but you have build empathy but also live your life without taking too much of it in. It hit me pretty hard in Patna though. One of the first schools we went to was situated in a very busy community, lots of people on the streets, traffic, shops, you name it. It seemed pretty vibrant, poor, but not uneducated. I was shocked to be met with piles of trash, human and animal feces piled up by the gate to the school. In India, you get used to the trash everywhere. Unfortunately it is a part of life, but people do make their livelihoods off these trash piles. There are trash wallas that pick through and find objects that can be sold or reused. Most of the trash gets up-cycled, believe it or not. But to see trash and feces at a school entrance was a bit much.
Another touching moment was the need to speak with the principal of each school before starting our interviews. The routine went like this- arrive at the school just in time for the scheduled interview, walk into the principal's office, sit down, tell her our purpose, be given chai and snacks while we chat about other things, get introduced to some of the teachers standing around, meet the teachers we will be interviewing, maybe get fed some mountain dew, have someone set up the room we will be interviewing in and then, maybe... leave to start the interview. Patience is something I will always struggle with. I was fine with this routine for the first 3 schools, it was the last school on the last day that I started to feel it. The restlessness of sitting in a room, saying nothing, with no reason as to why we must wait. And ultimately, I understand this ritual and find it very endearing, something i hope doesn't fall away as western lifestyles seep into the culture. But, oh man, it was too much that final day. By the time we made it to the interview room, I was ready with the papers out, camera on, and watch started.
I also experienced moments of nostalgia. While flying in, I looked out of the window and saw a vast amount of lakes, all surrounded by greenery. I couldn't help thinking of my numerous trips to Orlando in the past year or so. Similarly, on the flight i would look out and see lake after lake, but know there would be no time to explore them and no desire since they were probably filled with crocodiles and snakes. This had a similar feeling of wanting to explore and go swimming, but knowing there would be no time and no interest. I don't know how much I trust lakes in India, anyways. I have even been warned of swimming in oceans that are near big cities, so an urban body of water is a definite no-no.
The other thing that struck me was the cloudiness and light rainfall when we exited the plane. Autumn! It felt like a cozy fall day where the rain just keeps on sprinkling, not as warm as summer, and not quite cold enough for winter. I kept thinking how nice it would be to go somewhere beautiful for the monsoon and just sit and watch it. Maybe look out over a coconut grove, curl up with a nice book, a sketchbook and a glass of Old Monk. Sounds heavenly, no?
On a professional level, Patna was huge. The team ceases to amaze me. Jayashree totally gets design research, and knowing that her Hindi isn't as good as she would like to conduct the interviews herself, she brought a local co-worker up to speed on the activities and coached him through. I felt useless, which is a great feeling in this context. It means embedded design in actually happening. I was equally impressed with Deepak's, our local resource, ability to facilitate. It can be very difficult teaching people how to ask non-leading questions, how to listen and observe, allowing the participant to take the lead. He was a natural. It was fascinating reverting back to my skills of observation to elicit understandings about what was happening. I could tell who came from strict, army backgrounds, who had more self-esteem and who was struggling with various aspects of the research. It was interesting seeing what values people chose, what aspirations people talked about. We elicited some pretty powerful insights that are already starting to shape the design. The time in Patna has given me a much better grasp of different people in the education space, more empathy for the end user and experience. Full stop. Translating English into Hindi is difficult, up-skilling a team takes time and conducting research in India takes patience. Through all these challenges, it went surprisingly smooth.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Sore feet and coconut water
Things are starting to pick up here. Last week all the fellows gathered in Bangalore with Kate, Ramsey and Anu for the summit. It was our halfway point check in to share out progress, brainstorm ideas for the last 3 months and participate in a few DI logistical activities. It was packed full of work, but my friends Gaurav and Manasvi kindly invited us over on Friday night for a dance party. Yes, I still love dance parties and yes I am learning bollywood moves. I am being taught by some pros. Watch out San Francisco, I've got moves you have never seen.
Late night dance parties are universal. All my apartments have hosted a few killer parties, Day street being the least because of the shaky floor and jarringly close neighbors. Alas, the tradition carries on and was greatly appreciated by all the fellows. The summit was bittersweet though. I realized this may be the last time the fellows are all together. We have a great friendship and camaraderie that is unique, it may be fueled by the extremity of our experiences and the desire to have a partner in crime. But it does seem more than that. We are a collection of people that believe in the power of community and are curious about the idea of social design.
I have learned alot being here about social design, about process, design thinking, change makers, etc. The buzz words that designers like to throw around, that make sense in theory but in application don't have the brevity that academia gives them. Community engagement is all collaboration, communication and authenticity with a bit of design. Full stop. We can fluff up the language to make it more tangible or to give it more legitimacy but it can be a lot simpler than that. And when you are working in the field, using these buzzwords only creates barriers and adds confusion. It is best to strip out the design vernacular and speak simply.
The other exciting thing this past week was my weekend trip to Hampi. Jayashree, Arasu and I tagged along Hannah's trip with her friends from LA. We showed up Saturday morning and spent two full days walking around temple ruins from the 1500s. Hampi is a world heritage site that includes what seems like hundreds of temples from various religions. After 2 days of solid trekking, we only saw the main sites. the hills surrounding Hampi are filled with smaller temples and buildings that would be fun to tour if more time was available. My favorite sites were the Vittala temple with stone chariot, the Lotus Mahal, and the giant Ganesh temple. Ganesh is becoming my favorite god, a kind yet curious face. Seemingly peaceful and ready for play at the same time.
Generally, Hampi is pretty spectacular, but you have to see if for yourself. Photos can't capture the vastness or scale. If you are in the hood, let me know and I will gladly revisit.
Late night dance parties are universal. All my apartments have hosted a few killer parties, Day street being the least because of the shaky floor and jarringly close neighbors. Alas, the tradition carries on and was greatly appreciated by all the fellows. The summit was bittersweet though. I realized this may be the last time the fellows are all together. We have a great friendship and camaraderie that is unique, it may be fueled by the extremity of our experiences and the desire to have a partner in crime. But it does seem more than that. We are a collection of people that believe in the power of community and are curious about the idea of social design.
I have learned alot being here about social design, about process, design thinking, change makers, etc. The buzz words that designers like to throw around, that make sense in theory but in application don't have the brevity that academia gives them. Community engagement is all collaboration, communication and authenticity with a bit of design. Full stop. We can fluff up the language to make it more tangible or to give it more legitimacy but it can be a lot simpler than that. And when you are working in the field, using these buzzwords only creates barriers and adds confusion. It is best to strip out the design vernacular and speak simply.
The other exciting thing this past week was my weekend trip to Hampi. Jayashree, Arasu and I tagged along Hannah's trip with her friends from LA. We showed up Saturday morning and spent two full days walking around temple ruins from the 1500s. Hampi is a world heritage site that includes what seems like hundreds of temples from various religions. After 2 days of solid trekking, we only saw the main sites. the hills surrounding Hampi are filled with smaller temples and buildings that would be fun to tour if more time was available. My favorite sites were the Vittala temple with stone chariot, the Lotus Mahal, and the giant Ganesh temple. Ganesh is becoming my favorite god, a kind yet curious face. Seemingly peaceful and ready for play at the same time.
Generally, Hampi is pretty spectacular, but you have to see if for yourself. Photos can't capture the vastness or scale. If you are in the hood, let me know and I will gladly revisit.
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