Being yourself

walmart in India?

I read that there is a good possibility that the Indian government will open doors to foreign investment in the food and non-food retail sector. If this happens (and it sounds like it will), Walmart will be in India before the end of the year.

For a long time now, India has not opened doors to foreign investment in the retail sector. This has been opposed in the interest of supporting local shopkeepers and small local businesses that run a major proportion of the retail sector in India. This is particularly true of the food retail industry. There are few or no supermarkets in most parts of the country (in recent years this has slowly started changing in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi and so on). There are few or no national franchises. Grocery is procured by people walking over to the store around the corner or to the hand-driven vegetable cart a few blocks away. Alternatively, often, the vegetable vendor goes from home to home in a community to sell vegetables. He gets the produce from local farmers, sometimes from out of the state. Grocery, especially perishable food is bought on a daily basis. Milk is almost always delivered to individual homes on a daily basis. The entire model of small business food retailing is a deep and intricately part of the culture. It is not just an economic approach outlined in some text book. 

Every morning is begun with the familiar ring of the door bell. It rings the arrival of milk. This spins off the start of the day in every Indian household. Chai is made, the newspaper arrives and the Indian housewife (or husband these days) gets the breakfast going. As the day progresses, various helpers around the house, make runs to variously different corner stores to procure any one of cleaning supplies, freshly ground flour, medicines or other sundry goods. Early evenings beckon Indian women to the streets to get fresh produce for the evening meal and the next day's lunch. Grocery shopping is more than just an errand to get groceries. It is when all the women see their friends, meet with other folks in the community, exchange stories, gossip, talk about issues pertaining to the community, the state or the nation at large. They see the same familiar faces day in and day out, they build relationships with those faces, they become their friends, they feel at home. They go to the same vegetable vendors day after day. They bargain with them, squabble over the freshness of the produce and make stern request for better quality only to return the next day and do the same. They build a connection with the milkman and the vegetable vendor. They share in their joys and sorrows. They give them gifts on Diwali. Its all part of being in a community.

The newspapers are all talking about the economic impact of India opening up its retail sector. I am worried about that, but, even more than that, I am worried about the impact on the very fabric of Indian culture -- the relationships between its people. In the largest democracy of the world, a majority of the people live below the poverty line. They depend on the middle class and the rich not only for employment but also for a connection. Those that can afford depend on those that cannot and vice versa. While sad in some ways, its a beautifully woven symbiotic relationship. Every house helper, every milkman, every newspaper delivery fellow, every vegetable vendor is depended on by several middle-to-richer income families. That dependence builds relationships that bridge the deep economic ravine.

If Walmart came to India, what would happen to the milkman and the newspaper delivery boy and the vegetable vendor? What would they do? Who would employ them? Further, what would the middle and rich classes do? They would probably drive their cars to Walmart, use shopping carts to get all their goods, come home and never see the face of another person that couldnt afford what they could. They wouldnt need all those people that they depend on today. They would never know the sorrows and joys of the poor. They would never feel their pain. There would be no relationships to bridge the economic disparity. The ravine would only grow deeper. I worry about this.

It is my sincere hope that before India gets excited about receiving Walmart, we pause and ask whether we are ready to receive the change of culture and relationships that define what is India. That to me is the bigger question.

XBox, TV sitcoms, IM ...what today's teenagers do

I have often mused over the contrast of how I spent my childhood playing on the street outside Ushus v/s how my students' spend their evenings in front of an Xbox or watching some sitcom. I have sometimes relayed to them how I spent my childhood. For a while I even felt strongly about how they "ought" to spend their time. I think one naturally goes into that mode .. we all have opinions and judgements of how best to spend our time .. it all stems from our ever-subtle values. No matter what we say, we have them.

Something seems to have caused an ever-so-little shift in this perspective of mine. It happened during the course of a really honest conversation with one student (Jostin). He spends a lot of time on his computer -- playing, emailing, IMing but even beyond that, running his own business. He and another student (Adrian) started creating web pages for themselves about 2 years ago. They got so interested in making web pages that after a while they floated a company to make web pages for other people. After that, they started getting requests from punk rock bands to make web pages for them. They did that and soon after found themselves signing up bands and releasing their records. At this point, they have released and promoted several bands some of who have been on the top 10 list of punk rock music. Its quite something to watch these 2 students running their own business, paying taxes, meeting with lawyers and so on. Its all not conventional, not in keeping with what most 16-17 year olds do.

You can well imagine what changes this has caused in them as growing young adults. It has also affected their commitment to school -- how can one be interested in focusing on school when you have a budding business to run? To me its been very simple to see that the boys need support and encouragement in what they are doing. They are however enrolled at school and the school is asking them to spend more time at school if they want to continue at school. The conversations have been tense and not the greatest. So, I decided to take Jostin aside and have an honest conversation about what he wants, whether he really wants to be at school and if so why. All his behavior seemed to indicate that he didn’t want to be at school and I completely understand why so I wanted to see if he could accept that he may not want to be at school and in reality, just wants to run his business. The conversation was real .. I think some of it was because I had no judgements about how Jostin should spend his time .. I wanted to merely reflect back to him what his behavior seemed like and to help him get in touch with what he really wants. During the course of the conversation he made some honest confessions about why school sucks .. all very real feelings that we have all felt at some point. At the same time, he also said he never wants to not be at school -- this school is his family and he longs to be there because he knows he is cared for in this school. He also expressed all the excitement that he feels in running his business .. how he cannot stop doing it once he starts. How he can stay up nights and not be done. How he forgets to eat when he is working and so on. That made me stop .. I recalled how I didn’t feel hungry when I was playing on the street outside our apartment in Bombay. My mom would call for me every 10 mins to get me back home for dinner. I recalled how I could not sleep at night, restless to wake up next morning so I could take all my friends for a long walk on juhu beach. Were Jostin's emotions and what he was experiencing really any different from what I had experienced as a child? Sure, we had chosen different activities but at the very base layer we didn’t seem to be any different ...

That conversation has opened my eyes to the fact that what today's children DO doesn’t really matter, they are feeling the same things we did and how they grow from those feelings, what they learn of themselves is what I need to focus on. I am not sure if you were saying any different from what I have said. I think you were merely citing the contrast, not making a judgement. I just felt like sharing how I held a judgement about the choices that today's children are making and how my judgement has been diffused by this experience.

speedboats, jetskis and more

Its a 75F day in Seattle -- the warmest day of this spring. I am back out on our dock. My latest past time has been to watch all the bird life that lives in the wetland around the lake. I have been incessantly amazed by the 5 eagles that live on a tree right next to the condo. There are 2 bald eagles, 1 osprey and 2 other eagles. They fish in the water and bask in the sun on the tree. I cannot seem to get over watching the steady flight of the eagles, their gentle swoop, fast turn and then a brisk brush with the water (i saw this just as i was typing this sentence) to pick up a fish. Periodically, they drop a fish, then swoop back down to pick it up from the water -- but sometimes the fish escapes! I read all about it while growing up and have watched it on the Discovery channel but seeing it for real, beats it all.

So, what has this got to do with speedboats and jetskis?

On this 75F sunny day, all of this bird activity is accompanied by human activity -- in speedboats and jetskis. They are zooming around -- like you see on the Travel channel -- soaking in the warm sun, drinking beer, tanning themselves, living the high life. Except that this high life seems to be disturbing the birds and the fish. I am watching the eagles having to dart the speedboats on their downward swoop to get the fish. I am wondering what the fish are having to deal with. I have seen the fish jumping out of the water -- I think they do that at this time of the day. The froth and movement of the boats must be disturbing all the surface fish that want to jump out of the water. They must be darting around trying to dodge the weaving jetskis, terrified and stunned by the sound, the fumes and the violent movement of the water.

There used to be a time I longed to get on a jetski -- it was fun, the thrill of feeling the speed, the cold water touching my warm body. It doesnt seem as much fun any longer. It seems like I should be able to have fun in a way that doesnt disturb other living creatures. I wonder if I will feel exactly this way the next time that someone offers to take me out on a jetski .....? Will I forget all that I have felt and seen today? What will heighten my senses again? I wonder ...

mountains beyond mountains

Every once in a while you read a book and whole being is inspired -- you see a clear way of living. Mountains beyond mountains, specifically Dr. Paul Farmer's character, has just done that to me.

In the simplest terms, Dr. Paul Farmer and PIH made a significant dent in pursuits of providing better healthcare in poor regions of the world. He did more than that -- in terms of being -- he represents a man who just does because he must, he lives and does with a sheer sense of urgency -- an urgency for living -- it feels like every cell of his body is joined wholly in doing what he does -- he cures the poor of the world. It doesnt matter who they are, what their circumstances, why they ended up in those circumstances -- to him it is really simple -- he is a doctor and he must cure. Medical equity is the absolute goal. The roots of his cause run deep to the anthropological aspects of why poor people suffer some of the most horrifying diseases. As you might guess, he doesnt just cure the diseases, he cures the causes and life situations that bring about those diseases and he does it in such an unwavering manner that you can almost feel the love he feels for those that he cures.

Reading the book has brought me a ton of clarity on why I do things like CFAC or teaching -- I have to do it -- it feels like my being knows no other thing. The beauty of how Paul Farmer does it is that he is totally and utterly humble -- I can only aspire to that level of humility. I am far from it. Paul Farmer is zealous, honest, clear and impracticle has hell -- what is there to be practicle when it involves saving someone's life? Many would argue there is some sense of practicality that must be considered. He doesnt see it that way. No one life is greater than any other and so ALL must be done to save each one.

Did I say that I highly recommend the book :-)? If I didnt then maybe this quote from Paul Farmer will -- "it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission" - it summarizes his approach to what he does and I take it to mean something at a different level. When there is an urgency, there is no time for anything else .. do what you need to do and leave all the explaining to later. Now if only I felt that urgency in every living moment -- I would just live and leave all the explaining (read mental chatter) to later ...