The most militarized what?

So a couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) [courtesy of the J&K government who was holding an expo for Kashmiri handicrafts and handilooms], India’s northern most state, which borders Pakistan to the west and China to the east. According to a documentary I watched about a month ago on the partition of India, J&K is the most militarized region in the world with over 700,000 Indian troops stationed up there (Remember there are roughly 150,000 American troops in Iraq, a much larger geographical area). Despite the minor presence of soldiers every 50 meters along the road and others standing aimlessly, gun clutched across their chest, in farm fields outside the capitol of Srinagar, Emily and I decided to take the approach that it is never as bad as people say it is.

“Some days, no. Some days, yes. I make no guarantees.”

This was the response by Bashir, our taxi driver, to Emily’s inquiry if he felt safe in Srinagar despite the violence of the 1990’s. We laughed and sarcastically said, “thanks”, quickly agreeing that we would keep that comment to ourselves and not share it with our mothers. It was just too memorable not to share though. Sorry, Mom.
Golmarg (a mountain village two hours outside of Srinagar) is home to the world’s only genetically modified cows.

Now I can’t back up this statement with any fact other than the above picture. But you tell me, someone had to of messed with that cow.

(Emily was clearly not impressed with the asking price for these Kashmiri shawls.)

While walking back across the beautiful Golmarg valley an man in his 50s drove by in front of us in a pick-up with three kids in the bench seat beside him. The truck suddenly braked and backed up so that he was eye to eye with us and then he said:

“Would you like to play golf?”

You inevitably have conversations in India with Indians that surprise you and they often ask you questions that take you by surprise, “How much do you make?” “How much do you pay for your rent?”, however this guy could have posed a thousand different questions to us before I would have guessed he’d invite us to play golf.



“Allah’s Pizza”

Who knew Allah made pizza or set up a shop in Srinagar? And it made me think why have I never seen a “Jesus Christ’s Pizza” place? If there is not, there should be. Terry T, if you are reading, there is my idea to build up your youth group in West Seattle.

Speaking of Allah, Emily and I went to Jammiah Mashid, Kashmir's largest mosque in the heart of old Srinagar. It was completely empty when we visited it and had this amazing light streaming through some of the windows.

My favorite quote of the weekend though was when my hotel doorbell rang at 7 a.m. (before my scheduled wake-up call). At first, I wasn't sure if I had heard it correctly and so I waited to see if there would be a second knock. Sure enough, about 30 seconds later, it came. I threw on the minimum amount of cloths and walked drearily to the door and opened it. Standing in front of me was a nice looking Indian man, wearing normal everyday-type clothes, so it appeared he didn't work at the hotel. He paused for a moment and then asked, "Are you Sandeep?"

After 10 months in India I know I have picked up some Indian mannerisms, but physically speaking, I still look no different than the white bread American boy I've always been. I restrained from bursting out in laughter because I thought the question was so funny, however I kept myself together and told the man I was not, in fact, "Sandeep".

Indifference to Compassion

Well, I'm home sick today and trying to recover from a cold that I have had for two weeks now. It's been one of those colds I thought would just go away by taking some tylenol, but here I sit two weeks later with four medicines from the local "chemist", which include cough syrup, eye drops and a couple of pills for what is some type of conjunctivitis.

The following pictures are from my trip to Bangalore and Mysore in August. I never had an opportunity to show them to you, but this post is not really about this trip.

(These young boys were nice enough to accompany me up the 1,000 step, 45-minute hike up to the top of Mysore's highest nearby peak, Chamundi Hill. Three of them did it in sandles, the fourth barefoot.)

Other than that though, it's amazing to believe that it is nearing the end of my first year here in India. I am planning on staying into the coming year. Not sure if I'll be here for the entire year of 2008 or only for part of it, but I just have this feeling inside of me that I'm not done with India yet. I have a ton more to learn from the people and cultures of India and I think I have much more to give to these people.

(At the top, the boys took me to this nearby manmade pool. This man (who you can only see his big toe) was using the latest in fishing technology.)

Below are a couple of articles I thought you might find interesting. The first one talks about Delhi's "rag pickers" who are basically our garbage collectors. It's sad and disturbing, but it is a reality check. Many Delhites never consider what happens to the garbage once the woman collects it outside their door each morning or after they throw their garbage into the roadside bin each day. The fact is that there are thousands of people who go through the garbage each day who are not paid, but ask for donations from their neighborhoods. This is their manner of survival.

(Sri Chamundeswari Temple was at the top of Chamundi Hill)

Delhi Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/world/asia/27ragpickers.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


The second article details the madness of Mumbai. I think the most glaring difference between Mumbai and other major cities in developed countries (and mind you, I have yet to visit there) is that the horrible poverty of the city is not hidden, but often times sits adjacent to some of the nicest hotels, resorts, cinemas and restaurants.

(I think I caught this cow right as it was being blessed from up above or about to be zapped into space.)

(And I did do some work while in Bangalore. I met with many of my colleagues at CII's first Centre of Excellence, the Institute of Quality.)

Josh's editorial: This is possible because many Indians still do not see a problem with the poverty of the country. It's a concept that difficult to understand for most Westerners and even more difficult when you are here and see it right in front of you. However, the reality is that this society has not evolved to a point yet where there is great concern for one's community or for others outside your tight, communal circle.

I will forever remember what one Indian CEO of a well-respected, international foundation told me early on in my time here. He said approximately, "Josh, the fact is that nothing is going to change in India until your average Indian sees the impoverished family, with malnourished, naked children begging on the sidewalk in the middle of the city, and thinks this is wrong and should not be happening in my country. Instead, most Indians think, 'at least my children are better off than theirs.' "

Of course, this is changing - slowly - throughout India. As the country becomes more interconnected with the world, as India compares itself more with other world powers, as pressure from the next generation of Indians demands more from its country, as the hierarchy and entrenched caste system of India lessens, hopefully this indifference to the suffering of their own neighbors will transform to compassion.

Mumbai Article: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/travel/tmagazine/10well-mumbai-t.html?hp