What is Delhi really like?

Delhi has many faces; my evening today probably would give you a fairly good understanding of what it feels like to be here. Vivek, a colleague of mine from work who rides in my carpool, and I decided to go after work for a beer and “galgappes”. We got out of the rickshaw in front of Kamaal Cinema market, which is quite close to both of our places, while a larger than average water buffalo, which means about the size of a small car, stood on the median separating the road’s lanes, starring straight ahead into space.

This small market isn’t too big by anyone’s standards. A few coffee shops, small restaurants, a couple stores selling different computer products or services, a furnature store, a beer and wine shop. We walk through the parking lot that is filled about 2/3 with small cars and 1/3 with motorcycles. Vivek walks up the two steps of the beer and wine shop to by our two cans of Kingfisher beer. Next, we order four small potato patties from the vender down the steps, which we will eat drenched in sweet chutney and raw onions. We then take our food and beers back behind the first line of shops to a park that sits between that first line and the second line of stops. To get there, we walk through a small, unlit walkway, where puddles from last night’s monsoon and flies from its aftermath buzz around, making designs in the thick smell of garbage that fills the air.

With our bags from work piled on top of each other on the dirty stone wall and bags of food and chutney lying next to them. I realize that a whole army of ants is hard at work, about three feet away from our food, scurrying up and down the wall and the tree that has grown adjacent to it. A small gecko quickly races up the tree trunk. The small fenced-in park is full of garbage though. Vivek realizes that they only gave us one bag of chutney, not two, so he walks back to retrieve the second bag. Meanwhile, I call my Italian friend Marta to figure out plans for the night. Once Vivek comes back, we talk about our frustrations with work and his ambitions to start his own tourism company, while he tosses his chutney bag onto what is left of grass in the park. I realize the sweet chutney is also a little spicy and the cold beer is not as cold as it was ten minutes ago when we bought it. The tasty, tasty food and warm beer fills me right up though. Behind us three dirty dogs lay on the top step next to one man also laying on his back and a second sitting in raggedy clothes on the steps of a business that has already closed for the day. As we finish two young boys come over to ask for our empty beer cans, as they will turn them in, along with other glass bottles they have collected, later on to collect a small sum of rupees. As we begin to leave, Vivek starts to also throw our paper plates over the wall into the park, but I stop him before he does and tell him, “Let’s throw them in the garbage can out front.”

We walk back to the front through the same alleyway to eat our “galgappes”, a very unique Indian food that consists of small balls made of a thin, fried flour exterior (about the size of a golf ball) with a little hole where sweet water with a few cut vegetables are poured inside the ball. As we wait to order, Vivek and I stand facing each other, talking about where our careers might be taking us, while beads of sweat from the intense humidity multiply on his forehead and mine slide down my back. I can feel all of my clothes sticking to me and I realize once again that there is no point in complaining about something like the humidity here. You just have to let it be and find a way to be at peace with this reality. I look around and tell Vivek to try and count how many women he sees in this market right now. We only can see two amongst 40-60 men working, eating, walking, talking to each other. These golgappes are messy and eaten in one swift toss into the mouth – you don’t exactly gulp them, but there is little chewing involved. I’m stuffed after three. Vivek has at least five. We pay about fifty cents for our post potato and beer treat as an unusually small man with crooked legs (possibly a little person) walks by us. As we get ready to walk home, Vivek tells me to wait while he indulges himself and buys a cigarette. In India, you can buy cigarettes one at a time. He lights it with an electric lighter hanging from the roof by a cord (kind of like a small electric stove on a rope), of which I tell him I’ve never seen before. Walking towards home now, a man tosses a small plastic box out of his car window, probably from food, out onto the parking lot near us and Vivek and I joke about the “incredible” technology that I’m learning about in India that I couldn’t find in the US.

Below are pictures from last weekend's Festival of San Fermin. This is the famous festival celebrated in Pamplona every year, which also includes many days of "the running of the bulls". We decided to be crazy and celebrated San Fermin and our friend Carla's birthday all in one :)

The (at least) Half Way Point

(On the Bay of Bengal in Mamallapuram, south India)

I am now starting month number seven over here in India. I’m half way done with my original commitment of one year to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII – http://www.cii.in/ – check out the new website (Let me know if you think it’s a little less like a busy Indian street now, Tina)). I know that to this point I have not really talked about my job on the blog at all. That is largely because, honestly, after working I don’t ever think I want to spend an evening writing about it. I think that could probably sound fairly like a negative sign of how my job is going, but that’s not it all. My job is going well. Originally, I was working on creating a sustainable development plan for CII’s own Social Development Initiatives. Currently, CII has about 10 very different social development programs in place and they each receive fairly limited resources from CII (remember, CII is still a non-profit and doesn’t have excess funds either). So these programs have not grown much over the past years and my first 2-3 months were spent developing a plan to make these more sustainable and scalable.

(Jose and I at CII's National Summit on CSR in Chennai)

Over the past three or so months I have been focusing much more on CII’s proposed Centre of Excellence for Responsive Corporate Citizenship. Now you might ask, “What the heck is a Centre of Excellence (COE)?” or maybe instead you’re asking “What is Responsive Corporate Citizenship?” Well, to answer your first question, CII has 5-6 Centres of Excellence which specialize in providing certain consultancy services and resources in specific areas such as logistics, quality management, sustainable development, competitiveness and “green business solutions”. Our COE is the most recently proposed center. This part of my job has been challenging as up until now I haven’t had a lot of experience looking at corporate social responsibility (CSR) or social development from a business standpoint.

(This is Shimla, a mountain town that was home and office to the Viceroy (the head of the British government when they ruled India) during the six or seven months of summer)

My work at the American Red Cross provided me with great experience at looking at the relationship between civil society organizations (CSO) (a preferred term to NGO or non-profit) and businesses, but from the CSO perspective. So to say the least, I’ve been learning quickly, reading a lot on the subject from the McKinsey Quarterly, Harvard Business Review and other similar publications. We are now, hopefully, at the doorstep of beginning to take tangible steps towards making this thing a reality.

(During the concert of Shimla's International Summer Festival - we were definitely the most international part of the festival)

Two weeks ago, I traveled down to Chennai with some work colleagues to help run our National Summit on CSR. Jose Luis talked the Basque government and his boss at the commercial office of the Spanish Embassy to approve his attending the conference, which was cool. To top it off, CII didn’t charge him the registration fee (I think because my boss thought of him as a diplomat of some kind – which he is - kind of). Starbucks made an appearance as one of the event’s main sponsors. If you didn’t already know, Starbucks is trying valiantly to get into India’s growing coffee-drinking market but continues to face new hurdles with their application. One of their marketing strategies was to sponsor this event and talk about their social responsibility initiatives through their C.A.F.E. program. Instead of sending Sandra Taylor, Senior VP of CSR, next time, I want them to send out Josh Terlouw.

(Last Sunday, a bunch of work friends and I rode Delhi's new metro (commuter train) to a theme park on the outskirts of Delhi. Left to right: Michael, Ankit, Shipra, Richa and Amit)

India continues to be such an incredible learning lab. And I could go on and on about each thing, but just to give you a little bit of an idea. The caste system continues to be a fully integrated part of society from a macro level and interpersonal human interaction. The government has categories of “scheduled castes”, “scheduled tribes” and “other backward castes” that determine levels of government assistance and new affirmative action policies. It’s not just a rural reality either. It’s everywhere in the city also. Nearly all Indians I know can tell you what caste a person is after only a couple of minutes. They can tell from a number of indicators such as their last name, mannerisms and language use.

Next, there is such a huge canyon between law and enforcement. It’s illegal to make kids beg, let cows roam the roads, ask for bribes, ask for a dowry in a marriage, run a red light, and on and on. However, there is little, if any, enforcement of any of these things.

(One thing about India is when it rains, IT RAINS. Rain is almost always accompanied by a storm that includes thunder and lightning.)

There are also so many things that just don’t have any kind of logical answer and if you are trying to find one, you are going to waste your time (I know). For example, no one has “change” in Delhi. You go to stores, use rickshaws, go to the modern cinemas. No one has change for your rupees! Sometimes it’s understandable. Often times the rickshaw drivers have it though but don’t want to give it to you. Heck, Lauren went to the bank the other day and they didn’t have change! Next, in six months, I have yet to see one turn lane in all of India. Thus, you have roads with a big medium in the middle with places to take a u-turn every so often. The lines to make these u-turns can back up as you might imagine, to say nothing of that fact that you often have to drive quite out of the way to just go to the other side of the street. Every Indian city I have seen is like this. My last example is highways with no shoulders on them. The problem is that when a car breaks down, it just stops in the middle of the lane and has no where to go until someone comes to tow it away. You can imagine how unsafe this is and how fast traffic backs up trying to merge around it. The funniest part of all this is that if you ask any Indian, even incredibly bright, traveled, "logically thinking" Indians why any of these things are the way they are, I swear, you cannot get any kind of coherent answer. They just are and it’s really no use in trying to advocate for a change in the present reality because there’s not really a problem in their view.

(When the power goes out, we often have no other option but to sit in the living room, sweat...and take photos and make faces. However, I've found that if I can get past how sweaty I am, the darkness and humidity can actually be quite peaceful and meditative.)

Six months in the book. At least six more to go. It’s great to hear from all of you and even though India is on the other side of the world for most of you, I would love for you to come visit!

A Holiday in Paradise

Last weekend, I had the chance to do something, which I've never done before and that if at the beginning of my time here in India, someone would have told me I was going to get to do, I probably wouldn't have believed them. I went river rafting.

A group of friends and I took a seven hour car trip to a place called Rishikesh, which is known for its river rafting since it's right on the Ganges River. It's quite a small town but has fashioned itself quite well to cater to all the Indian and foreign tourists it receives every year. Above you can see the foot bridge to the other side of the river where there is that temple that towers over everything else. It's quite a site.

On Saturday morning we walked across the footbridge and I decided to do like many others and give my offering to the sacred Ganges River which is used for countless purposes by Indians from the Himalayas where it starts all the way to Kolkata where it ends.

It's actually quite a serious issue as Indians use it for nearly everything you can possibly think of. This includes bathing, washing dishes, clothes and food while it is also the sacred place to put the remains of dead relatives.

For all of you, on our way back from the other side of the bridge, I thought I'd get my picture taken next to one of the "cute" and "friendly" monkeys that sit on the cable all along the footbridge. It could have maybe been my second photo in a row for Grandma's wall!


Now many of you may be surprised, but this actually WASN'T a very good idea, as the monkey kindly showed me all of it's teeth and claws and even faked jumping on me! The above photo was taken in the seconds following this near-end-to-my-trip-in-India occurance. If you can't tell, I'm reciting the Lord's Prayer.

Later in the day we got our chance to river raft - all 26 km. What a fun experience. Here's all of my friends (left to right: Maria, Saray, Gordon, Jose Luis and Raquel)


After river rafting we made it to our camp for the night. This place was amazing. Right on the river. The common eating/hanging out area is to the left of the tents in the background. The cover is actually a parachute.


This is my "new" favorite roommate picture for Jose Luis and I. We were able to go swimming, relax in the shade and enjoy the non-polluted skies of Rishikesh. During the monsoon season and winter most of these camps are not available because the river level is so much higher.

Sunday was our hiking day, and we went on this pretty short, but really beautiful trail up to a double waterfall. There was one right at the end of the trail, but then Jose Luis and I climbed up to the top where there was a second waterfall that we had all to ourselves. It was paradise. It reminded me of the waterfall from the movie "Cocktail" except instead of being there with Elisabeth Shue, I shared it with Jose Luis. That's okay, Jose. You'd be my second choice.

What does it take to get on Grandma's wall?

Some might call this an unusal assortment of things to include on one blog post. Instead, I ask you to think of it as a work of art, a post-modern journal entry, even a masterpiece of Salman Rushdie-esque randomness.

First off, I have been growing a beard, despite the increasing temperature that hovers over 100 degrees almost every day. You see, I started to notice all of the men in India with these extremely long beards (not to mention almost every Sikh male, who all have beards also) and I would ask them, "How can you stand to have a beard in this heat?" Well, the two I have spoken with personally on this topic thus far have told me, "I haven't cut mine in 25 years, so it's really not that big of a deal." I figured, heck, if they can do it, why shouldn't I try. We'll see how long I last...

Above is a shameless attempt to get my picture up on Grandma's wall with all the other animals and add one more photo to Doris's fridge. I know all of you don't personally know my Grandma or Doris, who has adopted me as another grandson, but trust me...it's shameless. And by the way, if you think this photo may have been dangerous to take, you're seriously wrong. The cows, bulls and water buffalo that roam the streets of Delhi (illegally by the way) are more domesticated than the gravel-eating, doggie-door fearing mutt that resides at my Mom's house.

Next, I have a new roommate for the next four months: Lauren from New York City! My roommate Ashok is dog-sitting and while he's gone, Lauren is crashing with Jose Luis and I. Lauren is a freelance journalist starting out here in Delhi and she's awesome.

She's already making herself comfortable in our house. Enjoy this pic while it's here. When she gets back from Kerala (south India) next week she may push for its removal.

Finally, this one goes out to my amazing friend, twin sister, and fellow toothpaste snob: Sarah Reiman. My supply of Aquafresh that I had brought with me from the US just recently ran out and I have had to do something Sarah and I have refused to do ever since we were old enough to have a say in the grocery shopping: use a different brand of toothpaste. Aquafresh apparently hasn't made it to the Indian toothpaste market yet, so recently I had to take the plunge and try a new brand. My Colgate is okay, but you know, it's a weird green color, tastes funny and well, it's just not the same.

The "Taj"

Well, this post has been about two months coming. Back at the beginning of February Jose Luis and I decided that we better get our trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal out of the way early. After going to the wrong railway station at 7 a.m. and racing across the city on a rickshaw to the correct station, we arrived at our train precisely at its departure time: 7:15 a.m.

While the train was quite crowded, we were lucky to have seats for the four hour journey. It wasn't too hot on the train, but we could tell they were already prepared for the hot months to come.

Once in Agra, we found a restaurant with dining on the roof and some Australian and German friends to share lunch with. The view from the roof was a perfect teaser before we set off to explore "The Taj" as it is called by locals and tourists alike.

The classic "Taj" photo. Although you can't see it, there are probably 20 similar photos going on at the exact time just to the right and left of us.

I'm actually quite proud of myself for spotting this photo opportunity: all types of tourists, foreigners and Indians alike, taking photos from a variety of angles in front of "The Taj".

Construction of "The Taj" began in 1630, courtesy of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan who had it build for his wife, Arjumand Jehal. Agra was the capital of the Mughal emperor between the 16th-19th centuries. It is also symmetrical on all sides and while it is an amazing monument in terms of size and beauty from the outside, the inside is much smaller than I thought and the wear of thousands of tourists on the inside shows. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal

This photo is taken from Agra Fort. Taj Mahal actually seems a lot closer than it looks in this photo, but my stupid camera always makes things in the background look further away.

Kirani Market is a crazy place in Agra. There are probably 200 (no joke) sari shops adjacent to each other and somehow they all seem to make a living. A great day trip though. We were back in Delhi by 11 p.m., in time to have some drinks and go dancing with friends.

Yes, it was a long, but incredibly fun day :)

Indian Home Stay

I know, two blog entries in quick succession! What can I say, with my laptop, “Lapia” as I affectionately refer to her, back in working order with a new adapter cord, I am back in blogging mode.

Last weekend I had my first “Indian home stay”. The boyfriend of my wonderful friend Andrea, Shivam, whose family is from Jaipur where he grew up, was in India for three weeks so I made a trip to see them all. I hadn’t seen Shivam in over two years.

On Good Friday, we went to Choki Dhani, which is basically like a Rajasthani “village experience” for tourists. It’s more like a village carnival complete with magicians, dancing, gift shops, a maze even and plenty of Rajasthani food.

Since I had the opportunity to see all the touristy Jaipur places a couple months back on a weekend trip with roommates, I was able to spend this three day weekend very casually, getting to know Shivam’s family, walking the markets with him and trying just about every Rajasthani sweet there is.

Shivam’s parents are amazingly sweet people and told me I had a second family in Jaipur anytime I wanted a weekend away from Delhi.

700 Million Indians

Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to visit a number of rural India´s villages, the India that over 700 million Indians call home (of population of 1.1 billion). Specifically, I was in the area around Ranchi, which is the capitol of an eastern Indian state called, Jharkhand. Now Ranchi has a population of over 2 million, but I only stayed the nights in Ranchi. The rest of the time I was outside the capitol learning all about check dams, lift and drip irrigation systems and irrigation channels, underground water tables, self help groups, integrated water harvesting-livestock ponds, village development committees, primary care hospitals and the Standard Days Method (SDM) they are promoting to village women who choose (for different reasons) to not use contraceptives, but are able to keep track of where they are in their menstrual cycle through a necklace of red and white beads.


This man was telling me how before his current pond and help from the local foundation the water would collect in the hills and drain right down and go to waste. Now they are able to collect it through a complex water harvesting system.


At our first village, my colleague Franz and I were able to meet with over 60 local villagers.

At the third village on the first day, we met with the school´s student parliament. A group of eight girls sang us a welcome song and gave us bouquets of flowers. I then told them that I too took part in our version of student parliament throughout middle and high school. I failed to mention that I think I wrapped up the middle school vice-president election with a promise of an indoor roller hockey league.

The second day we were able to visit two local hospitals that serve 7 and 13 villages respectively.

The plane ride home was a little harey (hairy?) to say the least. On take off apparently, one of our wheels burnt off or hit something and was completely flat when we landed in Delhi. We were greeted by a fire engine and some security personnel from the airport. I was utterly confused as I had slept through all of the announcements and our first attempted landing :)