This summer my aunt said to me, “You’re almost 30. You should know how to clean a shower curtain.” Funnily enough, I missed that lesson in the manual of life.

Most days, I still feel like an ignorant kid. But when I was younger, I had more confidence. I was sure I’d amount to something great, like a famous politician. But once college came around, so did the questioning of many systems, including the political and legal ones, as well as society, ideology, gender… In short, I became confused. Which I have remained to this day.

If that means I still don’t know how to clean a shower curtain, then so be it. I’m busy living my life the best way I know how. And only I can live it!

The concept of Chindia has taken on a new relevance for me since arriving in the US. On Saturday I visited Flushing, Queens for the first time. As I stepped out of the subway, I felt as though I was stepping into Hong Kong–tons of hanging signs in Chinese, crowds. Yet as I walked further away, I was walking towards an Indian section of temples. And as I returned to the subway, I could see a strip of Indian shops followed by Chinese ones.

In keeping with the Chindian-themed day, I selected “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” as our evening entertainment. It was a wonderful movie in many ways, and I was struck by how similar Chinese culture is with Indian, especially when it comes to family.

The movie’s actually set in Taiwan, but the family is of Chinese origin. Three daughters are concerned about who will take care of their aging father; and they each have their own romantic sub-plots which deserve big announcements only when absolutely necessary at their ceremonial weekly family dinners.

The story of China and Taiwan’s economic development is drastically different than India’s, and that fascinates me. (Not to mention countless economists). It’s shocking to think that the “Asian Tigers” had similar levels of poverty as India back in the 50s.

Also I found it interesting that women’s roles in the movie were portrayed pretty differently than what I’ve seen in Bollywood movies, though I honestly haven’t watched too many of them. They were professional, independent, and modern in their approach to life despite having a deep sense of responsibility towards their father.

I know it was just a movie, but it really got me thinking about where the world is headed. There have been lots of predictions about who will end up on top; now we’ll have to wait & see…

Enjoy this opening scene from the movie!

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I can honestly say that I’ve maintained my positive outlook and dedication despite the challenges that I always face when returning from the US: lack of infrastructure, lack of understanding. Did I mention the heat? Somehow I didn’t let these deter me and our Netsquared introductory meeting* is all set for Sunday!

One participant of the summit, who happened to be a previous colleague of mine in Bangalore, seemed to feel that the discussions at the summit were overly congratulatory. They’ve been happening for years–ICTs are great! They can save the world!–without a more nuanced understanding of the very real obstacles that we face every day in developing countries.

There were passing mentions, there were a few representatives, but I agreed with her that I felt more importance should have been given to the Global South. Yet is Silicon Valley really the appropriate or likely venue for that?

Sadhu & cellphone from http://techantropology.blogspot.com/

Nonetheless, I must say that my optimism remains in the potential for technologies to transform the world, within and without. My commitment is that much stronger now!

The subjective post-summit report goes into more detail about the specific aims and way forward. It will give you a sense of who all is involved in the larger TechSoup network.

*It’s actually not the first Netsquared meeting I’m organizing, but now I’ve met and built trust with more of the “right kind” of people (working in social media and IT in Jaipur), so I think this time around will be more effective.

From a presentation by Nalaka Gunawardene

I got excited when we broke into working groups and discussion turned to creating a portal to provide more information to immigrants and governments. Sri Lanka has an interesting example of this in their e-Foreign employment program. And there’s also a Facebook page for the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). Awesome!

It was nice being with such an international crowd and I learned a lot about South Asian immigration. Being an immigrant myself and struggling plenty of times with visas, I found the topics relevant. (I did finally just get my PIO card recently…)

I’ll share some of the info I learned but I’m hoping the participants will discuss more in the comments below.

• The Indian diaspora is estimated at 25 million people
• Approximately the same number of Sri Lankan men and women migrate. (Strangely enough, I heard the word ‘manpower’ a lot.) Their prime destination in Europe  is Cyprus. Sri Lanka has 92% literacy, the highest in South Asia.
• In Bangladesh, remittances total $10 billion, 10% of GDP. It’s no wonder that they plan to establish a market research unit to understand where the labor opportunities are abroad.

I have almost completed the first stage of my consultancy project at Jaipur Rugs: formulating a communications strategy for Jaipur Rugs Foundation. See the above first draft which I just presented on Saturday.

These past weeks I have had many informal meetings with employees from various departments, trying to understand their roles and responsibilities, and hear their views on where they feel the communication gaps to be.

I also went for a field visit on Thursday, to Thanagazi district, where I met employees in the branch office and two villages. My time in rural areas is always rewarding, but exhausting. Infrastructure is extremely limited, which in my experience means that roads are terrible and sanitation facilities lacking! But the physical landscape was breathtaking, and it was a joy to meet the artisans and hear about their lives, which I hope to do more of.

I have experienced firsthand the state of transition that the organizations are in, and have tried to see things from both management and employee perspectives. I’ve seen a need for all employees to imbibe the social values and incorporate the vision as their own.

A Strategic Planning and Visioning exercise began in December, and it has been a privilege to be a part of it and have my views welcomed. The final communications strategy will be ready by the first week of February!

This place must be the first of its kind in Jaipur to have imported goods that we take for granted elsewhere: Ragu pasta sauce ($5!), German Rye bread ($8!), Boursin Cheese ($10!). Although I generally refuse to pay such ridiculous prices, I did once cave for the bread. Food is basically my last-standing luxury item…

But not so for the other shoppers, among whom I spotted a golden Fendi bag, Dior sunglasses and flashy Fit Flops. The first two could probably feed a whole family for a year. It’s strange to see that upper-class women are going after the same status symbols that Western women are–all the more so, given the extreme poverty and terrible infrastructure, both of which can be seen just outside the shop’s door. That is, if one has eye’s enough to see it.

If only these glasses could help you to see...

Which is exactly what’s lacking–the sensitivity to see what lies around, to be touched by it. If Westerners can be forgiven their callousness because they live in pristine bubbles, wealthy Indians must at least be able to feel a slight twinge of guilt for having so much?

Yet, there is such a lack of compassion and sense of civic duty. I met an NRI who was bragging that his son, an Eton student, has to volunteer as part of his class curriculum–whereas in India, this requirement is sorely lacking. Why is this so, when the numbers of students could do wonders for others in terms of tutoring, caring for the environment, etc. Instead, usually the teens can be found chilling in the coffee shops, driving around in their SUVs, or, like today, shopping.

How to ignite the dying flame of social consciousness amongst the comfortable classes?

My friend @Nishtala in Hyderabad sent me the Twtvite and I was planning to go, but at the last minute was considering attending another work-related meeting instead. Having finally decided to attend the tweetup, I arrived at the venue and time specified on the Twitvite, but to my horror no one was there except the vendors who were aggressively trying to sell me their overpriced goods. (Madam, I’m so happy to see you! I’ve been waiting here for you all day! Madam, are you looking for someone? Come here, see our store!)

After searching for the signature green car to no avail, I called my husband to check my Twitter stream. Being unfamiliar with the Twitter format, I had to explain to him to scroll down my tweets, searching for the correct one with the Twtvite link.

Once he found it, instead of providing me the details I wanted, he asked, “Do you know Aakriti?” I was wondering why he was asking me such irrelevant questions when the issue at hand was the venue, when he told me that she’s his college friend’s wife. Although they hadn’t seen each other for many years, thankfully they were Facebook friends and he gave me Anshul’s phone number to get the tweetup details.

It turns out that the venue and time had changed due to some tweeps’ suggestions, and without my knowledge since I hadn’t logged in all day! Moral of the story: I’m getting internet on my phone… And it’s a very small world indeed.

The story doesn’t end there though. I went to the new venue, the so-called Sigara Cafe, aka shadiest cafe I’ve ever been to and never would’ve imagined existing in Jaipur. It was nearly pitch-black inside, super loud music playing (being spun by a DJ in the middle of the afternoon–wha’?!) Since no one from the tweetup was there yet, I headed to the more decent option of the Ramada Inn.

Once the tweetup started for good, I was surprised to hear that @Pathfyynder had hosted Jaipur’s first tweetup months ago. I’m pleased to know that Jaipur is not everything I’d assumed it to be, and that there is hope for social media here!

Those with more local experience shared some examples of what they had been doing in this space. We were also able to address many of the newcomer’s questions, and to help them build a clearer roadmap for their own projects: objectives and strategies they can start to implement.

One participant was beginning an internship with an organization focusing on HIV/AIDS, and raised issues about the problem’s lack of visibility in India and abroad, as well as her organization’s reluctance to use social media. I encouraged her to begin explaining social media to her colleagues before diving into more detailed plans.

I took this day to be the inauguration of the Jaipur chapter of Netsquared, a global network of communities dedicated towards using technologies for social change. Our next meetup will most probably coincide with 350.org‘s Global Work Day. Thanks to Amy for providing the support!

I can say with more confidence that I am celebrating my two year anniversary of attending the Inner Engineering program and being initiated into Shambhavi Maha Mudra, which has catapulted me on yet another journey–this time a never-ending inner one, facilitated by this and my other Isha Yoga practices. I can also saw with certainty that had it not been for this initiation, I would not have made it this long in India! Below, you can read more about this rocky journey…

“I don’t want to go,” I said as we were on the plane to India in July 2005. That was the first of many trips. But alas, there has been no turning back.

As I awoke this morning, the same nagging “I don’t want to be here” tormented me. I have a very strong escapist urge: to go back to the comfort and convenience of the West, where I’ve been for a mere two months.

It’s baffling to me how, before I left in July, my attitude was so different. I was as settled as I ever have been here. My mom says it’s human nature to adjust; people even got used to living in concentration camps. The parallel, though controversial, is somewhat appropriate. I’m both victim and agressor.

I spoke to Savira, a fellow blogger and yogini from Living Laughing Breathing who is also re-adjusting to life in India. She aptly said that there’s a battle waging within me between the part of me that wants to be here and that which doesn’t. I’m not sure the two sides can ever be reconciled! This culture shock has taken me completely by surprise–I would’ve thought I was beyond it by now and nothing about India could phase me.

But it seems I’ve gone soft, lost my defences. The smells, the noises, the fear and utter disgust all bombard me like I’m back to square one. How can I actually be choosing this life over other, more sheltered, more straightforward ones? Even I’m baffled and can’t provide a rational answer.

Maybe my life should go back to normal, whatever that means. Maybe I should settle down and stop seeking more. Maybe I should start having clear goals. Maybe I should know what I want out of life and have a clear plan of how to get it. But I don’t know. Is that such a crime?!

Here’s a little story from my husband which he loves to tell but can’t take credit for because I’m sure he got the story from somewhere else. It goes like this:

A man who was about to enter the pearly white gates of heaven was greeted by an angel. The angel said, “I will grant you one wish. Anything you want will be yours. What is your wish sir?” The man knew exactly what he wanted and didn’t even hesitate to answer the question. He said, “I want zillions of dollars.” The angel looked at the man and smiled and said, “Your wish is granted.” Then, poof, she disappeared and the man was left all alone in heaven with zillions of dollars for eternity.

Be careful what you wish for. Do you really want zillions of dollars, or do you want what zillions of dollars can buy you. The pursuit of money for the sake of it only will lead you down a dead end street. There’s nowhere to go after that.

The post came at a good time, as we are trying to do some financial planning for our future goals. I used to want to completely avoid thinking & planning, it made me so anxious. My fears have subsided and I’m more able to think practically.

I didn’t necessarily think of money as dirty, but I saw so many really messed up wealthy people and I associated the two as inseparable. Instead, I saw myself as having values which didn’t coincide with the pursuit of money.

The only problem with this is the danger of resentment which sometimes creeps up on me. I can’t understand how some people in India can have so much while most have so little… But this is a global issue which can only be solved through a complete shift in consciousness.

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