A new love

After years of spending my 'spare' time reading strategies and minutes and writing reports, I’ve grown to enjoy writing again through this blog. It’s become a place to share what’s going on without knowing if anyone’s really reading. I kinda think of it as standing at the bar and sharing my deepest thoughts with my drunken friend (you know who you are) who’s too drunk to respond.

So I admit my shame to you now. I have a new love in my life. Yes, I know I’ve been married less than a year and it’ll probably just end up as a temporary and passing fad - but right now, it isn’t.

My new love was waiting for me upon my return from Calcutta. As things have hotting up ever since my return, every night I come home from work nothing brings me more pleasure than to be in her company. Algy Acey is her full name (albeit she’s also better known by her initials – LG a/c)…..and she’s the latest in split level 1.5t air-conditioning. Living in the UK one tends not to need a knowledge of a/c units but knowing that the temperature would be rising to 50c, and particularly as a cold blooded creature, life without an a/c unit would be unthinkable. With a bit of research as to what to get, I always knew she was always going to be The One. Okay, she’s a luxury (and some would class her as ‘high-maintenance’ (and friends know I don’t do high-maintenance) as she’ll be doubling our electricity bill) but we did a deal with Katie’s employer who paying 50% of the cost and takes ownership of her upon our departure.

So it’s great to think that when I leave her (and yes, tears may be shed), Algy Acey will be in good hands and a safe home.

Algy Acey!

Our weekend

The weekend...bumper edition!

So what did we do this weekend? For the first time in nearly a month we were together in Delhi…..

WAAD

Saturday 2^nd April was World Autism Awareness Day and Action For Autism had been working on plans for a number of events during Friday and Saturday. The events started on Friday with an AFA organised painting competition at the India Habitat Centre which involved schools from across Delhi. Katie attended too with young people from Manovikas.

Cinema

Rather than heading home to the Far East (as the location of our place is known), we popped into a mall to watch a film. We had both wanted to see the King’s Speech and thought we had missed it's run in Delhi, however we were lucky to find it showing and so had our first Indian cinematic experience. The cinema was probably slightly more upmarket than the typical Indian cinema with its plush reclining seats and an at-your-seat waiter service! Oh, and the film was great with Colin's performance well worth that Oscar.

                                              

The Rose of Tralee

On Friday evening we attended a reception at the VSO office in Delhi to welcome the Rose of Tralee (more here). The Rose of Tralee festival annually brings 100,000 visitors to the Kerry town for a week-long festival and the highlight is the crowning of 'The Rose'. This year's Rose, Claire, has nominated VSO as one of her charities that she wished to support during her year. She came with a film crew in tow from the Irish broadcaster, RTE, who are following her as she visits a number of projects across India that VSO are working on.

With The Rose, Clare Kambamettu

World Cup

Saturday was dominated by one event, the cricket world cup final. (And some may say too much whisky and curry). We watched the event at our neighbour's flat where they put together a fish curry, and for those of you who know of India's passion for cricket, it was quite an occasion to witness....although I thought the fireworks weren't quite as loud as those after the victory against Pakistan.

                                       

Nehru and Indira

There are few political dynasty's in the world as strong as that of the Gandhi's. India's largest and most successful party, Congress, have been led by Nehru….and then his daughter, Indira…….and then her son, Rajiv…….and then his wife, Sonia……and next up will be their son, Rahul. With just a few weekends left in Delhi, on Sunday morning we got up early to visit the homes, and now museums of Indira and Nehru.

Indira's museum has been delicately built on to her house. The rooms are laid out as she left them in 1984 as she walked across her garden to a neighbouring house, only to be shot by her bodyguards. The collection of momentoes and newspaper clips made for fascinating reading but I felt the storyline of their lives was missing. Maybe it's intentional as with many powerful leaders she was both hated and loved for what she did.



The spot of Indira's assassination



There's also a section on Rajiv who took over upon her death. He suddenly found himself thrust on to the stage and fought to hold India together in the wake of the troubles after Indira's murder. He too was assassinated in 1991 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a bombing in southern India that killed 15 people. 

Rajiv's trainers

                                                                

Just around the corner from Indira's house is the substantially greater home of one of India's founders - Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was the first and longest-serving Prime Minister of India, from 1947 until 1964 and one of the leading figures in the Indian independence movement. He was elected by the Indian National Congress to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister, and re-elected when the Congress Party won India's first general election in 1952. As one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, he was also an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era. Nehru's stance as an unfailing nationalist led him to also implement policies which stressed commonality among Indians while still appreciating regional diversities. This proved particularly important as post-Independence differences surfaced since British withdrawal from the subcontinent prompted regional leaders to no longer relate to one another as allies against a common adversary. And he created a dynasty which lives on……….

                                           

Big society in India – my final thoughts

So what have I learnt? My final reflections on the Indian big society…..and a summary of my thoughts:

Historically, India has been a place with a strong social identity and cohesiveness. The
manifestation of this social identity and consciousness appears to be the directly organised and locally driven by NGO activity - rooted from within individuals, families and communities, and as such is embedded into the ‘DNA’ of how the society operates and communities act.

It seems that the social sector acts as a significant stimulus as well as a provider of public goods and services. This is perhaps because the local state maybe either does not have the resources or is maybe suffering from its overly bureaucratic systems and processes, but certainly unlike the UK there's never really been large scale, welfare focused spending. Consequently, there is an implicit recognition by the public sector of the importance of local NGOs and therefore creates the 'space' for them to operate effectively.

India is rapidly developing and changing (although it is said there are 3 Indias.....1- the undeveloped 2- the developing 3- the developed) and, if you'll excuse this sweeping generalisation, despite the evident desire to take the 'Western' approach to development there is a social consciousness that is too deep, too embedded in the spirituality of the people to be squeezed out and I believe it will endure these changes because people wish it so.

But getting the right balance between the social, private and public economy is critical - as too much Government leads to a stifling of innovation and a lack of 'space' for the private or social and community sector to flourish......too much/unconstrained commercial/private economy and growth occurs in a haphazard fashion and the benefits of growth aren’t shared.

If you believe, like I do, that the state has become too big, impersonal and monolithic, then the concept of the Big Society has surely got to be a good thing. I fully support the idea that co-operatives, voluntary groups and charities can take on a role in the provision of publicly funded services. The problematic part of the agenda is pushing voluntarism when a) it comes at a time of considerable cuts to public services and ironically funding to these voluntary groups has been cut too; and b) Britons already do a respectable amount of volunteering by European standards (and somewhat telling when the Big Society ‘Tsar’ – Lord Wei has reduced his time in that role as the Government’s unpaid adviser as he wants to spend more time with his family!

The real risk is in one of timing. In the long term, it’ll take at least a generation for the culture shift to become embedded and that’s too long when political expediency is based on a Government term or political cycle. And in the short term, the emphasis on voluntarism makes the BS programme look like an elaborate cover for the cuts – and that volunteers are expected to do the work of Government!

A Wild Weekend

We have just returned from a(nother!!) weekend away. It was originally planned that my parents would join us, as part of their trip to India - unfortunately they were unable to come to India - so just the two of us set off, on Saturday.

We had the luxury of a driver and a car - for our 6 hour journey to Corbett National Park.

We had two nights books at Jim's Jungle Retreat, which is just on the outskirts of the National Park. After the noise and business of Delhi - to be somewhere quiet and slower was bliss.

We stayed in a "luxury" tent - complete with air conditioning and flush toilet!

Luxury tent!

The retreat had a range of lodges, cottages and tents, along with a dining room and swimming pool, and in the evening there was a campfire for guests to relax around. On Saturday afternoon we went with a guide on a walk (5km), across the dry river bank and into the forest. We saw a range of birds, monkeys, deer, as well as elephant and tiger footprints, in the dust and the remains left by vultures (cleaned bones).

We were raised from our good night sleep, on Sunday morning at 5.15 to go on our safari into the National Park where we had a fantastic time - seeing elephants, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al-kMrUACEs)  monkeys, deer, jackals. We got to see tiger footprints and to hear it roar, but an actual sighting alluded us.

monkeying around in the jungle!

  

We were encouraged by the guide to go again in the afternoon, we declined, preferring to relax by the pool, but the afternoon safari did see the tiger - oh well some things aren't meant to be!

Following a relaxing afternoon, we had a chilled evening around the campfire, eating freshly cooked chicken tikka and tandoori nan - freshly cooked in the tandoor oven.

The journey home seemed longer on the way back and the condition of the road appeared to have deteriorated! Better start planning our next little getaway ..........

                                                                                                                                           

An early departure

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog regarding our experience when we attempted to register at the FRRO and in particular the challenge of the $25,000 earnings rule.

Well, we’ve now made further visits to the Ministry of Home Affairs and to the FRRO and have hit a brick wall in trying to get an extension to our existing 6 month visa so that we can work for the 12 month placement.

Despite attempts by VSO (and others) to get an exclusion cause inserted allowing development workers to receive an extension to an employment visa, this hasn't yet happened, and having spoken to officials at the Ministry it is unclear if and when this will happen. If an exclusion cause isn’t inserted (along with the current exemptions for non-English Language Teachers, and chefs etc) will not only impact on the work of VSO and the volunteers but also the hundreds of NGOs and the thousands of aid and development workers in India.

Now there are potentially a number of reasons why development workers haven’t been exempted….it could just be an oversight or it could be a tit-for-tat response for the UK government’s tightening of the UK visa  rules, or it could be that India (‘shining’?!) doesn’t feel the need or wish to be seen associated with aid and development or it could just be a cock up…..albeit fairly monumental!

So our options:

1)      Pay a bribe to get an extension.

2)      Ask someone who knows someone who is a Grand Fromage in the Ministry to get it sorted.

3)      Change our documentation and apply for a tourist visa instead.

4)      Overstay our visa and then apply for an exit visa and pay a fine when we need to leave.

And yes, we could continue to reapply up until our May deadline but this will give us months of uncertainy, with absolutely no guarantee of success!

All the above are possible options but either involve lying or being underhand in some fashion. Katie and I have discussed what next and so, after a lot of thought, we’ve decided that we will be leaving in May.

Aside from the frustrations of the Indian bureaucracy, it is really disappointing to be leaving our placements half way through our expected term. Both our roles have been enjoyable, challenging and worthwhile – as well as being immensely fulfilling and as Katie recently posted, she’s won an award in recognition of her work.

We’ve had a great four months so far and learnt a lot about India and had many amazing experiences. And to have to leave in May isn’t the way we would have wanted our experience to end.

Of course, we are looking forward to seeing our friends and families.

But we’ll also be looking for a home as ours is rented out until November……..and I’ll be looking for a job!

A journey to the Far East



I’ve been away from the office for most of this week – attending a workshop in Ranchi in the state of Jharkhand. Having seen how far away Ranchi is from Delhi and that the train journey takes anywhere from 20 to 35 hours depending on which ‘express’ train one chooses, I decided to go all the way west and head to Calcutta.

Low cost airlines have really taken off in India and the fares are very competitive. So rather than a couple of days on the train to Calcutta, I flew the 1,500 kilometres for about £30. I found Calcutta quite different to Delhi and Chennai. Although the noise and heat are similar to those cities, Calcutta has a long tradition as the cultural capital and notwithstanding the pavements that you can actually walk on (we’ve taken to the road in Delhi), the architecture is stunning and you can feel the history as the place is pretty much left untouched from the early 1900s after the British switched the Capital to Delhi.

My personal highlights were the Writer’s Building in Dalhousie Square which was the headquarters of the East India Company, visiting the home of Mother Teresa…..and having a few beers in the Fairlawn Guest House (with other VSO volunteers who had converged in Calcutta) to keep cool in the 36c heat.

Home and shrine of Mother T



The Writer's Building

After a weekend there, I took the overnight train to Ranchi. I love travelling by train and this journey was no exception  – once we had found our platform (Howrah Station must be one of the largest in the world) and my berth on the train. Okay, I didn’t get a great night’s sleep but I did wake up early to see a beautiful sunrise deep in the Indian countryside – and (mum, don’t read this….) the added pleasure of hanging out the side of the train with the door open to get the fresh air. Subsistence farming is very much in evidence and even at that early hour, families were working in the fields taking advantage of the cooler time of day.

Our 2 day Ranchi workshop pulled together VSO volunteers and partner NGOs across India to look at the new reporting requirements for Dept. for International Development (DfID) and what VSO should be focussing on over the next few years. (And had the added advantage of being held in a decent hotel, so I was able to indulge in my first shower for 7 weeks and the luxury of a soft(ish) mattress….oh for simple comforts!). It was agreed that the focus of VSO’s activities and its partners are to be:

1)      Strengthening of organisations working with person’s with disabilities

2)      Advocacy work and the new law (for person’s with disabilities that is currently being drafted)

3)      Working to improve the inclusion of women with disabilities

And then, flying back home to Delhi for a day of work before heading off to the Corbett Nature Reserve for the weekend. But more on that next week…..and other news!

And the winner is ………..

So, as the evening finished, I turned to Alok, my NGO director, and asked him what he thought of the evening. “Mindblowing” was his answer…. and that was from someone who understood what was going on!!

The previous day Alok said he had some good news – I was to be given an award. “Why?” I asked. “One of the Board members has seen what you have been doing and wants to give you an award, tomorrow evening and Daniel’s invited too”. So the following evening the three of us set off – 10km into another neighbourhood. We arrived to find a stage erected in the road, not uncommon as many events take place in what are deemed to be communal areas! It had a very loud sound system and audience of about 1,500 of which half were seated. We took a spare seat but were then promptly ushered onto the stage, once it was known that there was a “prize-winner” in the audience. And there we sat, with about 15 other people on sofas, on the stage, under spot lights (attracting the mosi’s!). Presentations of trophies were made, speeches given, garlands of flowers hung round necks, tv interviews conducted and lots of photo’s and videos taken.  A local MP and councillors were in attendance as well members of the local resident’s association. From what I understood people were being recognised to the contribution they had made to the local community.

And then it was my turn ……….. a speech of introduction was given – from which I understood “Katie Cox, UK” and “foreign dignitaries”. I went up to be presented with a carved wooden trophy and Daniel was also ushered into the limelight and presented with a smaller version – as a memento (or a trophy for putting up with me!) and we were garlanded with flowers.

We remained on the stage and there were a number of dance troupes to break up the proceedings. One troupe did a celebration of Rama (It’s Holi this weekend) and another were a group of Sikh Punjabi dancers. Both required the involvement of the said “foreign dignitaries” to participate! For some reason we stood out (??!!) and we were “encouraged” (not optional) to join in. This increased the already swelled crowd as people heard what was happening and residents crammed onto their balconies to watch the spectacle unfold below. As Daniel remarked later, it was slightly reminiscent of a throw-back to the “Generation Game”.

Now as much as I don’t like being the centre of so many people’s attention, I was very touched by their thoughtfulness and was pleased by the amount of attention and publicity that my NGO received. As we left the stage we were escorted by a crowd of people who followed us to the car, taking pictures on their phones and wanting to shake hands. Of course, I am flattered and honoured to have received an award but I am surprised at the level of attention and really do (still!) struggle with the (unsought) attention I get!