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RBI Week Two: Insights

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Our second week started off with a well-deserved celebration. After finally focusing our research and fully delving into our projects, we travelled across the chaotic streets of Pune to land in BBQ Nation, a rest bite from curry (the real excuse however was Nick’s coming of age!). The night, characterized by a continuous supply of skewers and unlimited dessert, was culminated with Will’s dance moves in a visit to Miami, a favorite with Pune locals.

Visiting the resting place of Mahatma Gandhi.

The next day, after an early morning struggle, the squad compensated the festivities with some historical sightseeing. The Chatushshringee Temple, dedicated to the reigning deity of the city of Pune, was our first destination. Situated on the mountain side, the view from the summit held a treat, a glimpse of the city from above. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking the streets of Pune, where Jaz and Cristina endorsed another ancient tradition, henna. Although very intricate it was surprising how little time it took to complete.

Midweek the usual work routine was interrupted by the celebration of Eid Mubarak, a Muslim religious festival. The following day we left the office for a visit to Ahmednagar Central Bank, the oldest co-operative bank of the State of Maharashtra. The long bus ride, was made short given the shared stories and interactions with central bankers from a diversity of countries, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

During the presentation given by the CEO of the co-operative bank, we could not hide our surprise when first Dom, and then all of us, got presented and awarded a gift, as a gesture of thankfulness for attending the meeting. In contrast to western introductions, the Indian culture showed to be a lot more personal and gracious.

When our meeting concluded, we hopped back on the bus and were taken to a women’s self-help group. As part of any rural ceremony, they granted us the power of concentration, by painting a little red dot in between our eyebrows, and topping the paint off with rice. Paint that we later feared could be permanent due to its high water resistance.

To conclude the week, we were fortunate to meet and talk with Anna Hazare, India’s modern Gandhi. His wisdom and inspirational speech highlighted his motives and actions towards achieving a more sustainable and connected community. Although innovative, ideas such as the ban on tobacco and alcohol may not be very suited to the west … Who can say no to a cold one at the end of the day?

We cannot wait to see what the following weeks have lined up for us. Namaste!

GEO RBI Interns

Anything is Possible in India! Week Two with SEWA

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I don’t know about you, but Josh likes to chat with his Uber drivers. On the ride to La’Atelier, a continental restaurant that we were hoping would satisfy our fix for food that isn’t curry, Josh got to talking to the Uber driver about the traffic and how crazy it is when Shari pitched in and asked if the Uber driver had ever gotten into an accident. “Yes, of course!” was the Uber drivers emphatic reply. Then he chuckled and added, “anything is possible in India!” He is quite right, and we have decided to adopt this saying as our motto for this internship.

Where else would you see monkeys, elephants, camels, and horses mixed in with the traffic? Where else are there a hundred different types of curry? Where else could it be 40o Celsius with the sun shining brightly and by the next day pouring rain?

Not only are there these physical differences in India, but the work environment is unlike anything in the UK or the US. Our team, interning for RUDI, is analyzing the sales of a district that is not performing as well as others. This project includes compiling data, hypothesizing what is causing this district to uWhere did Mr. SS Patel go?nderperform, interviewing pertinent people, and coming to a conclusion to present to the district. This week, our team was supposed to make a day trip to the district in order to begin performing interviews of the district coordinator, customers, and Rudiben*. However, this visit hasn’t happened because the district coordinator, Alkaben, did not respond to our various emails from last week. Though she didn’t communicate with us through email, she did come in to the office this week for their monthly RUDI team meeting. This allowed us to begin interviewing Alkaben, with the assistance of our director, Mr SS Patel, as the translator. In the midst of our interview, Mr. SS Patel took a phone call (something that is commonly done during meetings). After waiting 30 minutes, Alkaben announced it was time for lunch so we all dispersed. Despite being reassured that after lunch we would all meet up to complete the interview, the whole group never reconvened and we had to leave at 5:30pm without completing the interview.

As we have come to notice, this lax schedule and go with the flow habit seems to be the nature of all business in India. Working in this environment has required us to change our mindset and adapt to these obstacles. We have rescheduled our visit to the Anand District and set a date to complete the interview of Alkaben. Rather than waiting to complete these activities before moving on to the next problem analysis, we have begun making surveys for the next stage of our project. With two weeks behind us already, we want to make the most of our time here and continue completing those tasks that we can.

In line with how quickly time is passing, both us, the RUDI team, and the SMS team are setting our sights on visiting places outside of Ahmedabad. We have already visited many of the tourist attractions nearby, so we hope to go to Udaipur this weekend to see what possibilities it has in store. Maybe the next Uber driver that Josh talks to will have another inspiring quote for us. We will keep you in the loop.

GEO SEWA Interns

Discovering Delhi, Punjabi Dancing and Indian Hospitality: Week 2 with the Bharti Foundation, India

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The team headed into week 2 free of illness and high in spirits. Saturday saw us venture into Old Delhi, the original city before the British built the new capital in 1947, via another pleasant metro ride that is putting the London underground well in its place. We felt this was our first taste of ‘real India,’ and getting lost in the backstreet markets unintentionally added to this experience. We finally made it to the Red Fort after stopping for masala dosas on the way. The fort itself was bredelhiathtaking, and was in remarkable condition considering it was built from sandstone in the 17th century.

On Sunday, the team headed to Qutb Minar in a cosy 36°C (in hindsight, wearing a grey cotton t-shirt was a huge mistake). This was a monument built in 1193 by Qutub-ud-din Aibak immediately after the defeat of Delhi’s last Hindu kingdom. This marked the start of a 5 century long Turkic Muslim Dynasty in Delhi

Sunday night gave us our first taste of Indian ‘disco’ at Cyber-Hub, a collection of upmarket bars and shops in Gurgaon. Our attempts at Punjabi dancing seemed to amuse the locals, although the compliments of two Germans gave us some hope. However, the conversation soon turned to ‘Brexit,’ and the team decided to call it a night there and then.

Work this week had us focusing on preparing for our research that the team is due to conduct next week in two New Delhi Government schools. Monday involved a presentation on our preliminary research task. On Tuesday, the team visited the two schools that will be used to conduct our research. The team was pleasantly surprised by the schools, as they had very good infrastructure, and there seemed to be a very healthy atmosphere among the students. The hospitality was outstanding; we were near force-fed a selection of Indian snacks such as samosas and halwa, complemented with chai tea. Our research is broadly trying to improve the quality of rural education in India and this field trip gave us a unique insight into what we wanted to find out next week.  The remaining 3 days of the week were spent producing our final research methodologies after consulting with Bharti team members.

The team is looking forward to another weekend exploring Delhi, and spending four days in the field next week (trying not to think about four days without air-con). Onwards and upwards!

GEO Bharti Interns