Brilliant and a bit ridiculous

Sometimes I find India extremely funny and ridiculous to some extent.

If you come to Delhi don’t miss a chance to go to Delhi metro and have a great amount of fun reading metro rules. Here’s one of them: ‘Don’t go on the top of the train!’ (!!!) How the hell anybody can commute on the top of metro train??? Well as Indian sellers used to say: ‘everything is possible in India ma’’m’. Another rule is ‘not to spit in metro’. Well that’s pretty understandable considering the fact that everybody spit everywhere here. BUT the ridiculous thing is that fine for commuting on the top of the train is 50 rupees (1 USD) and for spiting 200 rupees! So spitting is considered as 4 times worse thing than having a ride roof of metro!

Other people that can be very amusing are Indian beggars especially children. Last week I stuck in traffic on the way to market. Boy and girl of nearly 10 approached me. They definitely where together but boy stood a bit further. Girl asked me to buy 2 pencils for 10 rupees. She looked and talked really sweet so I bought those 2 pencils which basically I didn’t need. She thanked me and went away. And then boy come. And guess what he started to ask me to present him pencils as he really wanted to have them! Isn’t that brilliant? They didn’t actually beg but they found smarter way. How the hell can I stand not to buy 2 pencils from sweet poor girl? And how the hell I can stand of not presenting pencils to small boy that wanted them so much?? And besides I don’t feel bad that I encourage begging by giving money to children.

And finally marriage ads in newspapers is smth that makes me hysterical when I read them. Enjoy one of them.This is actual letter taken form Times of India.

Madam :

I am an olden young uncle living only with myself in Lahore. Having seen your advertisement for marriage purposes, I decided to press myself on you and hope you will take me nicely. I am a soiled son from inside Punjab. I am nice and big, six foot tall, and six inches long. My body is filled with hardness, as because I am working hardly. I am playing hardly also.

Especially I like cricket, and I am a good batter and I am a fast baller. Whenever I come running in for balling, other batters start running. Everybody is scared of my rapid balls that bounce a lot. I am very nice man. I am always laughing loudly at everyone. I am jolly. I am gay. ladies, they are saying I am nice and soft. Am always giving respect to the ladies.

I am always allowing ladies to get on top. That is how nice I am. I am not having any bad habits. I am not drinking and I am not sucking tobacco or anything else. Every morning I am going to the Jim and I am pumping like anything. Daily I am pumping and pumping. If you want you can come and see how much I am pumping the dumb belles in the Jim.

I am having a lot of money in my pants and my pants is always open for
you. I am such a nice man, but still I am living with myself only. What to do? So I am taking things into my own hands everyday. That is why I am pressing myself on you, so that you will come in my house and my things into your hand.

If you are marrying me madam, I am telling you, I will be loving you very hard every day.. fact, I will stop pumping dumb belles in the Jim. If you are not marrying me madam and not coming to me, I will press you and press you until you come. So I am placing my head between your nicely smelling feet looking up with lots of hope.

I am waiting very badly for your reply and I am stiff with anticipation.

Expecting soon

Yours and only yours

Choudhary Warraich, born by mother in Okara and become big in Lahore, Punjab

Doing well and doing good

Just few days ago I came back from my trip to Bangalore where I visited Artemisia Drive meeting. Except of the fact that I loved the city I really enjoyed the conference also. The best part was in meeting social entrepreneurs from India and listening to their stories. Having really business-oriented parents and working in AIESEC for 5 years I was all the time questioning myself what is more suitable and important for me ‘do good’ or ‘do well’. From one side my father who is trying to involve me in family business and just cannot understand the existence of non-profits. He still thinks that there’s a guy ‘on top of AIESEC’ who is cheating poor stupid students and makes money on us. From other side understanding that I won’t be able to enjoy my work if it’s only profit-oriented. I guess this is dilemma of lots of AIESECers: what to choose – make money or positive impact. The good news is that’s not a dilemma anymore: below are stories of 3 social business ventures I had chance to meet during the conference. They are all really different, on different stages of development, with different focuses. One common thing is that all of them
managed to do well (some of them incredibly well) and do good.

Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital “The Henry Ford of Heart Surgery”

Dr. Shetty, who entered the limelight in the early 1990s as Mother Teresa's cardiac surgeon, offers cutting-edge medical care in India at a fraction of what it costs elsewhere in the world. His flagship heart hospital charges $2,000, on average, for open-heart surgery, compared with hospitals in the U.S. that are paid between $20,000 and $100,000, depending on the complexity of the surgery.

The approach has transformed health care in India through a simple premise that works in other industries: economies of scale. By driving huge volumes, even of procedures as sophisticated, delicate and dangerous as heart surgery, Dr. Shetty has managed to drive down the cost of health care in his nation of one billion. At the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore, Dr. Devi Shetty and his fellow cardiologists perform about 600 operations a week. They're making heart surgery affordable to some of the poorest people in India

Of course there are people on the Bottom Of economic Pyramid who cannot afford to pay at all for medical treatment. For them Narayana offers totally free of charge treatment! Dr.Shetty says that he borrowed idea for his business from McDonalds whose processes are highly standardized.

After visiting Narayana which is incredibly big (actually its not 1 hospital, its ‘Health City’ with lots of hospitals) one very distinct thought crossed my mind: everything on earth can be made affordable and accessible to the poorest! Heart surgery is one of the most expensive medical services. But by innovative approach to running processes it became affordable for everyone. Why the same approach cannot be applied to other things like food, shelter etc???

‘BookBole’ or how sharing can knock out inaccessibility!

The idea is simple and brilliant. Why not to create a social network for print and visually impaired people? 400 million print and visually impaired across the world lack of enough, relevant accessible content. Not just having more accessible stuff BUT having the stuff YOU need and want. Challenges faced by the print and visually impaired in getting content that is accessible to them. One of the main means of accessible content is digital format because as soon as you can have it on your computer machine can voice it up for you. It’s unbelievable but only 5 % of world content is in accessible format for print and visually impaired people! BookBole offers to connect print and visually impaired people around the world on the platform where they would be able to share accessible content of all sorts i.e. books, journals, class-notes, articles, blogs, audio etc and to connect with each and make friends, and to converse and collaborate around accessible content. 400 million people is huge market which is almost ignored. So isn’t it brilliant market opportunity? And is it a brilliant way to improve people’s lives?

Embrace, $25 premature infant incubator for the developing world

Embrace aims to reduce the mortality rate and improve the health of low-birth-weight and premature babies in resource-limited settings through a low-cost infant incubator. Every year, 20 million low-birth-weight babies are born; 3.5 million of them die, and those that survive often grow up to have low IQ, early onset of diabetes, and heart disease. A large number of these problems could be avoided by providing thermal regulation to these babies, which is the primary function of an incubator. The problem is that traditional incubators are often available only in major urban hospitals and clinics; even when hospitals do have these devices, they are largely in disrepair. Furthermore, a large portion of the population of developing countries lives in rural areas, where incubators are simply not available, given their high price point and the fact that they require electricity. Embrace is a sustainable non-profit organization that produces a $25 incubator designed to work in a primary healthcare center or at home. The product is an extremely cost-effective incubator device that requires no electricity and provides heat to an infant at a constant temperature, the key factor needed for survival. It has no moving parts, and is designed to work in rural healthcare centers and households.

Embrace team is bunch of people in mid 20 who came up with idea of baby incubator during of the classes at university. And they thought that it’s not that bad idea and maybe they should market it. And they did. Those people aren’t more smart or experienced then lots of AIESEC people I’ve met. They just spent a bit time to think what is really burning need in their country and how they can tackle it with very targeted and specific solution. Well if they could anybody also can!

If anybody got interested in social entrepreneurship field – approach me will be happy to share recourses and have some nice discussions.

Sad post in a sad day

Today is exactly 3 months that I am here. Although I have a feeling that I just came. And that’s why I am really afraid that next 3 months will pass with the same speed. I really don’t want to leave this country…

At the same time today I felt for the first time that I am really missing Ukraine. I stuck in traffic on my way back home and I was thinking that this is the day when I really want to be alone, totally alone. I understood that I don’t know any place here where I can be alone: lots of other interns at my home and lots of staring people on the streets. Well actually there is one place – our balcony, nobody is here as its already cold, so as other trainees say this is ‘my office’. Of course it’s not the same as getting lost somewhere in Kyiv but still this is something.

For the last few days I was also thinking a lot about my family and my friends. And how great is that I have them. Being at home I was never thinking about that. Here I am for the first time isolated from them and sometimes I am dreaming about watching football with beers and stavridka with my freaky unlimited team at Bugorna 13 or watching ‘cheap horror movies’ or doing any kind of other bullshits with them.

Well I guess I have a feeling which once was perfectly described by my Greek friend: “I want to go but I don’t want to leave.” But I guess tomorrow will be better. Will not have time to think about that again if won’t stuck in traffic. Next time promise to write ‘happy post’ ;)

Live in India once but leave before it makes you hard

Today I experienced an episode which made me think a lot about myself in Ukraine and myself in India. Am I changing? And if yes, is it a change for better?

So in the morning I went to the market nearby to buy food for next week. On my way there beggar approached me. He was asking for money. I started to ignore him as I usually do here. But he continued to follow me talking something in Hindi and showing with gestures that he wants to eat. The only feeling that I had was irritation getting stronger every second. Finally I understood that ignoring him will not help and I started to shout at him Jao which means Go in Hindi. And he left after some time.

I forgot about this episode immediately – such kind of situations happen every day here. The same evening I met my Indian friend and we started to talk about India and how I like the country. He asked me whether I ever use cycling rickshaw as a transport. Of course I do was my answer. And then he asked me whether I feel sorry when I have to use them. This question made me think. I remembered my feelings when I first took cycling rickshaw. I felt like I am harassing him, like he is my slave. That was really bad feeling. That first time I paid him 3 times more then I should. But after some time I stopped caring. Now cycling rickshaw seems as just one more mean of transport, like bus or tram. When I told this to my friend he told me that I am becoming Indian very fast.

And that’s true. Millions of people are beggars. Very often 4-5 people take one (!!!) rickshaw to go somewhere although it’s allowed for maximum 2 people to seat at one rickshaw. Just imagine 40 degrees heat and this Puller who has to carry 5 people! And nobody seems to care! Once I heard a story from one girl about beggar she saw at the railway station in Delhi. He was lying on the floor, flies were around him and he couldn’t move. One could clearly see that he was dying. And just next to him people were waiting for their trains. They were eating, playing cards, joking just next to him! People are so used to these things that they simply stopped paying attention. And I feel that day by day I also stop paying attention. From one side it’s natural, it’s just the way you protect yourself. From other side, I was for 5 years in organization which has a mission of ‘piece and fulfillment of humankind’s potential’, I came here to work on the company which does micro financing for Rickshaw pullers, I can’t even count how many sessions about state of the world I’ve held. And now I am shouting “Jao” to beggars, bargaining with Rickshaw pullers about paying 10 rupees more or less… I am not trying to say that everyone should give all those people money, because it might make the situation even worse. At the same time there should be basic respect and support from side of people who can provide this support.

I told already – I love Indians, but I really don’t want to become Indian in that way. I guess if Indians would be a bit more ‘European’ with their unprivileged this country would become a bit better.

Crazy India

Not dangerous, not incredible, not scary, not beautiful – I would like to call my first post about this country exactly like that. After a bit more than 1 month of staying here I can describe India only with the word crazy! I thought that after some time this feeling will disappear. But each new day gives more reasons to think that I am in crazy country, people are crazy here and I am crazy because I came here and frankly speaking I love this feeling! ;)

Few things that I think of India after 1 month:

1. India is completely different from what I’ve read and heard about it. Before coming to India I was preparing a lot. I’ve read dozens of websites, blogs, articles about India, way of life there and how is that to be a foreigner in this country. Honestly speaking after doing that I started to have doubts whether I made a right decision about choosing that country and if I’ll be able to survive for 6 months here. ‘Lonely Planet’ has 30 pages that are describing only all dangerous situations that can happen to white women in India!!!! Seriously it’s not that bad! I am walking streets alone, I am drinking water, I don’t clean plates with soap before eating in the restaurants, I eat in the streets, I talk with local people and nothing bad happened to me! Of course I am not saying that it’s very safe. As well as you cannot say that about US, Ukraine or any other country.

2. India is very different, but it doesn’t mean that it is worse than any other country. In the first days of my stay here I was pissed off with so many things. Trash on the streets, uncontrolled traffic, streets full with pissing people – list can be very long. I thought all those things are happening because of poverty and uneducated people. Partly it’s true, but that’s o nly one side of the coin. Recently I had a conversation with my manager at work – very intelligent, smart and nice person. He told me that some time ago he received very attractive job offer in USA. And he rejected it because he couldn’t imagine his life in the country where he would be able to piss only in public toilets and throw away garbage only to trash bins… He told me that in India he feels free and he can’t live in the county where he will have to follow so many rules as in US! After that conversation I thought that very often “western people” think that their way of life is right for everybody, everything that is different seems worse to us. ‘Right’ for us can be completely ‘wrong’ to Indians and if I am in this country I have to accept their way of life as probably they know better than me what is ‘right’ for them.

3. Indians are happy! This is the thing I admire most here. If you walk the street in Delhi or any other Indian city you’ll see poverty and miserable life conditions. I don’t consider Ukraine as developed country but never in my life have I seen so much poverty as here although in Ukraine we have lots of it. At the sa me you look around and you see people smiling to each other, talking and laughing. I know so many Ukrainians who feel upset because they don’t have most modern phone or TV or they live in small apartment. And I think about hun dreds of Indians which I see everyday sleeping on the street who seem like enjoy their life much more! That’s definitely one of the things that we should learn from these incredible people.

4. Сonservatism. Honestly speaking there are lots of things which I admire about India and people here, but there’s one thing I hate – castes. Caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in India. And it’s not even coming from India. Castes appeared when Aryans invaded India. Aryans entered India from the Northwest and established a caste system, in which they placed themselves primarily in higher castes. Aborigines were placed to lower castes. Basically, the whiter your skin is the higher caste you have. And after thousands of years they still obey and believe in this completely unfair system. In big cities it’s not as strong as in rural areas. But even in Delhi there are people that belong to so called ‘untouchable caste’. ‘Untouchables’ are the people that are not allowed to do any other work except of throwing away garbage. It’s considered bad in Indian society to touch those people as they are ‘dirty’. And this is 21% of Indian population as per 2001 Census!!! And the worse thing is that majority of people feel comfortable about that, and so far it doesn’t look like that it’s going to change soon.

5. AIESEC in India. After 5 years of being AIESEC member I feel really attached to this organization in any country. At the same time there are AIESEC countries which I really love and admire. This is of course AIESEC Ukraine and without any doubts AIESEC India. During my MC term I was lucky to work close with AIESECers from India, I’ve run dozens of sessions to Ukrainian AIESECers des cribing great work style and commitment that Indians have. I did enjoy communication and work with Indians and I value a lot friendship that I’ve made with people in AIESEC India. Because of that I now feel very confused with things that I am facing everyday here. When I just arrived to trainees house in Delhi I’ve met near 10 interns who were living there. Approximately after 1 day of my stay there I was told all bad stories that happened to trainees because of AIESECers, about all the people that were not met in the airport, all undelivered promises and I was advised from the first day not to count on AIESEC here. Now after 1 month in India I even cannot remember how many complaints from different people I’ve heard. And the worst thing is it looks like it will last forever. Because when new interns are coming from the 1^st day they get bad impression of AIESEC here even they didn’t have any bad experience with AIESEC by themselves. I also got a feeling that this kind of relationships between AIESEC and trainees became normal for lots of AIESECers here and they stopped trying to improve that. In the beginning I was all the time arguing with interns saying that they exaggerate everything and they should try to change situation by themselves, being more proactive and tolerant. But now I feel that people here were so many times disappointed with AIESEC that they just don’t believe that something might change and that’s why they prefer not to interact with AIESECers at all. I was thinking a lot about this situation and it really bothers me. By no mean i want to say that AIESEC in India is bad and that they should stop doing hundreds exchanges and focus only on interns servicing. But I want to tell to every AIESECer – don’t forget that u are bringing human beings here, and they are not furniture that you can just meet in the airport, bring to the house and forget about it. They are the people who make AIESEC incredible organization which all of us love so much. After all I do believe that AIESEC in India is the best entity in the network and I am happy that I am part of it right now. I just think that because of intensity of their work and pressure that these young people feel everyday they sometimes loose the focus and forget why they joined this organization. I know that it’s easy to say but much more difficult to change that. At the same time I feel that Indians can do whatever but only if they want. Well, I wish them good luck!..

That’s it for now! Will try to be shorter next time ;)

My first blog

Hello friends ;)
So it's the first time when I decided to have a blog. I have to say that it was hard decision after so many years of resisting this idea ;)
Now I am having my internship in India. Everything seems really fast and exciting here. So I thought that you might be intersted in my observations and things that are happening to me here. Anyways I'll try to make it interesting for you! So join me ;)