September 4, 2008
May 13, 2008
Missteps?
To be honest I am not sure if what I have written about in question three would be considered missteps. I would not like to seperate western missteps from India. Look at the world as a system I would rather say that it is a misstep not teaching each other what we know, do and learn on the way. I would rather see that we are sharing our knowledge and therefore also see the world as a whole system and not divided into western and east etc…
April 21, 2008
Sleep in the street or live from others fortune
It is amazing to be able to visit so many parts and get so many different views of Mumbai. From one second walking on the street during nighttime, passing all the people that are sleeping on the streets and all the rats running around. While I the next second can be on one of the nicest hotel in Mumbai, Taj Lands End, on a Myspace India launch with drinks and food for free and a lot of interesting people, dressed up almost seeming to be unaware of what is going on around them. Without saying that they are or do not want to. They are only fortuned enough not to live on garbage.
March 30, 2008
Best shopping ever
Can seem a little bit odd but I have had one of the best shopping experience so far in my life. Amy and I decided that we need to bring some music in to our life and went to where all the electronic shops are close to chain road station to buy some speakers. We went in to a small shop on a small street and found our brand new speakers. Since we wanted to make sure that the speakers worked we had to try them. The three young teenagers that owned the shop were all happy to have two young girls in the shop. Reckon we made their day. Their friends and people from nearby shops kept dropping in. At one moment in the beginning I thought that we were going to end up in a corner of the shop filled with men. But Amy and I waved to the people outside the shop and it seemed liked they got pretty embarrassed and walked off. We sat down and were offered a cup of coffee. We had a nice talk with the owners that were only 17 years old and were going to college. They told us that they gain around 10 000 dollars a year which I would say is pretty good concerning that people in average earn One hour after we walked out with a base, speakers and a free CD with Indian music. A smile on my lips and nice guided taxi ride back to my new home….
March 24, 2008
Questions for Allan Webber
During our outpost here in Mumbai we have to answer some questions asked by external people. Our first question comes from Allan Webber and concerning the Indian economic growth and it’s relation the to the people.
How are Indias people handling the countries transition into a growing world economic people?
First thing to be said that I have learned from Kirschta a guide that took us around in one of the slums in Mumbai are that people in India are very aware about what is going on in the world in relation to India. The growing economy make it possible for people to for example get out of the slum because they earn more. I get the feeling that with the growth comes more global pressure. We visited Dr Savant (at Mumbai University) and talked to him about globalization and India. His answers about the system were or were to be handled by a national programme (includes homelessness, water cleaning system).
Do they feel any change in the status in the world?
Doctor Savant said that he thinks that India will be the next USA and leading country in the world. I have got the impression that some people do both feel and see the change. On this hand it should be mentioned the religious aspect of the people and the cast system. This means that if you are not Hindi then you are not a part of the system of being re-borned and therefore not really existing in real. Therefore the status will not be notified as changed or comperative to the rest of the world. And because of the cast system the people do not aim for getting a higher status.
March 14, 2008
The slum in Mumbai
Yesterday we went with a guided tour to Darvin, the biggest slum of Mumbai. The productivity and their work was fascinating to see. One of the main business in Darvin is plastic recycling which is owned by one family. Plastic is to be found all over the city so it collected and brought to Darvin to wash and redone to small corns of plastic that is sold to different business. There are 1200 families in the pottery business and there are a lot of other small stores and craftsmen. On the other hand the watter that is running in the canal between the hinduistic part and the islamic part is totally black and smells very bad. The garbage was found on the roof at some places, on the ground beside the “houses” and at the school yard. The recycling and long-time sustainibility were not balanced at all. But on the other hand it also mean that they are going in the right direction.
March 2, 2008
Resorb in India
In a week I will be leaving for Mumbai, finally, finally! I am looking so much forward to go there now and to get to know the city. I am curious to find out what it is like especially after all stories tell me about India. Can not help wondering how Swedes in generall look at the world. Yeasterday I was at a party where I talk to a person who works with medication. She advised me to bring a lot of Resorb (helps the body to use the liquid better), which my friends luckely gave me as a present the other day…
February 25, 2008
Accounting, all over me
Starting to get a little bit stressed to be honest…. I am leaving for India in a week and since I will be there for three months I need to get some things sorted before. I wanted to start to work with some foundraising today but no time for that. Have a year of salary to register and send to the tax- office first. At the moment there are a lot of accounting and paper work that need to be solved for my mum’s business before I can do something else. Going back to work….
February 18, 2008
Breakfast and bus in Minsk
After a, to be honest, not very nice breakfast, me and Måns met up with the Belarusian organization we came here for. Out in Minsk looking at the technical aspect of their peoplefm.org, we also got the oppertunity to see the town and learn about its history.
The organization is working on another project where they are leaving pre-paid bus tickets on the buses, in protest of that the reduced bus-prices for students has been taken away. The buses had a interesting system with a lady pushing herself through the over-crowded bus trying to charge everyone for the ride. Right now I am looking forward to go on with the metro tomorrow to see how that works.
