Paul Travels

Yay! A Cross-over article!

2008-01-18T12:04:00.000+05:30

Typically I will blog about something in India or something in Canada. Rarely do I get to combine the two (unless I"m relating my own experience, but that seems somehow less organic). Thus, the article found below about the new "People's Car", the Tata Nano, which I have already discussed in my previous post here, was written by a University of Alberta opinion writer. Given, the piece is not particularly nuanced or even that intelligent (most of us could make these arguments, without the shock at "three quarters"!) Still, it is relatively well written and might almost renew my belief in university journalism...almost.

Enjoy!

Namaste,

Paul

Cheap car carries high price for environment. impoverished

Brian Gould, Opinion Staff Monday, 14 January 2008

There’s a new car set to hit the streets of India this year, and at $2500CDN, it’s poised to bring even more pollution and congestion to that country’s already crowded cities. Branded the Tata Nano—an obnoxiously cute name to match the minute size of the car—and targeted at moped owners, it will inevitably result in more drivers and increased automobile dependence.

Back at home, facing the looming prospect of $1.50-per-litre gas by the end of the year, there are sure to be cries against this new development—but frankly, we don’t have that right.

Sure, India uses more than twice as much energy as Canada, but Canada uses 16.5 times more per capita. Over-population isn’t the problem; it’s over-consumption that’s doing the real damage. India’s consumption would be even lower if it weren’t for the growing upper class consuming competitively with North Americans (growing, of course, at the expense of those less fortunate).

Yes, Tata’s Nano is bad for the environment, but a nation that drives SUVs doesn’t have the right to blame one that primarily drives mopeds for rising gasoline prices, fossil fuel depletion, and global warming—just like the binge eater at the buffet doesn’t get to tell off skinny people when they want more than a piece of celery.

Congestion will increase, but even the inevitable road building projects and accelerated sprawl aren’t so much the problem as the way in which they’ll pay for all of it. Road tolls would simply be impossible, leaving the burden on the Indian taxpayer, who will suddenly find it more cost-effective to drive as well, which is when the automobile will claim yet another victim nation. Increased energy use combined with increased congestion are also the recipe for increased smog—a problem cities the size of Mumbai, Kolkata, and Dehli can hardly afford.

Overall, this car will be an environmental disaster, but no worse than the one we currently live in. It’s time to look at ourselves for the real source of these environmental problems instead of pointing fingers. What actually worries me the most is the tagline the company is using to promote it: “The People’s Car.” As in: the car of the people. As in: if you want to be part of society, you need a car because that’s what it’s really all about here.

“If I had a four-wheeler, I would have better marriage prospects,” says a villager in Tata’s marketing literature. Whose fault is that perspective? Surely it couldn’t be the western world that has incessantly broadcast automobile dependence as a cultural value since India was still a colony.

Worldwide, cars are inextricably linked with social status. The company’s website asks, “Which celebrity comes to your mind when you see this car?” After all, who cares if you can’t scrape together enough to feed your family—at least you have a car to drive them around.

Three quarters of the Indian population lives on less than 2$ per day—three quarters. The $2500 price point suddenly looks a little high. Equally troubling is the cost of gas—60 miles per gallon isn’t enough for the 250 million Indians who couldn’t fill the tank more than once every two months. Call it “The People’s Car” if it helps you sleep at night, but this isn’t going to break down caste barriers—it’s going to create new ones.

It’s true that the Tata Nano represents a safety improvement over a family clinging to a single motorcycle. There’s certainly demand for such a car, but what about those who couldn’t even afford a scooter? Maybe they’re just supposed to suck it up and starve themselves and their families to get one so that they can finally fit in with the rest of “developing” India. After all, if a “People’s Car” is the cost to participate in society, wouldn’t you want one too?

An interesting Quote

2008-01-14T15:22:00.000+05:30

"I believe that you have to withstand whatever problems come your way. You have to make the decisions that are best for you. You're going to get a lot of advice coming from many different quarters to do things that don't feel right to you, that don't reflect who you are and what your values are. So you have to be grounded in who you are and what you believe. And you're not always going to make the right decisions, but you have to be guided by what you think is important, and that's what I've done." - Hil Dog (Sen. Clinton)

My life is crazy right now for a variety of reasons you'll all be hearing about in the next few weeks. I like this quote for these days. Enjoy.

Namaste,

Paul

A Few Little White Lies...

2008-01-08T16:49:00.000+05:30

Ok...so I'm not really going to talk about monkeys and lollipops...though cars might come up a bit. Also, this post is clearly a day late. Those little white lies aside, here we go for another day!

So, to start things off, I'd like to send you all to read an article in one of my favorite magazines: The Economist. This article deals with a topic that I wrote about in one of the opening posts of this travel blog. The contradictions in Mumbai are astounding and should be looked at from as many angles as is possible. During my couple of visits there I was struck by all sorts of things, and while I didn't go to the slum that is specifically discussed in this article, I have seen immense poverty there. Additions to these thoughts are welcome and encouraged. Most of all, this article is well done, so if you want a good representation of what slum life in Mumbai might be like, take a read.

The second point for today is my promised car discussion. India has created the "People's Car" - which is in fact the world's cheapest car costing only $2,500 (1 Lak Rupees as they say here in India). Check out the article here and the photo here. We could say lots of things about this car, but one of the most interesting points is Ratan Tata's comments on why he built the car. "At the unveiling ceremony Mr Tata said: "I observed families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It lead me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family."

This comment is particularly interesting because it 100% true. I've seen families of 5 or even 6 riding on scooters like this together. Nashira's got stories about three guys and a sheep riding down the street. I've seen entire computer systems being carried by 2 guys on a bike. There are obvious pros and cons to putting more cars into a country of 1.1 billion - especially as the roads are already the most hectic I've ever seen. Still, this will change millions of lives in India and I think that's worth discussing.

That's all for today!

Namaste,

Paul

Lost In ToR (Terms of Reference) Land...

2008-01-08T16:23:00.000+05:30

I'd really like to put up a witty and intelligent post today...really I would...but I'm writing Terms of Reference for some research interns and it's taking up lots of my time. Thus, watch for tomorrow's incredible, amazing post dealing with monkeys, lollipops and India's chances at being the next automotive super-power!

Namaste,

Paul

If I Were in Canada...

2008-01-07T11:44:00.000+05:30

...I'd be watching the first episode of this show, jPod, with a large amount of anticipation! It was a great book, Coupland is a great writer, and CBC hasn't done anything better than the news since 22Minutes. So...put it all together and you just might have a winner. Apparently it premieres tomorrow night...can someone please tape it/TiVo it for me? Oh yeah...Canada recently got TiVo!

I think it looks great. What do you think???

Namaste,

Paul

An Observation

2008-01-06T14:59:00.000+05:30

So I was looking at the site statistics for the past few days and have made a few interesting observations I thought were worth making...

1) Since I changed my blog and then publicized my changes the readership has gone way up.

2) People like the opening picture.

3) The one day I didn't post anything the readership dropped down.

Now...point one and three seem to be kind of related and I'm now trying to decide what in fact contributed to the increase in readership. Was it the fact that I sent out a mass message letting people know to check it out, or was it instead the fact that I started to again post everyday? Given the fact that the one day I didn't things fell off, I'd like to guess the second one, but I'm not sure.

Thoughts??

Namaste,

Paul

Why Barak?

2008-01-04T10:53:00.000+05:30

This is a small example of Obama's abilities and thoughts. There have been many more since the campaign started. Edwards has a few of these as well... thoughts?

p.s. I don't have time to post a speech from the top three, but I highly recommend that you search them out yourself. That way you can speak knowledgeably about what's happening south of the border (the Canadian border that is...south of the Indian border is Sri Lanka, where the government just walked away from the ceasefire agreement with the Tamils...much scarier stuff if you ask me.

The Bihar Report - Part I

2008-01-04T09:48:00.000+05:30

So I'm starting to compile all of the work and research I've done so far on Bihar since I got to the Aga Khan Foundation India offices at the beginning of October. For those of you who don't know anything about Bihar check out some info here and perhaps here if you're really adventurous (it's a PDF file, but read the first couple of pages to be literally shocked about a state in India). A simple quote from that World Bank report (linked above) paints a pretty clear picture: "Bihar is India's third most populated state with a total population of 83 million [based on 2001 census data], and accounts for one-seventh of India's population below the poverty line." Pretty stark stuff. Actually, when I met with the director of UNICEF he told me that the child-malnutrition numbers are so startling that it makes "...sub-Saharan Africa look not so bad." I was as shocked as you are.

As I said before, this past week has been spent putting together the different kinds of information I have about Bihar, its people and its development issues. I have about 7 transcripts of interviews with various NGOs in the state (NGOs are few and far between...which is a testament to how bad it's been in Bihar these past 10 years or so. More on that next time.), about 500 pages of external documents (World Bank, Government, AKF) and then hard numbers and data. It's a large amount to wade through, though, incredibly interesting.

While doing all of this I've been reflecting on one of the two proposed titles of my report: "Building a Vision for the Development of Eastern UP and Northern Bihar". As I discussed with a colleague yesterday, what a huge, sweeping, overwhelmingly enormous topic! Thankfully, it was refined further to give me some more wiggle room to: "Supporting the Development of a Strategy for an Area Development Programme". I haven't said this much...but whew, thank you Tinni!

So now, as I sit down to write this report I realize what it will likely actually be: a report about potential. The report will focus on what is being done in Bihar (both by NGOs and the Government), where the gaps are, and how AKF can be incorporated into this already existing picture. It's probably safe to say that this won't be the MOST interesting part of my internship, but I do feel as though the document will be useful as AKF prepares to roll out its Bihar programme starting in March.

What has been most interesting?? Well, being integrated on the day to day planning and operations of the Bihar implementation programme has been pretty neat. Because it's so new, when we sit down to discuss an important development area such as 'education' we all put forward different ideas and perspectives. Through this deliberation we have been determining many of the specific actions that will be taken on the ground. It's a really strange feeling...knowing that someday, someone will be taking part in an education programme that was partially developed by me. I don't mean that to sound like an ego thing...it just more or less blows my mind!

***in other news*** Obama and Hukabee won the primaries in Iowa. For my Canadian friends that don't know any better, Iowa is important, but not the be all and end all...so this outcome is very interesting, but might not be quite as telling as it seems at first glance. Keep watching...and never fear, at least there's we KNOW there will be no more Bush in America, and thus the world's, future! (though, Hukabee isn't without his terrifying points...)

Namaste,

Paul

Not Just a Travel Blog

2008-01-03T09:27:00.000+05:30

So I'm back from my wild 10 day adventure with the other intern from India (Nashira, in Jaipur) and our AKFC Intern friend from Tajikistan (Emily, Dush). I was sitting here, getting ready to tell you all about the beautiful and peaceful Udaipur (in Rajasthan) and the incredible ocean island of Diu (a "union territory") when I realized: I never intended this to be solely a travel blog.

You see, everyone and their dog has a travel blog. The minute we step out of our front door, it seems, we need to be telling people about every little detail. I.e. "I left the house today, first i stepped out with the right foot, then the left. It was magical, feeling the sun on my face for the first time in a month and smelling real air...so very different from the dank of my mother's basement." Or something along those lines . But really...I know many many people who are all over the world right now...and I would say that at least 80% of them attempted, at least at some point, to establish a travel blog. Ick!

So...I'm gonna change it up a little and simply link to the pictures of my travels, picasaweb.google.com/paulthinks . Then I'm gonna talk a bit about some random thoughts that have been swirling through my brain over the past few weeks regarding international development/work and travel in general. Thus....in no particular order:

-As I'm writing this post, an email has landed in my inbox, telling me that she loves hearing my travel stories but "they just talk about that!" Too true. Funny how things happen at once! I get it alright...I get it!

-I want to start off by telling everyone about my friend Arno who is currently a journalist in Nairobi. I know! It's crazy there. The election has gone haywire and people are being killed in gruesome, horrible ways! If you don't know enough about it, start here, then do some more digging! Ok, so Arno, in all his craziness, is ducking in and out of slum areas getting incredible story after incredible story. However, he's also getting mugged, bribed and lord knows what else. Do him a favour...go read his blog on the Walrus website, and maybe also say a little prayer for him too if you're that kind of person. (btw, the most recent post is INCREDIBLE).

-Second thought: in one of my recent emails to friends and family I enclosed a small story about a field visit I had last month during my exposure trip to Bihar. The story was, briefly, about what people value in villages and how my assumption that the health of women was and/or should be an important consideration, might have been flawed. My comment related to a specific conversation about smoking stoves being used by women indoors. The moral of the story, as it were, was something along: "The people we were interacting with had a hierarchy of need that was different from the one i had imagined. Though the Chula [stove] filled the house with smoke, it worked, and thus one survival need, to eat, was taken care of. If more money were to fall from the sky, people wouldn't use it to improve the need that was already met..." This was, more or less, my final thought.

But, it turns out I have some very intelligent friends, and one friend in particular offered me a different perspective. I haven't quite decided how to respond to this...but I wanted to put it out there for other people to chew over. Lauren is a very bright woman, and I found it very interesting. So...Here it is:

The story of your experience with the villagers and the stove was very interesting and I can appreciate that you and I may have a different hierarchy of needs than people who are living in such poverty, but the moral of the story didn't sit right with me. Probably the second most valuable thing that I learned from bpapm was that it doesn't matter if you have a good policy idea unless there is an open policy window. Okay, so your collegue effectively displayed that the villagers have no desire for new stoves at present - window closed....or is it? The only lesson more important that I picked up is that policy windows can easily be opened - it isn't so much about having good ideas at the right time, but about convincing people that your ideas are good right now. So a guy tells you that he doesn't need a new stove because it works, and above all else, he is not overly concerned about the well-being of his wife - so you teach him that she would be healthier and more productive if there was less smoke in the house. You shift it from a health issue to something that will more directly benefit him. And if that fails, you give his children the education that he seems to value and you teach them the dangers of smoke inhalation and then they demand change when they get older. Window opened. My point is that while it is important to be culturally aware and even more so not to apply our values to others, it is also important not to give up on ways that you can see will improve the lives of others just because they tell you to.

This is an interesting response and brings us to some very basic questions academics and workers alike raise about development. In development a common bone of contention is the issue of "who are we?" You know, the questions goes like "Who are we to say that a smokeless stove is better than a new pump motor?" of "Who are we to say women's health is important" or even "Who are we to dictate what is important to this village?" They are all reasonable questions, and i have heard each one uttered by very intelligent and reasonable people. However, the "who are we?" issue tends to fall away when things get more serious. Few people ask "who are we to say that children shouldn't be soldiers?" or "who are we to say slavery is bad?" In our age of cultural relativism, people often cherry pick areas where they 'should' or 'should not' impose their values. But if pushed, people lose their relative views and agree: child soldiers and slavery are bad...regardless the cultural tradition.

Don't get me wrong, my point isn't that the goal of development is to superimpose western values over traditional village ones (I actually quite disagree with this conception of development...though many of my friends and colleagues think I'm wrong...which I"m ok with.) My point, however, IS that we shouldn't just walk away from an issue simply because it wasn't at the forefront of a villagers mind. Maybe this was Lauren's point as well.

There are more thoughts brewing, and over the next week or so (as I begin writing my final report for my internship) I"ll likely throw them up here for some public consumption. Some days, 10 whole people read this blog! Can you believe it...TEN! So if you are one of those ten (some days, I think it's only 9 though, because I'll hop on the blog as well), give me some feedback and let me know what you think.

Namaste,

Paul

In Transit

2007-12-24T08:40:00.000+05:30

Hey All,

I'm in travel mode right now and won't be back until the new year. Then I'll regale you all with pictures and stories! Until then, have a safe and happy holiday season (I sound like a Walmart commercial), and I'll update soon!

Namaste,

Paul

In Honour of World Aids Day

2007-12-13T12:47:00.000+05:30

So I've been gone in Bihar for the past little while doing field work. As part of that, I missed a rant and/or intelligent blog posting regarding World AIDS Day. While I can't go back in time, and feel as though the moment has passed, I'd like to throw this onto the blog as sort of a belated comment. It's not 100% about AIDS, but a related issue. It's also hilarious. Enjoy!

p.s. I'll be writing a post about Bihar in the very near future...so stay tuned.

Where's Robin Hood When You Need Him???

2007-11-29T10:37:00.000+05:30

This one loosely relates to my 'travels' because I am from Canada and find THIS article very, very unsettling. I have a couple of conservative friends whom I love very much...but this, this is terrible governing. Not only are the rich getting a FANTASTIC tax break on their multi-million dollar businesses (note the plummeting corporate tax rate) but now their also going to get a personal income tax break too? This, in a country where child-poverty is increasing, where we can't treat our Native population with any respect, and where cities are literally falling apart. It is my firm belief that people don't hate paying taxes; instead, they hate paying taxes when they see nothing of value coming from them. So let's start to rebuild a Canada of incredible beauty, hope and value. Not give more random tax cuts to win elections.

Anyway....don't the Conservatives already count the rich and super rich as party members just as a matter of course??

Namaste,

Paul

The Sex Trade and the Wandering Blog

2007-11-27T15:27:00.000+05:30

I'm trying to keep this blog in some way related to my current occupation and, of course, travels, but I've decided that as long as I have some sort of loose connection to what I'm up to, it'll be fine. This may turn into a "Paulitical" (for those who remember) clone, but with a little more of an international flare. That's ok, I enjoyed my Paulitical experience...especially when others didn't (not all others, but some...you know.)

So, after that disclaimer, I'd like to direct everyones attention to this little article that I happened upon during my daily news-scan. Now, first of all, I'd like to say that this connects to me and my internship because I have three friends who are also AKF interns living in Kenya. Two of them are staff for the Nation Media Group, so working on the premise that maybe they read this from time to time (though, I'm sure they don't) I'd love to hear their opinion or some follow up. Arno and Tim, that's directed at you.

Now...just in case you're thinking about skipping this article, I'd like to provide you with a particularly interesting excerpt to try to entice you (no pun intended...well, sort of):
"This is what is sold to tourists by tourism companies -- a kind of return to a colonial past, where white women are served, serviced, and pampered by black minions..."

There's a part of me that is resisting the urge to shudder...which is I think exactly one of the points of this article. These women are traveling as a new kind of sex tourist because in their home countries it is "sneered at..." But we can't have it both ways, can we? Is it a return to colonialism, or just some 'old broads' looking to have some fun??

I certainly don't mean to distract from serious issues regarding the sex trade. It is true that sex tourism usually involves children and is one of the darkest of dark sides in our sometimes despicable human nature. Still, this article shows another side, which while not technically illegal, has been described as "unwholesome" by the article. You know me...I'm a sucker for new angles.

Thoughts?

Namaste,

Paul

Interesting Addition to an Old Debate

2007-11-26T14:22:00.000+05:30

For my Jewish readers this will probably be old news, but to my non-Jewish audience this may be enlightening. When I travel to areas with little or no Jewish population (Indonesia is 90% Muslim and India has very very few Jews) I come to expect an interesting reaction to the fact that I'm Jewish. Unlike some other travelers, I tend not to hide my religion except in the direst of circumstances (which I have yet to experience). But thanks to my blue eyes and my small(ish) nose, people just hear Canada and assume Christan. I don't really care...when people who I consider close friends ask me, I tell them that I consider myself Jewish by heritage, but a student of all religions. I like that answer, I feel as though it adequately explains my relationship to my own spirituality and my interpretation of G-d.

Anyway, as usual, I'm digressing into rambling. The point of this email is to direct everyone toward this article about the upcoming Israel/Palestine meeting. I gave the long preamble above because once people do find out I'm Jewish the first thing they ask about is Israel. As most of my friends know I am a very strong support of the two-state solution and feel as though it's high time that Israel stopped depriving and humiliating an entire group of people, and Palestinians were able to stop blowing themselves up on buses. I'm oversimplifying my position, but you get the point. Still, I've met all kinds of people while traveling and they respond and/or expect different things from me when we talk about Israel.

In this context, I feel that the article is good because it brings together a bunch of disparate pieces of the two-state puzzle. Many of them I already knew (the UN part, the Jerusalem part) and some I didn't (the citizenship part), but the real strength here is that the article lines everything up to be consumed at once. That's very useful.

I'm going to stop now, mostly because I'm sure I've already said enough to satisfy or enrage people with what I've put down here. But do read the article and maybe do some of your own research. More importantly, imagine a world without the Israel/Palistine crisis. Hard to do...I know. But I think that the world deserves to imagine and hope for this possibility.

Thoughts?

Namaste,

Paul

I Miss Home...I Really Do.

2007-11-22T11:44:00.000+05:30

So you know how sometimes the universe makes you eat your words? Well, I was doing my daily world news survey (this is not a new habit) and came across this cbc article which reminded me that not every aspect of Canada makes me smile. Car accidents due to minor amounts of snow combined with stupid drivers just happens to be one frown inducing part of my Canadian life.

Now...I refuse to blame this one on the snow. I love snow and the fact that we're getting an early snow fall in Ottawa means that perhaps the skiing in the Gatineaus won't suck as badly as it did last year. Darn you Dennis and Alex for being able to take advantage of it when I cannot! No, snow is perfect and one of the greatest smile-inducing things in Canada. Instead it is the fact that people never give themselves the enough time to both adjust to the new driving conditions or the to get to where they are going.

I actually think it's more the former. There are always more accidents at the beginning of winter, or right after a particularly bad snow/ice fall than in the middle of winter when snow just normally falls each day. Driving in the snow is very different than driving on dry pavement. People need to take time to adjust!

All this being said, let me now relay today's New Delhi forecast for everyone:

Thursday

Sunrise 06:48 (IST)
Sunset 17:25 (IST)

30°C

12°C

Happy skiing everyone!!

Namaste,

Paul

Did I Lie??

2007-11-20T16:37:00.000+05:30

Ok,

So this blog didn't really explode. But I really, really wanted it to. I have a few pieces of writing kicking around on the back burner, but application stuff has really monopolized my time as of late. I offer the next post as a minor appetizer until such a time that I can really get down to it.

Namaste,

Paul

I'm a Traveling Man!

2007-11-20T16:32:00.000+05:30

Soooo…what’s been happening in my life in India? Travel, that’s what! I spent the past 4 weeks or so all over the northern parts of this enormous country. In total, I’ve been to 7 different places in the last 4 weeks, so let’s break it all down a bit and take a look at what I’ve been up to.

*Note* pictures from these trips (except for Shimla) can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/paulthinks

Shimla: The whole travelling thing began with my trip to a northern hill station in Himichal Pradesh called ‘Shimla’ with my colleague Ashif. Shimla is a beautiful little town a couple thousand metres above sea level. It is reached by an arduous and at times terrifying overnight bus trip from Delhi. Let’s just say that it’s the kind of trip where if you get car sick you should sit by the window (imagine doing switchbacks and loops for 5 hours straight). The first noticeable difference between my new home and Shimla was that it was absolutely frigid there in comparison to Delhi. Though, given that the high is 3 degrees in Ottawa today, perhaps I’ll leave the temperature out of this discussion. Really though, Shimla was beautiful! Everywhere you wanted to go in the city required a steep climb up or down as the city is basically cut into the side of a mountain.

Highlights include: Watching the sunrise over the Himalayas while doing yoga, getting a new travelling hat, and having a screaming match with a giant monkey I’m pretty sure wanted to kill me. (I mean, you had to see this to believe it…I was just walking along, trying to get a good view of the city when a monkey jumped in front of me, bared its teeth and started screaming and growling as loud as it could. I, being the son of Barry Bien, of course reacted in the most primal of ways: by baring my teeth and screaming at the top of my lungs “huuuuuuuuyaaaaaaaaaahhhh” until we both sort of backed off. Quite the experience!)

Khandwa: The weekend after Shimla I took a trip to my previous ‘hometown’ of Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. I’m not really going to go into a great amount of detail about this trip because I’ve already written about Khandwa extensively in the past. I mostly went back to get my stuff and say a proper goodbye to the people I left behind. It was not an easy trip and definitely not fun (partially due to the 34 hours of train travel to get there and back in 2 days). It had to be done and now it is…that’s enough about that.

Highlights include: getting some of my books back and my favourite grey baseball shirt.

Nainital: This was the weekend following Khandwa. Nainital is another hill station a couple of thousand metres above sea level. This time I went with Lani, another intern from Canada. For those interested, a ‘Tal’ is a lake, so the place I went was really called Naini Lake. Neat. For those of you who have been to Italy the place itself is very reminiscent of Lago Como (or Lake Como) in northern Italy. In fact, the whole area was like that. Other than the crappy hotel we stayed at, we had a very enjoyable time there and felt like we spent a lot longer than 2 days there.

Highlights include: A morning hike after no sleep; a tour of surrounding area of mountains and natural wonders (not available in delhi really); some really spicy momos (kind of like dumplings but with way way more ginger); a 5 rupee cycle rickshaw ride along the lake.

Rajasthan: Ok, this is the big one really. Rajasthan is a state the neighbours Delhi and just happens to be the state where the third of the AKFC interns, Nashira, lives. As a preamble to this story, Lani and I had an incredible plan for how this trip would work out…but that didn’t really happen. In order to understand our original vision, please replay this trip backwards, without the city of Jhodpur included and perhaps with more sleep involved. For simplicities sake, I’m going to break this down by city.

Stop 1 – Jaipur: This was our first stop. It’s about five hours from Delhi and we left on the 6am bus. Wow…it was just so friggin’ early! We arrived before lunch and met up with Nashira who came to collect us at the bus depot. We then immediately realized that it had been months since we’d last all been together and a giant group hug ensued. It’s funny, sometimes you don’t realize how much you were missing something until you finally have it back. I wonder if this will be what it’s like when I get home…..hmmmm. Anyway…Jaipur was a crazy city. Really beautiful, really dirty, really intense…for me it is the quintessential north-India city. While I can’t really back this up, that’s just sort of how it felt. Unlike Nainital, this time we stayed at a wonderful hotel and got a little rest. The best part (too good to be put in the highlights section) was celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali with Nashira’s host family in Jaipur. It’s one thing to see all of the candles, lights and firecrackers, but it’s a complete other thing to take part in the rituals and meals that go along with the holiday. It truly was a wonderful experience.

Highlights include: All night long fireworks and firecrackers; great samosas; a very relaxing hotel experience (minus the monkey attack…ok, so it happened again. Lani and I were eating breakfast on the balcony when I saw out of the corner of my eye a grey thing coming our way. I remarked “hey, is that a monkey?” To which Lani replied “holy Shit, yes!!” Anyway, it proceeded to eat some of our breakfast, pee all over the table and then run away just in time for the hotel staff that we called to think that we made it all up and were crazy! Another hilarious adventure).

Stop 2 – Bikaner: It’s Camel Safari TIME!!! So after commandeering Nashira from both home and work, Lani, her and I all traveled to the desert town of Bikaner on overnight train. What was to be a midnight-8am train became a 4am-noon train where none of us slept very well. As was already becoming the theme on this trip, plans had to change. We were met at the train station by a representative of the “Camel Man”. When we arrived that the Camel Man’s guest house we decided to postpone our camel trek until the next day when we could in fact get full days of ‘cameling’ (my own made-up word) in. We toured around the town and went to a rat temple just outside of town. I’m not going to go into too much detail, but basically, there is a Hindu legend where two gods couldn’t agree and so one made all dead poets reincarnate as rats. For some of my family and friends, this will come off as quite unsettling. The rats were gross. Period.

The Camel Safari, on the other hand, was really great. We didn’t go as deep into the desert as we might have liked, but I did some incredible dune jumping and hell, spent 12 hours on a camel and slept overnight in the desert. Not a bad way to pass the day if you ask me!

Highlights Include: The food on the camel trek; being covered in sand due to glorious, joy inducing dune jumping; leaving the rat temple behind forever; having the camel break into a seriously scarily fast run; sleeping in the desert; NOT BEING ATTACKCED BY A MONKEY! Sorry for yelling.

Stop 2.5 – Jhodpur: So I call this stop 2.5 because it was not supposed to be part of our original travel plan. The original plan had already been thrown out, but the new plan was to go straight from Bikaner to Udaipur via overnight bus. Upon our return from the camel trek, we got a ‘tough luck’ story from the Camel Man and so had to come up with an alternative. Being the intrepid travels that we are we decided to just roll with. We decided to go to Jhodpur which is about halfway to Udaipur and crash there for the night, leaving for Udaipur in the afternoon. Jhodpur was an interesting place. It was all blue because originally there were many people from the Brahmin caste who lived there and they were allowed to paint their houses blue. Now, anyone can (apparently). Overall, it was a very brief stop, was worth a quick peak and that’s all.

Highlights Include: Meeting the seriously intoxicated owner of the hotel we were staying at; all the blue (it is my favourite colour after all); finally finding an unfull bus to Udaipur!

Stop 3 – Udaipur (finally): So 6 days after our intended arrival date we finally got to Udaipur. Before I talk about the place, I’d just like to say that though we did get there, the trip was horrible. Our bus broke down, it took an hour to get a new bus, then the new bus didn’t have enough seats so Lani and I had to share a ‘sleeper’ bunk made for one. I called it our cubby hole. Lani agreed. Check out the pictures on picasa of us in our cubby. Luckily, Udaipur was well worth the hassle. It is a beautiful, calm place (relatively speaking) with lots to see and many neat little shops. As it was our last day of travel Lani and I did our best to soak it all up. We definitely didn’t get enough time in Udaipur and I hope to go back in December for a few days more just to soak it all up. The city itself is very reminiscent of a European town…in a much dirtier, intense way, it reminded me of the back streets of old Paris (a bit of stretch perhaps, but I feel entitled at this point). There’s not a whole lot else to say about the place because we didn’t spend much time there and we didn’t run into any monkeys this time.

Highlights Include: Picking up a couple of pairs of light cotton pants; finding a kick ass tailor who is going to be making me tailored suits out of beautiful fabric next month; actually having a pre-booked, confirmed ticket for travel back to Delhi.

Whew! So there it is…a three page long account of my travels of the last month. Normally I wouldn’t write so much, but I’ve just been so damn busy! I am now taking some time off to be a bit of a hermit and a bit anti-social. I’m ok with this…it’s actually been surprisingly nice.

I’ll try to make my next post a bit more of the reflective, introspective type because people seem to like those…but I make no promises! I miss you all very, very much and am excited at the prospect of being home soon. The homesickness has become a constant drone and I know it’s getting more acute because I’m starting to miss more primal things (my bed, my backyard, mom/dad’s cooking…washing machines…you know, primal stuff).

I wish you all peace and strength. November is usually the hardest month of the year, so I hope everyone is fairing well. This month I have learned that even fun, when over done, becomes taxing.

Namaste,

Paul

The Quiet Blog Prepares to Erupt

2007-10-18T12:10:00.000+05:30

Hello faithful readers,

I know that it's been about, ummm, a million years since my last update (or nearly a month, however you want to add it up) and for that I sincerely apologize. I've had good reasons for my absence and am happy to now be back in a place where I can begin to blog and opine again. There are a few postings coming down the pipeline: one, dealing with where I've been in some sort of simplistic way; two, a story (and hopefully pictures) about my upcoming trip to Shimla this weekend; and three, the first of many 'Paul's Opinions' pieces. These I'm most excited about and hopefully when I post them you will be too.

This is just a warm up message to get people back to the blog and to showcase two pieces of work from two dear friends to anyone who stumbles upon them.

The first one is a website of my artist friend Jamie MacDonald. For those of you who have seen my tattoo, he's the designer. However, far from simple body art (in fact, he doesn't really do tattoos, that was a 'we went to junior high school together' favour) he does some really, truly inspired oil on canvas work. I highly urge you to go and check out his website: www.jmacdonald.ca

The second one is an article by my incredibly gifted and talented friend Arno about Nairobi. All of his postings from Nairobi have been really intelligent and thought-provoking, but this last post is truly and startlingly poignant. It deserves a round of applause...or at least a read, so check it out here.

Alright, that's it for now, but watch the site over the next week for exciting updates and GREAT PRIZES! Wait...no...that's not true. There will be no prizes...except for the joy of reading my rants and raves.

Namaste,

Paul

Return from the land of contrasts

2007-08-27T16:08:00.000+05:30

Wow! It’s been almost 2 weeks since I returned from Mumbai (Bombay) and I find myself still chewing over my experience trying to figure out how to appropriately relay the happenings of my trip to everyone out there. Questions abound: Do I talk about all of the neat tourist-y stuff I saw? Do I paint an image of the slums sitting next to giant buildings? Do I find some way to react to seeing people bathing on the street and squatting by train tracks?

These are the questions I am now filled with after my week off. I’m not going to build-up any false pretenses: my trip was wonderful. It was very important that I get a chance to be surrounded by some Canadians (thanks Lani and Nashira) and also get some time to myself (thanks giant city of 22 million that you can easily disappear into). I also wanted to feel like a traveller again, as well as someone who was actually in charge of his own life. On all these fronts it was a very successful trip.

Let’s talk about the highlights:

1) A little restaurant called Café Basillico: you can find it at the end of the Colaba Causeway and it truly is a little slice of the Western world in India’s little slice of the Western world (i.e. Mumbai). It looks like any Italian restaurant you can find in Canada, makes its own fresh bread and serves the most delicious food! Needless to say, I enjoyed several trips there during my week.

2) My 20 kilometre ‘walking around the city’ adventure: when I travel there are two habits I fall into that are thankfully not mutually exclusive of one another. First, I hate taking taxis in a new city and thus tend not to enjoy taking them. Taxis make me feel stressed out and sad. Stressed out because in most countries you know the final fare discussion won’t be a discussion at all, but rather a raucous debate! Sad because the new incredible place you wanted to visit, flies by at such a huge speed you feel like a man of the ‘destination’ rather than one of ‘the journey. My second habit is a deep seeded need to go on ‘walkabout’ (as Mick Dundee might have said). I believe that the best way to truly understand, exist in, and experience a city is by walking its main, back, and unpaved streets. Thus, walking into every nook-and-cranny of South Mumbai was a treat. I now feel like I know the city better than had I continued to ‘cab-it’ everywhere.

3) The Malabar Hills: going to the hanging gardens, high above the craziness of the city, was another place where you could step back and just take it all in without feeling overwhelmed. As Nashira and I walked down the short, switchback laden path that brings you to Chowpatty Beach, we were once again hit with the sights, sounds and smells that make India…well…India. Still, I enjoyed both parts of the experience: the busy and the quiet.

Actually, this brings me to a topic I’ve been meaning to discuss here on my blog for a little while: the overwhelming nature of India. Before I left in July, over and over again I heard and read stories which recounted the intensity with which your senses are bombarded in this incredible country. All sorts of strategies where suggested to overcome what had been described as a ‘crushing’ feeling: go into churches, spend a week in a city, then a week at a hill station, get ‘off the beaten path’. So when I arrived, I braced myself and jumped in at the deep end.

I won’t lie (because what would be the point of having a blog where all I did was lie), those first 20 minutes I spent in India at the front of the Delhi airport were everything and more of what I explained above. I thought to myself “everyone was right…how will I last 8 months?”

Well, having been here for over six weeks now and having recently returned from India’s biggest city, I have decided that everyone was overreacting. In a conversation with my father I commented that many times in Paris, Amsterdam or Venice I felt far more overwhelmed than during my time in Delhi or Mumbai. That’s not to say that India isn’t an assault on the senses, it most certainly is, but it is to say that is not a uniquely Indian assault.

So, my opinion at this junction is that the feeling of being ‘overwhelmed’ depends on your terms of reference for what a normal experience should be. I think that it is less so the place, and more so your ability to adapt and function in a new culture that defines how you feel about the intensity of your experience. Thus, I remember moments in other times traveling (like at the Sacre Coure in France, or the Mall in Indonesia) that were just as overwhelming as Colaba was in Mumbai.

Don’t get me wrong, India is new, different, and in so many ways a challenge of everything I thought I knew. However, I think that it is important to buck the tendency to exoticize a new place; a tendency that is even more noticeable when the place is non-western. India is unique in many, many ways, but one way it isn’t unique is in its ability to leave visitors feeling awestruck and overwhelmed; instead, it is traveling in general that is source of these feelings. Frankly, I think this is secretly why people travel: it is in the moments of exceptional difference and challenge that we learn the most about ourselves. That’s why I travel, to see a new, different and overwhelming place and once again re-evaluate my role as a grain of sand on this beach called Earth.

Thus, please explore my pictures of my trip thus far here. I tried to get some people in some of these shots, as I have a terrible tendency to only photograph beautiful landscapes.

Things are settling down here in Khandwa and I have started my study of the Korku people of rural Madhya Pradesh. I’ll keep everyone posted as I get deeper into this process, and will hopefully have a report to post sometime toward the end of September.

Until next time,

Peace, Love and Namaste,

Paul

P.S. I know that I haven’t answered all of the questions that began this post. The truth is that I’m still processing all of what I saw and probably will be for the remaining 6 months of my internship. Though I am now certain that much of what I experienced served as an important reminder that when I feel like my life is ‘unfair’ in some way or another, I need to take a gut check and get some perspective. If anyone is interested in finding out more information about the ‘real’ Mumbai, read Maximum City, it comes highly recommend from Lani.

Month One: Where am I? What am I?

2007-08-06T16:34:00.000+05:30

Having just completed my first month out of eight here in India, it seems like a good a time as any to reflect on what it’s like to be a young, newly graduated, development pseudo-professional. I think the context of this internship is a kind of microcosm for what life might be like post-university. I say this because I have the interesting sensation of being caught between two worlds.

On the one hand, I’m no longer a student. While I will be conducting a study here as part of my work, it will not be for any dissertation (at least, that’s not the plan at this point), instead it will be used to (hopefully) enrich the knowledge and practice of AKRSP. Thus, I’m not here for school and have no professor to report to…something I think only now is my boss starting to understand. Though, in both our defences, I’ve really only been here a week and a half. So some ironing of some wrinkles is most definitely in order.

On the other hand, I’m not quite a professional yet. No…really…it’s true! Realistically, that’s why I’m here: to learn, observe and experiment with new skills and techniques I don’t already posses. However, this is somewhat difficult to explain to people who have 2, 3 or sometimes even 4 degrees and certificates. A typical interchange might go something like this:

Paul: I’m here as an intern.
Colleague/Boss/Basically Anyone: So you will do a study?
Paul: Well…in part, yes, but I’m also here to work in development.
C/B/BA: Oh, so what will you do?
Paul: Ummm…I’m hoping to observe and take part in the daily practices of the organization.
C/B/BA: So……..you will do a study?

From my time in Indonesia, I recall that it’s not good to keep banging your head against a wall. Thus, when the game you’re used to playing is on a new kind of field, you can either change the rules or change the game. I’m going to do both.

I’ve realized that I still have 7 months to work here. Crazy…I know! So my natural, Canadian rush to “get to work” (the work I want to do) might be able to get pushed to the sidelines for a bit. Thus, I’ve decided it may go a long way in making my time here more successful if I do some of the ‘study’ typed stuff that has been requested and seems somewhat required. The proposed study of the Korku people (a tribal group spread across southern Madhya Pradesh) will definitely help me to understand where I am and the people who live in the surrounding area. By delving deeply into the culture and history of these people it will make any future work in the area that much clearer and more useful.

So, I’ve now made a plan to spend the next month to month and a half studying the Korkus in as many ways as possible. This will include: going to Universities in the capital city to access their data, looking through the files here to find out what is already known, and lastly, spending a couple of weeks going from village to village, meeting with people and asking large, personal questions. Sounds like no problem. Sheesh.

Still though…I find it kind of exciting to have some kind of a plan coming together. Though nothing is final yet (it is what we development folk call an “iterative” process…or as I called it in training, an “irritating” process), I feel as though I am close to a final plan that will allow me to have some direction and some ‘purpose’. Not bad for a month that has seen me in 3 different states, in a new country, surrounded by a language I don’t understand.

I’m looking for small success ok…don’t take that away from me.

As a side note: in case you haven’t noticed, blog postings have become a little sporadic, which is due mainly to the lack of time I’ve had and the lack of access to the internet. I’m going to aim for at least once a week, but make no promises.

All things considered…I’m still alive, still excited to be so close to work that I’ve wanted to do for so long, even if I’m not in the middle of it yet. It’s been a rollercoaster month, and as expected, has seen me rise, then fall, then begin to rise, then fall again. I think I’m on the way up again…but don’t quote me on that, as this is only one moment in only one day.

I hope everyone reading this, whether they are in Canada some far away place, is chasing their own dreams. Don’t forget to do the things that scare you…being safe is nice sometimes, but life is a long journey along a winding forest path. Sometimes it’s beautiful, sometimes it’s not…but if we stand in one place for too long staring at the same tree, we miss out on everything else the forest has to offer.

Peace, love and Namaste,

Paul

Ahmedabad - This is where I used to live...

2007-07-24T10:19:00.000+05:30

Sooooo...today is the big day. It's time to leave my temporary home of Ahmedabad, where I have been for the past two weeks, and head into the wild and untamed state of Madhya Pradesh, into the town of Khandwa. Ok...so perhaps 'wild' and 'untamed' is pushing it a bit, but it's not going to be the organized chaos that is/was Ahmedabad.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about leaving. On the one hand, I will be happy to finally get to where I'm "supposed" to be, if for no other reason than to finally unpack my friggin' backpack! On the other hand, Ahmedabad is an interesting city which is well connected to the rest of the country. This would make it a more ideal place from which to be based if I wanted to travel around some more.

However, I came here to work...or so I kept saying. Thus, it is more likely that the field office will be a place where I can truly learn and experience the kind of development undertaken by AKRSP. From reading reports and engaging in dialogue with the staff here at head office, I've come to be really impressed by what's going on here. Realistically, even if I wasn't slated to leave tonight, I would be looking for a way to get out to a field office so that I could start to see, and maybe even participate in, the daily work of the organization. In that sense, this is a huge opportunity.

Also, I also have a job description that has a certain amount of front-ended, self-motivated activity as part of the overall outcomes. The reason I point this out is that in times of upheaval (which has basically been everything since i finished school in April and moved out of my safe, safe bedroom at 64 Carlyle...miss you Carol and Sarah) it is good to have some kind of 'work' to focus our energy on, whereby keeping us sane. When we are engaged in moment to moment work our brain is less likely to dwell on things that are outside of our control (i.e. but, where will I go if my stomach starts rejecting Indian food again?? There's no Subway here!). This is how I was able to survive my first few days here in crazy, crazy Ahmedabad, by focusing on work...that and watching many episodes of House MD. Does this betray a certain amount of trepidation at moving again?

That brings me to my last point, and perhaps, if I may be so bold, piece of advice. When you're in new situations, take a deep breathe (breath from the belly as Randy would say) and take stock of how you are and what you need. I've found that it's ok to indulge yourself a little bit in order to get through those initial moments of fear/panic that can strike. For me this looked like me watching 4 episodes of a TV show one night, rather than further exploring a new city. After giving myself that night, I found it much easier to then explore that city completely.

So those are my thoughts as I leave for my new home. Everything will change...well, not everything...the language I don't understand will stay the same. Gotta love consistency! Now that I'll be truly immersed in that language though, I'll have even more of an impotence to learn it quickly.

More adventure, more new experience, more challenge. More of the gift of being alive...and being present and participating in that life.

Talk to you all soon,

Namaste,

Paul

This is Self-Explanatory

2007-07-23T14:35:00.000+05:30

A Quick Diversion

2007-07-20T11:26:00.000+05:30

So here's something I found in my daily news search that grabbed my attention. I'm not going to lie, it had me feeling pretty good about myself. While the impact meat has on our fragile planet was only one of the reasons I gave up meat, it was still very important to me. I urge others to consider limiting their meat intake, in the same way that you limit your power consumption at home or carpool to save on car emissions.

As an interesting connection, the city I'm living in until head for the field on Tuesday is 92% or so vegetarian. This is due mainly to the amount of reverence paid to the cow in the Hindu religion. Even when you do find meat, it's never actually beef! I was in a Subway restaurant yesterday (which looked EXACTLY like Subway's in Canada...creepy!) where they were advertising "Lamb steak" subs and "Lamb Salami" as an option for meat. Interesting no?

In other news, I'm putting together a little spread on the current city I'm living in called Ahmedabad. Watch for it over the next few days.

Namaste,

Paul

p.s. Pictures!

2007-07-17T16:05:00.000+05:30

Oh yeah...for those of you who haven't seen them yet, my pictures up to this point can be found here. These ones have captions too! Enjoy!

Buzzword Time - Part 1

2007-07-17T15:58:00.000+05:30

So it's time to delve into one of the many buzzwords I was taught in my four weeks of training in Ottawa. Today's word is "Cross Cultural Effectiveness". Ok, it's not just one word, but 'Buzzconcept' just doesn't have the same ring to it. This will be the first of what I imagine to be many reflections on the variety of development jargon I have been exposed to over the last five years.

For a technical definition of Cross Cultural Effectiveness you can look here (though they call it 'intercultural effectiveness") For those of you who hate hyperlinks, I'd like to specifically highlight their definition of an "interculturally effective person". According to CIL they should possess three broad characteristics:

an ability to communicate with people of another culture in a way that earns their respect and trust
the capacity to adapt his/her professional skills (both technical and managerial) to fit local conditions and constraints
the capacity to adjust personally so that s/he is content and generally at ease in the host culture

I think my favourite one is the last one. I mean really, what does that even mean?? Can anyone do that? Even the most seasoned traveler?

You can probably guess from my reaction that I have yet to personally adjust to my new 'host culture'. However, thanks to my current lack of adaptation I think I better understand how CIL can get away with saying something so seemingly outlandish: there is no time-frame connected to the statement.

Let's tell a little story to illustrate a ‘fictional’ cross cultural conundrum:

You're walking down the street with your three new bestfriends (they speak english and know the city...you're new and exotic...a match made in cross-cultural heaven!) Two of them stop for some kind of interesting street food. By interesting I mean very, very questionable. You're also, on top of everything, not really hungry. Soooo....clearly when you’re offered said questionable food (which you have just been told is "some kind of ball dipped in some kind of water") you, in your most polite voice, reject it. Thus begins a long string of events that lend themselves to the image of white, western arrogance. Or so you think. After a very tense dinner and a few strategic questions, you're told that nothing is wrong. Do you believe it? Yes and no. But you do know that it wasn't ever really as bad as you thought it was.

Does this make you a horrible failure in dealing with cross-cultural issues? Clearly you lack both the first and third attributes of an interculturally effective person. Don't you?

Well...after some long conversations with a couple of good friends who are facing their own cross-cultural struggles I've come to realize that the nature of these situations is thus: one small misunderstanding can quickly cascade into a whole world of complexity. That's not news to anyone who's traveled, but I think it's still important because it points to our innate potential to turn our imaginings and assumptions into reality.

When I left to come to India my touchstone to international travel was my relatively recent experience in Indonesia. What I hadn’t realized is that the part of that experience that I was connecting to was in fact the end of that trip. See, when I left my village of Pengadang I could speak basic Bahasa, deal with the heat, function in a culturally sensitive way, laugh, play and just generally be content. More importantly, by the time I left I had almost completely forgotten the paralyzing fear that had marred my first 3-4 weeks when I arrived.

All of those cultural differences which I had finally dealt with in Indonesia have rushed back into the vacuum created by my memory gap. Thus, the last week has been that typical up and down period of confidence boosters and bashers that the first month in a foreign country is famous for.

And so, it has come time for me to stop circling the point like a hawk over its prey. The point is: this is only week two. Yup…that’s it, that’s the point. It’s taken me three full days to write this piece and in that time I’ve been up and down and everywhere in between. But the questions at either extreme are important and useful. When I’m feeling good, the question of “what can I do with this energy?” allows me to better harness my own potential. When I’m down, the question of “what am I doing here?” gives me space to evaluate the whole purpose of this endeavour.

It’s in the giving thanks for both of these places, that we learn our greatest lessons.

I think, anyways.

Namaste,

Paul

A Frustrating, Yet Timely Diversion

2007-07-16T12:57:00.000+05:30

I came across this article from the Toronto Star about fundraising techniques of charities. Now, without delving into whether or not the two organizations highlighted, Sick Kids Foundation and World Vision Canada, do good work or deserve funding, I think it is important to briefly discuss why charities are held to a standard that no other group (except for maybe, just maybe, the government) is held to.

For the sake of comparison, let's jump to the private sector for a moment and look at the mother of all super-corps. Coca-Cola. Millions and millions of people buy Coke products every single day. Hell, even I've enjoyed the odd Dasani or diet-coke now and again. But I have yet to see a giant expose from the TorStar regarding the impact of Coke's use of water in India, for example, as discussed quite intelligently by the Guardian or CorpWatch. What gives? Are Canadians ok with the questionable practices of private companies, but not those of charities? Is this what we're supposed to believe?

The kinds of issues raised by Kevin Donovan in the TorStar article do incredible damage to the charitable sector specifically and NGO sector more generally. Now, for those of you who know me well, you know that i have a variety of misgivings regarding the function of charities in a capitalist economy. However, setting that aside for a moment, it is important to point out that the work being done by many organizations is good and even urgent work. So when Donovan buries the ONLY truly positive sentence halfway through the article, he creates a loaded piece of 'journalism' that leads people to the only possible conclusion: be wary of charities.

Let it be known that I am greatly in favour of keeping charities and NGOs feet to the fire. It helps to ensure accountability and transparency. BUT, in a country where banks clear billions and private companies hurt farmers, this kind of selective reporting lacks both foresight and good-taste. Not to mention that it truly misses the mark on the real damage being done in our world in our world and by whom.

Namaste,

Paul

The First Blog! A.K.A. Hello and Welcome!

2007-07-14T15:29:00.000+05:30

So, I’ve been sitting here at “my” desk for the last couple of days trying to decide how to kick off a new blog. I recall my last experience with blogs – one that almost had the bulls chasing down my wasp-nest-stirring hide. More importantly, a quick gut check reveals a personal opinion of blogs similar to the one from years prior: are they an exercise in self-serving vanity? Narcicism at its Everest-like peak? The gnawing question then becomes “what can I offer that isn’t already out there?”

The immediate answer which springs to mind is the sort of self-realization that trips like this have become famous for. I bring to the table a curious, hungry and wandering spirit – one which utilizes a critical eye and an ever-shifting paradigm to evaluate and understand every new experience. More importantly, I chase after debate and discussion, in an ever deepening desire to help my generation probe the questions we are most afraid to ask.

Thus, without further ado, allow me to introduce the newly created Paul Travels. This blog will relate the experiences I have during my 8 month placement in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India, with the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (India). More than simply a travelogue, I will also attempt to unpack and wrestle with the issues, challenges and questions that arise as part of my work.

Let’s be honest, in typical Paul fashion, this blog will be whatever I want it to be and will likely evolve a life of its own just like the last one. That being said, any feedback or thoughts would be appreciated in the comment box, or send me an email. (Hell, send me an email anyway!)

Namaste,

Paul

P.S. I am putting my current slew of pictures online, but I'm not done yet, so just be patient! That'll likely be the next post!

Paul Travels

Yay! A Cross-over article!

Cheap car carries high price for environment. impoverished

An interesting Quote

A Few Little White Lies...

Lost In ToR (Terms of Reference) Land...

If I Were in Canada...

An Observation

Why Barak?

The Bihar Report - Part I

Not Just a Travel Blog

In Transit

In Honour of World Aids Day

Where's Robin Hood When You Need Him???

The Sex Trade and the Wandering Blog

Interesting Addition to an Old Debate

I Miss Home...I Really Do.

Did I Lie??

I'm a Traveling Man!

More Reading Material

The Quiet Blog Prepares to Erupt

Return from the land of contrasts

Month One: Where am I? What am I?

Ahmedabad - This is where I used to live...

This is Self-Explanatory

A Quick Diversion

p.s. Pictures!

Buzzword Time - Part 1

A Frustrating, Yet Timely Diversion

The First Blog! A.K.A. Hello and Welcome!