Reactions and observations

Since coming to Bombay I haven't done a good job keeping my blog updated. Partly it's because getting access to the internet was difficult (my home is getting renovated etc.) and partly because there is just a lot going on in Bombay. Bombay is as I expected it to be - horrendous traffic, but still comfortable and easy to fit into.

I wanted to share an interesting observation with you guys. In the States when I told people I was going to take a 6 month sabbatical and volunteer in India, the majority of the reactions were one of envy and general support of the idea of pursuing something that is important to me and for the general good. Of course there was the odd "you are nuts, giving up a great job" responses as well. But in India, it's the opposite. The majority of the responses are, what a whacko. Some of my friends can't even grasp the concept of public service. I almost don't want to tell people I am going to Delhi to volunteer for 6 months.

I wonder why that is. Is it selection bias in terms of the people I interact with in the 2 places? I don't ever recall thinking about public service while I lived in India. We don't have anything like the peace core here.

I'd like to here from my friends who grew up in India about what they think. Does the middle class in India lack the concept of public service or is it more that people just see public service as ineffective and corrupt?

Customs

I’ve just landed and barely 30 seconds after clearing immigration, a customs official comes up to me and offers to “help” me go through customs quickly. My response – thanks, but no thanks. I should have asked for his name and badge, but I didn't really want to take that on after a 14 hr flight. To begin with, I didn’t really need help going through customs because I was under the Rs. 25,000 limit, and I also think that corruption is eating away at India and we all need to take a stand wherever possible.

Not sure if I had the work “bakra” (goat) on my forehead, but because I was carrying the wii and the wii fit, the customs official makes me open all my luggage cause he thinks I am carrying goods excess of the limit. Once I convince him that the wii fit is not an additional wii, but just an accessory and that I paid $450 in total for the game, he then insists I have to pay for my camera (digital SLR = $1500), my 300GB harddrive ($300) and the 2 perfume bottles(~$100) he found. Accept for the perfumes, everything else is more than 1 ½ years old and purely for personal use. No way was I going to pay duty on these other items. A senior officer comes over and starts to ask me why I need a hard drive and why my laptop is not enough for me. And why do I need to bring big SLR camera, they have small pocket cameras that customs doesn’t object to. This was going nowhere. They suggest I leave the camera at customs and pick it up when I am leaving India. What the hell are these guys smoking? I had now spent around an hour arguing. As much as I hated it, I had to end up giving them $30 just so that I could get out of there. And naïve me, takes the dollars out of my wallet; immediately they tell me to put it back in my pocket. I end is in a back room “customs” office where I pay a police constable. And because I only have 20’s he takes $40 because he doesn’t have change (apparently 10 is his cut).

After taking a stand, I had to eat crow and just pay my way out of this. I was tired and I didn’t have the stomach for continuing the drama. And my parents were waiting outside, and at 1:30 am it was getting ridiculous.

I wonder what my options are here. I don’t know the officers name and don’t really have any records of paying the 40 bucks. A disappointing start. :(

Bummer...

The sad part about starting a new chapter is that you got to close out the last one. Had to pack up and walk out with all my stuff today from work. This is a place that I have been at for 7 1/2 yrs. It was a lot more emotional that I thought it would be. These guys are my family. I have to keep repeating that it's only 6 months though.

I don't have a blackberry anymore. Very liberating (I think).

NYU - Reynolds program

My friend Aparna told me about the Reynolds program at NYU a month back and put me in touch with Gabriel Broadbar (director of the program). If you are interested in social entrepreneurship and wanted to pursue something in this field you have to look into Reynolds. It is one of the more innovative approaches to social enterprise. It is a very new program, with their first class graduating this May. They treat the field as a meta profession that encompasses various disciplines. As a Reynolds fellow you get to take classes across the various NYU schools to pursue a good foundation in social entrepreneurship. And even more interesting is that they try and get a heterogeneous mix of students from various backgrounds in the program. They also bring in a number of luminaries from the field, so the networking opportunities are awesome.
I talked to Gabriel today and he got me really excited about the program. He's going to put me in touch with a couple Reynolds fellows. 2 of them are currently in India. I'm hoping our paths cross. I am going to make a concerted effort to meet as many different people as I can in this field. Good luck to me!

Tibetan food...

Continue to meet friends before I take off. Tonight was Tibetan food. Got to love NYC and all the food here.
She's from Delhi, and I used to give her a bunch of shit about Delhi. The shoes on the other foot now, and I'm sure she's relishing the irony of my situation. But looks like I'm going to be quite content in the confines of South Delhi, but I hope I venture out a bit. I am going to have to use this time to really explore social enterprises and meet different people. Maybe this blog will keep me honest to this goal.

Now I wish I could remember the names of the dishes we ordered. Number 49 and 55 on the menu at Tibetan Kitchen on 31st and 3rd. Highly recommend it.

First post

I'm going to begin a pretty interesting chapter in my life soon. Packing up and moving to Delhi to work for Drishtee. From a hedge fund in CT to a social enterprise working in Indian villages. The next 6 months will be anything but business as usual.
Currently I'm in the process of packing up my life. It's not as complicated as it sounds. The biggest issue is not knowing all the things you need to take care of before you leave. This is my (growing) to-do list.

1. Move stuff in storage
2. Update address - credit cards, bank accounts
   
3. Find parking for car (cancel insurance)
   
4. Cancel sports club membership
5. Cancel netflix
6. Cell phone - put number on hold for 6 months

I am also trying to meet up with all my friends before I leave. This is the hardest part. Who knew I was so popular?