So Many Questions – So Little Time

Question Round #3 by Ron Pompei

Dear reader and Ron.
The third question I answer from the beach of Palolem in south of Goa. I have gone out of town, Mumbai, for the weekend as my mother, Jane and my sister, Sarah came down from Copenhagen last week.
On the beach I have discussed the three interesting questions from you, Ron, with Jane who is an inspiring and experienced woman. She is a good observer and her fresh eyes gave me another perspective of India and what we are all curious to learn and understand.

I had to chose one out of the three questions – so little time…
I chose the question where I felt I had the information at my fingertips:

Will India achieve a true global consciousness that recognizes the unique contribution of all cultures?

During the past two months I have experienced nothing but a positive curiosity from the people I have met; which country I am from: what I am doing in India; my culture; what kind of school I go to; how the weather is in Denmark etc. I have experienced this with the business people I’ve been working with and the many people in their networks to whom I have been introduced. Also the waiters in the restaurants I eat, the english-speaking taxi drivers and the women on the beach selling their jewelry and saris. Generally Indians have a natural interest in learning about new cultures in other parts of the world. The country’s history and geographical location may have something to do with this. It looks both east and west to find inspiration; politically, economically, religiously and culturally.
This is fascinating, though also a bit worrying; when my Indian business partner and friend tells me how he has experienced being turned away from a restaurant while they allowed white people to enter and the fact that the most sold cosmetic product in India is fairing product – for bleaching the skin. In India there is obviously a racism towards Indians and some prestige and status in being white. White is power?

Regarding the contribution of cultures within India: this country has struggled for centuries under the rule of several different foreign powers, as well as the ancient cast system, countless numbers of languages, dialects and religions which even today continue to divide the people. So it is little wonder that they find it difficult to be confident of their own identity. However, in this multicultural society there are lessons in tolerance and diversity that the west could well do to learn.

Looking at west today, past and present, I find precious few examples of achievements in the field of true global consciousness that also recognizes the unique contribution of all cultures?

The West has a tendency to look down on other cultures, not acknowledging the beauty of diversity. In my own country, Denmark, Dansk Folkeparti (The Danish Party) is a good example. A steadily growing political party whose politics express the shocking principle, ‘Denmark for the Danes’!  In their opinion, nobody from ‘the outside’ should be allowed to influence Danish culture and traditions. And they call this ‘tolerance’ which was a core value they used in a big campaign just a few months ago.

The war against terror is another example of how western people and government are shit scared of the outsiders with different culture and insights -  they work on getting everybody to feel scared together with them – and airport security is a joke. Thank-you, West for making us feel safe!

I see India trying to keep up with the rest of the world in the arms race. India spends far more money on building military defense, including developing nuclear weapons, than building a better social system for the billions of poor people suffering. Along with India’s economic growth emerges the threat of a new superpower, and it is mutual. Nationalism is unavoidable. Everybody wants a piece of the growing economy-cake of India and everybody knows it. The nationalistic ruling parties and a common wish for one leader to bring the country together to make it stronger. An Indian Hitler, as the next leader, I heard a young Indian man say.

So what will it take for India, along with the rest of the world, to achieve a true global consciousness that recognizes the unique contribution of all cultures? Time, education and enlightenment – I think!  Bringing the world together with all its diversity, in peace and harmony takes time and more people like the majority of Indians, the Kaospilots, Amrit Gangar, my mother, Sarah, you and I. The world will be a better place.

Enlightenment in the west, about India is, in my opinion, every bit as important as educating India about to so-called developed world in the west.

Question Round # 2 – What Are the Living Condition for Homosexual in India Socially, Culturally and Politically?

For the second question, by Uffe ELbæk, the founder of the Kaospilots, currently heading the World Outgames in Copenhagen 2009, I did an interview with a Indian, reflected, smart and charming man called Kanav, 25 years. Kanav is from Dehli, moving to Mumbai at the end of this week.

I am proud having him talking about the living conditions for homosexual in India here on the Boxy Bloggy Blog -

Thank you very much, Kanav!!

Enjoy I am sure you will…..

Amy interviewing Kanaw in Mumbai,

The True Opening of The Boxy Bloggy Blog

I’m sitting on the balcony of my Mumbai Residence. The tree top of a huge mango tree hangs over the balcony. Its 9 pm, and I can can hear the cars, people and the ‘toot toot’ from the main road around the corner from my road. Mumbai is a noisy city which goes to sleep round 1 am and awakens again in the morning at 6.

On Saturday I’ve been here for a month – time flies…

It took me longer to settle here than I had expected. At the beginning I was longing home and found it hard to get the point of why I am here – what’s the meaning of me in Mumbai I wondered ?? I wasn’t up for it; the meeting with a new context, people,  culture, new smells, taste, sounds – even if I’ve been here before, everything still felt new and different. And I had also come here to work which I wasn’t motivated for then either.

I realized after the first week that this trip wasn’t  going to be what I had thought – mostly because I hadn’t thought much about what this Outpost would have in store for me before leaving Copenhagen or what I wanted to get out of it  I’ve been away before at work as a Kaospilot, South Africa and Belarus, but for much shorter time – not enough time to actually settle and get to feel the need of daily routines. Almost three months in Mumbai is too long not to settle, and I found out after the first week that this was what I had to do. FInd ways to make Mumbai feel like my home.

I went to Goa and spent easter there, on the beach, with some friends from my team. A lot of sun and peace to go back a little and form in my head how I wanted the next two months in Mumbai to be, preparing myself to coming back home – to Mumbai.

As I drove in the taxi late at night from the train station where we came of from Goa I  felt I had come home. I recognized the streets and buildings as we drove closer to where I live in the part of Mumbai called Colaba – my hood…

Now I know the people working in the small shed on the street where I go to buy water every day, occasionally I get one of their fine veg. cheese grilled sandwiches, which they make on the small corner of the small desk. I say ‘good morning’ and ‘good evening’ to the same gang of taxi drivers hanging around on my street corner, they still ask me “taxi, taxi madame? do you want a taxi madame? going to the airport, madame?”. I look at them and they laugh cause they know I’m around for quite some time more… I have an Indian cell phone (+91 9930452593) which is more primitive than the first one I got when I was 17. I have yoga classes (the yoga teacher comes to our house) with a few from my team every tuesday and thursday (wait till I get home, as in home home, I’m going to stronger and longer). I do my own laundry in a bucket in the bathroom and hang it from the orange laundry line which I hung up in the one end of my room the first day I moved here after Goa. I bought books like The Rise of The Creative Class (mammy, I will get you this book – I think you’re going to like it), The God of Small Things, Blink, and In Spite of the Gods – they’re are on the small book shelf next to my bed. Anna, a beautiful, smart and lovely girl I’m living with from my team, and I fixed a small kitchen in an old desk in one corner of our room where we have oats, müsli, coffee, plates etc., and in the fridge we keep milk, cheese, mango juice and the left overs from the various Indian dishes we have delivered to our humble home (all restaurants, and there are many, have free home delivery), like Paneer Palak, a chunky spinage and cheese sauce, Mushroom Mutter Masala, Garlic Naan, veg. raita (raita is cold yoghurt sauce/dip) and what not. I have become a great fan of Indian food (I know you, Piet, will approve, finally you get to bash around with all the Indian spices which I know you love, and make me full and happy as can be). The Indian cuisine of course got me in a two days stomach cramp – wow, it’s up and down with the digestion and such, but I’ve become used to it and yeah, I can say it’s just another part of my daily life down here, and always a topic to talk with the others on my team who’s lives have also gotten that small extra twist to it…

A few days before I went to Goa it struck what I wanted to work on as a project – I got the the idea to do a female taxi company. There are more taxis on the streets than normal cars, they’re all the same, black with yellow rooftops and only men drive them. Anna, the girl i live with, Patrik, a thinker, passionate and dead intelligent man also from my team, and I are the ones working in this project – it’s a killer group!
The original idea (the (pink) taxi madames) has been twisted and turned, we’ve talked a lot about why we joined this project, what we actually want to state with the project and how we can experiment, be creative and stand for the concept, which we developed, in the way we work. For me, for all of us in fact, it has been extremely challenging to leave the idea and go deeper into defining what creativity is, seeing my self as a creative person. One thing I found out is that if it gets too easy, trivial it isn’t creative enough or rather it isn’t creative. With this I mean that the way we work as Kaospilots may be very creative and wild, but I need to go steps further – It’s no good for me to lean back and be creative and do things the way I usually do it. And not for Patrik or Anna either.

The final concept has roots in six core values: contextual pattern breaking (no better word for it in English just now kontektsuel mønsterbrydende), symbolic, visual, compassion, keep it simple and creating an empty space (tomrumsskabende). The last value means making an empty space by doing it all-the-other-values’-way, which leaves an open space for someone to create something new and also observing what happens in the empty space, what are peoples reactions and how are the tackling it (like art). The whole point is we want to help make a change for the better, a very small change or an opportunity for change and in this way we work sustainable. A stone which creates rings on the water…
We in the group have to stand for the values in the concept in the way work – it’s a kick.
We don’t work in the usual project form with milestones, stakeholder’s analyzes and bla bla bla, planning the one thing after the other – we know that drill far too well, which is also why we can put it all aside and fly while we’re building the plane – it’s not exactly the safest way of flying, but it’s more fun – it’s risk-taking, one of the Kaospilot values, and it makes me grow, develop both personally and professionaly…

I know understand the feedback I got from the second time I didn’t get into The School of Graphic Design and Communication (where Piet is). The lady said to me that what I did was very good, nice and neat… She suggested me to go of to France, do an art course and use the big brush and go wild… I feel that’s what I am doing right now – just two years later, in a different course, in India – using the big brush with a lot of paint (I always liked the small pens in dusty colours).

So, with the concept as the ground for our work, we are now working on the product. It may very well be a pink female taxi company/happening – I’ll let you know in the near future…

My thought with the Boxy Bloggy Blog is to update it often, I knew I just had to spend some time writing a long sum-up of what’s happened so far and now I have, so from now on you can expect to get smaller shots from my life here in Mumbai at least a couple of times a week.

I am getting a little sentimental now – don’t really want to end the writing. I have a picture in my head of a big cumfy room with a fire place (not a plastic one, gran), and you’re all here sitting in big chairs, some are lying on the soft carpet floor and I’m  reading all this from a big book while you listen….  Sarah’s just about to fall asleep now (my little put)……………….

I am thinking about you all – all my love to you!!

mama answer

Yep, Grameen Bank – micro financing… fun this is, mama!

Amy Answers Alan Webber’s questions based on the growing economy of India

The India, a country with an estimated population of 1.12 billion, the  world’s second most populous country, on the one hand very divided in class, religion and status and on the other hand a united country independent 1961 from hundreds of years of being a British and Portuguese colony, a mindset based on the largest religion, Hinduism (aprox. 80 %); calm, satisfy with what you have, be good in this life and you will be rewarded in your next life. A mindset which clashes somehow with the country’s massive growing economy and it’s need to develop in many ways to improve the living standard for the millions of people in poverty.

Amy, a Danish woman living in Mumbai for 80 days, an observer and an outsider, curious on all systems of life, reflecting on what she is doing in Mumbai; in every way a different from the last time she was here four years ago, different needs, purposes and goals, on a mission as a Kaospilot, at work.

Allan Webber, an American journalist and chief editor, interested in what Team 1, Kaospilot Øresund has to answer to these three questions based on the growing economy in India:

#1 How are India’s people handling the country’s transition into a growing world economical power?
#2 Do they feel any change in the status  in the world?
#3 Is there more economical equity among the people as India’s performance grow?

I, Amy, will answer these questions from what I have seen, heard and felt in the past 18 days. The answers to the questions are personal interpretations and stand not for any general view point as I feel the questions are seeking.

#1 First of all a very small percentage of Indias population are aware of the fact that India has become one of the largest growing economies in the world and therefore it’s impossible for them to know that there is anything to handle.
Secondly I don’t know who are handling the economic growth to begin with, and what they have in mind to do with the situation as it seems like a lifelong sleep for the government to follow through with ideas related to poverty, education, infrastructure etc. which leads me to my next point.
Thirdly I see a big challenge for the Indian people and their mindset in handling the growing economy. One argument for this is that they are settled with how their situation is, living in the now. Another argument is a general lack of organisational skills and thinking how things can get better, be effective, take less time and cost less money.
I have seen many examples of total chaos where resources, time and money are wasted because the planning is either short term or nonexcixting. Or maybe it’s lazyness or to keep people occupied; today I counted ten baristas and three cleaners at work on a fairly slow afternoon at a small Starbucks like café in Colaba, Mumbai. Max two would do the same job at my café hangout in Copenhagen. This pattern I find almost everywhere I go in this country.
Finally, I have my doubts as to whether people of India are open and creative enough yet  to handle the power and possibilities which can come from the growing economy. “…creativity is essential to the way we live and work today, and in many senses always has been. As the Stanford University economist Paul Romer likes to say, the big advances in standard of living – not to mention the big competitive advantages in the marketplace – always have to come from ‘better recipes, not just more cooking’” (Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class, 2002)

#2 Generally Indian people are very proud of their independent country. It must have given the Indian people a great national feeling to be free from colonists at last. For the few aware of the economic growth in India it may give them a feeling of “it’s payback time”, naturally this must lead to feeling that India’s status in the world has risen, and I can understand that, but for the millions of people oblivious to the economic situation, I don’t think the status has changed much. I think what matters for them is the here and now life and not tomorrow and the rest of the world.

#3  During daytime, on the streets in some areas of Mumbai I see Indian’s having the opotunity to be well educated, buy western brand clothes like Nike and Levi’s and get their coffee from a coffee shop like Starbucks. At night the same streets are the beds and homes of many more Indian people than the ones I see in daytime. The rich become more rich and the poor more poor.

I would like to answer these same questions at the end of my stay in Mumbai as I hope to learn and understand more about the growing economy and how it effects the people of The India.

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