life is drama, man is player

I saw the title of this post painted on the back of a truck today. Indian version of "the whole world is a stage"?

There is so much I wish I had taken photographs of today, but taking pictures is so uncomfortable sometimes because of how obviously it brands you as a tourist here. You snap a picture of a cow wandering through traffic and invariably find everyone around you staring, wondering why you would waste a frame on the most mundane of daily happenings. As if you were clicking away at someone driving their car or buying food. I love being able to blend in wherever I travel and can do so especially well here, as long as my camera remains in my bag...

So today there are no pictures to accompany my anecdotes, apologies!

Work was fun as usual, and as usual I'll skim on the details so I don't bore away anyone reading. Today all of the main players in the organization came from around India to sit in on a review of the group's website conducted by two information architects. The advice was pretty standard - know your audience, tailor content accordingly. I never knew I could be interested in something as technical as information architecture but it is totally fascinating how much a website layout can affect the sort of audience attracted. For instance, apparently men like menu bars (a row of click-able headings) while women prefer drop-down menus. I don't know if that's true...I can't imagine anyone preferring menu bars over drop-down menus. But then, I am a woman...

Another recurring theme from my work is the unimaginable inefficacy of the Indian government. I have more than a healthy dose of national pride, don't get me wrong, and I love that the Indian government is welfare-oriented and so concerned with development. In fact nowadays the government has adopted a pretty behavior-oriented approach to development, that is, one that considers people's habits, beliefs and biases. It sounds pretty basic but from a policy-maker's perspective it is quite innovative. This is all sort of anthropology stuff, like you can't just give someone medicine, you have to make sure they understand why it is important that they take it regularly and appropriately, or even at all. And since the whole behavior and people side of things is usually the mantra of NGO's, it's great that the government has adopted the same outlook. Makes collaboration easier.

That being said, India has a long way to go. Here's a great example. The people who live below the poverty line as set by the Indian government are eligible for benefits from a plethora of schemes and programmes. Employment opportunities here, subsidies there. Sounds great. Simultaneously in an attempt to boost school attendance for girls, the government provided rurally poor girls with bicycles so they could get to school. Also great. Here's the great catch: there is a stipulation buried somewhere in the books that says if you own a cycle, you don't qualify as below the poverty line. Obviously you're not that poor if you own a cycle.

Interesting.

1) below the poverty line and the government will help you.
2) in an effort to solve another issue, the government gives you a bicycle.
3) now that you have a bicycle, you're not below the poverty line and the government won't help you.

I have more to say on that godforsaken mess that is Indian traffic...

A girl in my office today told me that yesterday after I left work there was a massive accident on the road in front of the office. Two men on motorbikes crashed into each other. Both slipped into unconsciousness. One bled all over the road and his face swelled up while the girl in my office held his head. A crowd gathered, an ambulance was called and the men were taken away. This girl was totally traumatized but apparently most of the bystanders comforted her with the words "it happens more often than you would think". I know I'm comforted...

Apparently 60-80 people die daily in car accidents in Bangalore. I mean, that's a secondhand statistic with no p-value (haha stats.) but while it may not be totally accurate, it is scary enough to merit repeating. And it is totally believable.

After hearing her story I was more agitated than usual during the cab ride home. Most drivers of cabs and rickshaws have little figurines and pictures of gods on their dashboard or windshield to keep them safe. But no one thinks of how much safer they'd be if cabs / auto rickshaws came with seatbelts or airbags. Or doors. Novel concept.

I always want to talk to cab drivers and find out about their lives, who they are, what they think of the city but I never really know how to start a conversation especially because most in Bangalore speak Kannada and that is an unfortunate language barrier between us. But today was serendipitous. There was a total halt in the flow of traffic and everything around us was at a standstill. All of a sudden people started knocking on windows trying to sell things, or just begging. I haven't seen any car-to-car vendors or beggars since coming to Bangalore- this was the first time.

These vendors, by the way, were selling something to 'keep you cool', a blessing in the sweltering heat. I got to watch a demo of this great product as the vendor marketed it to the driver in the car next to ours. Basically it was a large black square with suction cups on one side. So...not a fan. The driver in the next car rolled down his window and took one from the vendor who explained its method of use.

Apparently it was a windshield screen, a way to keep out the sun's glare, and it was made to be stuck on the window right in front of the driver's face. It was a solid black. Not transparent. The driver explained that he didn't want a solid black sheet suctioned in front of his face as he navigated through traffic- the sun being the lesser of two evils in this case, and the vendor got upset but eventually moved on to peddle his strange wares to other unsuspecting customers. Hopefully to none.

So back to the driver...what was serendipitous was the long halt in traffic and the presence of the beggars. The two circumstances together offered a great start to conversation in Hindi, a nice linguistic compromise. He told me I shouldn't give money to the beggars because at one traffic light they make at least 100 rupees and with five or six a day they make more than enough to live on. He told me that in Bangalore the government provides free food, a place to sleep, even sometimes clothing for the unemployed and so there is really no justification for begging. I wondered if these beggars couldn't access those facilities for some reason but the driver was adamant that they could. Oh by the way, his name is Natraj so I'll refer to him as such.

Natraj, after this initial breaking of the ice and offering of advice, was a veritable treasure chest of stories and anecdotes and great little chat. We passed a couple of hijras (drag queens- they originated in India, fun fact!) and he immediately rolled up the windows. "Madam, they are the most dangerous of all" he warned me. "if you don't give them the money they ask for, they won't just leave. They will spit on you or grab your wrists in a violent manner". I'm not sure how much I believe him but I wasn't taking my chances. He then spent some time pointing them out to me, "that one is a man, a hijra, but the one next to him is really a woman" as if it wasn't obvious! But sometimes it really was hard to tell.

He regaled me with tales of his many encounters with police bribery, told me about his village, his family, his desire to travel and even his thoughts on the tension between Hindus and Muslims. I came home feeling all warm and content in that way only great conversation can make you feel!

I got to talk to my mum on the phone today too for a longer period of time which was amazing!! And now Jo is back from her climbing adventures so I'm going to go hear about her day....

GOODNIGHT FROM INDIA!