Getting Started

I have been working diligently the last three weeks to pull together my work and research for this presentation. But as the deadline quickly approaches I realized that there are certain things on my checklist that I have been unintentionally/intentionally avoiding. 

Sushma and I are putting together a documentary and I need to write the voice over script for it, but for whatever reason I just really can't seem to bring myself to do it. I also had plans to write a children's story that could be printed and maybe even turned into a animated series. I wrote the outline for the story over a month ago, but I have yet to even try to sit down and write out the full thing.

 I think I am procrastinating these things and making excuses for myself because they are things I have never done before. I have never written a children's book, and I certainly have never written a voiceover script.

But with only a few days left at DSK before I go to Goa the time to get started on these things is now. 

I know if I don't finish them before Goa it is not that big of a deal, I can finish them later. But with projects like these its hard not to just find another later to get started...So that means I have to make a conscious effort to get started. 

I know getting started on a project is always the hardest part... but what I have forgotten is that once you get going everything else comes along a lot easier.

 So today I am going to make a conscious effort to get started with these two projects. Writing this out to the blog world is my accountability with myself. 

Food for Thought: Haida Indian Saying

"We do not inherit this land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."

Centre for Science and Environment

This reason I was off line last week was because I was in Delhi for a training at the Centre for Science and Environment. I spent five long days from 10a.m. to 6p.m. learning everything I possible could about the Environmental Impact Assessment Report and the Social Impact Assessment Report. 

All business who wish to set up an industry or expand a current project must fill out these reports so that the government can assure that they are using the best possible practices to mitigate their negative impact on the environment and the individuals who live in the surrounding area. 

That is the theory anyway. Though from my experience a majority of these EIA reports are done in a hurry and there is no monitoring body that assures the industries actually follow threw with all the promises they make in these reports. 

Above is the picture of the class after our certificate ceremony. 

(the guard didn't really know how to work the camera...but it was a good crew)

I went with Sushma and Laxman to the training.

Though the training seemed incredibly long at times, I am glad I went. It gave me a whole new perspective on development, and provided me with a bunch of information about what practices and technologies different industry should and can use to reduce their impact on the environment. Plus I made some amazing contacts that will really help me with my research for my capstone project. 

Food for Thought: Albert Einstein

"A human is a part of this whole called by us the 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desire and to a portion for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to force ourselves to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole in its beauty."

~Albert Einstein 

Finals Week

Finals week is always the week that everyone dreads at school.

 It is a week of late nights, early mornings, tones of caffeine, and hours spent with your head in a book or glued to a computer screen just to so you can finish all of your last minute assignments or pass that final cumulative test. 

This is my last week here at DSK. Next week I will accompany the entire Navsarjan staff to Goa for their strategic planning meeting. The meeting will take place over a three day period,  during which time we will hear reports from all the field workers and district coordinators. Once we finish hearing about what was accomplished this past year, we will set to the task of planning the agenda for next year's work. I will be presenting all of my findings and work up to this point at the end of the third day. They gave me an hour to go through the environmental issues that I see threatening their target audience (the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), and provide suggestions for how to mitigate those issues in a new Environment Issues Campaign I designed to be implemented over this next year.

    

My research and work in India is far from over. But having such a big presentation to prepare for makes me feel like its finals week all over. 

I have made my rather long to do list, (which just keeps getting longer) and now I am sitting down to work. With any luck I will be able to pull off this massive presentation and finish everything on my list. 

Wish Me Luck! 

Meeting the Family in Nadiad

This past weekend Sushma took me to her home town of Nadiad so that I could meet her family. It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend filled with a lot of good food and down time chilling with the family. 

As per custom in India guests are always treated with the utmost care, and are constantly being feed. I actually think I gained three pounds this weekend from all the food they gave me. 

Pictured above and below is Sonu, Sushma's adorable son who is four years old. 

Above is a family photo of Sonu, Sanjiv, and Sushma on their bike. When they were showing me around the town I jumped on the bike behind Sushma. Definitely not one of the safest rides I have ever been on, but we weren't going very far and we never went very fast. 

Plus now I feel as though I can honestly say I have fully experienced every mode of transportation here in India. 

Above is Pani Puri...one of Sushma's favorite dishes. 

Nadubhai reading to his grandson. It was really cute how much Sonu loved his grandfather, they take a walk together every night after dinner. 

Sushma's inlaws Nadubhai and Shardaben whom Sonu and Sanjiv are currently living with. 

Sanjiv's family including his brother Asim. 

Pictured above is Sushma's family, two of her sisters, her parents, her brother in-law and her niece.

They all wanted a picture with me and the family. Sonu is an incredibly energetic little boy though and did not really want to sit still for the photo. 

This past weekend will probably be one of the first things that comes to my mind when I think back about the time I spent in India. It is amazing how much love this family had, and how readily they opened their home and their hearts to let me in. I am incredibly grateful to them all for their kindness and generosity and will cherish this weekend for the rest of my life. 

Lake Udaipur

After a week offline I am finally coming back to the blogging world to finish my photo tour of India with my Mom and Aunt. After a whirlwind tour of Ahmedabad, we went to Lake Udaipur for the weekend. We left midday thursday after going to see Sarkhej Roza. It took five hours by car to get to Lake Udaipur but it was well worth the drive. 

Pictured above and below is Sarkhej Roza. It was really a beautiful place and they were in the process of restoring it, so that was nice to see. 

  Above is the view from our hotel in Lake Udaipur. 

Pictured above and below the local market.

 My mom really wanted to feed the monkeys (something they tell you not to do)....it ignored her for a while at first. 

 We took a boat tour of the lake.And stopped at the island below to get refreshments and walk around. 

The flowers were just to beautiful not to take a picture of. 

City Palace, we had to go back twice because we missed the museum part the first time.

On the second day we went to a fort about an hour an half away. It was absolutely beautiful even though it was fogged in most of the morning.

A man we met on our hike into the valley.

The main fort is pictured above. 

The gate to the fort we drove through. It has the second longest wall in the world behind the Great Wall in China.

Above more of the grounds in the fort. 

The drive to get to the place was absolutely amazing and we made the driver stop a million times to take photos. 

I had an absolutely wonderful time with my Mom and Aunt. It was nice getting the royal treatment for a weekend and playing tourist after working here. I hope they enjoyed the rest of their time in India. I am glad they decided to make the trip. 

In my time here I have found that this really is a beautiful country with so much culture and life.