Guest Post: The Show Must Go On

With or without Rushdie the festival charged forward and so did the many thousands of visitors. Likely the second most popular topic of discussion was the huge increases in turnout over the last several years so that the festival seemed to border on rock concert territory. Beware the book signing rushes.

The organization however was spectacular and rather than grinding to a halt the grounds hummed with excitement transferred quickly across the crowds. “Did you hear what Amy Chua just said about Chinese parents?” “Wow, Banerjee is too cool for school in his rockstar jacket.”

It turns out that Poor Economics has made quite a splash; we had a dyed in the wool CSR Indian bureaucrat take off on a sycophantic rave about the new 'bible of development.' Banerjee could only adjust the ruffles of his jacket. However, for all that, he was a little disappointing. Refusing to engage in debate with the other panelists or the audience and dismissing challenges as anecdotal. His mind must have been in a rural Rajasthani village. 

Even without the biggest name and despite the crowds, the festival was an absolute must see. The combination of thought provoking speakers, a beautiful historical backdrop and great friends created an atmosphere that is truly remarkable. And the opportunity to run serendipitously into old friends was so exciting. The cheap draft beer doesn’t hurt either.

And in another twist to the plot, the whole visual of Rushdie evading “paid assassins” could have all just been made up. But who has the motive?  The pundit machines whirrs…

A few good books

Tyler is on his way to the Jaipur Literature Festival now, meeting a friend of ours from London and another coming in from Bombay.

In 2006, William Dalrymple and another author, Namita Gokhale, started the Jaipur Literature Festival, which has grown to become the largest in Asia.  As a sign of just how large it has become, Oprah Winfrey will even be there!  She'll be joined by authors such as Amy Chua (the Tiger Mom), Michael Ondaatje, and David Remnick (WSJ guide here).  

The big question topping headlines this week is whether Salman Rushdie (whose Midnight's Children won the "Booker of Booker Prize" in 1993) will be there.  His Satanic Verses has been banned in India since publication in 1988 (with the Ayatollah of Iran issuing a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie in 1989).  I guess we'll see for sure this weekend.  Whether or not Rushdie attends, it's sure to be an amazing event, full of interesting lectures and panels.

It was an early morning today, with Tyler leaving our flat at 5:45am to catch his train to Jaipur.  I wish I were able to go to the festival this weekend... but being able to say: "See you in a few days in Bangkok!" has a nice ring to it as well.

And on the subject of Dalrymple, I am now hooked on his City of Djinns, which I started reading yesterday morning (more as a ruse to stay at my Hindi teacher's warm classroom a bit longer, drinking some more chai... my days in Delhi have now become a constant search for two things: heat and working internet!)

By the third page, I was hooked.  Dalrymple, writes about moving to Delhi with his wife, shortly after they were married.  He contrasts his experiences to those when he first came to Delhi at age 17:

"From the very beginning I was mesmerized by the great capital, so totally unlike anything I had ever seen before.  Delhi, it seemed at first, was full of riches and horrors: it was a labyrinth, a city of palaces, an open gutter, filtered light through a filigree lattice, a landscape of domes, and anarchy, a press of people, a choke of fumes, a whiff of spices."

What I love about his writing is that it combines the history of Delhi with his love for India, his fascination mixed with his everyday frustrations.  Tyler can have a nice chat with him up in Jaipur over a cup of chai...

Eating our way through Istanbul...

I never quite understood the hype of Turkish Delight and how a dessert (no matter how delicious) could make Edmund betray his siblings to the evil Snow Queen in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  After a week of sampling the delightful candy stores of Istanbul, however, I'm starting to have some idea...

Balance?

I just got an email from a friend in NYC who will be giving a talk called "Taking Risks to Achieve Outrageous Happiness in Love and Life."  

It made me recall a conversation I recently had with the CEO of a social enterprise.

You know that you didn't exactly achieve a successful work-life balance when a peer in your industry exclaims (with no hint of irony in her voice): "I'm impressed you actually found the time to get married!"

Rock-a-bye Baby

Had dinner at a friend's place and visited their brand new, six day old baby boy.  For being in labor for sixty hours, Neha looks amazing -- the picture of maternal calm.  And Ali, the proud father, beams.

We learn all about labor room Hindi; the harsh tones of "push karo! push karo! karo! karo! karo!" found nowhere else (leave it to a Hindi teacher to be transfixed by the various tones of Hindi happening in the labor room!)

What really moved me about being there last night was the sense of community and extended family in caring for the baby, which happens all over Asia, but was readily apparent last night.  Neha's sister (and her nine-month old daughter) and mother were both there; whenever a baby was crying or needed changing, whoever was closest just picked up the baby and did whatever needed to be done.  There were no egos or "fighting" over what's best for the baby or who's ideas are right and whose are wrong.

Another area that struck me is the lack of overprotection that I often see with newborns back in the US.  Quite a few of my friends back home require not only hand-washing, but anti-disinfectant before anyone can pick up their babies.  They have hundred-dollar disinfectant diaper disposal units, baby monitors, and all sorts of baby-protection devices.  Not that I blame them, of course.  I'm sure we'll be drawn to those just as much as our friends.  But what I appreciate in India is that everything is just real and as-is.  There is no sound protection for all the fire crackers that were going off, no crazy amounts of protection (when we got there, the baby was in a crib with three walls; the fourth was off, and the baby was sleeping peacefully). And perhaps because of this lack of obsession for sterility, there are fewer reported allergies here (exposure to at least some bacteria is good to get the immune system up and running healthily).

Interestingly, our friends are now huge proponents of lotus birth, or the practice of leaving the placenta attached to the baby's body and letting the umbilical cord fall off naturally.  The idea is that the placenta still has an immense amount of nutrients and blood, which are being denied to the baby by clamping the umbilical cord at delivery.  Once these are passed to the baby, the placenta shrivels up and the umbilical cord naturally falls off (a process which takes about 2-3 days).  Proponents of lotus birth delivery argue that cutting the umbilical cord denies the baby almost half their blood volume at birth, and some point to the fact that Vishnu (the supreme Hindu god) and the Buddha both were products of lotus birth.  

The counterargument, of course, is that keeping the placenta only increases the risk for infection (besides just plain weirding people out, when they must carry not only the baby, but the bowl holding the placenta).

Whatever one believes, it certainly takes "natural birth" to the next level! 

A day at the "office"

I'm sitting cross-legged on a comfy couch, in the uniform of my generation: jeans, a black sweater, and a white MacBook.  Nearby, other young professionals are dressed similarly, typing away on their computers.  Half an hour ago, I had a debate with an Android app developer on the pros and cons of using tablets to maximize the efficiency of community health workers, before I got on a call with a pharma executive in Germany.

As I type, one woman just brought her golden retriever to the room as well, who lies patiently next to her as she types on her computer, sitting on a beany bag on the floor (the dog has now settled into his own beany bag right next to hers).  Downstairs, there is a giant spread of french bread, cream cheese, and ham (the type that only a frenchman in Delhi can create), while a group downstairs brainstorms ways to market their new enterprise.  Jazz wafts through the surround sound speakers, and it feels like all I need is a glass of red wine to complete the Gen-Y picture.

Shockingly, I'm at "work."  Or rather, I'm at Delhi-Jelly -- an organization made up of professionals working as consultants, software developers, freelancers, writers, and other careers where "work" is anywhere there is internet.

There was a recent Economist article on the rise of co-working, called "Setting the Desk Jockeys Free."  The article talks about new co-working chain, like The Hub, NextSpace, and BusinessWorld -- which is similar to having airport business lounges in city centers, where cardholders have flexible access to its facilities.

For me, access to something like that would be incredible.  Lately my days have been feeling like a constant quest for good internet (on one trip to Ghana, I actually went to the airport five hours early to have access to internet, air conditioning, and a working bathroom!).  On the plus side, I've never been more productive... there's nothing like the prospect that power (and internet) might go out to keep you focused on work.

The Delhi-Jelhi was started by a British fellow, who lived half his life in France, who was looking for a more collaborative work environment.  It's quite an international crew of "co-workers", Indians, Australians, Europeans (although I'm the only American today).  The space is gorgeous; a posh house-turned-"office" of deep red and blue colors, multiple floors and nooks allowing for group brainstorms and conference calls, fast internet... and a dog!!  

I'm sure after too many days here, I'll begin to miss conference rooms, desks, and (gasp) maybe even cubicles...

But for now, I quite prefer this.

Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential.

I came across a really interesting organization today, called Mama Hope.  But before going any further, first watch this amazing video of a nine-year old boy talking about the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Commando [click here].

Inspiring, huh?

What inspires me about Mama Hope is the organization's focus on opportunity, potential, and joy... which is what similarly inspires me about Acumen's message of dignity, empathy, and an interconnected world.

Cynics can say it's all just marketing and fundraising.  But this "marketing" is largely what enables Coke to reach remote rural villages, the enigmatic "last mile" that continues to elude global health organizations.

One of my favorite TED Talks continues to be Melinda Gates discussing what the global health world can learn from Coke, with its strong distribution channels and positive messaging ("I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony").  Contrast this with the often condescending messages of well-meaning NGOs, with ubiquitous health signs telling a community what it should and should not do.  Little wonder that messages of "don't [sleep without a bednet/deliver your baby at home/have unprotected sex]" have about as much impact on people living below the poverty line, as they do for middle-income Americans, bombarded with messages of "don't [smoke/eat unhealthily/have unprotected sex]".

It's a welcome change that organizations working to combat poverty are finally beginning to realize that there's a diminishing marginal rate of return on guilt ads.  That video of a fly-infested starving child in Africa may have been shocking the first time it aired, but it loses its power the 1000th time one sees it.  Much more than that, images such as this feed into the negative cycle worldview that countries in Africa are doomed, awful places, not worthy of investment and incapable of growth.  Some responses to the youtube video above prove the necessity of video campaigns such as this (one person posted that if you go to Africa, you will end up with AIDS or other diseases and probably die).

But as Coke reminds us, love gets more Google hits than fear, and there are reasons to believe in a better world.

Thank goodness development organizations are finally starting to catch on.