PlanetRead

Indian Wedding

2006-07-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

View of the stage

Francis is someone who I have not mentioned yet, I believe. He works for us here at the office, running errands and doing odd jobs that come up. He has delivered my laundry, fixed the bicycles (brakes, bells, etc.), and mailed letters. Francis clean the office each morning, helps water the plants, and gets teased about how he should get married soon. His work here at PlanetRead helps keep the building together and its employees working uninterrupted from their work, making him an important part of our team. He doesn't speak much English but always smiles and says, "Hi, Kah-Tee!" twice each day: in the morning when I arrive and he's finishing sweeping the courtyard and in the evening when I leave and he's playing cricket with friends on the road outside the office.

Yesterday, his sister got married, and everyone in the office was invited to celebrate! Ananya, Parthibhan, and I got dressed up in traditional Indian dress. (We looked great!) Others (namely some of the men present) went in T-shirts or more casual clothing. All the same, the guests were in good moods, and the celebration was very colorful. All the women had jasmine in their hair, which perfumed the air marvelously, and wore saris with lots of gold jewelry and glitter.

Scott agreed to take photos with my camera, while members of the office (including myself) posed with the newly married couple. After presenting them with our gift (table set), we rushed downstairs to eat. The food at Indian weddings, as I am told, is always very good, very greasy, and very spicy. (I had to run out and buy bottled water for Scott and myself to help everything go down soundly.) It was delicious! After eating, we exited quickly, collecting our party favors (coconuts) and grabbing some sugar to sweeten our mouths.

Our meal, served on a banana leaf

Some of Francis's friends lit fire crackers in the road to halt traffic and announce to everyone passing by that there was a wedding celebration inside the building before we left. They made very loud cracking noises and blew sparks everywhere, causing rickshahs, motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians... everyone pause to watch the display.

I ended the night by attending an impromptu get-together organized by my good friend, Jagu. A small party of people traveled to go get ice cream and cold water at a local hotel/restaurant called the Promenade (one of the few places in Pondy that is open past 10pm). Nikhil was kind enough to drive me home since it was late and it's nearly impossible to cycle in my sari.

Fire crackers on the street

On Holiday

2006-07-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a company retreat with the PlanetRead and BookBox teams. Almost all of us from the Pondy office piled into a white van and drove 14/15 hours towards the west. The men onboard the Pondy-to-Munnar leg of the journey ate lots of spicy Indian chips and munchies, watched "Ice Age 2," and smoked cigarettes along the way. The van traveled through the night and into the early morning. The road was very bumpy, so none of us got much sleep. We reached our destination, Munnar, after climbing steep green hills and kicking up lots of brilliant reddish/pink dust while stopping along the way to snap some photos.

The altitude in this area of Kerala was a welcome change. Munnar was much colder than Pondy (Scott bought a lined jacket), which was surprising to some of us who didn't get the "bring your sweaters" memo.

View while climbing one side of the hill. Notice the signature red dust!

Munnar is famous for its tea plantations, which make the lush green hillsides look like something out of a Tim Burton movie, and well-known to locals for its spice market. I think everyone on the trip bought some tea. There were also many products made from wood for sale in the shops and along the side of the road.

Tea growing on the hillsides

Hotel

We spent the first day shopping for gifts, exploring our hotel, checking out a local waterfall and chatting. I discovered my favorite breakfast treat here in India: round pieces of lightly fried sweet bread (resembling a tortilla) called paratha.

The next day, we went boating on the water near a dam. Pappu filmed interviews among members of the team as we joked and talked about PlanetRead and BookBox. He intends to share the video with our President, Brij. The small but frequent rains thwarted our plans for a bonfire both nights of our stay; nonetheless, it was very fun to spend a weekend outside Pondy and with some office mates.

My trip home included a brilliant fill moon, fried rabbit, "ConAir," "Thambi," and close to four hours of Friends episodes back to back.

Team photo

When we got back, Scott and I limped sleepy-eyed towards the flat. The streets of Pondy were warm and completely still, except forthe dogs who occasionally reminded us of their presence with barks.

PlanetRead Makes Headlines!

2006-07-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

Gauri, our guide, translator, and resident professional journalist (as well as my roommate) for our journey to Maharashtra, ended up writing about her experience with us for The Maharashtra Herald. The paper even published 2 of my photos with the article. I believe that the third one is Nikhil's or Pappu's.

Field Trip: Karnataka and Maharashtra

2006-06-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

Scott, Pappu, Nikhil, and I just got back from doing field research in two states here in South India: Karnataka and Maharashtra. (see red line on the map). The trip totaled 10 days, and was a great learning experience for all of us. Scott and Nikhil got some great information and we all enjoyed the sight-seeing we were allowed to do on the side: onions, cows, sugar cane, and mud! We were totally dirty by the end of it!

On our trip, we visited several villages within these two states and enjoyed lots of tea that was forced upon us by our very hospitable guests. (The tea here is amazing!) The villages were developing, breaking any stereotypes we might have had about how a village is just like another. NOT TRUE!

We also visited a couple schools to show students SLS and get reactions from them, teachers, administrators, and others. The students loved our BookBox stories and crowded around quickly to view them on our laptop. I managed to get some great shots of them. We found overwhelming support for our work in these schools. The results from elders from the villages were more mixed.

I took over 1,000 photos total (a new record). Below are some of my favorites, which you might spy on our PlanetRead blog or website in the near future! I definitly fell in love with that hillside in Maharashtra.

Unloading the equipment from the back of our van

"Boyz" sandals on Nikhil's feet

Little girl off to school with Rai

Examining

Girls and school sharing a joke

SLS viewing

Wet feet

Heavy weather for the documentary team

In the sugar cane

Yummy tomato plants

Interviewing a woman in Maharashtra

"So what do you think of SLS?"

View from a hill in Maharashtra

Pappu

Sheep on the hillside, framed by wires

The shepard

The second shepard, Vikki

SLS for the Hearing Impaired: PlanetRead's New Project

2006-06-12T05:32:00.000-07:00

I have been assigned the task of heading a research effort designed to assess the potential usefulness of SLS for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired here in India. I'm very excited about it and have already done some research in the field and on the web. Our focus will be what can be done in India now for the deaf with SLS, but I'll be examining other types of technological aids and legal policies for the deaf abroad. Another team member, Mark, who is based in Israel, is also helping me and has been an amazing resource for information and tips. His sister is deaf, and he is very excited about the potential of SLS as well.

The Big Question
We are still unsure of how exactly SLS could best be used/tailored to fit the needs of the deaf community here in India. My job will be to go talk with professionals who work with the deaf as well as students, teachers, administrators to ask them what they think of SLS and what can be done to improve it. I'll show them what we do (BookBox and SLS on TV), get feedback, and report back to our design team to help them build a beta version of SLS for the Deaf. By the end, we want to have an option for the hearing handicapped on all of our products.

The Preparation
I've been preparing myself for this by reading up on the Deaf in India and what already exists for them in terms of technological support. Subtitles/Closed captioning already exists in many countries, including India; but I consistently find that there is room for improvement. The UK is an excellent example of a country that has recently made real gains in making public spaces accessible for the Deaf.

The Goal
It is my hope to have a brief about SLS for the Deaf 80% done by the time I leave in early August. It will include all my research as well as some This leaves approx. 4 weeks left.

The Potential
I'll be working with the Marketing Director for PlanetRead, Vikram, who is stationed with our PlandRead team in Mumbai. Together, we will work with a National Institute for the Deaf in Mumbai to see if SLS could be incorporated into a nation-wide policy, mandating SLS's use on all channels in India for this purpose of making entertainment and information more accessible for this community. (YAY!) Talk about pressure to get the job done. This institute's director has already pledged to support our research and give us help. So things are moving along well.

Here are some photos from my recent visit to a school for the Deaf here in Pondy. The school housed 1st to 9th standard. Visiting these students was once of the best experiences I've had in India so far, and I learned a lot. The school administrators allowed me to visit classrooms on my own. So, I spent time hanging out with the students, telling them where I was from, asking them to show me how to write in Tamil... It was great. Scott and Nikhil came with me on this trip to interview students, teachers, and administrators about working with the students and what could make their job easier. They were very enthusiastic about SLS.

Wrapped Up

2006-06-11T03:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my friend Mitel showed me how to wear a sari (also spelled saree). I thought it would be a complete disaster, but I was successfully wrapped up in a bubble gum pick cloth by the end of it; in the process, my mistakes managed to make her laugh out loud a few times. I felt like a little girl learning how to put on her clothes all over again! SEE IMAGE FOR ACCURATE RECONSTRUCTION OF EVENT:

Saris are in fact three pieces of clothing:

The sari itself (the shawl-like part)
The blouse (tailored to fit perfectly)
The petticoat (matches the sari)

I have wanted very much to learn how to wear a sari! I felt I had achieved a new level of being Indianized once I had learned. I now have a new appreciation of the lifestyle of the women here who meet the challenges associated with the folding, pinning, measuring etc every day. A clear majority of them here in Pondicherry (and I am told in South India) wear saris. An added bonus is that, according to my female Indian friends, saris are difficult to wear and therefore, being able to wear one can be considered a rite of passage. Both Mitel and Ananya (another PlanetRead employee) learned how to wear a sari from their mothers once they were young adults; Ananya only learned after her marriage. Both complain about how difficult it is, which Ananya's husband finds amusing; according to him, 50 years back there was nothing else a woman could wear!

Fortunately, Mitel was very patient with me and helped me out the first two times. The difficulty in wearing a sari lies in the folding of the pleats, which must be completed carefully. Each pleat should be the same size in width and (roughly) length. I was lucky to have such a great teacher who encouraged me to repeat the process again and again; she loaned me the practice sari to take back to the flat to continue my education. My conclusion at the end of the lesson: saris cannot double as bedsheets (hypothesis disproven), wear like fruit colored togas, and breath easily in this tropical heat. Good-bye pants!

The politics of sari shopping was my final challenge. Mitel and I braved the shopping district here in Pondicherry, following my lesson. On the heels of other women (many of them mothers with their daughters or sisters) we entered shops, were presented with lots of choices by salesmen who did not speak much english, bargained prices, and then gave up and moved onto the next shop. It was exhausting! Mitel explained that since I am a foreigner, it's harder for me to bargain a reasonable price for saris; I notice that this is a trend with almost all of my economic transactions here in India. It's something to get used to. But, again- thank goodness for Mitel or Nikhil or whomever I am with who doesn't look as foreign as I do, because s/he always takes over and saves the day! But I am extra proud of myself because I went back to the shops the next day (on my own) and eventually found a beautiful tiger orange one with gold borders; it's blouse will be ready at the tailor's tomorrow.

The First Village Trip: Tamil Nadu

2006-06-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

The kids enjoying the flash of 15 seconds of fame at the local school near the Tamil Nadu village

Today was a very exciting day: my first trip out to a village to research SLS in the field! Scott, Nikhil, and I (plus some extra batteries for our equipment) piled into an old white Ambassador and jostled our way through the suburbs and towards the outskirts of Pondicherry. We arrived, after about 40 minutes, at a small village where some members of the lowest caste here in India, the Dalitas, reside. As we rolled along slowly, searching for a place to park, people stared into the car. We got out of the car; The women laughed quietly at my punjabe and all the villagers stared wide-eyed at our equipment and our white skin (Scott and I). It was a very powerful first meeting for all of us (villagers and visitors alike). Soon, we were venturing off the road and in between the small huts netted out of palm frans to find the sairpanch, the head of the village.

Once we had greeted him, thanked him many times, and explained what we had come to do, a television set and a long black cable to run across the sand were brought on scene quickly. Then we learned that here in the morning, the electricity is cut, making watching the live broadcast of filmsongs with SLS on Doordarshan (a local channel) impossible. Fortunately, we had brought the laptop and were able to show a few filmsongs in Tamil, the language spoken in this state in India, to the assembled group.

After snapping some photos of this scene, I ventured off on my own away from Scott and Nikhil and the television and towards the street. I explored the main road we had driven on a little more, examining the houses and the large telephone pole along the white concrete. I spyed a satellite dish attached to one house as well. Some of the kids followed me, speaking to me in broken Tamil. I couldn't understand them at all, but found them to be extremely friendly though demanding about me taking pictures of them. As I walked around, the women and men in the village brought me their infants to photograph, insisting on a "still." After I while, I had to venture back to get our translator, Sebastian, to both begin my photo essay work and to escape these proud parents! But my tour continued even as I headed back; the children got bolder and began to tug at my skirts and show me inside the homes. One young boy brought me a flower.

View of the main road with a satellite dish hiding in the palm trees

Later, with Sebastian's help, I managed to select the first subject for my first photo essay for PlanetRead: Hari. He was shy, but a good reader and very willing to take me all around the village with his friends. These kids had so much energy and enthusiasm about being my tour guides! They walked very quickly and choose excellent destinations. We saw the fields where the men worked, the outskirts of the village, a couple homes, and the beach. With their help, I got some great shots as well as some important insight into what their daily lives are like. Below are some of my favorite photos:

Hari reading as a friend looks on.

The cricket field where Hari and his friends play.

Boys climbing a tree near the beach.

The pond adjacent to Hari's father's farm land. He fishes her while his father works.

Running towards the sea, Hari turns to make sure I'm keeping up.

Later on, Scott, Nikhil, and I visited a school where children from the neighboring villages attend. The teachers, usually women, teach in Tamil and the students use books in English; the system is designed this way in order to teach students how to translate from English to Tamil. I was surprised to notice that I would often enter classrooms to find no teacher and no lesson going on; Mitel tells me that this is not abnormal, that education is lacking in the richer and poorer areas of the country. The students at this school would be sitting idly until they noticed me in the doorway and would shout: "HIIII!!!" their eyes wide with anticipation once they spyed my large camera hanging around my neck. What enthusiasm as a group, but how shy they were one on one. I tried my best to communicate to them and ask questions. I enjoyed exploring these classes without a translator or authority figure from the school; only with this method could I more easily approach the students in a less overwhelming and more natural as possible way. I found that the best way to communicate who I was when I entered each classroom was to first say "hello" and ask how they were. After straining their ears, usually one would catch onto my American accent and be able to decipher what I was saying. Then, I would draw a map of the world and point to India and to them. Then, I would point to the USA and to myself. Then they would all scream loudly, "AMERICA?!" "Yup, America," I would say.

Children at the school holding up a book written in English

Puru to the Rescue!

2006-06-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

In this first trip to India, I've learned a great deal. But, if I've learned two things about business here they are:

"Things happen at their own pace" -Nikhil
Connections, connections, connections (see below example)

Brij's brother, Puru, came in today and helped Scott, Nikhil, and I sort out our upcoming visits to the villages. We are conducting a more indepth study of SLS in the rural parts of this country and documenting our findings through film and photography.

Things looked bleak when our guide, Sebastian, called us to announce that he was going to be unavailable the morning we had planned our inaugural visit. Clouds rolled into Pondicherry in a very dramatic parallelism as the three of us scrambled to contact others who might serve as our liasions/translators. Then: Mr. Puru with his small blue phone entered the scene, made a couple quick calls, and suddenly, we were back on track and zipping our way out of Pondicherry towards our destination. Sebastian was with us and everything was great!

SEE PHOTO FOR VISUAL REPRESENTATION

Thank you, Puru and nice tan!

The Butter Wars

2006-06-06T03:35:00.002-07:00

If there's one thing about India that Scott and I cannot get our heads around, it's butter. Or, should I say, the refusal to include butter with take-out. Perhaps, I should first diclose that Nikhil, Scott, and I have a french breakfast every morning in this former French colony. The parisians would certainly be proud: the croissants and the baguettes are just as crisp here as they are in the french capital. But let's be true critics and honesty point the finger at the real problem: the Indians' refusal to give us jam and butter with our bread.

This morning, Scott and I were sent on a wild goose chase, looking for a store that would sell us butter. We even sank so low as to approach Daily Bread (our favorite breakfast spot not far from the office)'s competitor next door: Hot Bread. We had asked twice, as loyal customers at Daily Bread, for butter and jam as "take away," as they call it here. We were flatly refused. So, here we were at Hot Bread. Scott tried to reason the very unimpressed manager with an economics lesson on exchanging money for goods and services. But she responded with something inaudible about customer service. So we left, sans butter.

Through the early morning streets of Pondicherry, we trudged onwards. At one point, a little girl in a school uniform (Scott and I wondered why she was not in school and instead, helping to guide us towards our condiment destination), tried her best to help us out. Soon, though, we found a convenience store and were able to purchase a large butter stick and a small jar of mixed fruit jam. Yum! "You have a great day!" said Scott to the puzzled woman at the cash registrar.

This butter war has therefore concluded happily. A good supply of bread condiments shall last us until the end of the week.

The Dentist

2006-06-03T01:23:00.000-07:00

I visited the dentist today in Pondicherry, because I was feeling some soreness near my molars and could not isolate what exactly was hurting. It went well. The dentist's office deserves description: a large pond with fish at your feet in the waiting room as well as lights, photos of Egypt, and wicker chairs. There was a bubbling fountain sitting in this small "pond" filled with rocks, fish, small clay pots. To top it off: a color changing lamp with smoke coming out from the top... very StarTrek. In sum: quite the display. One of the employees here, Pappu, is the nephew of the dentist, so I was able to get a speedy appointment; this seems to happen a lot in India. Connections are vital to progress. Pappu seems to know everyone and visa-versa. Turns out I have a tooth "ulcer" from stress (must be all the spicy Indian food). It should clear up naturally within about a week and a half. Meanwhile, I have a perscription for a gel that I can apply topically if I feel pain. Overall: I'm still alive.

In other news from the PlanetRead offices, I have misplaced the cord for my camera. While I continue to search for it, so that I can upload more pictures, I plan to just buy another: a backup, if you will. The one page description that Nikhil, Scott, and I have slaved over the past couple days is finally finished. Bobby told me today that the new website will be up in a month's time with the changes (he's working through it page by page). The office is planning to go out to dinner together this evening, and I am looking forward to it. Pictures and more descriptions will come soon!

I'll spend the rest of today gathering contacts at Deaf institutions around India and building a list of addresses to send a letter that I have drafted. I hope to start hearing back from them by the time that Scott, Nikhil, and I are back from shooting the first village. We travel out to the rural areas on Tuesday for 2 days of shooting and then return. I'll be writing/designing my first photoessay and Scott, Nikhil, and Pappu will be editing/catagorizing the first footage. Things are moving along!

The Documentary Photographer/Blogger: Ms. Tsunoda

2006-05-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

Brij and Nirav invited me to have a conversation with them about my internship yesterday. Together, we have designed/planned out my time here in India in more detail; they were very generous to incorporate many of my ideas from a proposal that I had sent them!

I was agreed that I accompany the film crew (that is making a documentary of SLS) and help out at the field sites. I'll be actively participating in organizing the shooting of the film as well as discussing/conducting research for and developing PlanetRead and BookBox further. Today, for example, Scott, Nikhil, and I drafted a one-page promotional piece on PlanetRead that will be mailed out to individuals and organizations with whom we hope to work in the future.

Brij and Nirav also gave me their support in my idea for an individualized project that I could do. I will be documenting rural villages through photography and written reports, both of which will then be incorporated into a PlanetRead blog. This blog will be created in hopes of allowing the new website (due to be uploaded shortly) to tell more of a story about PlanetRead and the people who we try to help. (I was fortunate to have the opportunity to help design the new website and am very excited about it!)

I will also be organizing a project to encourage children in the villages to share their stories/perspectives on village life through photography. The idea is to give them a camera for a day and ask them to take pictures of what they love the most about the village, what they think is the most important etc. This is similar to the "Born into Brothels" idea, and we hope that it will give these children more of a voice via PlanetRead. We plan to select the best photos and stories and share them on the new website.

Today, I will be doing some research on the internet to try and find a school for the Deaf here in Pondicherry or around the area. Brij and others have a keene interest in how SLS could benefit the deaf community here in India and internationally. Nikhil and I have done some preliminarly research, but unfortunately, many of these schools are not listed online. However, there seem to be many schools located in the cities of Chennai and Mumbai, so there is still a good possibility that we will be able to start some research and documentation on this exciting new idea!

"Pondy"

2006-05-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

View of the street from the flat's balcony.

I woke up this morning to a couple of dogs barking loudly outside. It was about 6:30am (I am either still jet lagged or have turned over a new leaf) and the street was completely silent otherwise. Soon, cars began to arrive carrying men dressed for work; men, women, and children (some wearing shoes and some not) started zipping around on their scooters to start the day. The women here must tie their saris and scarves carefully so as not the get them caught in the wheel. Generally, Scott and I are not expected at the PlanetRead office until around 9:30am, (we spend the morning getting breakfast and learning more about India and "Pondy" from Nikhil). Both Scott and Nikhil were still sleeping, so I took the liberty of getting ready for the day and taking some photos.

This boy was brushing his teeth next to a cart. He was very excited to learn that I had a camera and insisted that I take several pictures of him and his friend. He seemed very pleased with himself at the end of the photoshoot and even thanked me.

I found the oxen-driven carts that run up and down the street to be the most interesting. They create a strong contrast with the cars and scooters on the road, but obey the same road rules. Here in India, it appears to be common to see carts being pulled by two oxen with horns painted different colors, like in this photograph.

Nikhil, Scott, and I had plans to travel to see the Sunday market in Pondi. It was hot (about 104 degrees) and humid; and though the market was not terribly busy, it was easy to bump into people. The merchants were selling used electronics, brightly-colored clothes, old coins from around the world, footwear (mostly sandles), pirated books and DVDs, and beaded jewelry. After walking the length of the bizarre, we stopped in have some sweet lime juice in an airconditioned room. It was a great relief from the heat.

View of the beach

By this time, the sun was starting to go down. Nikhil, Scott and I ventured onwards towards the beach. There were many families strolling along the boardwalk, eating fruit and popsicles, and shopping at a small fair on the sand. Almost all the women wore strands of small white flowers in their hair like ribbons.

Nikhil introduced me a type of fruit called "Jack Fruit," that is native to India, but also grows in Brazil, according to Wikipedia.

It's a large green fruit that is heavy, spiny but not sharp, and looks (in all honesty) like a sea cucumber. Inside the fruit is compartimentalized like cloves of garlic that have a large pit in the center. It's sweet and light tasting.

We ended the day with dinner at a restaurant and retired early. Tomorrow I am to start work at PlanetRead!

Arrival in India

2006-05-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

After nearly 2.5 days of traveling, I arrived in Chennai around 4am this morning. Nirav, PlanetRead and BookBox's CFO, had sent a taxi to pick me up. It was totally dark at the airport, and the heat blasted me as soon as I left the building with my lugage. The taxi driver spoke broken english and drove me south for 3 hours towards the flat in Pondicherry, which I share with Scott. We arrived at 7:42am. Scott was awoken by the knock at the door and greeted me bleary-eyed. The flat is very simple and practical, though would be considered luxurious to many in India.

There are two separate bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a balcony that looks out on the street, a living room area and a small kitchen.

While I was unpacking and setting up my room, the sun continued to climb higher, heating up the street quickly. Scott called the office to tell them I had arrived.

The Living Room/Kitchen/Foyer

My room

We would need transportation to the office since neither of us knew the way by heart. Francis, one of the employees at PlanetRead, came to pick us up on a small scooter. Because the scooter could only seat two, I was driven first to the office; it was great. I hopped right on the back and we zipped of into the streets of Pondicherry, which had become busy with other scooters, bicyclists, trucks, ox-driven carts etc. After we had arrived and I was dropped off, Francis returned to the flat to get Scott.

The PlanetRead office here in Pondicherry is in the French quarter of the city:

The building is encased in a tall white gate and holds the office (shown below) where the entire staff busily computes each day. The typical work day starts late and runs late. It seems that the PlanetRead staff is a casual but very hard-working, talented group of people. There is also a guest flat (where my friend Nikhil, fellow newbie to the PlanetRead family, lives). Nirav's office upstairs is upstairs and has a wonderful view out onto the Bay of Bengal.

I was pretty tired by the end of the day, but had the opportunity to enjoy some wonderful South Indian food. Yum!

The Rebel

2006-04-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

After performing some research, I selected the camera that I will be using for my travels: the Canon Rebel XT 8MP. It's quite the tool.

The Rebel will be accompanied by an extra battery and two 55mm lens filters (one polarized, one ultraviolet). I just received a 2GB card today; the ensemble is complete.

To get a rough idea of the quality of the image, here is a photo that I took recently while doing some documentary work for a new student-run Opera company at Brown University. The collection of images, in their full quality, will be made available on the group's webpage soon.

This image is taken from the ceiling of the performance space without the flash or any color correction. Click on it for a better view.

"Water"

2006-04-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon, Scott and I got together to see a Deepa Mehta film called Water, which made an appearance in the Ivy Film Festival at the Cable Car Cinema. Shot in the holy city of Varanasi, the film depicts the lives of a group of widows who have become impoverished outcasts as a result of their husbands' deaths. As a westerner, the illustration of where these women live out the rest of their days, in "widow houses," and in what conditions was very shocking. The film begins with an introduction to Hindu texts, which instruct that widowed women have three options upon the death of their husbands: sati or immolation, marrying the younger brother with the family's consent, or leaving to live in a widow house. For child brides (a fate for both young girls and young boys), this fate is commonplace. The practice of marrying off children, who can be as young as five, to older spouses was outlawed in 1860, but remains an problem in India; in 2001, the Census documented 34 million widows living in the country.

Life as a widow is one of poverty and subordination by other members of the community. To survive, some turn to prostitution as they become sexually mature in order to earn money for their house, for themselves, or to pay for their eventual cremation. Religious laws forbid widows to remarry. The consequences of remarriage include bringing misfortune onto the widow house, being ostricized by conservative members of society (who can be numerous in some regions of India), and being reborn in the womb of a jackal according to an ancient Hindu text.

The film itself begins with the story of a young seven-year-old girl. Her father asks her if she remembers being married, and she shakes her head. Then he explains that her husband has died and that she is now a widow. Her next question is, "For how long, father?" Soon her scalp is shaved, she is allowed to only wear white and eat one meal a day when she is not fasting, and she begins a life with the other widows of the house and leaves the home of her parents never to see them again. The plot then turns to another character in the film, an older widow who is prostituted by the senior member of the widow house in order to earn money for the establishment's survival. The plot thickens as this 20 something widow meets a young Gandhian scholar. He soon offers her an opportunity of a new married life of love and greater equality. However, the unraveling of their relationship has already begun.

Like other eastern films, the dialogue takes a back seat to the enchanting images, allowing the score and the textures and colors of the landscape to breathe a powerful but silent message on the screen. Scott and I enjoyed this a great deal, but I found that information concerning that obstacles that the filmmakers faced while shooting of the film only added to my appreciation for the work. One camera woman, Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan, describes the extent of the resistence in India to the filming of Water in an article available online, which provides an excellent first person account of what happened. Death threats, bomb threats, protests, rioting, nonviolent protests, negotiations, armed guards, negative and positive media attention, international support from other filmmakers, the involvement of major political parties in India... even the employment of a "professional suicide attempter" to make a political statement: all this came between the birth of the idea for the film and its execution. Another article from April 2005 presents the director's reaction to her struggle to tell the story.

This film, with its potentially controversial and damaging message about India, was an interesting choice for future documentarians in India. I do not wish to have preconceptions of the culture in this country based on one film, but Water has certainly made me more curious and eager to learn about the conservative religious sector of the population. I now wish to understand how much of what I saw in the film can be backed up by reality. Both Scott and I came away from the Cable Car feeling newly charged with energy to help PlanetRead bridge a gap between people and information. Access to education and then opportunities, especially for women, would begin a dialogue that could liberate those members of a society who are at the bottom. I found Water to be only further evidence of this pressing need for knowledge and opportunity, as well as a reminder to treasure my own rights to freedom of speech here in the States.

Kerala: Case Study.

2006-04-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

I received an email recently from doctor who is reading this blog (Thank you!). He sent the below extract from an article on a literacy project in Kerala, India. Kerala State: A Social Justice Model, by Richard W. Franke and Barbara H. Chasin, was published in the Multinational Monitor (click on this link to view it in full). Here is what was sent to me:

The Literacy Campaign
One of the most important of the New Democratic Initiatives was a campaign to establish full literacy throughout Kerala, begun in December 1988. The Kerala People's Science Movement (KSSP) initiated the campaign in Ernakulum District, mobilizing nearly 22,000 volunteer activists. The volunteers organized jathas (processions), meetings, drama presentations and literacy classes in the neighborhoods where illiteracy was concentrated. The KSSP was founded in the 1960s as an organization of scientists who wanted to popularize scientific thinking among ordinary people. Over the years it has evolved into one of Kerala's most important voluntary organizations and is especially active on environmental issues.

The KSSP created popular committees to energize and involve villagers in all 860 rural wards of the District as well as in the municipal wards. Five literacy jathas, beginning from five edges of the Ernakulum District in January 1989, inaugurated the campaign. Major political leaders, literary figures, religious scholars and academics led the jathas. Each jatha also had an artists' group. They traveled for six days on foot, giving street plays, folk performances, group songs and speeches at various stopping points. An average of 300 to 400 people gathered at these reception points.

The jathas and artistic performances helped create an atmosphere in which people felt they could come forward, admit their illiteracy and join the classes. After the classes began, literacy walls were set up in each ward to give news of the campaign. At some events, illiterates were encouraged to come forward and display any talents they had. Many could sing, dance or recite. The campaign encouraged these activities to promote the self-esteem and self-awareness of the learners. Thousands of prizes and certificates were awarded.

Activists hoped to teach villagers to read in Malayalam - the language spoken in Kerala - at the rate of 30 words per minute, to copy text at seven words per minute, to count and write numbers up to 100, to add and subtract three-digit numbers and to multiply and divide two-digit numbers. They also hoped to teach basic knowledge about the public institutions of Kerala and India, fair prices for basic goods, how to read a clock, nutrition, disease prevention, equality of the sexes and the dignity of work. Immunization discussions were coordinated with a campaign that vastly increased immunization levels against measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria and polio.

During the campaign, teachers discovered that lack of eyeglasses prevented many learners from reading. In one Muslim region, organizers responded with an appeal for local people to donate spectacles. During October and November 1989, more than 50,000 pairs of eyeglasses were donated. Forty volunteers, who received one-day training courses, matched those who needed glasses with the appropriate set of lenses.

In February 1990, Ernakulam's district collector, who acts as the district's chief executive officer, handling day-to-day government operations, declared the district 100 percent literate: 135,000 persons had learned to read and write out of an estimated total of 174,000 illiterates in the district. The 135,000 neo-literates had scored better than 80 percent on a program literacy test; the other 39,000 failed the test, but gained some literacy skills which they could build on in follow-up programs. An independent observer calculated that each student became literate at a cost of less than $26 per person. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) bestowed its 1990 literacy award on the KSSP.

One achievement of the campaign was the pride of accomplishment of the mostly low-caste learners. Many of the older learners had fought in earlier years in land reform struggles or had other long-term experiences with trying to change their lives. Learning to read and do arithmetic gave them the confidence to challenge government officials above them. One journalist reported that "collectors in Kerala say neo-literates are writing letters to demand better roads and health facilities." The statewide expansion of the program resulted in Kerala's being declared 100 percent literate in 1991.

The Literacy Decade (2003-2013)

2006-04-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Before completing applications for scholarships and funding, I did some research into illiteracy and its modern-day effects worldwide. What I've learned has helped me place PlanetRead's work into a context that has feuled my desire to work with them this summer even more! Here is a brief on illiteracy:

Context:

Did you know that today 860 million adults are illiterate and approximately over 113 million children have no access to schools? According to UNESCO's (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) website, illiteracy is viewed by the United Nations as a serious challenge facing the international community. The interdependent nature of the global economy will bring the negative outcomes of illiteracy to all of our doorsteps.

A high literacy rate is an essential ingredient (I would goes as far to argue a fundamental first step) in sustainable growth and development for developed and developing countries alike. Literature can shape culture, politics, economics, art, science and societies radically, quickly, and permanently; Common Sense by Thomas Paine and The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith are excellent examples closely associated with the United States and western thought. How different would our world have been without Darwin's Origin of Species or Marx's Communist Manifesto or (to take a more modern example more directly associated with home) the work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in the early 1970s? Literacy has evolved into a key to communication/exchanging information, a means of self-expression, a sizeable advantage for seeking employment, a requirement for participating in government or even just being an informed citizen who is capable of making reasoned and supported decisions, a prerequisite for education, a tool for combating false or incomplete information, etc.

In a certain light, illiteracy is a serious obstacle that continues to impede some men and women's right to basic education. Neglecting the responsibility and necessity to empower millions of men and women, young and old, through better reading skills can be seen as a horrific violation of inalienable rights by apathetic governments.

No matter what stance you take, the successful (or sometimes unsuccessful) communication of ideas through the written word continues to fuel societal, political, religious, economic, and cultural engines of historical change!

Today, the disparities between developing and developed countries are reflected and cemented by their literacy rates. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the highest illiteracy rates are found in states which comprise the Global South.

This graph depicts the illiteracy rates of men and women in (from left to right) Developed Countries, East Asia and the Pacific Regions, Latin American and the Caribbean, Arab States, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South and West Asia. Men and women are shown in light and dark purple respectively, revealing a gender gap that gives rise to further concern.

The Literacy Decade:
The World celebrated International Literacy Day on September 8, 2004, but the U.N. has sought ways to make awareness about the international illiteracy issue more long-term. Perhaps this is what I found to be the most intriguing: the U.N. unanimously passed a resolution in December 2001 calling for the decade from 2003-2013 to be The Literacy Decade, as it is called. It focuses on empowering first adults with better reading skills so that everywhere, they may compete in the modern world. The U.N. sites that it believes that "literacy is in the interest of all, as part of efforts towards peace, respect and exchange in a globalising world." Their slogan: "Literacy for all: voice for all, education for all" is intriguing and grand.

Here are the three reasons that UNESCO gives for the decade and which are nice summaries of the above points:

1. Illiteracy creates tremendous isolation and disadvantages, especially among women; two out of three adults who are illiterate are women.

2. Literacy is inherently linked to the human right (claimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) to basic education.

3. Past literacy initiatives and efforts at the local and international level have proven ineffective; now is a good time to make a committment to this important issue.

The Goal:
The goal is the increase literacy rates by 50% by 2015, according to the Education for All (EFA) goal. The maps below show adult illiteracy rates in 2000 and in 2015 (before and after the initiative). The darker the country, the higher the illiteracy rate.

Adult Illiteracy Rates (2000)

Projected Adult Illiteracy Rates (2015)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) see The Literacy Decade as an integral part in helping the erode poverty. These natural associations with education and development make literacy an issue that is easy to get behind and popular even if you do not share the human rights standpoint.

Further Reading:
If you are interested in reading further about this issue in more detail, check out this page and look to the left orange bar to read about:

The United Nations Resolution on the Literacy Decade

The International Plan of Action

The Statistics

The CDC: my second mom.

2006-03-30T18:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the CDC's list of the recommended vaccinations and preventative medications:

Hepatitis A

Hepititis B

Japanese encephalitis

Rabies

Typhoid

Measels

Polio

Tetnas diptheria

Malaria

Today, I got boosters and vaccinated for five of these different diseases. I received three shots in my left arm and two in my right. It took until about lunch time for both shoulders to feel the effects; they were sore to the touch. However, I left the clinic feeling like a superhuman and now have follow-up appointments to finish the vaccines. I was very impressed with the knowledgeable nurses at the traveler's clinic; very friendly ladies who spoke at length about where to by mosquito repellant and what kind to buy. Apparently, mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors and anything perfumed. By the end of the consultation, my mom and I had a long list of other preventative measures to invest in and instructions to follow that we had not already heard or had not found on the internet. However, I would say that I picked up some very useful and valuable tips from many of my friends who have been past travelers to India. "Thanks again, folks!"

I have also selected the camera that I will be using for my travels: the Canon Rebel XT. It has 8MP and is light, compact, and powerful. I've already begun testing it out and familiarizing myself with its features. Having this type of SLR camera makes me remember my days in Mr. Byrne's darkroom back in high school. I am very excited about this new tool for my internship; it should enhance the quality of the images that I take this summer.

Preparation for Departure

2006-03-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

This Thursday (March 30th), I have an appointment at the traveler's clinic at the local hospital to get the CDC's recommended vaccinations etc. in preparation for my departure to Chennai, India on May 26th. Also in preparation for my departure, I've been auditing a class on Modern South Asian history (I've got to do the reading still!) and am taking an econometrics course to give me statistical research tools.

Happily, I will not be alone in India. There are already two teams working to research and document SLS at the two PlanetRead stations. Scott, a fellow Brown student, is also going to work with PlanetRead this summer. While in India, I'll be living with all of these hard-working individuals to get a behind-the-scenes look at the operations of an international social enterprise; I am very excited.

This map shows to which regions of India Brij (my supervisor) is planning to send me: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The states shown in orange are where I am scheduled to go. Those in yellow are tentative destinations: Maharashtra and Gujarat. I've indicated the two cities, where the PlanetRead headquarters (where I'll be spending the bulk of my time), are with red dots: Mumbai and Pondicherry.

This weekends goals: finish a fellowship application to try and get funding for important accessories for the SRL camera (which I'll need for my work this summer) and for my plane ticket. Other To-Do's include: applying for a tourist visa for 3-6 months, researching equipment, keeping this blog updated, and watching the recorded temperature in Mumbai climb.