Something that continually amazes me about India is the the vast contrast found in every moment of life, an intensity of extremes, if you will. Take this image, for instance, captured as I was walking home yesterday evening. Just normal daily traffic...with so many walks of life represented--fancy cars, loner motor bikes, working class bus riders, rickshaw drivers, and cows. Our work here in Ahmedabad is like that as well. A country of 1 billion people, India is one of the largest contributors to environmental problems. Piles of trash strewn throughout the city and the unforgivably hotter weather and shorter monsoons are mere examples of this. Yet the small actions people take--insisting lights be turned off when rooms are left, care and conservation of precious resources like drinking water-- or even the larger presence of hot buzz concepts like "environmental conservation" and "sustainable development" are found everywhere from tree planting initiatives to activists to business practices.
India is also home to one of the largest populations in the world of people living with HIV, with 2.5-6 million testing positive. Topics like reproductive health and sex are taboo to discuss, fear of testing is widespread, and many face severe stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS. And at the same time, people join movements and campaigns to fight for accurate knowledge, accessible medications, and equal treatment.
It's baffling, eally. I'm not sure I always understand how such extremes co-exist. But it does keep us entertained. And as we head into our summer session here in Ahmedabad, we're looking forward to diving into the extremes--the inspiring and the frustrating, the learning and the teaching, the feeling that we're so the same and yet so different...stay tuned for updates from Ahmedabad, we promise to keep you entertained as well!!
With hope from, your India 2010 Coordinator Team
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