Lauren In Bangalore: February 2012

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The Sunny Side of the Street

The longer that I have been living in India, the more I compare and contrast the culture and infrastructure with that of the United States. One of the things that I have found to be concurrent between the urban areas in the United States and the urban areas here in Bangalore is the stark disparity between the wealthy and the poor. Poor neighborhoods are only blocks away from the ritziest areas in American cities, just as the slums are intertwined with high-income housing in Bangalore.

I live in National Games Village (NGV), an affluent housing development, and across the street is the largest slum in all of Bangalore. Every time that I leave my apartment, usually taking the elevator down the three flights of stairs, I walk past people living in extreme poverty. I take 15-minute showers with hot water on a daily basis while there is not proper water supply or distribution to those living across the street. The air-conditioned activity club at NGV provides complimentary personal training, yet the children in the slums have sub-par educational facilities… That is if they have educational facilities at all. It has been a surreal realization that people are living so comfortably while hundreds of people across the street do not even have the most basic amenities.

Poverty is definitely more severe in India than in the United States, because the standard of living for the poor is much less in India. Most of the poor in the United States live in “the projects” or rural houses which is a major upgrade from the slums’ houses made of metal scraps and torn plastic tarps. During a rainstorm, most of the poor in the United States have shelter, but the slums’ infrastructure gets flooded. Although I am trying to convey the severity of this social problem through words, I honestly do not believe that people will understand until they have seen the masses of impoverished people on a daily basis. This experience has been numbing to an extent. How else can one cope with witnessing such disparities?

Saturday, February 25, 2012

How to Give to Beggars

The following is just one of my many life-changing experiences that have influenced me to be more attentive to my surroundings.

(Journaled on February 13, 2012)

After a long discussion with an Indian friend, I had made the decision to “do my part” in helping the poor and hungry that are on the street. During our discussion, I was informed about manipulative and dangerous people that hustle beggars by forcing them to beg all day and then give all of the money to the head hustler. In other words, if I give money to a beggar, then I am most likely just supporting a hustler rather than that individual.

Shocked and dismayed, I asked my friend for a way to help without supporting the hustlers. My friend simply cautioned me not to give anything with monetary value. This not only means to not give rupees, but also not even to give store-bought items or packaged food. Apparently the beggars are forced to go to the vendor and exchange store-bought items or packaged food for rupees to then give to the hustlers. My friend then suggested a simple habit that would be “safely” giving to beggars on the street… Whenever I go out to eat, I should get the leftovers to-go and then give those left overs to the beggars. This method ensures that the donation will stay only with the beggar, because the beggar cannot exchange it for money and they will be able to eat it.

On my way home, with my extra food in hand, I was in a dilemma of not finding someone to give the food to. There did not seem to be any beggars on the street, which was strange. I began to get a little anxious to find someone and when my friend noticed my anxiousness, they took the food from me and stepped to the side and handed the food into one of the gaps of the sidewalk. There was a woman living underneath the sidewalk and I did not even think to look down into the hole. I had literally stepped over this woman, but my friend had his eyes open and noticed her. This experience demonstrated how people have been trained to be blind to poverty and how the poor are constantly ignored. Ever since this incident, I have been intentionally paying close attention to what is going on in my surroundings.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Madame Creamer Lecturing on Social Stratification, Christ College

As soon as I met my Population and Poverty professor, Suparna Majumdar Kar, I knew I wanted to work with her on her research. So, during the first week of classes I met with her and offered to perform literature reviews or any other research that she needed. She informed me that her professional research is currently on hold due to her outstanding load of classes. We ended up discussing my interest in Stratification and how I am curious, but oblivious to the complexities of stratification within India. The focus on religion within societal functioning keeps the caste system alive and well despite governmental attempts to "outlaw" caste practices.

After our long discussion on stratification of India, she explained how her courses at Christ College focus only on the sociological aspects within India and her students would greatly benefit from lessons focused on the United States. She then asked me if I would be interested in being a guest lecturer for this term. I was ecstatic!

On February 1st at 12:30pm, I presented a lecture on social stratification within the United States of America. The class was filled with about 60 first year sociology students. The presentation started off well enough with my general overview of the Upper, Middle, and Working classes as well as the impacts of gender, race, disability and so forth. It was not until I began talking about social mobility that there was ample class participation. The concept that social mobility in the United States is limited and difficult was perplexing to the students. They could not understand how a low-income person could remain low income if there is not the caste system holding them back. Since I had just taken SOCY424:Race Relations this past semester, I delved into the concept of both overt and covert discrimination against minorities. I introduced the concept of modern-day racial segregation and how this negatively impacts minorities within the educational system as well as within the workforce. Essentially, most employers prefer to hire people that they know or are affiliated with (country clubs, schools, sororities, etc.) and when whites segregate themselves away from minorities, minorities are excluded from these networking opportunities. Thus, generating a covert form of racial discrimination.

There was even more dispute within the class about the statistic of the USA being majority Working Class and not majority Middle Class. Their initial reaction was disbelief and began to cite how many times they see American television shows depicting families living in a big house with one or two cars. Professor Suparna intervened and retorted how Indian television shows also depict a life that is far from reality. It was at this time that one of the students asked what American's definition of "Middle Class" is. I explained that the average Middle Class American is college educated, owns a home, has some financial security, but also has to take care and manage their monetary funds in order to maintain their lifestyle. The students' next reaction was very enlightening to me... The students explained that the American standard of "Middle Class" fits within India's standard of Upper Class and that the American standard of "Working Class" fits within India's standard of Middle Class. In other words, they understand that Americans mark the majority of the United States as Working Class, but by Indian standards, the United States consists of the Middle Class. This comment brought me back into perspective and I began to reflect on my living arrangement at National Games Village (NGV). When I first moved in, it reminded me of the projects of Washington, DC; however, I was informed that NGV is an Indian Upper Middle Class neighborhood.

I wrapped the lecture up with a brief discussion about how deviant behavior only "makes" people poor if they start off poor and not wealthy. Overall, the lecture experience was a great success and I was invited back to lecture on Social Change.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Sumanahilli Leprosy and HIV Rehabilitation Center

As you may have noticed, my blog has only contained images of my site-seeing adventures. The reason for this is that cameras are not allowed at any of the volunteering sites. With this being said, below is my first report on my volunteering. Enjoy.

On Tuesday, 14 February 2012, I traveled to the Sumanahilli HIV Rehabilitation Center with a classmate and volunteered from 9:00am to 11:00am. This was my first volunteering session at Sumanahilli and this visit allowed me to get properly introduced to the facility and the patients. Although I had called the Sumanahilli Center the day before to let them know that I was coming to volunteer, there was a 30 minute period of deferment before a coordinator came to delegate my volunteering agenda. In the end, this unplanned event added to the richness to the visit as a whole.

I was filled with anticipation during the initial period of waiting for the volunteer coordinator. Numerous people were passing the plastic chairs that my classmate and me were occupying. Our chairs were not located in a discrete or isolated location, but positioned instead in a main hallway connecting the living quarters and the passage to the activities. This presented my classmate and me to introduce ourselves to those who were curious about us. It was often unclear if the individuals that were approaching us were staff, volunteers, or patients. Point aside, it was a pleasure to meet the people and it felt really good to know that they were genuinely happy to have us there to volunteer.

Ensuing the half-hour delay, I was welcomed into the “Family Meeting” held with all of the patients, the staff, and a mediator. This meeting consisted of going around in a circle and each person saying, “Good morning, Family” and the entire group replying “Good morning, ______.” Each person would then continue by describing how he or she were feeling and so forth. Most of these comments were not in English, but I was able to interpret the intensity of each person’s dialog. There was an obvious aura of lust and happiness since it was Valentines Day. As speakers got closer to me, I began to wonder if I was expected to partake in the discussion. By the time that the circle reached me, it felt natural to me to say, “Good morning, Family. I am so happy to be here and have this opportunity to work with you all.” It was refreshing to fully be accepted into one of their personal daily activities. Once every person had greeted the family the mediator began telling the story of Saint Valentine and how he illegally married couples during a period of marriage being outlawed. There was giggling around the room as the mediator elaborated on how Valentines Day celebrates love and marriage. The meeting came to a close with a beautiful prayer sang by one of the female patients. Her voice gave me chills and elevated my spirit.

Following the conclusion of the family meeting, my classmate and I were formally introduced to one of the rehabilitation center’s counselors. He went into detail about how their programs function from recruitment to application to admittance to re-entering society. One of the interesting things was learning exactly what the rehabilitation center is addressing. I was under the assumption that the center’s main focus was physical health, but the counselor described what issues the admitted patients had. The issues being faced by HIV positive people include: being disowned by their family, suicide, physical ailments, lack of work, and rejection from society as a whole. The Sumanahilli HIV Rehabilitation Center addresses these issues by providing medical treatment, systematic and intense counseling, job training, and transitional services to help the patients in their move out of the facility. The counselor admitted that the full rehabilitation program was very exclusive and was only able to permanently house about 20 women and 10 men at a time. In order to expand their reach into the community, the center keeps 10 beds reserved for temporary patients that will only receive treatment for 4-30 days. These temporary patients receive all of the same treatments as permanent residents in addition to advice about how to receive counseling and medical services upon their return home. It was awesome to interact with this counselor. His passion and knowledge about the social issue of HIV and what needs to be done to help the individuals was inspirational.

After completing this volunteering experience, I realized that I felt somewhat dissatisfied. It occurred to me that I had been expecting to have more specific and physically/materially productive tasks delegated to me. Following my primary feeling that I was “not helpful enough” developed a sense of fulfillment and pride. The patients of the HIV Rehabilitation Center were overjoyed to have a visitor at their “Family Meeting”. Knowing that I made a positive difference in the day of each of the patients fills me with optimism. All in all, I was able to socialize and connect with the patients as well as the staff. Everyone was very welcoming and visiting on Valentines Day added a whole additional dynamic to the experience. I am looking forward to my next visit on Tuesday, 28 February 2012.