I have been in India for two weeks, and despite good intentions, I was not able to post during my trip. So I will be reflecting on my experience over the next week or so. I am currently in Mumbai, staying with Naina and her family. When I arrived 16 years ago for Naina's wedding, she worked at Citibank in an office across the street from where she currently lives. Sixteen years ago, she said that she never would have imagined living here. The neighborhood today is a mix of high rise apartment complexes and old textile mills that were closed down years ago. Most of the mill land has been taken over by squatters who have set up homes and shops. As we drove back from dinner last night, I could see TVs inside and satellite dishes on top of what most Americans would call a shanty. But time is probably not in the squatters' favor, due to the high value of land in Mumbai. While vote bank politics may hold off development for a time, in twenty years, will they still be living in these homes or will they have been moved further out from the city center and replaced with all high rise apartments? Naina said that even in the few years that she has lived here, she has seen the local shops shift from a middle-class focus to a more upscale focus, due to the change in housing.
This conversation highlights for me the value of international travel and of personal interaction. I know that as an outsider, I may never understand enough to be able to make a fair judgment, but in trying to understand another culture, another country, I may be better able to educate my students about the world in which they live.
For a previous trip, the participants had to select 10 photographs from the trip which highlighted the themes of the trip or were examples of important take-aways from the trip. I am going to organize my reflections on India in a similar fashion. I tried to be a good observer and listener, but remember that these are my thoughts on what I saw and understood. Someone else may have seen something very different--would you have seen the shanty or the satellite TV?
This conversation highlights for me the value of international travel and of personal interaction. I know that as an outsider, I may never understand enough to be able to make a fair judgment, but in trying to understand another culture, another country, I may be better able to educate my students about the world in which they live.
For a previous trip, the participants had to select 10 photographs from the trip which highlighted the themes of the trip or were examples of important take-aways from the trip. I am going to organize my reflections on India in a similar fashion. I tried to be a good observer and listener, but remember that these are my thoughts on what I saw and understood. Someone else may have seen something very different--would you have seen the shanty or the satellite TV?
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