It’s 6pm and the blazing hot sun of the afternoon seems to have just disappeared in a matter of seconds. I was literally fanning myself in the auto ride back to the house 10 minutes ago, but all of a sudden I can hear the now-daily torrential rains ripping down from the sky beating against the windows and doors. If today is anything like yesterday, it probably won’t stop all evening!
Yes, the monsoons have arrived, replete with violent and sporadic rains and all of the thunder and lightening you might expect from a horror movie. I feel that a reference to Monsoon Wedding is in order, though I don’t have anything profound to say about it (side note: I actually did see two weddings oddly enough on my ride from home incidentally). But really, while I am shocked at the intensity and longevity of the monsoons (it’s supposed to be like this for the next 3-4 months!), like most things in India though, it’s really not as dramatic as I portray it and nobody here seems to be all that phased by any of this.
However, lucky for the photographer side of me, it’s great to see the all of the creative things that people use to keep their heads dry. Just in the last two days I have seen plenty of plastic sheets, various bags, and my favorite: a large plastic kitchen bowl. Gotta love Indian ingenuity. Didn't have my camera at that moment, but I feel that there are some good photo-taking opportunities coming up :)
On to more exciting news, we have approved our first housing loan this week! I am thrilled. It has been five months of hard work on this product launch and it’s pretty amazing to see it coming to fruition. The customer’s name is Mahalakshmi (for those of you who follow my blog regularly, Valli’s application was denied due to insufficient cash flows, much to my dismay). Mahalakshmi will be taking a Rs. 20,000 (roughly $500) loan to repair her roof and prepare it for the rains. We will be having a small celebration with the staff and Mahalakshmi next week and I will be personally disbursing the loan to her. Pictures to follow!
Now, for my funny story of the week…so, I was going through my closet and realized that I had a few of my mom’s old salwar kameezes and a couple of other things that I wanted to donate. There is a church across the street from my office and I had heard that it’s pretty common out here for churches to collect donations and distribute them to the poor. So earlier this week, I saw that the church was open and decided to go there to ask the pastor if they would take the clothes. Of course, he was very polite and said that I could come by the next morning and they would be glad to accept the donation. I said I’d come by at 9am and left to go back to my office. I had figured that that would be the end of it. But I was wrong.
About an hour later, the receptionist comes over and tells me that there is someone to see me. Guess who it was? It was the pastor (Pastor James, as I soon learned) from the church! I was a bit surprised, but he asked me to sit down, apologized for not being able to properly talk before, and proceeded to talk to me for the next 10 minutes about how nice it was for me to donate the clothes, how no one from our office had come by before, and then recited for me the entire church schedule for me, etc. He was very polite and friendly and though I would have preferred to just get back to my work, I felt that I couldn’t blow him off because he was a pastor and that didn’t seem like the right thing to do. I also started to sense, as we talked, that there might be a good punch line coming.
Of course, there was; after giving me the schedule, he paused, smiled and asked me “so, are you a Christian?” Yup, that is right; we went from talk of a donation to a conversation about conversion from a converted Christian himself (presumably). So of course, I told him that I am a Jain, to which he responded that he would “still pray for me” and that I was welcome any time to come for a church service. It was pretty hilarious and I definitely didn't expect that someone would try to convert me to Christianity in India! To be honest though, I am kind of curious to check out one of the services sometime, mostly because this isn’t just any church; it’s a church with a Kannada Christian rock band that belts out loud devotional music each and every Friday and Saturday afternoon, which I normally “enjoy” from my desk though it might be nice to experience it in person. I only hope that I don’t raise Pastor James’ expectations too high if I show up!
Finally, a “happy 4 year graduation anniversary” to all of my fellow Class of 2003 California Golden Bears! I can’t believe that it’s been so long! And a big congratulations to Eva who is graduating from her Masters this Saturday! YAY!
A.B.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Launching India’s first urban rental/lease housing microfinance product!
Today was an exciting day. After several months of field research, interviews, revision after revision of product details, weeks of training branch and head office staff, and countless documentation edits, we launched India’s first urban rental/lease housing microfinance product along with a house improvement microfinance product today in Koramangala, one of Bangalore’s poorest slum areas.
The products, with loan sizes ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000, will allow low-income working women in Bangalore to borrow money to pay for rental deposits, house improvements, or lease amounts (Leases are a type of housing scheme in India where a tenant pays a large sum of money upfront for a period which covers them for 1-5 years. They do not have to pay a monthly rent and receive the lump-sum back at the end of the period, thus allowing the landlord to live off the investments she makes with the lease amount). In the past, the majority of women borrowed from high-cost moneylenders or pawnbrokers who charge up to 10% per month in interest to pay for housing costs, but our products will allow them to borrow at 1-1.25% per month with no collateral other than the joint liability guarantee from their 4 other group members.
There was no celebration or fanfare for the launch, but I cannot describe how exciting it was to sit at a center meeting and watch the lively discussion that unfolded as the field staff member described the products to a group of customers. Of course, the discussion took place in Kannada so I couldn’t understand much, but I think that was what was so amazing about it. The product started off as me and others brainstorming ideas and talking about them with other employees and investors months ago, but today here it was – the subject of a loud and enthusiastic discussion in the local language of our customers in the heart of the Bangalore slums.
There were two eligible customers in the center – customers become eligible for the products by demonstrating good performance over the past 12 months – and I was thrilled when one of them, Valli, a housemaid and mother of two, raised her hand and said that she was interested in taking the loan. I looked on as Yellamma (our field staff member in charge of executing the products at the Koramangala branch) followed all of the procedures precisely as we discussed in our various training sessions and filled out Valli’s loan application. There are still many steps to finish before Valli gets the Rs. 20,000 lease amount loan she requested, but this first step was for me (and probably her as well) enough to make me feel proud and excited for what this product can and will become for our customers.
Updates on the products to come!
As a side note: I am happy for the new Bears enjoying the award-winning gourmet DCs, but why couldn’t this have happened 4 years ago?
Check out my pictures if you haven't already:
Kerala
Kanyakumari
A.B.
Listening to: Buddha Bar IV
Reading: I need to pick a new book to read!
The products, with loan sizes ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000, will allow low-income working women in Bangalore to borrow money to pay for rental deposits, house improvements, or lease amounts (Leases are a type of housing scheme in India where a tenant pays a large sum of money upfront for a period which covers them for 1-5 years. They do not have to pay a monthly rent and receive the lump-sum back at the end of the period, thus allowing the landlord to live off the investments she makes with the lease amount). In the past, the majority of women borrowed from high-cost moneylenders or pawnbrokers who charge up to 10% per month in interest to pay for housing costs, but our products will allow them to borrow at 1-1.25% per month with no collateral other than the joint liability guarantee from their 4 other group members.
There was no celebration or fanfare for the launch, but I cannot describe how exciting it was to sit at a center meeting and watch the lively discussion that unfolded as the field staff member described the products to a group of customers. Of course, the discussion took place in Kannada so I couldn’t understand much, but I think that was what was so amazing about it. The product started off as me and others brainstorming ideas and talking about them with other employees and investors months ago, but today here it was – the subject of a loud and enthusiastic discussion in the local language of our customers in the heart of the Bangalore slums.
There were two eligible customers in the center – customers become eligible for the products by demonstrating good performance over the past 12 months – and I was thrilled when one of them, Valli, a housemaid and mother of two, raised her hand and said that she was interested in taking the loan. I looked on as Yellamma (our field staff member in charge of executing the products at the Koramangala branch) followed all of the procedures precisely as we discussed in our various training sessions and filled out Valli’s loan application. There are still many steps to finish before Valli gets the Rs. 20,000 lease amount loan she requested, but this first step was for me (and probably her as well) enough to make me feel proud and excited for what this product can and will become for our customers.
Updates on the products to come!
As a side note: I am happy for the new Bears enjoying the award-winning gourmet DCs, but why couldn’t this have happened 4 years ago?
Check out my pictures if you haven't already:
Kerala
Kanyakumari
A.B.
Listening to: Buddha Bar IV
Reading: I need to pick a new book to read!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
From Kerala to Virginia Tech
Several thoughts and updates:
The Unwarranted Racial Focus in India/US Media Coverage of the Virginia Tech Shootings
First of all, I am deeply saddened by the loss of life at the Virginia Tech campus this week. I was just at the end of my relaxing vacation in Kerala in a pleasantly air-conditioned hotel room in Trivandrum when I decided to flip on the TV, expecting a stimulating update from the ladoo maker at the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding, but instead heard about the shocking and tragic news of the violence which took place at Virginia Tech University.
I first learned of the shootings while watching CNN-India. I was taken aback by the news, but as I heard story after story broadcasted on the Indian news networks, I was equally stunned by the portrayal of the events which took place. It, like the portrayal of so many other news events, made me think of how much the media shapes our views of the world, particularly depending on where we are and what we read/see. The focus of Indian reports was on the death of Professor G.V. Loganathan who grew up in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Clearly his murder is devastating and it is not surprising that India was mourning the loss of one of its own in this tragedy. But it is surprising that the discussion placed so much attention on race when to me the shooting did not have to do with race at all. The journalists covering the story portrayed the incident as a targeted hate crime against Indians and took it as a reason to raise doubts about the safety of Indians in particular as an ethnic immigrant community in the US, and further suggested that the events should deter Indians’ interest to attend college, travel, or live in the US, when clearly no such conclusions could be logically drawn. It was striking to see that for the Indian press, race and immigration rather than so many other issues which could be discussed surrounding the shootings assumed the focus.
After getting back to Bangalore, I was curious to check out what the American press had written about the incident. Like the racially-focused discussion in the Indian press, it again struck me how many times the words “Korean-American” and “immigrant” were featured in the headlines and in the discussion of the shootings. The American media has portrayed the event as the act of a socially-isolated, awkward Asian immigrant, as if that stereotype needed any bolstering, when in reality it seems that he fit the profile of the Columbine High School shooters more than any number of peaceful, law-abiding immigrants from Asia or elsewhere who come to the US for a better life and to positively contribute to society, if it is in fact necessary to put him in any group at all. This incident did not have to do with the race of either the killer or the victims, and I am profoundly disturbed by the portrayal both in the US and in India which gives so much emphasis to such an irrelevant, or at minimum tangential, issue.
As I was reading the profiles of those who died in the New York Times yesterday, I noticed that they were as diverse a group as you could find with men and women of all ages and ethnic and professional backgrounds. The group was comprised of graduate students, professors, and students. There were immigrants from many countries not just India, and others were from various parts of the US. From a Holocaust survivor in his 70s to 18-year-old Freshman, the only link amongst those who lost their lives to me seems to be that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killings were clearly random and the fact that those who died represent such a diverse body shows that the murder spree was not racially-driven, as particularly the Indian media seemed to suggest.
It is no wonder that we live in such a racially-charged discriminatory society when the media chooses to portray events in this light when it is simply not valid. Not only does it obscure the real reasons for such a violent and tragic event (which are in my opinion lax gun laws and ineffective monitoring and response systems), but it becomes a “boy who cried woof” situation which dilutes the validity of real instances of hate crimes and racial discrimination. I am disturbed and bothered by the media reaction in both countries.
Sanjaya Must Go
On a lighter note, I think that American Idol’s Sanjaya Malakar must now finally exit the stage. His performance last night was absolutely pathetic and an utter disappointment. I was actually impressed with him in the last few weeks, particularly his oldies number which was quite cute and charming. But his rendition of Bonnie Rait’s Let’s Give ‘Em Something to Talk About was “dreadful” to quote Simon Cowell. Come on, it’s been fun till now, but that performance wasn’t even good enough for Café Jun (my favorite Berkeley karaoke bar). It’s time to go home, Sanjaya.
Back from Kerala
I just got back from a relaxing and wonderful week in Kerala! My Dad and I managed to hit many hot spots in Kerala and saw an awe-inspiring range of landscapes and cultural sights. Highlights included:
• Walking around the gorgeous tea plantations (the bushes look like green leafy cobblestone streets, see pictures!) in Munnar
• Spotting wild elephants, bison, birds and even some pigs on a 6am river boat ride in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
• Walking down the cardamon-scented streets in Thekkady and eating some fabulous Marwadi food at an excellent dhaba there (ask me about my theory for why there were so many Marwadi restaurants in Thekkady)
• Watching a traditional Kathakali performance in Thekkady
• Sitting at a breezy café overlooking the crystal-clear blue waters of the Arabian Sea in the pristine beach town of Varkala
• Cruising the beautiful and lush Keralan backwaters on a houseboat in Allepey
• Seeing the second most gorgeous sunset of my life standing in the warm waters at the intersection of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean at the tip of India in Kanyakumari (the first is without a doubt watching the sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge from my apartment in Berkeley which did not get old despite watching it nearly every day for 3 years)
• Dining at the beautiful Leela Palace at the Kovalam Beach
• Visiting a 4,000 year old Hindu temple (with incidently some shockingly sexually-explicit murals) and some great contemporary art museums in Kerala’s capital city Trivandrum
Check out my pictures!
Kerala
Kanyakumari
Set a Date!
I am thrilled that I have set a tentative date for my return to the US. If everything goes as planned, I hope to come back to California on November 15, after spending the week prior traveling in India for my birthday. I will most certainly be back for the Big Game on December 1, so I expect to see all of my fellow Golden Bears at the game that day! And Vegas in December, anyone?
The Namesake
See this movie if you have not already. It is absolutely brilliant. This is a late update because I saw the movie two weeks ago, but I thought that it was wonderfully done and was a stunningly-real look at an Indian family in the US. The parallels to my life, particularly those that were less obvious such as the scenes surrounding Gogol’s dad’s heart attack and the aftermath with Gogol’s breakup with his girlfriend, were almost haunting. It’s a very strange feeling to watch an episode in your life unfold before your eyes on a big screen in a movie theatre. In any case, the movie was an excellent interpretation of the book, but can stand on its own as an exquisite production. It is definitely worth going out of your way to find the one movie theatre in town which is playing it!
Listening to: Dixie Chicks, as always
Reading: Freakanomics
A.B.
The Unwarranted Racial Focus in India/US Media Coverage of the Virginia Tech Shootings
First of all, I am deeply saddened by the loss of life at the Virginia Tech campus this week. I was just at the end of my relaxing vacation in Kerala in a pleasantly air-conditioned hotel room in Trivandrum when I decided to flip on the TV, expecting a stimulating update from the ladoo maker at the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding, but instead heard about the shocking and tragic news of the violence which took place at Virginia Tech University.
I first learned of the shootings while watching CNN-India. I was taken aback by the news, but as I heard story after story broadcasted on the Indian news networks, I was equally stunned by the portrayal of the events which took place. It, like the portrayal of so many other news events, made me think of how much the media shapes our views of the world, particularly depending on where we are and what we read/see. The focus of Indian reports was on the death of Professor G.V. Loganathan who grew up in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Clearly his murder is devastating and it is not surprising that India was mourning the loss of one of its own in this tragedy. But it is surprising that the discussion placed so much attention on race when to me the shooting did not have to do with race at all. The journalists covering the story portrayed the incident as a targeted hate crime against Indians and took it as a reason to raise doubts about the safety of Indians in particular as an ethnic immigrant community in the US, and further suggested that the events should deter Indians’ interest to attend college, travel, or live in the US, when clearly no such conclusions could be logically drawn. It was striking to see that for the Indian press, race and immigration rather than so many other issues which could be discussed surrounding the shootings assumed the focus.
After getting back to Bangalore, I was curious to check out what the American press had written about the incident. Like the racially-focused discussion in the Indian press, it again struck me how many times the words “Korean-American” and “immigrant” were featured in the headlines and in the discussion of the shootings. The American media has portrayed the event as the act of a socially-isolated, awkward Asian immigrant, as if that stereotype needed any bolstering, when in reality it seems that he fit the profile of the Columbine High School shooters more than any number of peaceful, law-abiding immigrants from Asia or elsewhere who come to the US for a better life and to positively contribute to society, if it is in fact necessary to put him in any group at all. This incident did not have to do with the race of either the killer or the victims, and I am profoundly disturbed by the portrayal both in the US and in India which gives so much emphasis to such an irrelevant, or at minimum tangential, issue.
As I was reading the profiles of those who died in the New York Times yesterday, I noticed that they were as diverse a group as you could find with men and women of all ages and ethnic and professional backgrounds. The group was comprised of graduate students, professors, and students. There were immigrants from many countries not just India, and others were from various parts of the US. From a Holocaust survivor in his 70s to 18-year-old Freshman, the only link amongst those who lost their lives to me seems to be that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killings were clearly random and the fact that those who died represent such a diverse body shows that the murder spree was not racially-driven, as particularly the Indian media seemed to suggest.
It is no wonder that we live in such a racially-charged discriminatory society when the media chooses to portray events in this light when it is simply not valid. Not only does it obscure the real reasons for such a violent and tragic event (which are in my opinion lax gun laws and ineffective monitoring and response systems), but it becomes a “boy who cried woof” situation which dilutes the validity of real instances of hate crimes and racial discrimination. I am disturbed and bothered by the media reaction in both countries.
Sanjaya Must Go
On a lighter note, I think that American Idol’s Sanjaya Malakar must now finally exit the stage. His performance last night was absolutely pathetic and an utter disappointment. I was actually impressed with him in the last few weeks, particularly his oldies number which was quite cute and charming. But his rendition of Bonnie Rait’s Let’s Give ‘Em Something to Talk About was “dreadful” to quote Simon Cowell. Come on, it’s been fun till now, but that performance wasn’t even good enough for Café Jun (my favorite Berkeley karaoke bar). It’s time to go home, Sanjaya.
Back from Kerala
I just got back from a relaxing and wonderful week in Kerala! My Dad and I managed to hit many hot spots in Kerala and saw an awe-inspiring range of landscapes and cultural sights. Highlights included:
• Walking around the gorgeous tea plantations (the bushes look like green leafy cobblestone streets, see pictures!) in Munnar
• Spotting wild elephants, bison, birds and even some pigs on a 6am river boat ride in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
• Walking down the cardamon-scented streets in Thekkady and eating some fabulous Marwadi food at an excellent dhaba there (ask me about my theory for why there were so many Marwadi restaurants in Thekkady)
• Watching a traditional Kathakali performance in Thekkady
• Sitting at a breezy café overlooking the crystal-clear blue waters of the Arabian Sea in the pristine beach town of Varkala
• Cruising the beautiful and lush Keralan backwaters on a houseboat in Allepey
• Seeing the second most gorgeous sunset of my life standing in the warm waters at the intersection of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean at the tip of India in Kanyakumari (the first is without a doubt watching the sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge from my apartment in Berkeley which did not get old despite watching it nearly every day for 3 years)
• Dining at the beautiful Leela Palace at the Kovalam Beach
• Visiting a 4,000 year old Hindu temple (with incidently some shockingly sexually-explicit murals) and some great contemporary art museums in Kerala’s capital city Trivandrum
Check out my pictures!
Kerala
Kanyakumari
Set a Date!
I am thrilled that I have set a tentative date for my return to the US. If everything goes as planned, I hope to come back to California on November 15, after spending the week prior traveling in India for my birthday. I will most certainly be back for the Big Game on December 1, so I expect to see all of my fellow Golden Bears at the game that day! And Vegas in December, anyone?
The Namesake
See this movie if you have not already. It is absolutely brilliant. This is a late update because I saw the movie two weeks ago, but I thought that it was wonderfully done and was a stunningly-real look at an Indian family in the US. The parallels to my life, particularly those that were less obvious such as the scenes surrounding Gogol’s dad’s heart attack and the aftermath with Gogol’s breakup with his girlfriend, were almost haunting. It’s a very strange feeling to watch an episode in your life unfold before your eyes on a big screen in a movie theatre. In any case, the movie was an excellent interpretation of the book, but can stand on its own as an exquisite production. It is definitely worth going out of your way to find the one movie theatre in town which is playing it!
Listening to: Dixie Chicks, as always
Reading: Freakanomics
A.B.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Let the Pushing and Pulling Begin!
No, I am not referring to a catfight on the set of MTV Real World Bangalore (see first post for reference), but rather to the new sparkling accessory that I have been sporting for the last week: my braces!
You read that right. I decided that after years of thinking about it and putting it off that I should finally take the plunge and fix my crooked teeth once and for all. They really weren’t too bad, but I am vain and I want them to be perfect so I thought that my next 6-8 months in India would be a good time to just do it and get it done. It also helps that the costs in India are about 10% of what they are in the US for the same procedure, a fact that probably didn’t make Eva too happy considering what she shelled out to her orthodontist, but certainly made it an easier choice for me.
I just needed braces on the bottom teeth and I opted for clear brackets and a tooth-colored white, so fortunately, they are not too noticeable, at least not compared to the mouths of metal that all of my friends had back when we were 14 (Grace, I didn’t know you then, but I can only imagine!). I decided to go for clear rubber bands to keep with the neutral look, much to Rajni’s dismay (she wanted me to go for alternating blue and gold rubber bands…a good idea for maybe Big Game week, but I think that I will pass on that for now). I am going to have them on for 6 months, so I will be getting them off around October of this year, and I have been told that the first few months are the worst, so all I am concentrating on now is making it through to June!
Side point = you would be amazed at the selection that one really has when it comes to braces and the related paraphernalia these days. It’s not just colored retainers any more! I was browsing the American Orthodontics catalog as I was waiting for my appointment yesterday and was surprised to find such diverse offerings including a wildlife-inspired set of rubber bands with colors inspired by fish, bears, birds and frogs and my favorite: 24 karat gold plated braces with matching wires and rubber bands, just in case P. Diddy or one of his wannabes decides that he needs orthodontic care but doesn’t want to sacrifice his street style. You gotta love that.
Now, my dentist and I may be biased, but I really don’t think that my braces look that bad (I will take a picture and post it up soon). Of course, she makes the point of telling me how pretty I look, how nice my lip gloss color is, or how cute my top is every time I come in for a visit (which has been about 5 times in the last 10 days, so that is a significant amount of positive reinforcement or at least deflection). Most of her patients are adults, so I guess she gets how self-conscious people can feel and is trying to make all of us feel better!
I appreciate it and it’s nice, but honestly I don’t feel that self-conscious yet, mostly because I realize that other people just don’t really care enough to notice or comment on my teeth. And thankfully all of my friends back home have been really supportive and encouraged me to do it, especially Eva and Grace. My parents are still confused, but then again I think that they are baffled by most of the things that I do in India (or anywhere else for that matter), so at least they are consistent in their reactions towards my life, which is really all you can ask for in this day and age, you know?
So far it hurts a little, but it’s more like an overall soreness than any serious pain. My dentist assured me that it is a good thing: if I didn’t feel those little guys moving around, then how would my teeth get straight? Anyway, I am basically restricted to soft foods these days and I need to cut everything up and put it in my mouth (including bananas as I discovered as I was trying to eat my breakfast on the way to work this morning). But thankfully I live in South India and there is no shortage of yogurt/tomato/lemon/tamarind rice, pongal, daal, biselebath, sambar, etc. to keep my tummy full for the next few months, so it should not be a problem.
Anyway, I am excited and feel productive that I am finally doing this and I cannot wait to see the results in just 6 months! By the time that I go home to the US in December, I will have a brand new perfect smile!
Well, wish me luck with my braces and please leave me a comment with your suggestions to lessen the soreness!
PS How does everyone feel about John Edwards staying in the presidential race given his wife’s illness? Does he really think that this is going to help his (dismal) chances of winning? I mean, what is it with arrogant, self-absorbed North Carolinian presidential-wannabes who don’t care about their families or the people they say that they love (perhaps a few of you got that reference…)? Clearly, I am being judgmental and I do think that it’s between him and his family, but I can’t even imagine the conversations that must have taken place at his home when the decision to stay in was made and what exactly he was thinking. I definitely have some thoughts about this…perhaps the topic for my next entry.
A.B.
Listening to: Old Hindi music from the 1960s – Love it!
Reading: The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by CK Prahalad – super fascinating for any neoliberal private-sector-loving capitalist with a heart, like me
You read that right. I decided that after years of thinking about it and putting it off that I should finally take the plunge and fix my crooked teeth once and for all. They really weren’t too bad, but I am vain and I want them to be perfect so I thought that my next 6-8 months in India would be a good time to just do it and get it done. It also helps that the costs in India are about 10% of what they are in the US for the same procedure, a fact that probably didn’t make Eva too happy considering what she shelled out to her orthodontist, but certainly made it an easier choice for me.
I just needed braces on the bottom teeth and I opted for clear brackets and a tooth-colored white, so fortunately, they are not too noticeable, at least not compared to the mouths of metal that all of my friends had back when we were 14 (Grace, I didn’t know you then, but I can only imagine!). I decided to go for clear rubber bands to keep with the neutral look, much to Rajni’s dismay (she wanted me to go for alternating blue and gold rubber bands…a good idea for maybe Big Game week, but I think that I will pass on that for now). I am going to have them on for 6 months, so I will be getting them off around October of this year, and I have been told that the first few months are the worst, so all I am concentrating on now is making it through to June!
Side point = you would be amazed at the selection that one really has when it comes to braces and the related paraphernalia these days. It’s not just colored retainers any more! I was browsing the American Orthodontics catalog as I was waiting for my appointment yesterday and was surprised to find such diverse offerings including a wildlife-inspired set of rubber bands with colors inspired by fish, bears, birds and frogs and my favorite: 24 karat gold plated braces with matching wires and rubber bands, just in case P. Diddy or one of his wannabes decides that he needs orthodontic care but doesn’t want to sacrifice his street style. You gotta love that.
Now, my dentist and I may be biased, but I really don’t think that my braces look that bad (I will take a picture and post it up soon). Of course, she makes the point of telling me how pretty I look, how nice my lip gloss color is, or how cute my top is every time I come in for a visit (which has been about 5 times in the last 10 days, so that is a significant amount of positive reinforcement or at least deflection). Most of her patients are adults, so I guess she gets how self-conscious people can feel and is trying to make all of us feel better!
I appreciate it and it’s nice, but honestly I don’t feel that self-conscious yet, mostly because I realize that other people just don’t really care enough to notice or comment on my teeth. And thankfully all of my friends back home have been really supportive and encouraged me to do it, especially Eva and Grace. My parents are still confused, but then again I think that they are baffled by most of the things that I do in India (or anywhere else for that matter), so at least they are consistent in their reactions towards my life, which is really all you can ask for in this day and age, you know?
So far it hurts a little, but it’s more like an overall soreness than any serious pain. My dentist assured me that it is a good thing: if I didn’t feel those little guys moving around, then how would my teeth get straight? Anyway, I am basically restricted to soft foods these days and I need to cut everything up and put it in my mouth (including bananas as I discovered as I was trying to eat my breakfast on the way to work this morning). But thankfully I live in South India and there is no shortage of yogurt/tomato/lemon/tamarind rice, pongal, daal, biselebath, sambar, etc. to keep my tummy full for the next few months, so it should not be a problem.
Anyway, I am excited and feel productive that I am finally doing this and I cannot wait to see the results in just 6 months! By the time that I go home to the US in December, I will have a brand new perfect smile!
Well, wish me luck with my braces and please leave me a comment with your suggestions to lessen the soreness!
PS How does everyone feel about John Edwards staying in the presidential race given his wife’s illness? Does he really think that this is going to help his (dismal) chances of winning? I mean, what is it with arrogant, self-absorbed North Carolinian presidential-wannabes who don’t care about their families or the people they say that they love (perhaps a few of you got that reference…)? Clearly, I am being judgmental and I do think that it’s between him and his family, but I can’t even imagine the conversations that must have taken place at his home when the decision to stay in was made and what exactly he was thinking. I definitely have some thoughts about this…perhaps the topic for my next entry.
A.B.
Listening to: Old Hindi music from the 1960s – Love it!
Reading: The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by CK Prahalad – super fascinating for any neoliberal private-sector-loving capitalist with a heart, like me
Saturday, March 17, 2007
My Glamorous Day in Mumbai
Unlike most of my friends, I rarely get to go on business trips. Now I know what everyone says: when you have to go on these trips week after week and you are always living out of a suitcase, it gets old pretty fast. Luckily for me, I don’t do it often so they still manage to excite me and my trip to Mumbai this week was no exception.
I was in Mumbai to participate in a roundtable discussion on low-income housing sponsored by the Monitor Group and the World Bank. As most of you know, I have been working on developing a housing microfinance loan product (that we will be launching in the next month in Bangalore!) and have done quite a bit of field research over the past several months on low-income housing issues in Bangalore. Monitor/World Bank are interested in a lot of similar issues and are trying to develop some initiatives to increase home ownership in the low-income sector in Mumbai. It's interesting work because they are trying to do something different than the usual government-subsidized low-income housing, which usually does not work, and are attempting to create market-viable non-subsidized housing developments that would give low-income families an opportunity to buy a home at an affordable but profitable price point. Clearly, financing is a key issue and mainstream banks are not too interested in giving these families traditional mortgages. So, Monitor/World Bank are looking to MFIs (microfinance institutions) as partners to provide affordable financing options for the families. It's cool stuff and I think that a lot of the ideas discussed were quite cutting-edge. I am very interested to see how their project will progress, particularly if they plan on expanding to Bangalore in the future.
The meeting was a pretty amazing experience and for me personally it was really exciting and flattering that I was invited to be there. I got to share some of the research that I worked on and discuss our plan for the product launch, which was great and I got to get some good feedback on it. I won't lie though...the whole thing just made me feel ridiculously glamorous. You know, high-powered meeting, people from all over the country, discussions about big ideas that are attempting to change the fate of low-income families all over India...ooh! Adding to it all was the fact that the conference room was overlooking the Arabian Sea. You all know me...I loved every minute of it. I live for rare and exciting moments like those!
I was just in Mumbai for a really short visit, unfortunately, (came on Tuesday night and left Thursday morning), but I definitely tried to make the most of it. Before the meeting, I made a quick stop to the Gateway of India. That was alright, not the most impressive sight of the day, so I just took the obligatory picture in front of it and left. I wanted to check out Elephanta Island (a hour ferry ride from Nariman Point with apparently some amazing carvings in caves from the 4th century CE…yes, I carry my Lonely Planet India everywhere and have practically read it cover to cover at this point), but it would have taken half a day and I had to race off to my meeting so I couldn’t make it. Next time.
But more fun was after the meeting when I had an hour or so before I had to meet Urvi (the family friend that I was staying with) for dinner. I decided to check out an outdoor market in a very touristy but fun area called Colaba. Oh my god. I loved it! I mean, outdoor markets are just my favorite thing ever…to photograph, to shop, to see, to eat, etc. I can’t get enough, I check them out in every city I go to (literally) and I was pleased that this one did not disappoint. I didn’t have too long, but I managed to work my now-perfected Hindi bargaining skills and got a cute pair of earrings, a sparkly beaded belt and a gorgeous shawl. Needless to say, I was very happy.
I didn’t think that my day could get better at that point. It was 9pm. I had already finished with work, did some sight-seeing and shopping, and I thought that I would just meet up with Urvi, have dinner, and go home and sleep. But no, Mumbai’s fabulous-ness didn’t end there. We went to a seemingly normal casual restaurant…didn’t look like anything fancy, but I was promised that the food would be great so it was fine with me. We were just sipping our ice teas as I was showing off my purchases and talking about the meeting and then BAM BAM BAM in walks Raveena Tandon! Ok, now granted she’s no Aishwarya and hasn’t been in a single movie in 10 years, but still a real live Bollywood starlet one table over from me?! I was ecstatic! It doesn’t get any more Bombay than that! It was a perfect end to a great day!
Now I am back in Bangalore…but itching to get away again. The last two weeks of jet-setting and traveling were quite intoxicating. The good news is that I don’t have to wait too long for the next adventure: Kerala in April!
Btw, check out my pictures from Goa and Hampi on my Picasa page (link below) if you haven’t already.
A.B.
I was in Mumbai to participate in a roundtable discussion on low-income housing sponsored by the Monitor Group and the World Bank. As most of you know, I have been working on developing a housing microfinance loan product (that we will be launching in the next month in Bangalore!) and have done quite a bit of field research over the past several months on low-income housing issues in Bangalore. Monitor/World Bank are interested in a lot of similar issues and are trying to develop some initiatives to increase home ownership in the low-income sector in Mumbai. It's interesting work because they are trying to do something different than the usual government-subsidized low-income housing, which usually does not work, and are attempting to create market-viable non-subsidized housing developments that would give low-income families an opportunity to buy a home at an affordable but profitable price point. Clearly, financing is a key issue and mainstream banks are not too interested in giving these families traditional mortgages. So, Monitor/World Bank are looking to MFIs (microfinance institutions) as partners to provide affordable financing options for the families. It's cool stuff and I think that a lot of the ideas discussed were quite cutting-edge. I am very interested to see how their project will progress, particularly if they plan on expanding to Bangalore in the future.
The meeting was a pretty amazing experience and for me personally it was really exciting and flattering that I was invited to be there. I got to share some of the research that I worked on and discuss our plan for the product launch, which was great and I got to get some good feedback on it. I won't lie though...the whole thing just made me feel ridiculously glamorous. You know, high-powered meeting, people from all over the country, discussions about big ideas that are attempting to change the fate of low-income families all over India...ooh! Adding to it all was the fact that the conference room was overlooking the Arabian Sea. You all know me...I loved every minute of it. I live for rare and exciting moments like those!
I was just in Mumbai for a really short visit, unfortunately, (came on Tuesday night and left Thursday morning), but I definitely tried to make the most of it. Before the meeting, I made a quick stop to the Gateway of India. That was alright, not the most impressive sight of the day, so I just took the obligatory picture in front of it and left. I wanted to check out Elephanta Island (a hour ferry ride from Nariman Point with apparently some amazing carvings in caves from the 4th century CE…yes, I carry my Lonely Planet India everywhere and have practically read it cover to cover at this point), but it would have taken half a day and I had to race off to my meeting so I couldn’t make it. Next time.
But more fun was after the meeting when I had an hour or so before I had to meet Urvi (the family friend that I was staying with) for dinner. I decided to check out an outdoor market in a very touristy but fun area called Colaba. Oh my god. I loved it! I mean, outdoor markets are just my favorite thing ever…to photograph, to shop, to see, to eat, etc. I can’t get enough, I check them out in every city I go to (literally) and I was pleased that this one did not disappoint. I didn’t have too long, but I managed to work my now-perfected Hindi bargaining skills and got a cute pair of earrings, a sparkly beaded belt and a gorgeous shawl. Needless to say, I was very happy.
I didn’t think that my day could get better at that point. It was 9pm. I had already finished with work, did some sight-seeing and shopping, and I thought that I would just meet up with Urvi, have dinner, and go home and sleep. But no, Mumbai’s fabulous-ness didn’t end there. We went to a seemingly normal casual restaurant…didn’t look like anything fancy, but I was promised that the food would be great so it was fine with me. We were just sipping our ice teas as I was showing off my purchases and talking about the meeting and then BAM BAM BAM in walks Raveena Tandon! Ok, now granted she’s no Aishwarya and hasn’t been in a single movie in 10 years, but still a real live Bollywood starlet one table over from me?! I was ecstatic! It doesn’t get any more Bombay than that! It was a perfect end to a great day!
Now I am back in Bangalore…but itching to get away again. The last two weeks of jet-setting and traveling were quite intoxicating. The good news is that I don’t have to wait too long for the next adventure: Kerala in April!
Btw, check out my pictures from Goa and Hampi on my Picasa page (link below) if you haven’t already.
A.B.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
