Freedom of Speech in the 21st Century

A number of recent events have made me think about freedom of speech: reports of bloggers being arrested and harassed in some countries, controversy in India over regulating offensive content on social media, and recent sanctions against football players in Europe accused of using racial slurs.  On the one hand, freedom of speech and of the press is one of those subjects that we all agree about in principle.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which elaborates the freedoms referred to in the United Nations Charter, states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.  On the other hand, we all agree that there are limits to freedom of speech—in the U.S., we have rules about libel and slander and restrictions on speech that incites imminent danger or violence. 

 

Where the line is drawn in a specific case is the difficult issue.  In the U.S., the archetypal example of speech that would NOT be protected is shouting fire in a crowded theater if the theater is not, in fact, on fire.  This is prohibited because the speech threatens public safety by potentially causing a stampede and has no useful purpose.  That one’s easy—but how to apply the principle more broadly is not.  I’m not an attorney or an expert, and I was surprised to learn that this famous example was coined in a case that was very controversial, involving the right of a dissident to distribute leaflets opposing military conscription during World War One.  In that context, the U.S. Supreme Court found the dissident’s exercise of free speech represented a clear and present danger to the U.S., and therefore said it was not protected by the Constitution.  That decision has been overturned by subsequent courts, and such speech is today protected in the U.S. 

In general, causing pain or offense is not a basis for prohibiting speech in the U.S., although sometimes authorities are permitted to regulate context.  In a famous case from the 1970s, courts ruled that members of the Nazi party could march through a neighborhood in which many Jewish holocaust survivors lived, although they were prohibited from using the swastika symbol and the march ultimately occurred elsewhere.  More recently, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of a family-based religious sect to picket the funerals of American soldiers, despite the pain they inflict on mourners.  However, a number of laws stand that regulate the sect’s right by requiring pickets to maintain prescribed distances from funerals for set periods of time before and after a ceremony.

The fact that you have a right to say something is not the same as saying you won’t suffer any consequences from your speech.  As an American, I was not at all surprised to read about footballers being fined by the league and suspended for allegedly making racist remarks, since I can recall any number of similar cases in the U.S., in some of which the offender also lost his job.  What did surprise me was to hear that criminal charges have been filed over an alleged racial slur.  I don’t think that would happen in the U.S., unless there was an incitement to violence.

The internet and social media have brought these issues even more to the fore, in part because they make it easier for “fringe” opinions to present themselves to broad audiences.  For example, I am personally deeply offended by websites posted by cranks alleging that 9-11 was a U.S. government conspiracy.  My sense of outrage might even tempt me to make an argument that dissemination of such misinformation is dangerous and should be banned.  Without even considering the legal impediments to such an argument, however, I think efforts to regulate such “dangerous content” threaten to undermine the promise of the internet as an agent for innovation, a new tool for connections among people, and a platform for growth. 

Secretary Clinton spoke earlier this month at the Freedom Online Conference in the Hague and I couldn’t say it any better than her:

“… the benefits of the network grow as the number of users grow. The internet is not exhaustible or competitive. My use of the internet doesn’t diminish yours. On the contrary, the more people that are online and contributing ideas, the more valuable the entire network becomes to all the other users. In this way, all users, through the billions of individual choices we make about what information to seek or share, fuel innovation, enliven public debates, quench a thirst for knowledge, and connect people in ways that distance and cost made impossible just a generation ago.  But when ideas are blocked, information deleted, conversations stifled, and people constrained in their choices, the internet is diminished for all of us.”

Apologies for another long pause in my blog postings, and for making the first one back so long and dry!  I hope you all stay happy and safe through the holidays and the new year.

 

The Need to Read

Carla Benini is the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate Hyderabad. As a mother of three, she is an ardent supporter of reading among children. 

The Consulate just wrapped up a busy, yet fulfilling weekend of activities focused on the importance of reading.  Partnering with four learning centers around the city – Saptaparni in Banjara Hills, Little People Tree in Secunderabad, Gachibowli’s Kaleidoscope and Treasure House in Jubilee Hills – Americans and Indians joined in the fun as we read books together, watched a Wizard of Oz puppet show, wrote our own Dr. Seuss-like rhymes and learned more about creative writing.

As I read one of my personal, tongue-twisting favorites, Fox in Socks, and listened to the classic, Harry the Dirty Dog, I witnessed children being transported to a world of fantasy that books so often take us to.  And it wasn’t only the kids who sat transfixed by these stories.  I watched plenty of their parents laughing along with us as we enjoyed the stories together.

I visited as many of the activities as I could over the weekend and along the way, many parents asked why the Consulate would be involved in such an endeavor. The answer is easy: Reading has been such an important, enjoyable part of my life, and I truly believe it is the key to a lifetime of success. 

I am a passionate believer in the power of books to turn our children into problem solvers, innovators and ultimately become intelligent contributors to society as adults.  The earlier we start reading to our children, the sooner we develop in them a passion for reading.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. There are hundreds of studies on the role that reading can play in developing a child’s learning skills: 

·             A U.S. Department of Education analysis found that children who were read to at least three times a week by a family member were almost twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent in reading as children who were read to less than three times a week.  Just like children need exercise to build strong bodies, they need books to build strong minds. 

·             The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “strongly recommends reading to children every day, starting after they are first born,” because “reading stimulates the development of the brain, language and a closer emotional relationship with a child.”

And for parents keen on encouraging their child to study engineering or computer science:

·         In a study, “Improving Reading to Improve Math” published in June 2011 by the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, authors concluded that children who practice reading comprehension show dramatic improvements in their ability to solve mathematical problems. “When children err in solving story problems, the errors are not necessarily in numerical calculations.  Instead, a substantial difficulty is with language comprehension skill. (e.g., Cummins, Kintsch, Reusser, & Weimer, 1988). This lack of skill results in several kinds of errors, one of which is including irrelevant numerical information in solution procedures (e.g., Heffernan & Koedinger, 1997).”

At home, my husband and I encouraged reading long before our kids could make out a single word on their own.  As a result, our children have developed an eager curiosity for reading and books.  Our two-year-old asks for books by name and “reads” to himself (sits on the floor with a favorite book) every day. For me, the studies only back up what I already know to be true.  I believe that “you are what you read” and if we can start reading to our children at a young age, feeding them books that will develop skills in creativity, problem solving and critical thinking, our children will develop a hunger for knowledge, and will be well-prepared for school and more importantly, for life.

Americans are speaking up

Recent polls in the U.S. show that public confidence in government is abysmally low.  Distrust is not centered on one particular party, and extends to both the executive and the legislative branches of government.   Two social movements, the Tea Party and the Occupy movement, while very different in their political prescriptions, are both manifestations of public discontent with the status quo. 

The Tea Party’s manifesto focuses on protection of individual freedom as the most important function of a society.  Since all government action is in some sense coercive, this group believes government functions should be pared down to a bare minimum.  The Tea Party’s focus on the individual and its attachment to liberty as a supreme value has a long history in the U.S., as demonstrated by the words of the U.S. Declaration of Independence of 1776:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”  While not unique to the U.S., these values are more muted elsewhere, and it is hard to imagine an organization like the Tea Party taking root in most other countries of the world.  

In contrast, the Occupy movement started out as a protest against the financial services industry, and government protection of financial services firms.  The movement does not have an agreed manifesto, but in general, its members are more concerned about social and economic inequality than about liberty.  Unlike the Tea Party, Occupy is not an exclusively U.S.-based movement.  

The two groups are generally portrayed as opposites, occupying the left and right wings in the U.S. political spectrum.  Implied in this is the notion that equality and liberty are fundamentally at odds with each other.  I believe, however, that both liberty and equality represent core American values, both have been compatible policy imperatives through most of U.S. history, and it is a specific set of contemporary challenges that have given rise to both these protest movements.  Several commentators in the U.S. have pointed to the fact that protests from both sides of the political spectrum are concerned about the ordinary person’s exclusion from decision-making, and domination of political and economic life by a privileged elite.  They point to the fact that in the last decade, accentuating a trend that began in the late 1970s, income and wealth in the United States have becoming increasingly concentrated at the top, with deceasing income mobility up and down the distribution.  Combine this with the growth of financial services as a share of GDP in the U.S., the extremely high salaries earned by top executives in this sector, and the role of the industry in the current U.S. economic downturn, and you find the genesis of Occupy Wall Street.  Combine the decrease in economic mobility with increasing diversity and decreasing job security for the middle class, and you find some of the foundations of the Tea Party’s anger.  

When Americans are confident about the future, they tend to believe that liberty and equality of opportunity will meet the needs of all, and that liberty can tolerate some redistribution by government to create equal opportunity.  Economic uncertainty, 9/11 and the change in the balance of power in the world have shaken American confidence and converted Americans from intrinsic optimists into worried pessimists.  On both the left and the right, I think Americans today are fundamentally concerned about opportunity, and it is because opportunity is viewed as severely limited that liberty and equality are seen as competing priorities.  And on both the left and the right, they blame government to some extent, resulting in those terrible poll results. 

The U.S. is graced with a well-educated, demographically favorable and industrious population.  We have incredible natural bounty, tremendous intellectual property, a decent infrastructure and good will internationally.  I’m confident that, while it might not happen as quickly as we’d like, the trends that have eroded Americans’ confidence will reverse themselves and with growing optimism about the future, the sharp divisions in today’s political spectrum will narrow.  In the meantime, while I may not share the protestors’ views, I’m proud that my countrymen will stand up to try to make a better world for their children, and I’m proud that my country allows its citizens to protest peacefully for what they believe. 

Occupy Wall Street and What it means to the U.S.

Recent polls in the U.S. show that public confidence in government is abysmally low.  Distrust is not centered on one particular party, and extends to both the executive and the legislative branches of government.   Two social movements, the Tea Party and the Occupy movement, while very different in their political prescriptions, are both manifestations of public discontent with the status quo. 

The Tea Party’s manifesto focuses on protection of individual freedom as the most important function of a society.  Since all government action is in some sense coercive, this group believes government functions should be pared down to a bare minimum. 

The Tea Party’s focus on the individual and its attachment to liberty as a supreme value has a long history in the U.S., as demonstrated by the words of the U.S. Declaration of Independence of 1776:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” 

While not unique to the U.S., these values are more muted elsewhere, and it is hard to imagine an organization like the Tea Party taking root in most other countries of the world. 

In contrast, the Occupy movement started out as a protest against the financial services industry, and government protection of financial services firms.  The movement does not have an agreed manifesto, but in general, its members are more concerned about social and economic inequality than about liberty.  Unlike the Tea Party, Occupy is not an exclusively U.S.-based movement. 

The two groups are generally portrayed as opposites, occupying the left and right wings in the U.S. political spectrum.  Implied in this is the notion that equality and liberty are fundamentally at odds with each other.  I believe, however, that both liberty and equality represent core American values, both have been compatible policy imperatives through most of U.S. history, and it is a specific set of contemporary challenges that have given rise to both these protest movements. 

Several commentators in the U.S. have pointed to the fact that protests from both sides of the political spectrum are concerned about the ordinary person’s exclusion from decision-making, and domination of political and economic life by a privileged elite.  They point to the fact that in the last decade, accentuating a trend that began in the late 1970s, income and wealth in the United States have becoming increasingly concentrated at the top, with deceasing income mobility up and down the distribution. 

Combine this with the growth of financial services as a share of GDP in the U.S., the extremely high salaries earned by top executives in this sector, and the role of the industry in the current U.S. economic downturn, and you find the genesis of Occupy Wall Street.  Combine the decrease in economic mobility with increasing diversity and decreasing job security for the middle class, and you find some of the foundations of the Tea Party’s anger. 

When Americans are confident about the future, they tend to believe that liberty and equality of opportunity will meet the needs of all, and that liberty can tolerate some redistribution by government to create equal opportunity.  Economic uncertainty, 9/11 and the change in the balance of power in the world have shaken American confidence and converted Americans from intrinsic optimists into worried pessimists.  On both the left and the right, I think Americans today are fundamentally concerned about opportunity, and it is because opportunity is viewed as severely limited that liberty and equality are seen as competing priorities.  And on both the left and the right, they blame government to some extent, resulting in those terrible poll results. 

The U.S. is graced with a well-educated, demographically favorable and industrious population.  We have incredible natural bounty, tremendous intellectual property, a decent infrastructure and good will internationally.  I’m confident that, while it might not happen as quickly as we’d like, the trends that have eroded Americans’ confidence will reverse themselves and with growing optimism about the future, the sharp divisions in today’s political spectrum will narrow.  In the meantime, while I may not share the protestors’ views, I’m proud that my countrymen will stand up to try to make a better world for their children, and I’m proud that my country allows its citizens to protest peacefully for what they believe. 

All that Jazz

Photo Credit: paulbeaudry.com 

Paul Mueller is an Economic Affairs Associate at the U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad. He is a former opera singer and multi-instrumentalist, not to mention a huge jazz fan!

When I first heard Beaudry and Pathways, a rush of memories flooded back – lazy summer nights in Seattle’s Jazz Alley and New York City’s Blue Note and Birdland.  Jazz, at its finest, has this uncanny ability to make the listener feel like they are more alive, more present in the moment, and Paul Beaudry is a musical matador in this arena.

Not only is he among the most promising young jazz musicians that America has to offer, he is one of those rare composers with an even rarer talent for conveying his emotions so precisely through melody that I almost feel I know what he was thinking when he wrote it.  Growing up in California, Beaudry was inspired by the giants of cool jazz and bebop, the music of Miles Davis and Dizzie Gillespie permanently imbedding their sounds into his style. I hear the influence of the jazz greats in his music, the soft imprint of Paul Chambers, the bittersweet ode to Joe Henderson, and yet Paul Beaudry’s compositions are all his own. As a musician myself, I understand how fully influences from one’s youth can continue to permeate one’s music.

Inspired though he was, Beaudry seemed destined for a Silicon Valley life, working steadily as a software engineer, suppressing his love for jazz into a weekend hobby.  All that changed, however, in 1996 when Paul packed his bags and moved to the East Coast to follow his dream of playing jazz for a living.  In 2001 he made the move to New York, a move that would allow Mr. Beaudry to immerse himself in the rich music scene of smoky clubs and dimly lit bars, the places were cool jazz comes to life.  It was there that he came to observe, cherish, and polish the things that simply can’t be taught in school, things like how to be present in every moment during his performances and how to be completely honest with an audience.

The roots of Jazz trace themselves back to African American blues music of the early 20th century.  It’s the quintessential music of America, and its improvisation and originality lend themselves to musicians who are most comfortable when taking risks.  Beaudry embodies these characteristics fully, his original style leading the audience to hang on to his every note, the listener not always sure where he is taking them, but thoroughly enjoying the ride.

The band Beaudry and Pathways have toured Central America, the Caribbean, and Central Asia as Jazz Ambassadors with the U.S. State Department. The quartet comprises Paul Beaudry (bass and vocals), Tim Armacost (tenor and soprano saxophones), Bennett Paster (piano and keyboards), and Tony Jefferson (drums and percussion). A mix of original compositions and a sampling of the great jazz standards has led to success for the band, who believe that making music should be exciting, emotionally engaging, and fun.

Today, Beaudry and Pathways will perform in Hyderabad’s Shilparaman outdoor auditorium. The intermingling of instruments floating through the soft breeze will undoubtedly make for a memorable concert, and with Beaudry’s unique combination of influences and personal style, a concert we won’t soon forget.

The Difference a Volunteer Makes

It’s a little delayed because I was away in New Delhi last week, but I want to pay tribute in this blog to the great work that NGOs are doing in Andhra Pradesh, as demonstrated by those who participated in the Seva Mela October 7 and 8 during Joy of Giving week.  I had the great honor of participating in the opening ceremony and talking to members of all 60 NGOs that attended.  I was awed and energized by their commitment and creativity.

In the last two or three decades we’ve begun to talk much more than we used to about something called “civil society,” which encompasses the various forms under which individuals come together to pursue shared interests and purposes.  While the phrase “civil society” has become more conspicuous recently, the phenomenon is certainly not new.  In the western tradition, discussion of civil society can be traced back to classical Rome; I’m sure there is an equivalent for India.  Associations of citizens have been a prominent feature of U.S. communities from the earliest days of the republic.  in the early 19^th century, a French historian visited the U.S. and commented on how Americans were much more prone than Europeans to form associations:  “Americans of all ages, all conditions and all dispositions, constantly form associations…The Americans make associations to give entertainments, to found seminaries, to build inns, to construct churches, to diffuse books, to send missionaries to the antipodies; they found in this manner hospitals prisons and schools.”    (Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835) 

Indian civil society has a strong tradition, which includes the nation’s wealth of religious and spiritual organizations and historical movements such as Ghandiji’s satyagraha movement.  My impression, though, is that NGOs are not as deeply rooted a part of India’s civil society as they are in the United States.   I am certainly not an expert, but I think this may be in part because Indians (like the Europeans de Tocqueville was familiar with) view the solution of problems in the society as the role of government. 

For example, when the Consulate organized a panel discussion on “Solutions to Extremism: A Community Based Approach ,” I was struck that the discussion focused in large part on how the community could communicate with government better to enhance government effectiveness in combating extremism.  It was an interesting and creative discussion, but it appeared to me that community action on such subjects in India is identified and defined in relation to action by government, rather than independently, because the fundamental responsibility for a solution is assigned to government.  I don’t think that same understanding exists in the U.S., and I could imagine a panel discussing the same subject in the U.S. without mentioning government at all.  (Of course it would all depend on the panelists—but for some, government might even be viewed as more likely to exacerbate than to solve the problem.)

If we are talking about the massive challenges that face us—like eradicating poverty or curbing climate change—a single individual is so powerless in relation to the scale of the problem, it’s natural to turn to government for leadership.  What really impresses me about the activists I met at the Seva Mela and during all my travels in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa is that, while they know they don’t have the power to fix the big problem-- eradicate poverty or stop climate change—they identify the challenges where they can make a difference.  The groups I met at the Zoroastrian Club included national organizations with many decades of experience and local organizations formed in the last few years and animated by a few committed individuals.  What they had in common is that each had identified an issue to address and mobilized resources to make a difference.  Many of them served discrete, vulnerable populations—children, the disabled, victims of domestic violence, people suffering depression—and provided services that changed the lives of the recipients.   Others took steps to promote environmental awareness and recycling, promote civic action or encourage spiritual growth.  India’s poverty rate may not be directly affected by an NGO that provides shelter for 20 homeless children or an organization that markets craftwork it has trained exploited women to fabricate, but they transform the lives of those children and women, and thousands of NGOs acting locally can change the world.  The phrase “Think globally, Act locally,” has been used most by environmentalists, but it’s equally true when we’re thinking about how to confront poverty or other forms of disenfranchisement.

Another phrase that my conversations with the NGO members proved true comes from the Bible:  “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Everyone I spoke to clearly loved the work they were engaged in.  Those who work for the good of others make small sacrifices, but they earn large rewards.

Emergency Drills Work!

It’s great to be back home in Hyderabad.  I did some valuable work in Washington and spent a little time with family, but so many weeks, living out of suitcase is much too long.

We’ve been busy at the Consulate since I returned, but despite the press of day-to-day work, the entire staff is taking some time out for training on emergency preparedness, with the help of an expert from the U.S.  The importance of this kind of training was brought home to me while I was in Washington by two unusual events, an earthquake and a hurricane.  Both are rare, and both can be devastating, although this August the Washington metropolitan area suffered relatively few ill effects from the two events.   What struck me, however, was that preparation made a big difference in how people responded. 

When hurricane Irene was approaching, people throughout the southeastern United States used advance warning and past experience to make decisions about evacuating exposed areas and stocking up on essentials.  New York and Boston had advance warning, but little past experience to call upon, and my impression was there was a lot more anxiety about what might happen there than there was in places like North Carolina, where hurricanes are more familiar and plans are detailed and regularly exercised.  When the storm ultimately unleashed severe flooding in the land-locked northern state of Vermont, there was neither experience nor advance warning to mitigate the impact.  

I was at work on the seventh floor of a high rise building in Washington when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area.  I had experienced earthquakes in California, and I assumed a quake was what had occurred, but many of my colleagues from Washington recalled 9/11, and feared that a bomb was responsible.  State Department offices drill for bombs, but not for earthquakes, and people weren’t sure what they should do.  It was clear that this as not something for which they were prepared.

Considering the recent damage and loss of life experienced in Sikkim and Nepal with the earthquake that hit on September 18, I’m grateful that we’re working locally to increase our preparedness.  Emergencies are by definition unexpected, but at the same time, we all know that we will experience them in our lifetimes.  

I’ve lived through blizzards in the U.S., the assassination of a president in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and devastating supply shortages in Zimbabwe.  In every case, there were ways we had to make up our responses as we went along, because we just hadn’t been able to envision all the possibilities in advance.  But preparedness pays off.  For example, in Zimbabwe, the U.S. Embassy had the capacity to store large amounts of petrol and diesel, so when fuel was unavailable for months on end, we were able to keep going.   Without those stocks, we probably would have had to curtail our activities and send some employees home.

I know if you’re in the Consulate applying for a visa or a new passport, it’s inconvenient to be forced to evacuate for an emergency drill.  But if it happens to you one day, I hope you’ll understand and give us feedback on how well we communicate.

Hyderabad- A Home Away From Home

On the Yacht

Goodbye from me until mid-September.  I’ve been asked to go to Washington for a five week assignment, and will take a little time off while I’m in North America, so I won’t be in Hyderabad for some time.  While I’m away, my colleagues will serve as “guest bloggers” to keep this blog alive. 

I have mixed feelings about such a long period away from my Hyderabad home.  I look forward to spending some time in the U.S., and getting a feel for the difficult political and economic environment I’ve been reading about in the press.  I’ll be seeing family and catching up with some old friends, although this trip is much more work than vacation.  But I know I’ll be more than ready to get back six weeks from now.

I certainly don’t feel I need to get away to find recreational opportunities.  I’m a dedicated golfer, and Hyderabad is blessed with some excellent golf courses and a very congenial community of golfers.  I know many people view golf as an elitist activity, and racquet sports enthusiasts often tell me they think golf is for old people.  I love golf, though, and think it has some unique advantages.  Although golfers participate in competitions where winners are identified, golf is really about competing with yourself, and trying to achieve the best score your skill allows.  It’s a game that men and women can play together, and relative beginners, as soon as they learn the rules and etiquette, can play with experienced golfers without affecting the latter’s enjoyment.  At both the clubs where I play there are excellent teachers and numerous aspiring junior golfers, so I’m sure golf has a great future here.

On July 9 I had a chance to sample another sport that a growing number of Hyderabadis are becoming passionate about: sailing.  I was invited by the yacht club of Hyderabad to participate in the Monsoon Regatta on Hussain Sagar.  It was inspiring seeing some 75 sailboats out on the lake when I arrived, with a junior race underway.  I was privileged to participate in the regatta alongside some of India’s most skilled sailors.  I’m afraid I wasn’t very helpful, but my boat managed to win the second celebrity race despite my getting in the way of the crew every time we shifted course.  If I didn’t already have an addiction to golf, I could certainly imagine becoming a dedicated sailor. 

I’m starting my trip in Vancouver, which the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) says is the world’s #1 most livable city.  I don’t think the EIU includes Hyderabad in its survey, but with a growing number of excellent golf courses, and a beautiful lake in the middle of the city (which HMDA is working assiduously to make clean), Hyderabad is surely climbing by any measure of livability.

So, goodbye, Hyderabadis! I’ll be back in September.

Student Ambassadors

I had a great meeting the other day with two young women who had just completed their second year of undergraduate education and were taking part in an internship at the Centre for People with Disabilities-Livelihoods organized by their college, Cornell University.  They were extremely enthusiastic about their experience in Mysore and Hyderabad.  They told me they felt awed by the rich cultural heritage of southern India and were grateful for the warm welcome they have received by Indians.  They embraced their experience of India: they came to the Consulate where cotton shawls and skirts they bought in Mysore, and told me they have discovered a new favorite food during their visit: double ka meetha.  As I listened to their enthusiastic account of their internship, I was struck by what a favorable impression of the U.S. they must be making on those they meet in India, and by how they would become “ambassadors” for India after they return back to the U.S., sharing information about their great experiences. 

A group of about 20 students will be arriving from the U.S. next week to participate in the University of Hyderabad’s Study in India Program for a semester.  My experience of a previous batch tells me that these students too will be effective bridge-builders across the cultural divide between the U.S. and India.  In addition to their academic studies, they’ll also be learning about Andhra Pradesh’s artistic heritage as they learn to perform kuchipudi dance and play the sitar.  They’ll take an appreciation for all things Indian back with them when they return to the U.S., and share it with their friends and family.

While all these American students help us achieve our fundamental goal of strengthening the people-to-people ties that provide a foundation for the U.S.-India bilateral relationships, the U.S. government doesn’t have anything to do with their decisions to come to India or their plans.  We take the initiative in the opposite direction.  At the Consulate, we actively look for opportunities to send young Indians to the U.S. to promote mutual understanding.  The ten or so community college students we can support are a tiny fraction of the many Indians who pursue higher education in the U.S., but we try to identify deserving students who would not otherwise have a chance to experience the U.S.  The programs we send them on include academic study, but they are not focused on acquisition of a degree.  Instead, we hope to widen the horizons and build the confidence of these students, along with helping them acquire classroom knowledge.  Students who returned to Hyderabad this summer after spending an academic year in the U.S. have said that the experience changed their lives. 

But these exchanges actually affect more people than the few who get to travel.  The students are Indian ambassadors while in the U.S., and when they return to India they help shatter misperceptions about the United States and the American people.  I’ve enjoyed meeting a number of returned and departing students in recent weeks and wish we could expand this program dramatically.

Of course I also love meeting young people because it helps keep me young.  I’m planning a trip out to Rajahmundry soon to visit universities and talk to students.  I can’t wait!

What does Developmental Economics mean to India?

One of the things I find exciting about being in India is the vitality of the Indian economy.  It’s great to live and work in a country where people are optimistic about the future—and have good reason to be.  But although India is a middle income country experiencing rapid growth, there is no question that many Indians are still poor.  Policy-makers in India are very aware that they can’t just wait for growth to eliminate poverty all by itself—they know they need to take steps to ensure that growth is inclusive. One of the places policy-makers look for advice on how to design anti-poverty programs is to the field of development economics. Over the last few decades, though, the policy prescriptions of mainstream development economists have changed several times, reducing the credibility of its practitioners.

Although when I trained as an economist, I never studied development economics, my experience as a diplomat has been entirely in countries that were in lower or middle income categories: Mexico and Gabon are classified as upper middle-income, the Republic of Congo as lower middle income, and Guyana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Zimbabwe as low income.  These countries are all sometimes referred to as “the developing world.”  (Of course, calling them “developing” is not accurate in every case—the economies of the DRC and Zimbabwe have generally moved in a negative direction over the last twenty years.)  In several countries, I’ve worked closely with colleagues from the U.S. Agency for International Development as they sought to use funds provided by U.S. taxpayers to fight poverty and bring about development.  While I might not have the classroom education, I now have both a strong interest and a great deal of direct experience of development, and underdevelopment, as both conditions and as processes. 

In the last decade, development economists have engaged in a vigorous debate about whether foreign aid is helpful for the elimination of poverty.  Jeffrey Sachs, Bill Easterly, and Paul Collier are the most prominent scholars who have debated each other in books and newspaper columns.  Among the people I’ve discussed this subject with, it seems that most gravitate to one school of thought or another based on their existing inclinations, or recent experience.  Pessimists agree with Easterly (who says large scale development programs funded by donors are generally futile), as do those whose recent experience has been with intractable problems.  Optimists agree with Sachs (who says we can eliminate poverty if we dedicate more resources to foreign aid), as do development workers.  Policy-makers have problems with both, since they don’t have the resources Sachs calls for, but they have a mandate to eliminate poverty, which Easterly says can’t be done by planning.  I’m also in between in many ways: it’s hard to leave Zimbabwe without becoming a pessimist, but I’m an optimist by inclination and India is a very hopeful place.

What works and what doesn’t work in the battle against poverty is something I’ve heard people talk about a lot in Hyderabad.  The pros and cons of micro-finance have been front page news in Andhra Pradesh.  (I discussed visits to women’s self help groups in an earlier blog.)  I’ve also heard discussions of whether NREGA hurts rural private sector employment by driving up wages, or acts as a safety net for the poor.  These are real questions without easy answers. 

I’ve just started reading a book that looks at these questions from a different perspective, and I find it quite exciting.  Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo have written a book called “Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty” about their research in development economics and the lessons they’ve learned.  They approach development hypotheses scientifically, with randomized controlled trials, instead of relying on preconceptions. This is radical in a way; development professionals don’t want to withhold from a control group an intervention, like vaccinating children, that they believe saves lives.  But Banerjee and Duflo point out that even providing free vaccination doesn’t necessarily result in high rates of inoculation coverage.  That’s a strong argument for trying different approaches and comparing the results.  I haven’t gotten very far into the book yet, but I’m looking forward to learning more about what works.  I look forward to being able to be pragmatic and optimistic at the same time.  

Where Does Our Food Come From?

Interacting with residents at a slum in Orissa

Elizabeth Jones is the Acting Public Affairs Officer.  Before joining the Foreign Service, she worked as an education consultant in Chengdu, China.  She has a degree in Chinese Language and Literature from Middlebury College.  In India, she enjoys shopping, traveling, and playing with her new Hyderabadi puppy.

One of my favorite parts about working in Public Affairs is meeting new people and organizing connections between Americans and Indians.  When James Godsil came from the U.S. to India to share his expertise on aquaculture, I got the opportunity to connect him with community leaders and farmers in Orissa. 

James Godsil is one of the co-founders of Sweet Water Organics, an innovative project that raises fish and vegetables in the same system.  Godsil is passionate about sustainable organic food for everyone, and the Sweet Water project shows how good food can be produced effectively and efficiently even in the middle of a city!

Since he was here to talk about sustainable agriculture and aquaculture, we decided that Orissa was the perfect place to go to learn more about farming, fishing, and water issues.  (Also, I had never been to Orissa, and I was eager to see it!) Our first stop was an urban slum in Cuttack where an NGO was working with tribal women to grow their own produce in organic kitchen gardens.  The villagers were proud of their work, and they had every right to be. Although they were constrained by space and resources, they were able to grow their own organic food and feed their families. 

Next, we drove out of the city to lush rice paddies and sugarcane fields where the farmers had set up an irrigation system from the river that runs through the city of Bhubeneswar.  The farmers told us that the river water, pure enough to drink 15 years ago, was now polluted with raw sewage and heavy metals from industrial waste. The farmers did not know what kind of health implications this pollution would have on them or the people eating food produced in these fields, but they knew there was something wrong.  The farmers were frustrated, they told us, because they were farming the same way generations before them had with simple, effective techniques, but the quality of the water was deteriorating due to factors out of their control.  They are communicating with scientists who test the water and submit reports to the state government, but it will take a long time to clean up the river and develop an effective waste management system other than the river.

   

My favorite part of the trip was seeing Chilika Lake, one of the largest lakes in India.  It is technically a lagoon and it is filled with brackish water as the rivers flow into the ocean.  Early in the morning we took a boat ride out into the lake on the search for Irawaddy dolphins, natives of India's brackish water bodies.  We were lucky enough to spot a few dorsal fins!  Speaking of fish, I also got to eat some delicious Oriyan seafood!



The Chilika Lake

Chilika Lake is surrounded by fertile land as the rivers flow into the lagoon.  We drove inland past green fields and small rectangular pond plots to visit a village of local fishermen and farmers who were struggling to raise prawns.  Despite their best efforts, bacterial infections plagued their prawns, killing them off.  The farmers were disappointed by their past failures, but they still struggled to participate in the prawn trade in Orissa, and they were eager to learn more about innovative methods in producing seafood.

The people I met in Orissa are struggling with the same question many in the U.S. are also struggling with: What should we eat? The question of how to feed ourselves is one that seems simple but is actually growing more and more difficult.  As the world develops and modernizes, many of us do not even think about where our food comes from, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make sure the food we eat is healthful and the way we grow it is sustainable.  This deceptively simple issue is also controversial as it brings up issues of competition between small farmers and large industrial farms and food companies, preserving clean water, and the use of pesticides and fertilizers (just to name a few).  James Godsil’s visit was an excellent reminder of the importance of issues such as food security and environmental protection, which have serious consequences for both the environment and the health of individuals.

Taste of Darkness: A Humbling Experience

After blogging about how much I’ve enjoyed recent photography exhibits, I had a couple of recent experiences bring home to me how fortunate I am to be able to enjoy visual art.

The first was a meal at Taste of Darkness, a very special restaurant at Inorbit Mall that is part of India’s first Dialogue in the Dark franchise.  Dialogue in the Dark is a social enterprise that seeks to broaden perspectives and build emotional intelligence while sensitizing visitors to the abilities of the blind.  At the Taste of Darkness, diners have to surrender anything that might provide illumination or enhance vision before entering the dining room.  This includes cell phones, watches, spectacles and lighters.  A blind employee then becomes their guide/waiter for the evening.  A four-course meal is served in a completely dark dining room.

I found the experience at Dining in the Dark humbling and enlightening.  Without any visual cues, I felt vulnerable, and I was very aware of how much I relied on my guide.  I learned that I rely on vision more than I realize when I eat.  Without it, I had difficulty identifying what I was eating, and I was not really sure how much I was eating.  I anticipated using other senses more when sight was taken away, but I was surprised that for me, my dining experience did not increase my attention to taste or smell, but instead made me pay more attention to touch.  I used my hands to explore my plate, and then paid close attention to the texture of my food on my tongue when I tried to figure out what I was eating.  I suspect this is because I was trying to visualize my meal, and touch, rather than taste or smell gives clues to appearance. 

The second experience was celebration of the 25th year of the LV Prasad Eye Institute.  LVPEI combines world class service standards with commitment to universal access to vision care.  I was extremely impressed to learn that over 50% of the Institute’s clients pay nothing for the services they receive, whether those amount simply to vision screening or to state-of-the-art surgical intervention.  LVPEI is also committed to rehabilitation for those with unavoidable vision loss.  The evening concluded with entertainment provided by visually challenged children who are part of LVPEI’s rehabilitation program. 

Both of these experiences reinforced my admiration and respect for the strength and adaptability of the visually challenged.  My guide at Taste of Darkness served my food and assisted me throughout the experience, a much more formidable challenge than just eating a meal as I did, but negotiating the completely blacked out dining room was undoubtedly a much simpler task than his daily routine of negotiating a blacked out world.  The young people at LVPEI were all successful students as well as musicians, and they radiated positive energy and enthusiasm.

If you’ve visited the U.S. you may have noticed some of the innovations that have been implemented to help the blind live independent lives without realizing what they were for.  Traffic lights have aural signals that coincide with their “Walk-Don’t Walk” visual messages.  Train platforms have bumps on the ground warning of proximity to the tracks.  And elevators routinely include Braille symbols for floors.  The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination against the disabled, and requires that all new facilities for public use comply with accessibility standards.  I hope I never have to take advantage of these provisions, but I’m glad they are there to enhance the lives of all those who need them.

Through the Eyepiece

One of the honors I’ve experienced as Consul General in Hyderabad is being invited to participate in the openings of art exhibits.  In the last few weeks, I participated in the launches of two shows of photography that demonstrated what a wealth of talent this city hosts.  The first was an exhibition organized by the Bhagyanagar Photo Art Club and the Salar Jung Museum of the photographic work of award-winning photographers from Andhra Pradesh.  The second was an exhibit at the Muse at Marriott Art Gallery presented by professional photographer Arvind Chenji featuring the work of six amateur photographers who are all IT professionals from Microsoft.   Both exhibits included a fascinating variety of works, from still lifes to photos of nature and city scenes, to portraits, to abstract compositions.  The award-winning professionals had an edge on technique, including interesting developing methods and special papers, but all the artists demonstrated great talent.  At both exhibits, it was interesting to hear from the artists about how they had captured the images.  In some cases, they said they waited hours for the light to be just right.  In others, they arranged objects for effect.  In many cases, they knew what they wanted to convey and sought it out, while in others, it seemed as if they just recognized and capitalized on the moment when a great image presented itself.

I retain vivid images of many of the individual photographs at both exhibits.  There were striking photographs of children who would appear to belong to categories we would label “underprivileged” but whose expressions radiated uncomplicated joy.  At the “Photographic Thoughts” exhibit at the Salar Jung, a series of photographs of post boxes combined humor with social commentary.  There were other series showcasing Hyderabad’s cityscape by featuring clocks and doors.  I’m inspired to try to travel even more by the many beautiful pictures of different locations in India both exhibits contained. 

The travel photography reminded me of another exhibit I saw a few months ago that was organized by Milestone Enterprises at Icon Art Gallery.  I was distressed to read last week about the fire at Icon and I wish the Gallery all the best as it works to recover. 

One of the Questions

One of the questions I’m asked every day is “How are you liking Hyderabad?”  I thought the readers of this blog might have an interest in the same question, so here’s a slightly expanded version of my response.

The short answer is: “Very much.”  First and foremost, we have met wonderful people.  Azim and I have found Hyderabadis to be warm and welcoming.  In addition to feeling personally welcomed, it’s nice being somewhere that has such strong and affectionate ties with the United States—we feel understood as Americans.  Coming from Zimbabwe, it’s also wonderful being in an environment where the economy is growing and there’s great optimism about the future. 

While the people are far and away the most important reason we love it here, we’ve also found other aspects of life here notable:

Things we knew we’d love

·         The food.  We love Indian food.  Everyone told us that Hyderabad cuisine was among the best in India.  We agree wholeheartedly.

·         Paigah Palace.  Everyday when I drive up to the front porch, I’m amazed that I have the chance to work in such a lovely heritage building. 

Even better than we expected

·         The weather.  OK, I know everyone says last summer was much hotter, but we really haven’t found the heat to be as oppressive as we were warned to expect.

·         The flight connections.  India has a terrific network of airlines that allow us to fly direct to all sorts of interesting places.  The convenience and the cost are wonderful compared to our experience in Africa.

·         The golf.  Azim and I are both fanatic golfers, and we weren’t sure what to expect in Hyderabad.  The clubs, the courses and the friendship of our fellow golfers all exceed our expectations. 

·         Cricket.  As an American, I never followed cricket before, even though I’ve lived in cricket-playing countries.  But first the World Cup and the IPL have made me a fan.

It’s going to take some time to get used to

·         Late dinners.  We Americans aren’t used to sitting down to eat at 11 or 12 pm—especially when the alarm is set for 6:30 am.  But the food is so good we’ll figure out a way to adjust.

·         Indian weddings.  I still haven’t entirely figured out what part of the invitation I’m expected to accept, or when to bring a gift.  In the U.S., 200 guests would be considered a big wedding, and the invitation is only for a ceremony and reception, both on the same day.  The fact that we receive invitations from acquaintances and even people we don’t know is part of the warm welcome we have received, and it is an honor to be asked to share such a special occasion.  But we are still figuring out some of the finer points.

Things we may never get used to—but that’s OK

·         The traffic.  I know it’s much worse in other cities, but I’m glad I don’t have to drive myself!

·         The photographers.  I just can’t think of myself as a “celebrity,” and I’m always amazed that people want to take my picture.

Things we just don’t like and never will

·         Littering.  I mentioned in another blog that this is something that has changed dramatically in the U.S. in my life time, and I hope it changes in Hyderabad. 

·         Littering isn’t the only anti-social act we see on the sidewalks as we drive around the city—but I won’t mention specifics of the other habit we find unpleasant!

21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers

Syed Mujtaba Andrabi is the Economic and Political Officer at the U.S Consulate General, Hyderabad.  Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he was a reporter with the Associated Press. Mujtaba has a masters’ degree in Business and Public Policy from the University of Salford, United Kingdom. He speaks Urdu, Hindi and Kashmiri. Along with his formal education, from age seven to 22, he was trained to be a “Mufti” studying Islam. 

 To commemorate World Press Freedom Day, the Consulate decided to speak to the people who have the strongest opinions on the subject and who are set up to have great influence over the media in the future – students of mass communication and journalism.  We invited twenty students from four different colleges to come to the consulate to discuss the issue of press freedom and how social media is changing the way we produce and consume news.  The title of the discussion was “21^st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers,” and the group of young, opinionated students were eager to engage in a heated discussion on every topic from freedom of expression to civilian journalism to responsible journalism. 

Since I have noticed that Indian society tends to elevate the professions of doctor and engineer above others, I was curious to know why these students decided to break the mold by choosing to study mass communications.  Some said it's the media's power to influence opinion that attracted them, and others argued that their love for writing and quest for knowledge spurred them. One of the girls said that she chose to study journalism because it put her "on a path of self-discovery."  They also represented the wide breadth of what constitutes journalism in today’s society.  While some were focused on print journalism, others were pursuing their interests in photo or video journalism. 

I was impressed by the students’ strong opinions, their ability to express them, and their eagerness to debate with each other.  Though my role was to lead the discussion, I often ended up joining in the debate with them and enjoyed hearing the students passionately express their views.  We debated the true meaning of objectivity.  Does objectivity mean that every piece of news should strive to be balanced, or does it mean that there should be a plurality of opinions?  I argued for presenting all sides – good and bad – in the interest of supporting freedom of expression.

The students also debated the role of censorship in society, but they did agree that the line between censorship and good journalism is often blurred and deliberately confused by vested groups, political or otherwise, to censor free speech. Most fascinating to me was that the students were very self-aware, and they acknowledged their own biases and confusion or internal conflicts over these abstract, complicated issues. 

The students were passionate when they spoke about the high standards they hold journalists to, but their idealism was balanced by their keen grasp on reality.  I was impressed by their ability to present the positives and negatives to each issue we addressed.  There has been much discussion over the changing nature of journalism due to social media and new technology.  The students acknowledged the powerful role social media has in reporting, but they maintained that professional journalists and traditional forms of media still hold an important place in society.  They also noted several examples where the freedom of social media and lack of controls placed on it were a drawback as individuals used social media as a platform for misinformation. 

Despite their sharp differences of opinion, the students were eager for an exchange of ideas and listened to each other.  This openness to new ideas makes me optimistic about the future of India’s media scene.  This is exactly what makes a free press – open-minded, passionate journalists who constantly question and challenge the accepted norms and are committed to promoting the free exchange of ideas.  

Individual Actions for Greater Greener Good

At the Andhra Pradesh Forest Academy

It was a great honor for me to be asked to be Chief Guest at the Earth Day celebration organized by the AP Forest Academy and AP Environment Connect on April 22.  The ceremony featured awards to and presentations by citizens dedicated to protecting the environment in a variety of ways, including planting trees, combating plastic, harvesting rainwater and raising awareness.  Each of them demonstrated how individuals can make a difference—but their most important contribution is their inspirational example. The importance of good examples was stressed by the apt designation they were awarded: that of Environmentalists Worth Emulating.  If we all were to emulate them, the state of Andhra Pradesh would be a cleaner, healthier and more beautiful place to live.

In advance of Earth Day, the Consulate supported the NGO Better Hyderabad by participating in a trash run on Necklace Road on April 17.  I was on my way to Mumbai at the time, so I could not participate, but I hope this is something we’ll do again.  Picking up garbage is worthwhile in itself, but the biggest benefit of such activities is raising awareness of the importance of respecting the local environment.  My colleagues told me they also gained a deeper appreciation and respect for the hard work that street sweepers carry out tirelessly every day—let’s all give them some consideration.  In my lifetime in the U.S., littering has changed from a common activity that no one thought a lot about to a socially unacceptable and relatively rare offense.  I hope the same thing happens in India. 

The U.S. may have come a long way as far as littering is concerned, but I learned a surprising and disappointing fact about my countrymen while researching Earth Day last week.  According to the Gallup Poll, in 2008 67% of Americans said they worried a great deal or a fair amount about climate change.  In 2011, that number had declined to 51%.  I hope this is more a reflection of Americans being distracted by economic woes.  The scientific evidence that climate change is happening as a result of human activity is clear.  While we may be enjoying an unusually comfortable April this year in Hyderabad, I know that the trend lies in the other direction. 

A volunteer at the 'Trash the Trash' run 

This year’s Earth Day slogan, “A Billion Acts of Green,” reminds us all of the importance of individual action to achieving global environmental goals.  When it comes to climate change, though, individual action is essential but not sufficient to meet the challenge.  We need action at the national and international level as well.  I’m pleased that, despite opinion polls in the U.S., President Obama was clear about this in his Earth Day Proclamation (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/22/presidential-proclamation-earth-day)  when he said: “Our entire planet must address this problem because no nation, however large or small, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change.”