Voting Across Borders

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Indian and American citizens share certain democratic rights, and we also share the fundamental democratic responsibility to vote.  With U.S. elections coming up this year, I’ve been giving some thought to voting.  By that, I don’t mean thinking about whether or not I’ll vote (I will), but more general issues like voting participation rates and absentee voting.  

In the U.S., absentee voting has long been an accepted practice, largely through postal votes, although some states are experimenting with policies to encourage voting by creating more options that don’t require a voter to show up at a given place on a given day.  I know absentee voting isn’t accepted everywhere.  In my last country of assignment, Zimbabwe, the issue was a very heated one.  Many Zimbabweans left the country because of political repression, so naturally the opposition strongly favored allowing Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote.  The ruling party adamantly opposed it.  In some countries, however, efforts to facilitate voting for citizens living overseas are much more direct than those of the U.S.  In my second last country of assignment, Gabon, I witnessed French citizens lining up in their embassy to cast ballots in French elections.  I can just imagine the logistical challenge we would face if thousands of Americans resident in Andhra Pradesh came to the Consulate in Hyderabad on November 6 to exercise their constitutional rights!

I was interested to see that India’s voter participation rates are quite similar to rates in U.S. presidential elections—and we’re both at the bottom end of a list of major democracies on voting rates, according to Wikipedia: Voter turnout - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The same article shows a surprising difference between the U.S. and India in the breakdown of voting rates according to socio-economic status.  In the U.S., voting rates rise as the level of education rises, while in India, those with college educations vote less than those without, and those who have studied at a post-graduate level have the lowest rates of all.  I’m not sure data from just one election really says very much—but it’s interesting in any case.

In the U.S., we have national elections every two years, but only hold presidential elections every four years.  (All seats in the House of Representatives and a third of Senate seats are up for election every two years.) Rates of voter participation are sharply higher in presidential election years, rising from roughly 37 percent of the voting age population to over 57 percent.  Rates of voter participation have been increasing in the U.S. since 1996, and the 2008 election reportedly had the highest eligible voter participation rate since 1960. 

It will be interesting to see whether that trend to higher voting rates continues in 2012.  I hope so.  Reported U.S. public dissatisfaction with government, which I discussed in a blog post last year, should motivate citizens to do their part to make government respond to their needs.  If we don’t fulfill our civic responsibility, we have only ourselves to blame if those elected don’t reflect our views. 

As government employees, my colleagues and I are subject to strict restrictions on partisan political activities, but we are fully authorized and personally energized to encourage our fellow citizens to participate in our political process.  We had an in-house session on absentee voting for Americans working at the Consulate the other day, and I was pleased to see how interested my colleagues were in the subject.  For Americans interested in absentee voting from India, there’s information on our consulate website http://hyderabad.usconsulate.gov/, but all you really need to know is at another site: Federal Voting Assistance Program. One important point to note for American citizens: the Consulate is able to transmit your ballot through the U.S. mail for you.  (Even though voting is voluntary and filing tax returns is mandatory for Americans, we can only do this for voting, not for tax filing.)

Learning about Leprosy

On Sunday, January 29, LEPRA India organized a walk for World Leprosy Day to fight stigma and discrimination.  I was honored to be invited as chief guest and pleased to see how many Hyderabadis turned out for the walk, including students, activists and persons affected by leprosy. 

Before the march, Dr. Ranganadha Rao, LEPRA’s chief executive briefed me about leprosy in India, and I was disturbed by what I learned.  Leprosy is a treatable, curable disease, and there’s no need for newly-infected individuals to experience the kind of disabilities that we all associate with leprosy as long as they are diagnosed early and begin multi-drug therapy.  Unfortunately, though, stigma and misinformation discourage patients from seeking medical help early, resulting in late diagnoses and unnecessary suffering. 

I was struck by some sad parallels between leprosy and HIV/AIDS.  Both diseases were at one time considered incurable and consequently extremely feared.  Lack of accurate information about disease transmission in both cases led many members of the public to shun those affected by AIDS and leprosy.  In the late 20^th century, science prevailed over superstition at least enough to fight off proposals to quarantine AIDS patients, but for many years leprosy sufferers were forcibly segregated from society.  Even today, stigma is so great that many leprosy survivors who bear the disfiguring traces of the disease choose to live in leprosy colonies because of discrimination and ostracism in the wider world.  To some extent it’s a vicious cycle: misinformation, stigma, and discrimination cause irrational fear that contributes to delay in diagnosis.  Delayed diagnosis results in irreversible damage so that those cured of the disease remain marked by it, and suffer discrimination.

The facts are indisputable.  Untreated leprosy is a communicable disease caused by a bacteria, but it’s very hard to catch, and most people (about 95%) have natural immunity.  Within a very short time of beginning treatment, patients are no longer infectious, and in less than a year, they’re cured.  If you meet someone who bears the signs of leprosy, you can be 100% sure that they have been diagnosed, treated and cured—you run no risk of catching the disease from them.

Given these facts, discrimination and stigma are cruel, unfair and just plain inexcusable.  But many Indian laws continue to discriminate against leprosy patients.  For example in many states, including Andhra Pradesh, they’re prohibited from running for local office.  Leprosy patients aren’t allowed to drive according to the Motor Vehicle Act of 1939, which still applies.  LEPRA is launching a signature campaign to try to raise awareness and combat these pernicious practices.  The idea is “each one, teach one,” and this blog is one of the ways I’m trying to do my part.  I hope you will too.

Exploring Odisha's Heritage

I spent a week in and around Bhubaneswar from January 16 to the 20th with Ambassador Burleigh from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and several of my colleagues from the Consulate General in Hyderabad.  Odisha is the second state in Hyderabad’s consular district, but I’ve spent relatively little time there.  I’m resolved to make it a higher priority in the future, starting with a celebration of “America Days” in Bhubaneswar from February 1-3. 

Thanks to Ambassador Burleigh’s suggestions, the trip had a strong cultural component (in addition to some very interesting meetings and project site visits).  I particularly valued the opportunity to learn and experience more of India’s rich cultural heritage.  As a newcomer to India--and to the south Asia region as a whole-- I’ve had a steep learning curve to climb.  When I first heard about my assignment to Hyderabad, I asked friends and colleagues to recommend books I could read to prepare myself, and the list that resulted was daunting.  Playing to my strengths instead of addressing my weaknesses, I decided to start by learning about modern India, the country’s relatively recent history and contemporary development challenges.  Since I arrived in Hyderabad I’ve continued along the same lines; I’ve visited many more hospitals than temples.  I’m aware that spiritual beliefs and traditions play a very important role in modern India, but I’ve not yet greatly exposed myself to or educated myself about the ancient traditions that underlie the modern society.  My trip to Bhubaneswar was enlightening.

Our visit to the State Museum of Odisha drew my attention to one area of craftsmanship that links India’s past with its present: palm leaf engraving.  I had bought an engraving during the recent All-India Crafts Mela at Shilparamam, and I was very interested when I met the artisans who create these works of art during a January 17 stop at the Raghurajpur crafts village on the road to Puri.  Then we went to the State Museum and the curator showed us parts of the Museum’s amazing manuscript collection, including well-preserved and beautifully engraved illustrations and documents dating back more than 1000 years.  I was profoundly struck by the fact that the techniques used and many of the stories told by the creators of those ancient manuscripts were exactly the same as those of today’s artisans. 

Learning about and seeing the Jagannath temple in Puri showed me another strong connection between India’s past and present.  I had the honor of meeting the King of Puri, Dibyasingh Dev, and learning about the Ratha Yatra festival directly from him.  He explained that tribal communities discovered the deity and worshiped the god before he was discovered by Hindu priests.  The descendents of his early worshipers still serve him in the temple and are the only ones permitted in his presence during his period of retreat and convalescence before the festival.  Then we went to Puri and climbed to the roof of the library to look at the temple, since non-Hindus are not allowed to enter.  It was interesting to see the temple, but I found even more striking the view of the road leading to the temple, where even on an ordinary Wednesday, thousands of pilgrims were approaching to pay a visit and view Lord Jagannath, creating a moving mosaic of color.  The King had told us that the temple kitchens were (at least at one time) the largest in India, and feed tens of thousands of people every day, using only indigenous vegetables.  For me as an American, the fact that these traditions have been meticulously maintained for a thousand years is truly astonishing.

Our cultural odyssey also included the Sun Temple in Konark, the opening of a music festival at the Rajarani temple in Bhubaneswar, and a walk through a new botanical garden near the Lingaraja temple.  The importance of traditional spiritual values in modern daily life was also clear from the tulsi plants on raised platforms I saw near destroyed houses in flood-affected villages; it was evident that they were important parts of daily family life for villagers. 

It was good to go beyond my routine and expand my knowledge of India’s spiritual and cultural heritage last week.  I know that Andhra Pradesh also offers a multitude of cultural opportunities, and I hope to continue my education in the months to come.

Franchising: A Win-Win Situation

With the IACC Chairman 

The Consulate had the great pleasure of hosting Assistant Secretary of Commerce Nicole Lamb-Hale and a delegation of American companies this week.  The companies visited Mumbai, Hyderabad and New Delhi to explore interest in India in the franchises they represented.  Most of the companies were offering opportunities for investors to license food and restaurant franchises, and that this is an area where American companies have a record of success was demonstrated by an event that the Assistant Secretary attended during the visit: the celebration of the 200^th Subway sandwich franchise in India.  But whether we’re talking about a franchised Denny’s Restaurant or a new Radio Shack outlet, the high level of interest we saw in Hyderabad was a clear indication of how valuable these kinds of opportunities are for both sides. 

Of course the American companies are excited about the potential in India’s massive population and high rate of economic growth.  But Indians are also excited about the possibility of adopting proven best practices, participating in brands with worldwide recognition, and delivering their customers guaranteed top quality products.  It was great to be part of the process, and after all of eight months in India, I enjoyed with some trepidation being turned to by the visitors as an expert on the local market environment.

While I might not be an expert on India, one of the things that was brought home to me was how much I have dropped out of touch with some of what’s going on in the U.S. today—and how knowledgeable many Hyderabadis are about my country.  Some of the visitors represented relatively new, fast-growing chains that I’d never heard of-- like the “Which wich” restaurant--but our Indian guests at a reception knew just who they were.  I told the visitors I thought the strong links between Andhra Pradesh and the United States made this the best prospective market in India for their success.

The visitors were here less than 24-hours.  While I think their short visit was enough to show them what I meant about this being an ideal environment, it wasn’t nearly long enough for both Indian and Americans to exploit the win-win potential of the trade mission.  I told the visitors that I hope to welcome them back soon to finalize deals, and when they return, they need to make time to visit some of the state’s other population centers, like Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.  I’m determined to build more U.S.-India connections throughout my consular district.

Orissa Calling

A diplomat’s life is not just a series of meetings and weighty discussions, as my first visit to Bhubaneswar demonstrated. I went to Bhubaneswar to introduce myself and to begin to learn about Orissa—now included in our Hyderabad consular district. I had a number of meetings with state government officials and NGOs that were very useful and informative. The most energizing elements of the trip, however, were three opportunities for exchanges with young people.

 The first was at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) where I had a chance to interact with students participating in the English Access Microscholarship Program the U.S Government supports. I was very impressed with how much English they had learned – one even told a joke in English, something I have a hard time doing myself. The teenagers asked me about a wide variety of subjects, including the differences between the U.S. and India, what they could do after learning English and about U.S. culture and traditions.

The visit to KISS was also a memorable visit because I addressed the assembled student body – some 12,000 children from tribal communities throughout Orissa. I have never spoken to such a large audience before. Even if most of them didn’t understand my words, they responded enthusiastically when I told them that just as President Obama broke barriers by becoming President of the United States, I was sure that the day would come when a tribal would become President of India.

Later in the day we visited a children’s library run by the NGO Bakul Foundation. Bakul is entirely staffed by volunteers, mostly students, who sat down to chat with me about volunteering, careers and how their generation has the confidence to try new things, adopt new lifestyles and embrace change.

My third interaction with young people was at Xaiver Institute of Management, where I shared some thoughts on the transformation in U.S.-India relations. The questions the students asked showed how their education at a Jesuit business school has broadened their minds.  Their interests ranged from global human rights principles to civil nuclear cooperation to outsourcing.

When I conclude an encounter with young people, I come away invigorated. So while by the calendar I aged three days during my visit to Bhubaneswar, I feel as though I came back years younger.

Happy New Year!!

Many traditions associated with New Year’s Day are related to the idea that we get a renewal, or a fresh start on January 1. In images, the “old year” is represented as an old man and the new year as a baby.  (The old year is always a man—a sexist tradition!)  The idea of making New Year’s resolutions implies we have a special chance to transform ourselves once a year.  

Even the greeting “Happy New Year” suggests that one year may be fundamentally different from another.  The Chinese zodiac goes even further by identifying the year with an animal and its reputed attributes.

I’ve never been in the habit of making New Year’s resolutions. It may be because the amount of change in my life gives me plenty of fresh starts that have nothing to do with the New Year.

As a Foreign Service Officer I switch jobs, homes, cities and countries every two or three years.  It’s always stressful to end one assignment and begin another, but I love the life.  Every day is different and every day I learn something new.

So for me, personally, September 1, 2010, the day I arrived in Hyderabad, was a much more important new beginning that New Year’s Day, January 1, 2011.  I have to say, so far it’s been a very “Happy New Assignment” for me and Azim.

Even if the New Year is not the most significant milestone we pass, I hope we all have a happy, peaceful and fulfilling 2011.