Happy 2013!

Next week I’ll experience my third New Year’s Day here in Hyderabad.  It’s amazing how quickly time passes.  I’ve become such a confirmed Hyderabadi that I can even contemplate the possibility of staying up with friends celebrating New Year’s Eve and making it until breakfast is served at 4 am.  (I’m not sure that I’ll actually achieve it, but at least I can contemplate it!)

Happy New Year!                             

As we prepare to usher in 2013, it seems as though the world is drowning in bad news.  Horrific crimes in the U.S. and in India create a pervasive sense of insecurity and highlight the fact that man is capable of unspeakable evil as well as of good.  Discussion of the U.S. economy is focused on the threats of debt and rising inequality, while in India growth has moderated and power woes have intensified.  Turmoil continues to afflict many parts of the world, with the Central African Republic presenting the latest crisis.  There are plenty of reasons to engage in negative thinking.

In this context, the resolution I am making for the New Year is to think and act positively.  By that, I don’t mean ignoring the negative, but refusing to let it immobilize me.  As an individual, it is hard to feel powerful in the face of bad news, but by acting positively, one fosters hope and offers encouragement.  And concerted positive action makes change possible.  Indians and Americans both share this experience; the civil rights movement in the U.S. and the independence movement in India were two of the greatest examples of peaceful citizen activism of the 20^th century. 

What is true about momentous social events is also true on a personal level.  If things go wrong in the office, I remind myself that I love my job, and the minor obstacles that arise don’t get me down.  I’m not perfect, and there are times I let negative emotions affect me, causing me to behave in ways I’m not proud of and affecting both my own happiness and the enjoyment of others.  For example, it happens sometimes when I make a couple of really bad shots on the golf course.  If I get mad at myself and think negatively, I start playing worse, I become much worse company for my playing partners, and I stop enjoying myself.  If instead I take the bad shots in my stride, I generally recover my usual standard of play and I enjoy the game. 

It’s a long way to go from my golf game to the mobilization of citizens to fight violence against women, but in both cases, despair is not helpful.  Envisioning a more positive future provides the energy to make it happen.  And you never know how big a difference your individual decision might make.  A recent editorial column by Nicholas Kristof described how a casual thought of Ted Turner’s transformed millions of lives.  Read it and it’ll make you smile—a great way to start 2013. 

Happy New Year!

One Village’s Solution to Domestic Violence

 The U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad participated in a number of events observing “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence,” a global campaign dedicated to the awareness and the elimination of gender-based violence. One such event was a trip to Toopran, a village 50 kilometers outside Hyderabad, where Consul General Katherine Dhanani and I attended a meeting of the state government’s Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP). SERP sponsors a number of social programs including a program that utilizes groups of mostly female villagers, known as Social Action Committees (SAC), in conjunction with community-managed Family Counseling Centers to help detect, arbitrate, and resolve domestic issues in local communities. The program is designed to resolve domestic disputes before they are brought into the judicial system, a process which can take many years to reach resolution. The program is mostly rural and utilizes nearly 15,000 members in 1,440 SACs throughout the state to counsel fellow villagers and raise awareness of such social issues as domestic violence, child marriage, girl child education, substance abuse, and dowry harassment.

India, like many countries including the United States, suffers from societal ills such as domestic violence and issues related to substance abuse. India also has a number of issues that we generally don’t see in the United States, including child marriage and dowry harassment. Although both men and women are affected by these issues, women are most often the victims. Furthermore, many women do not have the support systems, education, or resources they need to help them resolve these issues and are often afraid to turn to local police or government authorities. Women seeking assistance and justice can now turn to a group of peers in whom they can find trust and empathy.

A SAC will open a case for the victim and then proceed to take action. To me, the process seems very similar to what we in the United States would consider an intervention. After receiving the complaint, a SAC will attempt to counsel the offending party and convince them to attend a session at one of the Family Counseling Centers along with the aggrieved party. The counselors are a kind of hybrid between a therapist and a legal arbitrator who seek not only to resolve the current dispute but to alter the behavior or mentality that led to the issue in the first place. Community sentiment and involvement are still very strong in rural India today and social pressure can be a powerful force. SACs seek to harness this force to affect change through social obligation as well as legal obligation.

During the meeting, we heard stories of how members of SACs successfully addressed domestic issues in rural areas. During their interaction with the consul general, a few domestic violence victims narrated the problems that the SACs helped them overcome, such as securing a withheld inheritance and overcoming physical abuse. SAC members described the challenges they faced in achieving success with arbitration and counseling. Impressed by the grit and determination shown by the victims as well as the members of the SACs, Consul General Dhanani said that she was truly inspired by the accounts she heard. “You have given me excitement and encouragement,” she remarked. CG Dhanani noted that although men may have greater physical strength, woman have the mental fortitude to overcome any challenge in life.

Travis Coberly is the Political-Economic Officer at the U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad.

Local Basketball Clinic is a Slam Dunk

As a graduate of Kansas University, where basketball is not just a passion but where it was practically invented, I was proud to inaugurate a two-day basketball clinic last Saturday for young Hyderabadi boys and girls.  It may seem strange to think of the American consulate hosting a basketball clinic, but actually, we see sports diplomacy as an important area of exchange between the United States and other countries.  Participating in sports helps transcend cultural differences and brings people together.  At the same time, it also teaches leadership, teamwork, and encourages respect for rules and for one another.

From February 17 to 27, SportsUnited conducted a sports visitor exchange with India in which ten female and male coaches from all over India visited the United States for a ten-day basketball program.  Amruth Raj and Amitha Jaiswal were our basketball emissaries from Hyderabad. During this program, participants met with sports professionals, athletes from American schools, and engaged in several activities on teambuilding and safety.  The group also went to Orlando, Florida for intensive training in coaching and participation in the NBA Coaches Clinics.

Before opening our clinic in Hyderabad, I had a chance to speak with Amruth and Amitha about the highlights of their U.S. experience.  Both were impressed that American parents enthusiastically support their children’s participation in sports.  Having just spent the summer with my sister and brother-in-law, both of whom attend numerous softball and soccer games to encourage and inspire my nieces, I wholeheartedly agree with their observation.  They also said watching an all-star game in Florida was a dream come true.

Amruth and Amitha both knew that their experience didn’t end when they returned to Hyderabad, and they were eager to share their newfound coaching skills with young basketball players in Hyderabad.  On a recent Saturday morning, the young boys and girls participating in the clinic were grinning from ear to ear.  They appeared galvanized by the support offered to them by the U.S. Consulate.  I was also gratified to meet with their parents, many of whom were excited and thankful for this unique opportunity.

Gurdit Singh is the new Assistant Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad

Defining Diversity

I’ve had wonderful opportunities to serve at a variety of Embassies and Consulates during my career, but one thing I’ve sacrificed is time at home in the U.S.  I haven’t lived in my own country since 1998.  I visit regularly, and in fact the State Department requires that diplomats spend at least a month on holiday in the U.S. between assignments, but because I’m not there on a day-to-day basis, changes in public attitudes and public mood that occur gradually may be more evident to me than they would be if I lived at home.  Some changes are likely temporary—like the current polarization of our political space, or the sense of insecurity and pessimism caused by the current economic slowdown.  But others are clearly fundamental, long-term trends, such as the incredible growth of visibility and influence of Indian Americans, or the reduced tolerance for cigarette smoking. 

  

Looking back through U.S. history, one clear, long-term trend is our increasing acceptance of diversity, and with it the extension of equal rights and protections.  Our founding fathers in the U.S. Declaration of Independence said “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.”  Americans are proud of this philosophical legacy, but we also recognize that we did not, in fact, provide all men with equal rights for most of our history.  The Constitution of the U.S. acknowledged slavery by apportioning representatives to the states through a formula that added to the number of “free Persons” another number representing three-fifths of “all other Persons.”  It was only in 1866 that the sixteenth amendment to the Constitution provided equal protections to African American men, and only in 1920 that the nineteenth amendment extended constitutional protection to women.  It took almost a century after the sixteenth amendment for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to outlaw discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or sex.  When John F. Kennedy ran for office in 1960, the election of a Catholic was considered revolutionary, just as President Obama’s election was a watershed moment for racial equality. 

This trend of broadening U.S. legal protections and social acceptance continues to this day.  Since the Civil Rights Act was signed, we have enacted legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, age, and, most recently, genetic information.  An area of focus today involves gay rights.  The U.S. has not yet enacted legislation specifically prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but President Clinton signed an executive order in 1998 banning discrimination in federal employment, and many states have broader protections, including recognition of same-sex marriage.  The Consulate recently sponsored a Rainbow Film Festival to celebrate LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) pride month.  The four films screened included documentaries and docudramas; all were based on true stories, highlighting the history of the gay rights movement in the U.S.  One of the things that they made clear was that America’s acceptance of homosexuality is relatively recent and remains incomplete.  In 1969, when the raid that is featured in the film “Stonewall Uprising” occurred, homosexual conduct was illegal in most of the U.S.  Today, a majority of Americans favor permitting same sex marriage.  Demonstrating how far we have come, on the occasion of Human Rights Day last year, President Obama and Secretary Clinton announced that promoting acceptance of gay rights around the world would be a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.

A 2007 global attitude survey (http://pewglobal.org/files/pdf/258.pdf) asked people: “Should homosexuality be accepted by society?”  80 percent or more of citizens in most European countries said yes, and 49 percent of Americans said homosexuality should be socially accepted.  South Asia, the Middle East and Africa had the lowest acceptance levels, with India at only 10 percent.  In this context, it’s not surprising that some groups here in Hyderabad opposed the showing of films about the gay rights struggle in the U.S.  Fortunately, we were able to go forward despite efforts to force a cancellation.  The Consulate is respectful of those who hold different views, and will seek to avoid confrontations.  But we will continue to treat LGBT issues as a human rights issue and engage actively to build respect for the rights of LGBT persons, and to show solidarity for those suffering from stigma and discrimination. 

Thoughts about Undergraduate Education

I’ve written about students and opportunities for undergraduate study in the U.S. before, but the subject has been on my mind again lately, in part because this is “back to school” season here in Hyderabad and also because it’s peak student visa season at the Consulate.  In the next  six months, we hope to establish an office of the U.S.-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) at the Consulate which will focus its efforts on helping students in Andhra Pradesh to find appropriate educational programs in the U.S.   I’m hopeful that USIEF’s efforts will mean that at this time next year, we’ll have even more demand for visas for students to pursue undergraduate education in the U.S.—and much higher rates of visa approval for these students, who will have well-considered educational plans.

The other day I read an article about the grueling schedules secondary school students endure in India as they prepare to compete for the critical exams that will determine their university placement.  The journalist reported that it’s not uncommon for students to study 12 or more hours a day, six days a week, and often sacrifice other interests, including sports, social interaction and cultural activities, because they just don’t have time. 

It struck me how different that stress is from the pressures facing American high school students who want admission to the top universities in the U.S.   They enhance their prospects by putting more time onto extracurricular activities, like sports, fine arts, and volunteering in the community.

For Indian students, results in examinations that test knowledge seem to be the dominant factor in university admissions.  For American students, the picture is more complicated.  Colleges and universities make an initial, quantitative assessment of candidates by looking at a combination of grades in high school and results in examinations that test literacy and analytical skills.  On that basis, they narrow their pools of applicants, but final decisions only come after they look at a variety of other factors, including references, essays, interviews, and records of extracurricular activities.  Of course, students who completely neglect studying will have poor grades in high school, and some studying may be useful to prepare for the SAT exam.  But a bright, motivated student can excel on both without putting in anything like the number of hours that Indian students spend absorbing the vast body of knowledge that they will be tested on. 

When I was in high school in the U.S. in the 1970s, sports was by far the most important extracurricular activity that could help a high school student gain admission to a competitive university, but today the focus is wider.  Participation in fine or performing arts is a plus, as is a record of leadership.  At selective schools, there is increasing preference for students who have demonstrated a sense of social responsibility by participating in volunteer activities.  And references, essays and interviews have real weight in the process.  American universities are looking for future leaders, innovators, and communicators, not just those who will excel in academics, and they use all these indicators to help identify the most promising applicants.

The big difference between the criteria students in India are familiar with and the way the American system works may be intimidating for Indian students thinking about pursuing undergraduate education in the U.S.  The other big barrier is the high cost of U.S. universities.  As a result, many students look for help and advice on where to apply.  The U.S. government has a student advising service called Education USA.  Education USA throughout India works through the U.S.-India Educational Foundation, which is jointly sponsored by the U.S. and Indian governments, and provides free advice and resources for prospective students.  Their website is:  USIEF.org.in.  They also have a toll-free student advising telephone number 1-800-103-1231.  We’ve found, however, that many students don’t know about the services of USIEF and Education USA, and instead they turn to many other educational consultants.  Some of these consultants may be knowledgeable and effective, but many of them have a conflict of interest because they accept funds from universities when they steer students in their direction.  Some also provide poor advice, and encourage students to misrepresent their circumstances during visa interviews.  I’m pleased that we will be opening an office of USIEF at the Consulate in the coming months.  USIEF will help students find the schools that best meets their objectives and will be able to help students understand the process of applying for financial aid.

I hope that Indian students will also become more aware in the future about some of the special opportunities that exist in the U.S., for example, for female student athletes.  The U.S. may be unique in the value that universities place on participation in sports.  Critics accuse some of the biggest universities in the U.S. of exploiting athletes by enrolling those who excel in high-profile sports like basketball and football as students despite the fact that their grades and test scores suggest they have little potential to meet normal academic standards.  For those who use college as a springboard to become professional athletes, the system works; for unqualified students and those who can’t take advantage of educational opportunities and who don’t make it to the next level, the accusation of exploitation is difficult to refute.  But there are others who benefit from this.  U.S. legislation requires that colleges provide young women as many athletic scholarships as they provide to young men.  As a result, universities maintain women’s teams and provide financial support to girls who combine academic and athletic achievements.  When I was in Zimbabwe, I was pleased to see that a number of Zimbabwean girls received scholarships to study in the U.S. while playing field hockey.  These young women have a chance to participate in sports, but they also get a quality education, and I hope more Indian girls will also take advantage of this scholarship opportunity.  

Don't be a litterbug!

Earth Day raises awareness about a whole range of issues, from climate change at the global level to littering at the local level.  Littering might seem a lot more trivial than climate change, but I think addressing both is partly a matter of changing the daily habits of millions of people.  I’ve been thinking a little about the environment at various levels, and how the issues are similar and how they’re different.

I’ve mentioned before in this blog that, as much as I love living in India, one of the things I find hard to tolerate is the presence of trash all over the place. Twice in recent weeks friends of mine have lamented about garbage in their neighborhoods.  In both cases, my friends told me government trash pickup is not regular so residents dump on vacant land.  In each case, an independent contractor had been identified to pick up the trash for a modest fee.  But the residents of these wealthy neighborhoods were not interested in paying for the service. 

Figuring out how to address garbage in the streets depends in part on why it happens.  When I studied economics, we talked about something called a “free rider” problem.  The free rider problem explains why people might continue littering even if they really would prefer to live in a clean city—and would be willing to pay the cost to have a clean environment.  (The cost of keeping the street clean would be money in the case of a trash collection fee or just the effort to dispose of garbage properly in the case of general littering.)  The problem is, if I pay but others don’t, I’ve paid for nothing, since the environment will still be dirty.  If 90% of us bear the cost but the other 10% don’t, we’ll have a relatively clean environment—and those 10% who continue littering will be getting a free ride.  As more and more people look to get a free ride, the environment gets dirtier and dirtier.  Why should I pay if I don’t think others will? 

In economics, the free rider problem is one of the justifications for government action.  In the example of neighborhood trash pickup, assuming we value a clean environment, if we had a neighborhood association that had the authority to collect mandatory fees, we could all vote to be billed by the association to pay the contractor.  We’d all be happy to pay since there would be no free riders.  In the case of littering more broadly, if we all valued clean streets, we might vote for politicians who campaigned on a pledge to crack down on littering. 

This example, though, shows why government action isn’t the only answer, and may not be effective all by its self.  What if people don’t value a clean environment?  Then they won’t vote for politicians who say they’ll raise rates to pay for trash pickup or pledge a crackdown on littering, and nothing will be done.  It’s also harder to solve the problem the broader it is.  It’s fairly easy to see government action as a solution if people value cleanliness and trash in the streets is mostly a matter of households dumping their garbage.  An effective trash collection service funded by the government based on rates collected by households could work and satisfy everyone.  But if casual littering is a big part of the problem, stricter government laws on littering would be much harder to enforce.   (Imagine the manpower and paperwork it would take if everyone who littered in Hyderabad today was ticketed and fined!) 

What are some alternatives or accompaniments to government action?  A starting point is public education that increases the value people place on hygiene and a clean environment.  For example, a public outreach campaign could explain that widespread garbage encourages rodent infestation and mosquito breeding, both of which increase disease prevalence and childhood mortality.  That might make people care.  Sometimes public education can contribute to other forms of “coercion” that substitute for government action.   In the U.S. littering has declined dramatically during my lifetime largely because of public outreach campaigns. In most places in the U.S. today, laws against littering are pretty much irrelevant, since the social pressure to dispose of trash properly is so strong.  Campaigns focused on children, who were urged: “Don’t be a litterbug!”  Today, a schoolchild who dropped his food wrapper on the playground would be severely criticized by his peers, a penalty much more effective than a teacher’s rebuke.  Social pressure has also made the wearing of fur pretty much socially unacceptable in the U.S. because of concern about abuses in some fur trapping practices—even though the trapping of wild animals only affected a few types of fur, and there is no similar social taboo associated with leather.

The issues associated with global climate change are much more complicated.  For starters, there is no global authority that can assure compliance by all in any scheme.  But one thing that is the same is that a solution will impose costs on everyone, and that will only be sustainable if there is popular consensus about the value of a reduction in greenhouse gases.  Achieving that is complicated by the fact that the benefits of action will accrue largely to future generations.  But the importance of public education is the same for climate change as it is for littering.  The potential for leveraging social pressures is evident in the proliferation of marketing campaigns for “green” products.  In the U.S., we are still fairly far from a real popular consensus on policies to combat climate change.  But I think grassroots trends and increasing popular interest suggest that we can make up ground quickly and reach a point soon when we’re willing to change old habits. 

I’m also hopeful that Hyderabad will soon embrace a new commitment to cleaner streets.

Voting Across Borders

Click here for video message by CG Dhanani

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!