November 7, 2008
Dear Oles, Professors, and Global enthusiasts,
At last update we had just returned from visits to Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, and were continuing our lectures on the religions of India. Since that time we have celebrated Halloween and Diwali with the staff members of the Ecumenical Christian Center (ECC) and their families, visited a Dalit Ashram, WIPRO Technology Center, and the city of Mysore.
The second major holiday of the Global experience was Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. The ECC community provided us with a complete Diwali experience filled with a sermon on the meaning of Diwali, games, fireworks and of course a delicious dinner. Diwali is traditionally a Hindu festival but like Christmas in the States it is presently celebrated by nearly all. The purpose of the festival is to rejoice about the past year's accomplishments and provide wishes for well beng, prosperity and pious morality in the coming year. The games included a traditional pinata game where we aimed to break a hanging clay pot full of water and flowers. Globalites turned into pyromaniacs the moment we were all handed a bag full of fireworks. The children of the ECC definitely enjoyed the less than orthodox light show. Afterwards we enjoyed a traditional Diwali meal served on banana leaves, eaten the traditional Indian style with our hands and no utensils.
As annual tradtion holds, Global students put on a Halloween party for the children of the ECC. Global students decorated their living areas and prepared facepainting, games, and Trick-or-Treating from door to door. We dressed up in costumes ranging from Pirates to Gypsies, Pebbles and Bam-Bam to bats, and “Billis” to “Kuttaas” (Hindu for cat and dog). The Trick-or-Treating was very nontraditional, as none of the Trick-or-Treaters were in costume and the children and parents felt compelled to provide us with formal introductions, complete with handshakes, and detailed conversations about our time in India. However, it did succeed in bringing a piece of “home” to India and was an event thoroughly enjoyed by all involved.
Our time in India has brought with it numerous cultural excursions, including a trip to a Dalit Ashram in the past week. An Ashram is a type of religious campus where people and their familes live, go to school, worship and work. It also provides leadership and guidence for the extended communities around the Ashram. This Ashram was specific to a community of Dalit's. Dalits are those labeled as “untouchbles” within the caste system. The Indian caste system is predetermined by ones ancestry; the system is not often openly talked about and is a very difficult concept for Americans to grasp. It can be loosely compared to the issue of racism in America, such that many Americans do like to talk about the issue of race, or simply choose not to acknowledge that the problem still exists. We have found it very difficult for our lecturers to discuss the caste system with us, but when they have it has been very interesting and eye-opening. Dalits were the outcasts of society, but as we have learned, globalization is providing Dalits the oppurtunity to rise above their caste and become very important contributors to society. At the Dalit Ashram we were able to speak with two Dalits who work to change the way Indians view the Dalit community. They educate the general public about Dalits, mainly drawing light on their historical and present day struggles. During the visit we had the pleasure of watching a few of the girls (who live, work, and go to school at the Ashram,) perform traditional Dalit dances.
Our visit to WIPRO was especially meaningful because of the insight provided by Thomas L. Friedman's The World is Flat, the book Global students read over the summer in preperation for our time abroad. WIPRO stands for West Indian Vegetable Products India and is one of the main companies (along with Infosys) which Friedman's novel is based on. WIPRO, a multi-national company, is the third largest company in India. It provides database outsourcing to the United States and has spearheaded numerous technological breakthroughs which have allowed globalization to take a firm hold in India's global market economy. WIPRO began in 1945 as a vegetable oil company, and by 1980 evolved into a leading Information Communication Technologies (ICT) center which has recently expanded into Africa. It employs 98,000 employees globally and 60% of its revenue comes from America. What makes WIPRO so unique is its global delivery model. WIPRO offers twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week customer service support, and depends primarily on near-shore and off-shore talent. Finally, it prides itself on its three core values of Intensity to Win, Acting with Sensitivity, and Unyielding Integrity.
Our two day visit to Mysore began by touring The Mysore Palace, built in 1808 for the King of the 24 th Dynasty. Originally built of wood, the palace burned down in 1897 and was rebuilt in 1912. We took a short tour of the interior and were able to stroll through the spectacularly landscaped gardens outside the palace, which provided ample oppurtunities for quality pictures. There were also plenty of local visitors who chatted with us about America and asked to have their pictures taken wth us. We also visited a bird sanctuary just outside Mysore which was a highlight of the two day excursion. We boarded boats in crocodile infested waters, and saw numerous bird species indigenous to India, as well as many crocodiles. Global students were lucky enough to have the once in a lifetime opportunty to see natural selection at work when we witnessed a crocodile stalking and snatching a bird not thirty feet from the bow of our boat.
The global rumor shared with us before ariving to India was that this would be the place where we “hit the wall”, and although we all miss home at this point, we have not forgotten the once in a lifetime opportunity in which we are participating.
Peace and love from the other side of the world,
Globalites 2008